A locked room mystery.
Tracks
Revenge, a dish best served cold. And snowy.
It was a Saturday morning in December, made eerily quiet from the just ended snowstorm that swallowed all the ambient noise. There were a half dozen snow covered cars in the school parking lot, but the only tracks were from two bicycles cutting diagonally across the lot, ending at the school entrance.
The tracks were courtesy of Ella and Logan, two sixth graders coming in to serve detention. It was Ella’s first detention ever; Logan had served many times – he had a rocky relationship with authority figures.
They were greeted at the door by Malcolm the janitor holding two push brooms. Malcolm was a lanky black man, pretty much universally beloved in the school since he knew all the students by name and didn’t dish out any discipline. He oversaw Saturday detention activity and today’s activity was to sweep the halls and empty the classroom garbage cans. And with that he tousled Logan’s hair (they were old friends) and was off to complete his own Saturday chores.
Logan and Ella decided to take a divide and conquer approach. Logan would start in on the second floor, Ella in the basement, and they would meet in the middle on the first floor.
Morgandale was a long narrow school building with emergency stairs on the far two ends and a winding stairwell in the middle. The basement housed the gym, the stage, the cafeteria, the music room and two large bathrooms. The first floor had the main entrance, the teacher’s lounge and the first and second grade classrooms. Third through sixth grade classrooms were on the second floor.
Ella headed downstairs. This was her first experience with a deserted school and she found it more than a little bit unsettling. She was even more startled when she bumped into Connor Nuxhall in the hallway. He shouldn’t even have been there, having graduated last year. His dad was the gym teacher. Connor was big, 99th percentile big, and had pretty much terrorized the school all last year. Everyone but Ella that is. Ella was tiny but, in her own way, a force of nature and the one person Connor avoided. As soon as he saw her, he remembered he had somewhere else to be and went up the emergency stairwell.
Logan took the main stairwell up to the second floor, passing the Principal on his way down the steps. He took no notice of Logan. The Principal, a heavyset, ruddy man in his fifties, was new this year. The consensus among the students was he would much prefer the school not have any. The next student he acknowledged would be the first; and that student wasn’t going to be Logan – he zipped right by him. Apparently there was a cup of coffee somewhere with his name on it..
If the basement was deserted, the second floor was a bevy of activity. Malcolm was on a ladder, replacing the batteries in the hallway clock. Coach Nuxhall, Connor’s dad, was holding the ladder. Ms. Dziedzic, Logan and Ella’s sixth-grade teacher, was in the hall talking to Malcolm. Further down the hall Logan could see Miss K, the fifth-grade teacher, sitting in her classroom grading papers.
Logan started in with his sweeping.
Out of the blue, Connor Nuxhall burst through the stairwell and started sprinting down the hallway. He used to do this last school year – pretending to return a kickoff for a touchdown. He tried to feint around his Dad but, instead, accidentally kicked the bottom of the ladder. This sent Malcolm flying, holding onto the clock for dear life. Connor didn’t slow down, continuing post haste to the far end stairwell.
Coach Nuxhall and Ms. Dziedic rushed to check on Malcolm. He was dazed but signaled he was okay. The clock, though, was never going to be the same. About that time Ella and the principal, both coming upstairs to determine what the commotion was all about, popped their heads out of the stairwell. Ella, impressed by the pure chaos of the scene, snapped a picture with her phone.
Ms. Dziedzic helped Malcolm up and had him lean against the wall until he regained his bearings. Ms. Dziedzic had taught at Morgandale for over ten years, meaning if you had a sibling that went there, likely as not they had Ms. Dziedzic for sixth grade. She had a reputation for being easy going but not to be trifled with, and often veered off the syllabus to maintain student interest. She was Ella’s favorite teacher.
Coach Nuxhall, on the other hand, was no one’s favorite teacher. Six foot seven, he was in that same 99th percentile as his son. He liked to have kids run during gym while he played basketball. Surviving his gym class was kind of a badge of honor among the students. He set the ladder upright again and went off to track down Connor. Malcolm, now fully recovered, headed to his work room to see if the clock could be salvaged. Miss K was still in her room grading papers.
