Whim Manor And the Boy Who Wasn't.

Chief Inspector Bun Bun

"Kidnapped?!" My feet jingled as I took a step back. I was still dressed as a maiko, and as I glanced at the sheriff station, Graham was visible through the window.

"Don't even think about telling him," said Whim.

"Why not?" I asked, taking another look at Whim. The skirt suit she was wearing wasn't particularly form-fitting: The skirt covered her knees, her heels were thick in the back, looking just a bit clunky, and she was wearing an ID badge with her picture, a QR code, and a blue stripe on the bottom that read 'visitor.'

"Why do you surmise?" she asked.

"Well, I can't be sure," I said, "not without checking your shoes for mud."

She gave a half snort. "We can't tell him because whoever kidnapped Victoria went to great lengths to make it seem like she ran-off, and because we're 'children,' so if I insist that she was kidnapped, it will only make him..." she nodded towards Graham, "all the more certain that she wasn't."

"Wait-So how do you know she was kidnapped?"

"Because..." Whim removed her glasses. "The tracking software I put on her phone is gone."

I looked at her sideways. If Whim had put tracking software on Victoria's phone... had she put it on mine?... was a person who put tracking software on people's phones, without their permission, trustworthy? Was she even telling the truth?

On the other hand, Victoria wasn't exactly a 'safe' person to live with. If she had somehow been forced into being my roommate, she would, no doubt, spend most of her time trying to get me kicked out.

If I had to live with Victoria, and I knew how to put tracking software on her phone. I can't say I wouldn't have done it too. But still...

Reading my face, Whim sighed. "No, I didn't put anything on your phone. But yes, I have hacked the school's system, so I can track whomever I want. Victoria was a special case. Her phone had been altered specifically to defeat the school's tracking, which was why I was curious enough to install my own."

"What's going on?" I asked.

She glanced over to Graham. "Can I tell you on the way back? Being 'A-rested' for a dress code violation would not be... convenient."

I nodded, and she led the way.

"Why'd they take her?"

"She's not being ransomed so far as I can tell," said Whim.

"Was there a note?"

"Only from her. Left on her bed. It said that she was withdrawing from the school, that she hated it here, and that she expects a full refund."

"That sounds kind of..."

"Like her? Yes. I have no doubt she wrote the note."

"So how do you know she was kidnapped, against her will?"

"Three things... I'll have to show you when we get back."

* * *

Whim held her arm across the doorway to her room, blocking my entry. "No offense, but you'd contaminate the crime scene." She looked down at my shoes.

"Mud?" I asked.

"Mud." She nodded, crouching next to the doorframe. "See that gray residue, on the interior of the threshold?"

I did.

"It matches the 'mud' at the construction site. Composite-lime concrete. A specific blend used in very wet conditions."