The Young men's detective agency

Chapter 014 Triple murder (3)

Anita decided to join the dance class for co-curricular activities.

Without any surprise, Alex also decided to join for dancing. Anita was annoyed by it. She advised Alex to take up painting. In his previous life, he joined the drawing class as it was his hobby. He was pretty good at it as well.

But to Alex, it was important that he joined the dancing class. The dancing class was in the auditorium. So he could keep an eye on Anita and at the same time prevent the accident.

The dancing class had a very unbalanced sex ratio. The number of boys was too low. Apparently, the kids developed a belief that dancing is less masculine. Alex didn't have such a belief. He also didn't give a poop about being masculine. So he had no issue joining the dance class. Another thing that came to the notice of Alex was that his sister was also in the dance class.

After joining the dance class, Alex got a few more clues.

On the day of the accident, mom rushed to the school as if she was possessed. He believed that she came because of him. But she had actually come to check on his sister.

Combining all these, Alex came to the conclusion that the students who died were from the dance class. But looking at how Anita was not in a rush, Alex believed that the accident didn't happen in the near future.[1]

While Alex was in deep thoughts, a young man walked into the middle of the students.

"Hello students, my name is John. I am a professional dancer and choreographer. ...." The young and energetic dance teacher introduced himself.

"This is my friend Raghu. Since the number of students is high, we will be teaching you guys together." He continued telling about himself and even asked the students for their names. He also complained about the skewed male-female ratio in the class.

Compared to him, Raghu was silent. His speciality lied in classical dances.

After the introductions, the teachers started training by teaching some warm-up exercises. Everyone liked the new teacher. Even Anita looked happy.

But Anu was not happy at all. Anu originally hated Anita for no reason. But now seeing how her brother was still chasing this girl made her angry. Her brother even got a nickname 'tail'. This nickname was famous in the entire school. Even teachers knew this. But her shameless brother wasn't bothered by it even a tiny bit.

Alex also knew about his sister's dislike. So when the dance teacher decided to pair up the kids, he directly went to his sister. The number of boys in the class was very less. So his sister was planning to pair with her friend.

"Mine." Alex pushed her away and declared that he will be the partner for his sister.

Anu was surprised. Soon a happy smile appeared on her face as she peeked at Anita. It was a clear win for her.

Anu's friend who wanted to pair up with her wasn't offended. That girl was from Anu's class and she knew Alex very well.

Anita was surprised. She clearly remembered that Alex didn't have a good relationship with his sister in her previous life. At the same time, she felt a bit sad and angry. She didn't know why she was feeling like this. She clearly hated Alex. Yet she was possessive now.

Next day, Anita gathered the boys for a meeting. It was the first official meeting of their detective agency.

"I heard that the school is planning some painting works in the auditorium. So keep an eye on it. Also, if you see any of the CCA[2] teachers in the school except the CCA hours, let me know it." Anita gave a new job to the boys.

"Why?" As usual, Alex questioned it.

"I think there is some scandal. What if someone steals the paint and sell it?"

"Hmm... Why do you think so?"

"Just a hunch."

"Ok."

"What is the name of our detective agency?" Manu asked.

"The young men's detective agency," Anita replied. It was clear that she was prepared for the question.

"Young men's? But you are a girl." Alex asked.

"Yes. But I will be a secret member. So even if we get caught, never tell anyone about me. That way, I will be able to support you from outside." Anita said.

"Like in movies!"

"Exactly."

***

As Anita said, the school started renovating the auditorium. Once they started the renovation, Alex started regularly visiting the auditorium to check on the stage.

There were ladders on the stage. Those were used by the painters. But the painters didn't touch the metal bars as it was not their job.

'How? how? how?'

Alex was puzzled.

The renovation was only in name. The only work that was being done was the painting. Shool does this occasionally to make parents feel that running the school involved a lot of money. It also makes them feel that the school management was active.

'Could it be murder?' Alex had thought about this possibility. But he never wanted to acknowledge it. So he usually ignored it.

'If it is a murder, then the culprit could be either the painters or teachers. Why would someone kill the students?'

'No. The painters are not here during class hours. So it could be the teachers. Still, why would they kill the students?'

'Even if there is a reason, how can he kill a specific student?'

"Maybe he was aiming for one student and ended up killing three.'

Alex prayed to all the Gods to make his assumptions wrong. But after combining all the hints, it wasn't very hopeful.

'Wait... Aani wants us to keep an eye for any of the CCA teachers coming to school. So could the reason for the murder be something that happened outside the CCA hours?'

'How much does Aani know?'

Alex thought and planned a lot. Slowly a plan appeared on his mind. He had to change all his previous plans as new hints came up.

'This is risky. But I must do it.' Alex slowly started putting the last part of his idea's into motion.

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[1]: Sorry for the messed-up grammar. But I think that this is the better way to say as the future was past to him.

[2]: Short for Co-curricular activities.