The Mysteries of Megan Glen

Secret Book Club: 7

I explained the case to Danny, quickly but thoroughly, and he listened in silence, scribbling down a few notes here and there. When I finished, I asked, “Did you get all of that? I’m not going to repeat it.”

“Yeah, I got it. Mysterious book club, mysterious leaders, mysterious threats and a mysterious cop- you’ve got a full blown mystery,” he remarked, smiling. It was obvious he was enjoying himself.

I nodded in agreement with a small smile. “Indeed, but how am I supposed to solve it? It makes no sense.”

“Well, first, what crime has been committed in this case? And that doesn’t include Callie breaking into people’s houses, because you got her.”

“I don’t know; it’s not really a crime yet… I guess it’s a threat, but that’s not really enough. I simply want to understand what this is all about.”

His face scrunched in contemplation and I turned back to my desk. “So you just want to find out what’s going on?”

“What else would I be trying to figure out? Will you please be quiet so I can think?” He didn’t reply and I smiled, trying to sort through all of the tiny details. Why would someone start a mystery book club? They wanted control over some people, but why a book club? And have these ‘leaders’ actually done anything? And how did they even get so many people in the club? I scribbled down the questions so I could ask someone later.

“What if it’s someone who wants to have power over the cop? What’s his name, again?”

I spun my chair around to face him again. “It’s a good theory, but the ‘leaders’ wouldn’t make a whole club for the purpose of controlling one person; there would be easier ways to do that. I need more information on the members before I can find the reason for this outlandish club.”

“How do you plan to do that? You only know three members, right?”

Whipping out my phone, I started typing a text. “Yes, but you seem to forget I’m working with a plethora of cops.” I had texted Sam, asking for a background check on both Jim and Kumara as well Callie.

He replied, asking when I wanted to see it. I texted back, telling him I would come into the office tomorrow morning. I left out the part about Colby being in the group. I didn’t want Sam to do something rash and have someone get hurt unnecessarily.

“Megan, are you still in there?”

I put my phone away again. “Yeah, I was thinking about the case.”

 “What about it?”

Shrugging, I replied, “There must be a connection between the group members. If we can find the reason this club really exists, we’ll be able to understand the motives for someone starting it. Then we would just need to find someone with matching motives… That sounded simpler in my head.”

“Okay.”

“What kind of grades do you get?”

Danny frowned, confused, but he didn’t seem uncomfortable. That was a good sign. “They’re pretty good, why?”

“My assistant can’t spend all day in school, that wouldn’t be very helpful. You’ll probably be missing a lot of school so I hope you can catch up easily.”

He gaped at me, surprised with the sudden change of topic. “You mean I should ditch school to help you?”

“Just get a note from a cop- wait; I think only doctors write notes. Never mind, but if you get in trouble, you’ll have a whole police force behind you so I don’t think it’s that bad. Now, what is something interesting and distracting, I’m sick of working, I’ve been doing this all day.”

Again, he looked surprised. “Uh, I don’t know…”

“Sure you do, you’re leg muscles are different from a runner’s or a walker’s so obviously you have a hobby. And you like to draw, don’t you? I’m not very good at that, but you might know a few good art museums. No, those aren’t distracting enough.”

“Would you stop that?” He exclaimed, standing up with an annoyed look on his face. “It’s getting on my nerves.”

Pressing my lips into a tight line, I dropped my pen. “You’re just like everybody else and I really thought I would actually be able to work with you. No one appreciates my deduction skills.”

“What? I wasn’t talking about you knowing all that; I was talking about the pen clicking.”

“The what?” I’ve never been more confused- not even with the strange case I was trying to puzzle out. I always figure things out, but his one comment had my head spinning.

Danny rolled his eyes. “You kept clicking your pen while you were talking.”

“Oh… sorry,” I muttered. “Um, what is your hobby?”

I stood up as he shrugged and said, “I like rollerblading, if that’s what you mean.”

“I’ll try it, let’s go,” I brushed past him. “Shut my door.”

Danny shut the door before we started down the hall. “I bet Lacey has a pair of rollerblades that will fit you.”

“Aren’t you going to rollerblade?” Danny asked after I told him to go ahead. Lacey’s skates fit me almost perfectly and she didn’t care at all when we took them.

 I nodded, tapping my fingers together. “Of course I am; why do you think I have these on? Just go to the end of the street and back and I’ll be ready.”

“Why?” His eyes scanned my face for a hint, but I kept it blank.

Smiling innocently, I leaned against the back of my parents’ minivan. “Are you going to go or should I go back inside and work on the case some more?”

“I’ll go,” he muttered, but hesitated.

I gestured for him to go and he rolled his eyes before turning and launching himself forward. I took in his every move, memorizing it. He had obviously been rollerblading for a while and his movements were fluid and well balanced. I didn’t pay attention to that though, I focused on the small movements of his ankles and shoulders and when he came back I was smiling smugly.

“Are you ready now?” He asked, coming to a stop in front of me. It only took him a minute and a half to get to the end of the street and back.

Pushing myself off the car, I found my balance. “I’ll race you to the end of the street.”

“As eager as I am to see you lose, I don’t want to see you fall and hurt yourself,” he commented dryly, rolling one foot back and forth.

“What makes you think I’ll fall? Come on, unless you’re scared.” That was all it took for Danny to give in; apparently he was lying about not wanting to see me fall.

He shrugged. “I tried… One, two, three- go!” We both took off racing down the street. The speed was exhilarating and I couldn’t help laughing quietly. My laughter did, however,get louder when I reached the end of the street before Danny. I tilted my right foot back and came to a sudden stop, grabbing the stop sign so I didn’t tip over.

“How did you do that?” Danny asked, frowning. “You’ve been rollerblading before, haven’t you?”

I shook my head. “I watched what you did and mirrored it.”

“That’s impossible.”

I chuckled at his naiveté. “No it isn’t, I just did it.”

“You’re weird,” he muttered, but I ignored him. It was easy enough to forget the insult.

I turned to the right. “You’re just saying that because I won. Let’s go to the park, come on, I’ll show you where it is…”