Killer Connections Read online

  “I was just visiting some friends,” Mary spoke up, looking kind of sheepish by now. “I was sneaking because I didn’t want you-know-who to see me.” She waved a hand in the general direction of the Cottage, which was fairly close by. “My aunt and I don’t get along too well.”

  Janice nodded. “That insufferable woman’s superior attitude chased Mary right out of Firth,” she said. “You’d think Mrs. Wilson was a member of Dr. M’s stupid secret society herself the way she acts!”

  I perked up at that. “Are you talking about the Brothers of Erebus?” I asked, doing my best to sound casual. “Um, I think I heard something about that.”

  Janice shrugged. “I guess that’s what it’s called.”

  “Yeah.” Mary rolled her eyes. “But Aunt Myrna practically bit my head off the one time I tried to ask her about it. Only thing I know for sure is she thinks it makes her hot stuff just ’cause she works for a member.”

  “Stupid if you ask me,” Janice muttered.

  “Anyway, I was hoping when the new headmaster took over he might kick my aunt out of Firth,” Mary went on. “But no luck so far.”

  “Too bad,” Janice put in. “Then you could come back and work here again!”

  Her friend smiled. “I know, wouldn’t that be awesome? But it’s not looking good. Dr. Darity doesn’t seem to care if she stays. And I know that old witch will never leave Firth on her own. Not so long as Dr. Montgomery is around.”

  “Or maybe longer.” Janice grimaced. “They’re two of a kind, those two. Neither of ’em believes in change.”

  “Okay,” I said. “But listen, about the Brothers of Erebus …”

  I questioned them a little more. But it soon became clear that neither knew any more about the secret society. I should have known better than to get my hopes up. Nothing on this mission was that easy.

  “And … send,” I mumbled to myself, hitting a button on the laptop. I’d just written up the latest developments for HQ. Not that there was much to report.

  After dinner, Frank and I had met to go over the mission. It wasn’t much of a meeting, though. Neither of us had any new theories or much new information.

  We’d also called Darity to check in. He’d found out that some of that anticonvulsant med was indeed missing from the school infirmary.

  That was good to know. But it didn’t really tell us much.

  Feeling frustrated, I clicked over to the FirthFirst blog. I’d been checking it whenever I got the chance. There hadn’t been a new entry since the epilepsy thing last night.

  Until now. I gasped as I saw my brother’s photo pop up on the screen. Who is this “student”? the caption read. And what is he really doing at firth? full “report” coming soon. …

  Out of Place

  I awoke to someone choking me. “Hey!” I sputtered, shoving at the hands wrapped around my neck. They didn’t let go.

  Acting on ATAC-schooled instinct, I dug my fingernails into my attacker’s hands. At the same time I brought up both legs and kicked out as hard as I could.

  “Oof!”

  My eyes flew open. I sat up and saw Zeke sprawled on the floor by my bed. He was rubbing his stomach. Guess that’s where my feet connected.

  “Dude!” he complained. “Where’d the kung fu moves come from?”

  “Are you nuts? What were you doing?” I swung my feet over the edge of my bed.

  He scowled. “I should ask you the same thing,” he snapped. “I always knew there was something shady about you, man! Turning up in the middle of the semester like that, stealing my sweet single room …”

  I blinked the rest of the sleep out of my eyes. He looked angry. No, outraged. That was weird. Usually Zeke was too lazy to bother with such strong emotions.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked. “Are you mad about something?”

  “Duh!” He rolled his eyes. “It was you, wasn’t it? Tell the truth!”

  “It was me what?”

  “Everyone knows now. It was on the blog.”

  This was starting to get annoying. “What was on the blog?” I demanded. “You’re not making any sense, Zeke.”

  “I just got a text from a buddy.” Zeke glared at me, looking sullen. “Said you’re the one who leaked those med records.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah. Said he saw on FirthFirst that you’re working with that Nigel dude. You know—the TV guy.”

  “I know who he is.” I rubbed my eyes, trying to make sense of this. “But your friend is wrong. I never met Nigel before this weekend. Why would anyone think I’m working with him? That’s crazy.”

