Chapter 38: Eighteenth Hint
"Well, thank you for the first aid, Dr Noble," Felix said with a small smile. "We'll get to our lesson now."
Dr. Noble waved casually and they left the room as quick as they could. Daniel was worried she would be able to hear his panicked heartbeat.
"Do you really want to go to History now?" Daniel asked once they were out of the building.
The next lesson would have started whilst they were in the office, not that he wanted to actually go in any case.
"...No, we're too late anyway," Felix admitted.
That told Daniel that Felix had been caught very off guard by their encounter with the pink haired woman. Normal Felix would never miss a lesson even if they were late.
"Let's sit in the study room," Daniel suggested.
Neither of them spoke again until they were in a secluded corner of the study room. The room was full of studying students with some noisier groups nearby. Daniel felt they could talk quietly about the mystery without being overheard.
"That was the woman from the theme park, wasn't it?" Felix said.
"It was," Daniel confirmed and wondered if he should add something else onto it.
"Is she married to the headmaster? She had the same surname. Maybe she's his sister…"
"No," Daniel said sharply. "She is most certainly not his sister."
That reminded him of one of his other tasks for the day. When he saw the woman he was sure he knew who she really was, but he had to make one final check.
"I need to call Lily Emberry," he said.
Felix didn't ask why, but Daniel could tell he was curious. Given how close they were to solving the mystery, he knew he didn't have to keep Felix in the dark for much longer.
He dialled the number and hoped she was available to answer his question.
"Did you find something out?" was the first thing she asked when she picked up.
"We've found out a lot. I need you to confirm something for me first. Is your aunt's first name 'Rachel'?"
"It is Rachel," she confirmed. "Her surname is Emberry, she's my father's sister."
His theory was right. The fragments of a name on the faded nameplate of Room 23 had made him think of the Emberry family and then had had remembered that Lily's aunt had pink hair in the photos he had seen. That had helped him connect the dots.
"Do you know where she is now?"
There was a pause before she answered.
"No, she left the country when I was finishing primary school. She was offered a good job in something she was interested in. I think it was pharmaceutical research- she worked for GlaxoSmithKline in England before that."
Daniel had what he wanted now. It all fitted together. Lily's aunt had the correct name, right background and the physical appearance to be his top suspect.
"Thanks. I'll explain at another point. Could you send me a photo of her to me? Preferably one with your brother in as well."
"I'll do it soon as possible."
She hung up immediately. They had exchanged email addresses at her apartment just in case any of them were uncontactable by phone. The email he needed quickly appeared in his inbox. He opened up the attachment and held his phone out to Felix.
"Don't say anything," he warned. "We're still on school premises."
Felix did as instructed and Daniel watched his face change when he saw the photo. Felix hadn't seen the photos when they were at Lily's apartment.
"Yes. It's as I suspected," Daniel said and put his phone away.
"Can we go the police yet?" Felix asked gently.
Daniel shook his head.
"This evidence could all get thrown out. All we have firm evidence of is the secret laboratory and there's no evidence anything illegal was going on there. We've put it all together because we believed a lot of the rumours. It's really weak. We need something firm."
Felix didn't look happy.
"How soon before we get firm evidence?"
"I'm working on it," Daniel reminded him.
***
They stayed in the study room over the lunch break as well. Neither of them felt like moving after their run in with Dr. Noble. Daniel didn't even feel like eating anything sweet.
Felix cheered up when his phone started to buzz with texts from the previous members of the Mystery Club.
"Oliver, Harry and Meredith are on the case at the moment," he said.
Daniel looked up from the computer he was using and nodded. He had started scouring the internet for anything about the school that they could use as evidence.
"I found an article about the school previously being on the site of a pharmaceutical research laboratory and that the company was suspected of being unsavoury with some of their research," he said. "That's something that can be used."
"Can you contact the reporter?" Felix asked.
"I'll see what I can find," Daniel said.
Felix's phone beeped and he smiled.
"Oliver's found three teachers, Meredith has one and Harry's found none. Weirdly enough they're all science teachers."
"I wonder if we could work on some of them," Daniel mused aloud. "I originally wanted to know just so we could get an idea of people to look out for."
"You mean persuade them into testifying?" Felix asked. "That's not a bad idea if done right."
***
"They have found 10 teachers in the science department, one Drama teacher and two English teachers. The school doctor used to teach Biology as well," Felix summarised at the end of lunch. "I think we've got them all."
Daniel's mind flicked back to the previous night. Room 23 had seemed like a Biology classroom due to all the animal skeletons and plant pots. Dr. Noble must have been unmarried and a Biology teacher at the time of Carter's death.
He was even more sure that she was his murderer.
The case was very sad.
The only question was what to do next.
He really needed solid evidence. Daniel began to tap on the desk and sorted out all the threads of information he had.
Carter's parents knew the truth, but would never say anything because they wanted Carter's body.
The scientific researchers from the laboratory definitely knew what had been going on 20 years ago. Whether or not those people knew much about Carter wasn't something he could gauge. They might have to get evidence for the deaths of the drug trial volunteers 20 years ago instead.
The headmaster and Dr. Noble were the only ones he was sure knew everything.
He needed to work out the weakest link.
The oldest scientist?
Felix's phone buzzed again and he didn't react. His mind was busy working out threads to follow.
"...Daniel…"
Daniel was drawn out his thoughts and turned his head. Felix looked very serious.
"The headmaster has offered my parents 2 million pounds if they take his investment offer…"
"Oh."
There wasn't much he could say.
Naturally if Felix's parents chose to take the investment the headmaster would be quite involved in their business. It would probably to the point that it would affect their business decisions. That was quite a concern for the Alburies if the headmaster started to force them to do things that would damage their company.
"My parents are very willing to accept the offer now. I think we've run out of time now. It didn't take long for the other club members to be told to leave the club once the headmaster had decided to take action. Do you have a plan?"
Daniel frowned. He had the wisp of a plan in his mind, he just needed to grab it properly so he could work out out something that was foolproof.
"I think so."
Felix laid a hand on his shoulder.
"I have faith in you. Please solve this quickly."
Daniel didn't dare be affectionate back in case someone was watching.
"We're working on this together," Felix added softly. "I'll help you with anything you need."
***
When the bell rang to signal the end of the last lesson, Daniel and Felix took a leisurely walk to the school doctor's office. Daniel had found out from reading everything on the school website and pamphlets that first aid treatment was available until late afternoon in case of any injuries during the after school club sessions. That meant Dr. Noble would still be around in her office.
Daniel knocked on the door and didn't wait for an answer this time.
The room was a little darker this time and the curtains were drawn around all the beds. The school doctor was sitting at a desk in the corner reading a book. The smell of lilies was heavier in the air now that the windows were closed.
Daniel went straight in with his first question.
"Dr. Noble, why did you murder your nephew?"
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