The Principal and Ella were just about to head back down the stairs when Ms. Dziedzic signaled to them. They came into her room, the Principal tripping over the empty garbage can along the way. He moved it closer to her desk and waited to see what she wanted.
Usually unflappable, Ms. Dziedzic looked frantic. “My phone has gone missing,” she said.
The Principal took the tried and true approach, “Where did you leave it last?” She just gave him a look.
Actually, any sixth grader could tell him where it was last. Ms. Dziedzic had a strict no phone policy and went she took someone’s phone she always put it in her bottom right drawer. That’s where she kept hers during class as well, connected to a charger. Outside of class she was never without her phone; she was a prodigious consumer of social media.
“Did you try calling it?” Ella asked. Ella handed Ms. Dziedzic her phone. She tapped in her number and listened. Nothing rang in the room. “Straight to voicemail,” she said.
“Let’s try Find my Phone.” Ella said, pointing at Ms. Dziedzic’s Mac. Ms. Dziedzic logged in and brought up find my phone. “You can have it ring even if it’s on mute,” Ella suggested. They tried it but all they got was Sound Pending. “I think that means it’s turned off,” Ella said. Ms. Dziedzic just arched her eyebrows. “Well, that can’t be good.” She thought awhile. “I posted something about a half hour ago. That’s the last time I used it.”
The three spent some time searching the classroom, without any luck. Finally, Ms. Dziedzic asked the Principal “Should we check the closed circuit?”
The Principal blanched. “They control that at the district. We’d have to make a special request,” in a tone of voice that clearly indicated this was not going to happen. He thought awhile. “Let me take it from here. I can get to the bottom of this.” He proceeded to tell them he was the head of his neighborhood watch. This did not fill anyone with confidence.
With nothing more to be done, Ella headed back to the basement.
Just as she grabbed her broom she noticed activity in the music room. Mrs. Powell, the music director, was working in there. Ella popped her head in the doorway. “Hi. Mrs. Powell, did you miss all the excitement?”
Mrs. Powell took out her Air Pods. “What?” Ella explained what had happened. Mrs. Powell took it all in and then told Ella. “I did notice Coach Nuxhall going into the boys’ bathroom and your friend Logan going into the gym. Didn’t think anything about it though.”
Strictly speaking Ella and Logan were more acquaintances than friends. They worked the play last year, Logon on the stage crew and Ella with the lead, but that was about it. They lived on the same street and, when they noticed they both were biking to school, they made a pact to bike every day of the school year. Now pacts made on a sunny Indian summer day become more challenging on wintry December days and they miscalculated the time to get to school on the first snowstorm of the year. That, and zero tolerance, was why they had Saturday detention.
Ella wasn’t ready for yet another confrontation with the Nuxhalls, so she went off in search of Logan. She poked her head in the gym. It looked empty but as she scanned the bleachers she noticed the stage hatch was open. The hatch, high in the seats, led to the catwalk over the stage.
Ella made her way up there and ducked in. She wasn’t great with tight spaces or heights, and this had plenty of both. But there was Logan leaning on the catwalk railing, looking out over the stage.
“Did you finish the second floor?” she asked. Logan just smiled. “What with all that commotion I didn’t think the dust bunnies in the fifth-grade classroom were all that critical anymore.”
Ella wanted off the rickety catwalk. “Maybe our debt to society is over. Let’s go see if Malcolm will let us go home.” They were about to pop back through the stage hatch when they heard Connor and Coach Nuxhall playing H-O-R-S-E in the gym. So, instead, they made their way down to the stage and headed towards the exit. As they approached they could hear voices in the hall. It was an argument. Malcolm and Miss K. Ella grabbed Logan’s arm before he walked out into the hallway.
Miss K was angry about a Facebook picture. Malcolm was adamant that he’d handle it. They could hear Miss K storm off. “Whatever.” She did not sound happy.