  Zeke shrugged. “Dunno. The blog got taken down, I guess. But it said you’re an imposter or something. And that means it had to be you who spilled the stuff about my seizure disorder.” His scowl grew deeper. “The last thing I want is to be lumped in with all those freaks who, like, have grand mals all the time and stuff. I just got diagnosed with a super-mild case as a kid. Haven’t had an attack or even taken any meds in, like, years.” He shrugged. “It’s only even in the school records because my mom’s a freak with the worrying. She’s afraid I could have a relapse or something.”

  Okay. At least part of this was starting to make sense. A little, anyway. Zeke thought I was the one who’d told everyone about his condition, so he’d jumped on me in a fit of temper. Pretty typical for him, really.

  I realized it also meant that Zeke probably wasn’t our culprit. If he was telling the truth about his disorder, he wouldn’t have access to that medication after all. I made a mental note to double-check what he’d said. But I was pretty much convinced that he was out as a suspect. He’d never been much of one anyway.

  “Look, I’m sorry you’re upset or whatever,” I told him. “But I didn’t have anything to do with spilling your secrets.”

  I only hoped that was true. It still seemed weird that the blog post had popped up right after I’d accessed those medical records.

  But at the moment I was more worried about the rest of what Zeke had said. What was this business about me being on the blog? Zeke didn’t seem to know any more than he’d already told me.

  I checked my watch to see if there was time for a stop at Joe’s cottage. But no such luck. I’d have to book it if I even wanted to make it to class on time. Everything else would have to wait.

  “Where’s Lee?” a kid named Phil asked as the late bell rang to start second period.

  The teacher heard him and looked up with a frown. “Excellent question, young man,” he said. “Mr. Jenkins has been late more than once lately.”

  The door flew open and Lee rushed in. “I’m here, sorry!” he cried breathlessly. He almost dropped his books as he hurried toward his seat. “Honestly, I’m really sorry, sir. Won’t happen again.”

  “But it has happened again. And again.” The teacher peered at him sternly over his bifocals. “And I must remind you, Mr. Jenkins. You didn’t exactly set the world on fire with your last quiz grade.”

  A few of the other students snickered loudly. “Goes to show a charity case can’t hack it at Firth,” someone whispered loudly.

  I wasn’t sure whether the teacher heard the comment or not. But Lee definitely had. I saw his face blanch. He didn’t respond, though. Just ducked his head and took his seat.

  When the bell rang to send us to third period, I was still thinking about Lee. He was in my next class, too. Phys ed. The teacher, Mr. Larch, was pretty tough. He usually worked us hard on the equipment in the high-tech workout room. But if I grabbed a machine next to Lee, maybe I’d have the opportunity to chat with him.

  What would I say? I wasn’t sure. I hated to think that Lee could really be the one we were after. ATAC had taught us never to assume anything. Still, it was hard to imagine that someone like Lee could be capable of some of the stunts we were talking about. Like trying to run down his own girlfriend with that soccer truck. Or trashing Darity’s house.

  But the evidence was starting to pile up against him. His sudden rash
of tardiness. Seeing him steal that key. The mysterious thumps inside his room when he’d refused to answer the door.

  When I walked into the gym, I scanned it for Lee. I spotted him over near the pommel horse. I also spotted someone else.

  “What’s Dr. Montgomery doing here?” I asked the kid next to me.

  He shrugged. “Must be our sub,” he said. “I heard Larch is out with the flu or something.”

  Dr. Montgomery was leaning on his cane at the far end of the gym. As usual, he was impeccably dressed. Three-piece suit. Matching tie and handkerchief. Shiny shoes. The whole deal. He looked as out of place in the smelly gym as a sweaty weight lifter would in the U.S. Senate.

  I walked over to Lee. “Hey,” I greeted him. “So is Montgomery really our substitute today?”

  Lee shrugged. “Guess so. He does step in a lot for the other teachers. But this is the first time I’ve ever heard of him subbing for gym class.”

