The morning bell was clanging through the schoolyard as students streamed into class. Shams sat hunched over in the corner back desk, eyes half-closed, fingers drumming against his notebook. Numbers and thoughts swirled behind his eyes, but something else brushed the fringe of his awareness—a discomfort.
The door slowly opened.
"Shams Sacam," the front office clerk replied, her voice increasing in pitch. "Your cousin's here to take you out."
Whispers went around the class like moths. Shams remained motionless, his back to the whispered fascination of his classmates. In the parking lot outside, next to a black sedan, was Detective River. His forehead was furrowed, the kind of tight line Shams knew too well.
River was subdued until they were on the highway.
There's been a murder," he said brusquely. "High school girl. Found dead in the lake at the old Shinagawa dock. Security camera footage at school shows she was last seen on campus around 4:20 PM yesterday.".
Shams blinked. "Who found the body?
"Fisherman. This morning."
"Name of the victim?"
River tossed a folder onto Shams' lap. "Aiko Watanabe. Seventeen. Class president. President of the Arts Club. Clean record. No enemies listed."
Shams scanned the pictures, information already falling into place in his head like pieces on a chessboard.
The school entrance felt colder than usual when they returned. The art room was surrounded by police tape. Students whispered and cried. River navigated the adults; Shams slid in and out of crevices of authority and surveillance.
Unused sketchbooks were stacked up in Aiko's locker. One was gone the one she carried everywhere.
She had it yesterday," a gentle voice spoke up behind him.
Shams turned back to find a short-haired girl whose eyes were rimmed with tears.
"Who are you?"
"Megumi. Aiko's best friend."
"Did she appear… strange lately?"
"She told me someone was following her. Stalking her. From the upper floors after class. I told her it was likely nerves. But. she was scared."
Upstairs. Upper floors. Shams felt the pieces shift.
Shams inspected the body at the lake. No defensive wounds. Blunt trauma to the back of the head. Aiko was knocked out when she was dumped.
.Find paint or chalk," Shams complained.
River arched an eyebrow but gestured to the coroner.
A few minutes later, confirmation: there were specks of powdered chalk in her fingernails. Art room supplies. Several colors.
"Struggled," Shams whispered. "Not physically—but she attempted to write. To say something."
River took Shams away later that night.
"Security tape recorded some other person leaving school past 5 PM. A person in a hoodie, face down, but they had something in their hands."
Shams looked out onto water.
"Her missing sketchbook."
River nodded. "We find that, we find the killer."
To be continued.