Miss K had been Ella and Logan’s teacher last year. Logan probably liked her better than Ella did, she used to play softball with the boys during recess. It was a very poorly kept school secret that Malcom and Miss K were dating.
Ella had a thought, she opened her phone and went to Facebook. Of course, she didn’t have an account but was pretty sure, given the level of their teacher’s sophistication, that all the teacher’s pages were public. And she knew her Mom’s account, and that she only had one password for everything. She also had a pretty good idea what post they were talking about. She searched on Ms. Dziedzic and brought up her photos. There, posted just earlier this morning, was a shot of Ms. Dziedzic’s volleyball team, triumphant in their Friday night match. She showed Logan the photo. Malcolm was alongside Ms. Dziedzic in the photo, with his arm gently around her shoulder. Logan tilted his head and shrugged at Ella. Malcolm hadn’t helped his cause either, having liked the photo on Facebook.
They waited a suitable amount of time and then Ella poked her head out into the hallway. The coast was clear. They made their way down to the furnace room – Malcolm’s “office”.
“Did you see Connor’s trip upstairs” Ella asked Logan as they walked through the hall.
“Didn’t see it. Certainly heard it.”
“Is Connor that clumsy?”
Logan thought awhile. “I’ve only ever played basketball with him. And he’s clumsy like a fox – he has a way for his elbow to magically connect with your jaw. Besides, don’t you remember the redshirt fiasco last year?”
Ella had completely forgotten. Coach Nuxhall petitioned to have Connor repeat sixth grade. Not because of his grades but to let him “mature” one more year in elementary school. Coach Nuxhall had high hopes for Connor and the NFL and was always looking for an advantage. This petition was denied, mostly based on arguments given by Connor’s sixth grade teacher. Ms. Dziedzic.
Ella knocked on the furnace door to get Malcolm’s attention. “Hi Malcolm, we were wondering if we could call it a day?” Logan asked. Malcolm was knee deep in clock parts. ”Did you get to all the classroom garbage cans?” he asked. Ella and Logan shared a look and then both shook their heads no. “Well circle back and empty them and then you’re free.”
“Did you hear about Ms. Dziedzic’s missing phone?” Ella asked. Logan gave Ella a peculiar look as this was news to him, but Malcolm already knew. Malcolm always knew. “Yeah. Don’t worry, Sherlock will get to the bottom of it.”
Logan asked, “The Principal?” Malcolm just laughed. “Not bloody likely.” And with that he nodded his head in Ella’s direction. “Always go with the smartest in the room.”
This gave Ella a thought. As they left the furnace room she made her way to the stairwell exit and peeked out the door. There were no new tracks in the parking lot. The only tracks were still their bicycle tracks from earlier this morning. No one in or out since the phone had gone missing.
Ella had one stop to make before they started in on the last of the garbage cans. Logan was skeptical when she told him to guard the door as she checked the boy’s bathroom. “Really, it’s not a sight you want to see,” he explained. But she was adamant. He shrugged. “Go ahead,” he said.
Everything in the bathroom was elementary school sized. Along one wall was a row of urinals, another wall was all toilets, and two remaining walls had rows of sinks. It was pristine today but Ella had brothers so she could imagine what it looked like on a typical school day. If someone was going to stash a phone in here, where would it be? There wasn’t an obvious spot. The grate in the center of the room was too small, as were the toilets. She checked the garbage cans and the tops of the toilets but to no avail. She even climbed the sinks and opened the windows just in case it was chucked out there. No luck. The only anomaly in the entire room was the last toilet, which was missing toilet paper. Ella had to admit maybe Coach Nuxhall was off the hook.
When she came back out to the hallway Logan was intent on his phone. “I got the idea from you,” he said as he showed her his phone. It was Ms. Dziedzic’s Twitter account.
“Think the Principal knew that she was up for the job too?” Logan asked.
Ella took out her phone and brought up the picture she took earlier that morning. She wanted to see where everyone was. Malcolm was just getting up from the fall. Ms. Dziedzic was stepping towards him. Connor was a blur at the end of the hallway. Both the Principal and Coach Nuxhall were just standing there. Miss K and Logan weren’t in the picture. “Where were you?” she asked.