  Most of the class was there by now. Dr. Montgomery hobbled to the center of the gym. I winced as I saw his cane slide a bit on the slick floor. But he made it in one piece.

  “Greetings, gentlemen,” he said in his quavering voice. “I would say ‘gentlemen and lady,’ but we seem to be missing the lady in that equation. Does anyone know where Miss Darity might be?”

  “Late as usual, probably,” someone called out. A few others laughed.

  Dr. Montgomery didn’t look amused. “Well, perhaps she’ll turn up soon. In any case, as I’m sure you’ve deduced by now, I shall be stepping in for Mr. Larch today.” His face stretched into a rueful half smile. “I’m sure some of you are thinking that the gymnasium isn’t quite my usual milieu… .”

  There was some more laughter at that. Montgomery chuckled along.

  “However, the show must go on,” he said. “We’ll make the best of it if we all pull together. Firth First!”

  “Firth First!” someone called back, while a couple of others whooped.

  I was relieved. With Montgomery in charge, it should be easier to find some time to talk to Lee.

  A few of the guys were already drifting toward the door leading to the exercise room. But Dr. Montgomery stopped them.

  “We’ll be trying something different today,” he announced. “I realize you’re all accustomed to working out on the fancy modern gym equipment that some of our alumni have been generous enough to provide. However, there is value in more old-fashioned Firth-style exercise as well. I’m going to show you that right now.”

  “Oh, man,” someone near me grumbled. “Typical Dr. M. Why do anything normal when you can pretend you’re living in some past century?”

  Lee grinned. “It’ll be cool. Dr. M is just an old-fashioned guy at heart, that’s all.”

  The former headmaster was already directing several of the students to pull out some equipment from the big closets along one wall. Soon they were hauling around a bunch of exercise mats and medicine balls.

  “I’ll be dividing you into teams or two or three,” said Dr. Montgomery. “Then you shall rotate among different stations, performing various exercises.”

  He went on to describe those exercises. Push-ups on the mats. Tossing the heavy medicine balls back and forth. Climbing the rope dangling from the ceiling in one corner of the gym. Jumping rope. Doing chin-ups. That kind of stuff.

  I was ready to volunteer to be Lee’s partner. That way we should definitely have a chance to talk. But Dr. Montgomery beat me to the punch.

  “Mr. Hardy, Mr. Jenkins, you two will be team one,” he said. “Miss Darity can join you if she deigns to show up.” There was a glimmer of disapproval in his eyes when he mentioned Destiny. She might get away with being tardy in some of her classes. But I guessed Dr. Montgomery wasn’t the type to let it slide.

  He went on to name the other teams. I glanced at Lee. “Guess this could be kind of fun,” I said.

  “Sure. I’m always up for something different.”

  After he finished dividing up the class, Montgomery assigned each team to its first station. Lee and I ended up with the rope climbing.

  We headed over there. My mind was already back on the mission.

  “So I hope Destiny’s okay,” I said, trying to sound casual. “You heard what happened to her house, right?”

  I wasn’t worried about telling secrets there. Even though Darity hadn’t called the police, the entire campus knew about the vandalism. Typical Firth.

  Lee shot a look at Montgomery. “Yeah. She’s okay,” he said, sounding distracted. “Destiny’s pretty tough.”

  “I know. But it can’t be easy. Especially after everything that’s happened lately.”

  We were at the rope by now. Lee glanced up it.

  “We should probably get climbing,” he said. “I don’t want to get in trouble if Montgomery thinks we’re goofing off. He may look mild mannered, but he’s a pretty strict discipline guy.”

  He sounded kind of nervous. Was he worried that all those tardies were starting to add up?

  “Okay,” I said. “I’ll go first if you want.”

  There was a big stack of mats near the rope. Someone had tossed a couple right underneath it. Lee and I kicked them into place, then I grabbed the rope.

  “Go for it, bro,” he said. “I’ll spot you.”

  I nodded and started to climb. Hand over hand, up and up. Six feet, twelve … My mind wasn’t really on the exercise. I was back to thinking about the mission. If Lee and I finished our climbs quickly, maybe he’d be more willing to talk while we waited for our next rotation….

