By the time the last period ended, Maya's head was buzzing like a beehive. She kept replaying the image in her mind — the glint of gold in the PE teacher's tracksuit pocket. Was it just a random keychain? A medal? Or… was it Mr. Rajendra's missing watch?
She didn't get the chance to investigate right away. The PE teacher had disappeared down the hall before she could catch up. That meant one thing: the Detective Club needed to regroup, and fast.
When the final bell rang, Maya waited by the notice board until she saw Likitha and Raju approaching.
"Library. Now," she said firmly.
Raju groaned. "I just spent the last forty minutes pretending to listen to a maths lecture. Can't we solve mysteries and eat samosas?"
"No," Maya replied. "This is serious."
The three of them made their way to the library's far corner, the unofficial headquarters of the Detective Club. Their table was already reserved — no one dared sit there anymore, not after the "Missing Geography Atlas Incident" from last term.
Anush was already there, sipping tea like a man who had all the time in the world. "Ah, the young detectives return," he said with a smile. "Any progress?"
"Possibly," Maya said, pulling out her notebook. "I saw something in the PE teacher's pocket — gold, round, and shiny. It might be the watch."
Raju leaned forward. "You think the PE teacher stole it?"
"I'm not jumping to conclusions," Maya replied. "We need evidence."
Likitha opened her notebook, which was now full of names. "I've made a preliminary list of everyone who had access to the staffroom between yesterday evening and this morning. Ready?"
She read aloud:
Mr. Sharma – PE teacher. Seen leaving staffroom yesterday at 4:30 p.m.
Mrs. Fernandes – English teacher. Stayed late marking papers.
Mr. Gupta – Science teacher. Came in early this morning.
Mrs. Nair – Cleaner. Works night shift and has the keys.
Ayaan – Prefect, known to run errands for teachers.
"That's quite a pool of suspects," Anush remarked. "Any of them acting suspicious?"
"Mr. Sharma," Maya said immediately. "But I need to confirm."
"Mrs. Nair," Raju added. "She's the only one with unsupervised access overnight."
Anush set down his tea. "Alright. Let's split up. Maya, you keep an eye on the PE teacher. Likitha, interview Mrs. Nair discreetly — cleaners often know more than people think. Raju, see if you can recover more CCTV footage."
Maya liked the plan. They'd worked this way before — splitting up tasks meant covering more ground in less time.
"Before we go," Maya said, "let's set some rules. No accusing anyone until we have solid proof. No breaking into places we're not supposed to be. And—"
"No eating samosas until the case is solved?" Raju interrupted, mock-groaning.
"Yes," Maya said, ignoring his dramatic sigh.
Later that afternoon
Maya found her chance during the sports period. While the rest of the class was busy on the field, she approached Mr. Sharma, who was standing near the basketball court with a clipboard.
"Sir?" she asked sweetly. "Do you know what time the sports meet starts next week?"
"Three o'clock sharp," Mr. Sharma said without looking up.
As he wrote something on his clipboard, Maya's eyes flicked to his tracksuit pocket. No gold glint this time. The pocket was empty.
She frowned. Either she'd been mistaken earlier… or he'd moved it somewhere else.
Meanwhile, Likitha was on janitor duty — or at least, pretending to be. She had offered to help Mrs. Nair carry a bucket of cleaning supplies from one end of the hallway to the other.
"So, Mrs. Nair," she began casually, "long day yesterday?"
Mrs. Nair chuckled. "Every day is long, beta."
"Did you see anything strange last night in the staffroom?" Likitha asked.
The cleaner shook her head. "Nothing unusual. Though…" She paused. "The science teacher, Mr. Gupta, came in late last night. Said he'd left some lab reports inside. Stayed only a few minutes."
That was interesting. Mr. Gupta wasn't on their "suspicious" radar yet — but late-night visits to the staffroom sounded worth noting.
At the same time, Raju was in the computer lab, pretending to work on a school project while secretly hacking into the school's backup CCTV files. His fingers flew over the keyboard, muttering to himself.
Finally, a grainy black-and-white video appeared on the screen. It showed the staffroom door from the evening before.
"Gotcha," Raju whispered.
At 5:02 p.m., Mrs. Fernandes left the staffroom carrying a large stack of papers. At 5:16 p.m., the PE teacher walked out with his sports bag. Then, at 9:42 p.m., a figure in a lab coat — presumably Mr. Gupta — slipped in and out.
And at exactly 6:03 a.m. this morning… the video glitched. The feed cut out for exactly seven minutes before resuming.
Raju's eyebrows shot up. Someone had tampered with the system.
That evening, they regrouped in the library.
"I couldn't find the watch on Mr. Sharma," Maya reported. "Either he doesn't have it, or he's keeping it somewhere else."
"Mrs. Nair says Mr. Gupta visited the staffroom late last night," Likitha added.
Raju grinned. "And I found CCTV footage… and a seven-minute gap this morning."
Anush leaned back in his chair. "Now that is suspicious. The tampering suggests someone knew there was a camera watching."
Maya tapped her pen against her notebook. "This means our thief is smart. And bold. And possibly still has the watch on them right now."
Likitha smirked. "Then it's time to make a move."
"Not yet," Maya said. "We need bait. If the thief thinks they can get away with one theft, maybe they'll try again. And that's when we'll catch them."
Anush's eyes gleamed. "Ah. A trap."
Maya nodded. "Exactly. And I have just the thing to use as bait."
She reached into her schoolbag and pulled out a small, velvet-covered box. Inside, resting on soft fabric, was a silver pocket watch.
Raju's jaw dropped. "Where did you get that?"
"It's my grandfather's," Maya said. "Looks valuable, but it's not worth much. Perfect for luring our thief into the open."
Anush smiled. "Well then. Let the game begin."