Logan just shook his head. “Emptying garbage cans, I guess.”
“Where was Miss K?”
“Grading papers?” Logan said, remembering that’s what she was doing when he arrived on the second floor.
“And notice that both Coach Nuxhall and the Principal are behind Ms. Dziedzic? Between her and her classroom?” Ella asked but didn’t wait for a response. The way she saw it there were both between Ms. Dziedzic and her phone right during the big distraction.
With that Logan snapped his finger. “I’ve got a great idea! Let’s finish detention and go home!” Ella had to reluctantly agree. Logan made his way upstairs to finish the second floor.
Ella passed by the furnace room one more time. She had one more question for Malcolm. He was still knee deep in clock parts. “Malcolm, we just noticed something amiss in the boy’s bathroom. One of the toilets is missing toilet paper. Is that you?”
Malcolm just laughed. “Hopefully you weren’t the miss in the boy’s bathroom. I clean them the moment I get here on Saturday mornings. They’re fully stocked when I’m done. But if Coach Nuxhall comes in, some toilet paper often leaves with him.”
“Why is that?”
“Hey, if someone has the need to steal single ply toilet paper, that’s between them and their God.”
Ella had one more question. “Why is it so crowded here today anyway?’ Ella asked.
“Well, I’m always here. Me and, lately, Logan. I think the Principal asked the teachers and Coach to come in early for a meeting. One of those “the beatings will continue until morale improves” meetings. When Coach comes in he always brings Connor to let him burn off some energy. I was first in, about 7:30 but everyone followed shortly after me. We were all here just as the snow started. They had their big pow-wow and the other teachers left. By then it was seriously snowing. Ms. Dziedzic, Miss K and Coach stayed behind.”
“Mrs. Powell too”. Ella said. Malcolm just nodded.
Ella thought about this. They knew Ms. Dziedzic had her phone after the meeting because she posted on Facebook just around ten o’clock, about the time Ella and Logan arrived. Both Coach and the Principal had opportunity to sneak in her classroom after the ladder incident. Malcolm seems in the clear since he went straight from giving them their brooms to the ladder and was laying on the floor in the picture. Mrs. Powell was downstairs in the music room, oblivious with her AirPods on. Miss K and Logan were not in the picture and Connor was exiting stage left. Then Ella had an epiphany. It concerned Miss K.
Ella ran upstairs to Miss K’s room. She was sitting there, grading papers. “Hi Ella, I thought I heard you out in the hall. What brings you in on a Saturday morning?
“Detention. Me and Logan.” With that she pointed at Logan who was in the back of the room, replacing the garbage can he had just emptied.
“Hi Logan, I didn’t even see you come in,” Miss K said.
“Yeah that appears to be one of my superpowers,” Logan said, sounding more than a little bit bitter.
Miss K’s and Ms. Dziedzic’s rooms shared a cloakroom between them. And one could go out the fifth-grade classroom using the cloakroom door and then enter the sixth-grade classroom from its cloakroom door. Without having to go out into the hall. Ella knew this, Miss K knew this and Ms. Dziedzic knew this.
As Logan walked out and Miss K returned to her papers, Ella darted into the cloakroom. But when she tried the sixth-grade cloakroom door, it was locked. You could get into the cloakroom but not into the sixth grade classroom. She’d have to ask Ms. Dziedzic about that. But first she needed to nag Malcolm one more time.
She ran back downstairs to the furnace room. She had to admit Connor was right – the acoustics running down these hallways was pretty satisfying. “Malcolm, I have one more question.”
Malcolm looked up. “Who’s serving this detention, you or me?” but he did signal her to go ahead and sit down.
“What did the Principal do after you took your tumble?”
“It was more like Connor’s tumble. I was just an innocent victim. He came over to me toot suite. I assume he had visions of lawsuits floating around in his head.”
Ella giggled. “And can I ask about you and Miss K? We heard you arguing in the hallway.”