  “Frank!” Lee’s voice drifted up to me, sounding worried. “Hey, man. It looks like the rope is …”

  I didn’t hear the rest. That’s because I’d just felt the rope sort of jerk in my hands. I gasped, tightening my grip.

  But it was no use. The rope jerked again.

  Then it came loose somewhere above me. I was falling, the floor rushing up at me.

  Surprising Discoveries

  Frank!” I burst into the infirmary, breathing hard after sprinting halfway across campus. “Dude, you’re okay!”

  Frank was sitting up on one of the cots. He looked totally normal.

  “Ah, you must be the cousin.” The school nurse, an efficient woman named Ms. Randall, bustled over. “Frank was very lucky. Very lucky indeed.”

  “Yeah.” Frank grinned at me. “Good thing I know how to fall. And that there was a big pile of mats nearby to fall onto.”

  I collapsed against the wall. I’d just returned from one of Killer’s walks when Ms. Randall had called to tell me Frank had fallen off some high rope in the gym. She’d called it an accident. But I had my doubts. After tossing the dog into his kennel, I’d hightailed it over.

  “Excuse me!” a whiny female voice broke in from behind a curtain nearby. “I asked for a glass of water, like, an hour ago.”

  “Destiny,” Frank murmured as I moved closer. “She was here when I got here. Food poisoning. Or so she claims.”

  “I’m coming, Miss Darity.” Ms. Randall sounded annoyed. “But it wasn’t an hour ago. It was less than five minutes. And you’re not my only patient, young lady.”

  Frank looked amused. “Based on my amazing investigative skills, it sounds like this isn’t the first time she’s used that excuse to get out of gym class,” he whispered.

  “Big surprise there,” I said. “But listen, are you sure you’re okay? What happened?”

  Frank looked at the nurse. “Let’s see if we can bust me out of here so we can talk.”

  It took some convincing. But Frank is good at sweet-talking adults. Finally he convinced Ms. Randall that he was okay and got himself released.

  Once we were outside, he told me what had happened with the rope. “We should try to get a look at it to see if it looks like it was cut on purpose,” he said. “But we shouldn’t rule out the idea that this one was a genuine accident. After all, who could have predicted that old Dr. M would decide to make it old-school gymnasium day?”
r />   “Good point. Unless someone knew he’d be subbing for Mr. Larch today and took advantage?”

  “I suppose it’s possible.” Frank shrugged. “Anyway, that’s not all we need to talk about… .”

  He went on to fill me in about what had happened with Zeke. That reminded me to tell him about the blog post I’d seen last night.

  “I contacted HQ right away,” I told him. “One of the computer whizzes there hacked in and deleted it. But I guess a few people saw it before that.”

  “Yeah.” Frank shook his head ruefully. “Like Zeke’s buddy, for one. I’m afraid our cover might be blown for good this time.”

  “Not really,” I argued. “There wasn’t any mention of ATAC at all. People obviously think the quotes around ‘report’ mean you’re with R and F Report.”

  “I know. But even if people think I’m connected with Nigel, it’s going to make it tough to get info out of them.” He checked his watch. “Whoa, it’s late. I need to get to class.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Are you kidding? You just said it yourself. Our cover is pretty much blown. So who cares if you’re late to class? Do you really want to let your obsessive nerdiness be the reason for our first failed mission ever?”

  He frowned. “Well, what do you suggest?”

  “How about doing everything we can to solve this thing before ATAC pulls us out?”

  “But most of our suspects are going to be in class for the next few hours.”

  “Exactly.” I smiled. “That makes it the perfect time to snoop around the dorms.”

  Even Frank couldn’t argue with that. We didn’t waste any time getting started.

  We began at the GTT house. Spencer’s room was neat as a pin, as always. That made it easy to figure out that nothing was out of place there.

  “No big surprise,” Frank said as he logged off of Spencer’s laptop and set it carefully back in place. “He’s always been a weak suspect at best.”