A Musical Mayhem

15 - Arielle

I was pretty sure that I had stayed at my locker with my phone for at least five minutes into lunch when I got a message from Messages: Bree has invited you to a group chat.

I clicked on the invitation as soon as I saw it and opened the group chat. Bree, Flynn, and Claude were all online. Whew. We had all remembered the plan.

Investigation Cheating on Science Exam 101
Group Chat

Arielle: Hey guys :)

Flynn:  @Arielle Sorry about what happened earlier, I got a little over the top :P

Arielle: @Flynn It's fine :)

Claude: Is Bree here yet??

Bree: Right here.

Arielle: Ok, so what's your address, Bree?

Bree: 1532 Chestnut Ave., Los Angeles, California

Flynn: Got it.

Arielle: Thanks

Claude: Do we come over to your house before 4:00 today? Good thing I don't have anything to do after school

Arielle: Me neither

Flynn: So how are we planning to interview all the people in the 8th grade?

Bree: We'll call or email them. I've got a plan about how to trick whoever the culprit is into confessing.

Arielle: That's a good idea. How?

Bree: Maybe I'll keep admitting that I cheated but tell everyone about the Google Drive thing? And make up a lie that Mr. Henry has an idea of who really broke into his files (I'll tell them he already thinks it's not me) and is going to make up a big punishment for them if they don't confess soon. Then whoever framed me is probably going to confess to us before it gets out to Mr. Henry.

Flynn: Best thing we have for now. We'll brainstorm when we get to your house.

Claude: What if some people don't answer our calls or emails? Particularly the person who framed you?

Bree: We'll leave a creepy message or something. Or mention the Mr.-Henry-punishing thing right from the start so they'll know not to abandon us. If people still don't answer, then they're off our suspect list.

Arielle: Why is that?

Bree: Because it means the people who don't answer couldn't really care less about the whole thing, which means they're not the culprit. The guilty person would probably want to stop themselves from getting pusnished as soon as possible.

Flynn: Right, that makes sense

Arielle: Yeah, good thinking, Bree

Claude: What happens if you don't get more time from Mr. Henry to figure things out after today's meeting, Bree?

Bree: Guess I'm in big trouble, then. Whatever, I'll just tell him that he needs proper proof to say that it's me who accessed his files, which I'm guessing he doesn't have right now. If he doesn't have any proof yet, he'll have no choice but to let me figure things out before officially saying that I cheated.

Flynn: Good plan, but here's the catch: How did the person who tried to frame you know that you would get such a good and suspicious score on the exam? And how were your answers so close to the ones on Mr. Henry's answer key if you're not the one who accessed his files?