“Yes, definitely no more detention for you. Ever. I wouldn’t read anything into that. Drama follows Linda around. It’s her oxygen.”
Ella turned off her phone. “One more thing and I’m out of your hair. Can I use your phone for a second?” He handed it to her.
She opened the browser and went to find my iPhone. She logged into her Apple account. She had two factor authorization on, so she had to turn her phone back on and get the code. Then she turned her phone back off. Now they had to sit and wait.
She refreshed the page. It didn’t actually say her iPhone was turned off, it just said 2 minutes ago for the last response. Then she clicked on Play Sound. She just got that same Sound pending that Ms. Dziedzic had. She thanked Malcolm and made her way back to the second floor.
Ms. Dziedzic was in her room, now grading papers. “Hi Ella. Still here?”
“Just finishing up. Ms. Dziedzic, why is your cloakroom door locked?”
“I always do that on the weekends. I mean today there are plenty of people here but sometimes I’m the only one on the second floor. It can get a little spooky.”
Ella thought maybe she was covering for Miss K but boy that sounded pretty plausible. “Could we try Find Your iPhone one more time?” Ms. Dziedzic was ready, willing and able – still hoping for a miracle. No luck though, it still was Offline with Sound Pending. Ella looked over her shoulder. It also read 35 minutes ago.
Then Ella knew. She checked the photo on her phone one last time. “I’ll be right back,” she said as she ran out of the room.
She checked the second floor, but Logan wasn’t there. Then, down the stairs and a lap around the first floor. Still no Logan. Finally, the basement. There she found Logan just emerging from Malcolm’s work room. “I emptied all the garbage cans and returned the brooms. Ready to hit the road?”
“No.” She paused. “Logan, you need to return Ms. Dziedzic’s phone.”
Logan gave her an incredulous look. “What?”
Ella just looked at him, even more determined. “I’m assuming its tucked away somewhere on the catwalk.”
Logan let out a breath like he had just gotten gut punched. “How?”
“When I got upstairs I took a picture of the chaos left over from Connor’s sprint. The picture wasn’t important but the timestamp of when I took it was. When we compared that time to the time Find My iPhone quit getting pings on Ms. Dziedzic’s phone – I could see the phone was turned off before the Connor event. The whole ladder incident had nothing to do with anything. Then when Ms. Dziedzic called me and the Principal into her room, he tripped over the empty garbage can. So, I knew you had been in there.”
“I didn’t intend to steal it, just keep it and return it later.”
“Well now I think you have to throw yourself at the mercy of the court.”
Logan just shrugged. “I’ll be back.” First he went to retrieve the phone and then up to Ms. Dziedzic’s classroom.
Logan walked in and, without saying anything, he laid the phone on her desk. At first she was delighted. Her prodigal phone had returned! But then she realized the implications. She looked up at Logan. “Logan.”
“I didn’t mean to steal it. But I was sick of getting kicked around. I’ve been here more Saturdays this term than Malcolm.” This was true. One Saturday Logan showed up and Malcolm had called in sick. “To make it even worse, everyone treats me like I’m part of the furniture. You didn’t even notice when I walked into your classroom.”
Ms. Dziedic thought awhile. “You’re right, that’s terrible. What if we declare a truce? Wipe the slate clean?”
“What about the principal?” Logan asked.
“I’ll take care of that. I’ll tell him it was in my car all along. He’ll be grateful to avoid the paperwork.”
Logan looked at her. “What about this,” gesturing at the phone.
Ms. Dziedzic replied “Well it can’t go unpunished. How about two more Saturdays of detention. That will take us to Christmas break. Then both you and I start new next year.”
Logan nodded. He started to walk out the room. He stopped at the door and looked back. “Ms. Dziedzic?’ She looked up. “Thanks.”
Ella never learned any of this because she never asked. Logan and Ella met up in the basement and, wordlessly, went out and unlocked their bikes. The cars were all still there, snow covered. But now there were two extra tracks diagonal across the parking lot. Two leading into school and now two leading back home.
