Agents On Campus

The Fourth Murder

Recap: The police officer took a deep breath and answered what I feared. "Another student has been murdered."

The classroom erupted into absolute pandemonium.

Students were frantically collecting their things and swinging their bags, not bothering to apologize as they shoved others aside trying to reach the door. The officer was trying to calm everyone down, but there was so much yelling no one even heard.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!"

The yelling and shuffling stopped as everyone turned to see Mrs. Faussette standing in the doorway, frizzy hair disheveled and looking disgraced. "That is completely inappropriate. You are high school seniors. You ought to know better than that. Now, I want you all to exit the room quietly in an orderly fashion and leave the building. No snooping around the second floor." She gave a pointed look to a select few.

Everyone did as she said, and walked out in a single file line. All around the room, students were whispering the same words, "someone else has been murdered?" It sounded like an echo, repeated over and over again in disbelief. Then came the next big question: who?

I grabbed my purse from under my desk and stood up. I needed to find out who the victim was as soon as possible. In my peripheral vision, I saw Alex was still sitting. Unlike the rest of the class, he remained calm in his seat after the officer delivered the news. He wasn't smirking—thank goodness—he simply looked irritated.

"Alex?" I nudged his arm.

He jolted out of his thoughts, picked up his backpack, and stood up. We walked out of the room in silence, catching a snippet of conversation between Mrs. Faussette and the officer.

"—about ten minutes ago a student found the body. We had to evacuate as soon as possible..." His voice drifted away as Alex and I quickly walked out of the room. The moment we were out of earshot, Alex sighed.

"I don't know how they didn't see this coming," he said, casting an annoyed look over his shoulder.

"What do you mean?" I asked in a concerned tone.

"I mean," Alex began, "the murders have been happening every other school day, and the last one was Wednesday, so shouldn't they tighten security or something? The cops here are such idiots. They don't even know half of what goes on in this town."

How could I not have seen this coming? Alex was right. The murders were occurring every other day consistently. Alex was smart to figure that out. I wondered how much more he knew, or suspected.

"The police here don't seem to be doing their job," I restated what Alex told me to show I agree. "First they arrest you and now they can't even secure a high school."

Alex nodded, looking annoyed. "They can't even put two and two together. I mean, anyone who read those little messages would be able to tell that whoever did this clearly was not planning to stop."

His words hit me like a blow to the stomach. How on earth did Alex get his hands on those riddles? If he was the killer why would he be telling me this?Trying my best to look casual, I said, "What messages?"

Alex rolled his eyes. "Apparently the killer left these weird rhymes next to everyone they killed. It's ridiculous."

I swallowed, but kept my voice light. "Did you read them?"

"Yeah, they were all over the news. I guess someone leaked them to the press," he stated matter-of-factly.

I frowned. The press isn't supposed to have that information. The police must've accidentally let it slip. Alex was, to my surprise and annoyance, correct in saying that the riddles made it obvious the killer wasn't going to stop until they got what they wanted.