Deadly Hallows [Complete]

Chapter 24: Straight Arrow

The sound of my shoes clicking in the floor was loud and echoed through the empty halls. I was making my way toward Mr. Miller's classroom to get information for the investigation. I had decided that the best plan of action was to first set up a meeting with Mr. Miller to get some extra help in math, and then wait for him to leave the room and go through his desk again in search of the picture of his wife. I was convinced that the tattooed arrow on her arm was identical to the one that had been sliced into Sophie's skin, but I needed to be a hundred percent sure before I pointed the finger at him. 

It wasn't going to be hard to wait for Mr. Miller to leave the room. He was one of those teachers who trusted his students, and would periodically leave to print papers, scan answer sheets, buy sodas from the teacher's lounge vending machine, and more. The only hang up that I had about this plan was that I was going to actually do some math to make it seem like I had really set up the meeting because I wanted to raise my grade. I hated Math, and I hope I never had to use Calculus in real life otherwise I'd be screwed.

Before  entered the classroom I took a deep breath to prepare myself. I was nervous for three reasons. The first being that I might get caught, the second being that Mr. Miller was Sophie's murderer, and the third being a combination of the two. In case Mr. Miller was the one who had killed Sophie, I had told Mason, John, and my parents that I was going to be staying after with Mr Miller. I had even made sure that I stopped and said hello to the ladies in the main office and casually let it slip that I was going to Mr. Miller's classroom to study for an upcoming test. I wasn't taking any chances. I was going to be safe, whether Mr. Miller turned out to be the killer and attacked me in his classroom or not. This way, I had everyone knowing where I was so that if I ended up like Sophie, Mr. Miller couldn't say that I never arrived. I smiled to myself. I had thought of everything, even if I was being paranoid.

Once I entered the classroom, I glanced at Mr. Miller who was sitting at his desk, with his glasses pushed up on the bridge of his nose as he looked down at his desk. He hadn't looked up from what he was doing when I had entered the room, so I said, "Thank you for staying after with me, Mr. Miller," as I made me way to a desk near the front of the room to have a seat.

After I had made my presence known, Mr. Miller looked up and made eye contact with me. "You are very welcome, Miss. Hale. Did you bring all of you past tests and assignments."

I nodded my head in response to his question.

"Good, I'll be with you in a moment. I need to finish grading the 'show your work' part on these tests and then take them to the scantron machine afterwards. I've made a worksheet for you to work on that is comprised of questions from the past tests." When I didn't make any attempt to move, he waved his hand, gesturing for me to come to him. "Well, come and get it," he directed.

I stood up and hurried to the front of the room to retrieve my worksheet from him. I nearly groaned when I saw how many pages were stapled together, but I held it in and made my way back to my desk. Once I was there, I made a big show of pulling out all of my previous tests, worksheets, my calculator, and a pencil. I wanted him to think that I was serious, and make him feel comfortable enough not to have to rush back to the room after he left.

Mr. Miller continued grading the tests on his desk for another fifteen minutes while I worked on, and struggled, with the worksheet that he had given me. My plan of sleuthing had turned into a learning experience, and my brain felt like it was throbbing in my skull. Despite how much I didn't want to, I continued to work on my worksheet until Mr. Miller finally stood up from his desk with the papers and scantrons in hand. I had been afraid the entire time that he was going to get up and come check on me and see if I needed help, but he didn't. I had made it to the next page by the time he had finished grading.