I took Professor Mueller's absence as a time to inspect the painting in his room a little better.  I remembered Martin saying that he paints over his old art. Maybe under that painting there was a clue.

    I got some paint remover out of my bag, (don't ask, I don't even know why I brought it but it came in handy) and a napkin from dinner.  I wandered over to Mueller's room, trying to make lock-picking into a professor's room look natural. 

    I got up on the bed a poured some paint remover on the napkin.  I dabbed at a corner of the painting.  A white canvas showed up, destroying my theory.

    I took the painting off the wall and studied it.  It was a skull with two candles next to it with a dark blue background.  My hands felt a large bump on the back of the canvas.  I turned it around and there was a folded piece of paper taped to the canvas.  I pulled it off and in my haste ripped the corner a little.

    As much as I wanted to open it right then and there, I knew Professor Mueller would be back any minute.  I pocketed the paper and scooted out of the room.

    In my dorm I sat down on my bed and unfolded the paper.  It was a map of the school, but there were rooms that I've never seen before.  There was a little dot at the bottom where a note that said the extra rooms were secret passages.  There were three of the, one in the library, on in the great hall, and one in Professor Mueller's classroom. 

    I knew I would have to check these out in the middle of the night when no one was around.  I set my alarm for 2:00 AM then went over to Zoe's laptop and listened i from the bug. 

    "I want this painting made by Monday night," I heard Professor Mueller say.

    "Righty-ho," Martin said.  "Why Monday?"

    "Because that's when the moon is right," Mueller said.  He started laughing evilly,  I listened to Mueller tell his chauffeur to take him to the art dealership. I shut off the bug and raced down to my limo.  I noticed the professor Mueller's limo was not back yet.  I quickly hopped into my limo and told Bob to take me to the nearest art dealership.

    We arrived at a small brick building, where two other limos were parked.  I assumed one was Professor Mueller's but I didn't know who the other one belonged to.

     I pulled my long reddish blond hair into a tight bun, put on my studious glasses, and stepped out of the car. I walked up towards the building and was about to open the door when John stepped out of the same door.  We bumped into each other and I was just as shocked to see him as he was to see me.

    "Laura!" he said looking terrified.  I could tell he had not wanted to be seen here. 

    "John, what are you doing here?" I asked suspiciously.

    "What are you doing here?' he asked.

    "I asked you first," I said immediately narrowing my eyes.  He looked taken aback for a second but then recovered with a slight chuckle.

    "I have an assignment to write a story on Sebastian Gunderman and I came here to find out just how much his art costs," John answered.  "And you?"

    "Same," I answered simply, bobbing  my head.  John nodded.  There was an awkward silence of me bobbing and John nodding until he finally said, "Well -."

    "I'd better get inside," I said. 

    "Go figure out this ghost cat," John said giving me the thumbs up and walking backwards to his limo.  I watched him get in the car and the next thing I knew I got hit in the head and everything went black.

    I awake in a dark tunnel.  I felt the back of my head and a large bump was already forming.  I groaned and got up stumbling a little.  I was under a road not far from the art dealership.  I saw my limo still parked in front of the dealership and I wondered why Bob had not stopped that person from kidnapping me. 

    I strolled up to the road and walked towards my car.  On my way, I thought about why the kidnapper stuck me so close near the scene of crime and why he just left me in an obvious place without hurting me. 

    I creeped up to the driver's seat.  There was nobody there.  I opened up all the doors to check if Bob was tied up somewhere.  I popped open the trunk and there he was with ropes tied around him and a handkerchief in his mouth to muffle his yells.  As I untied the ropes, I realized that this kidnapper was not very good.  Everyone checks under a bridge and everyone checks in the trunk of a car.  They are the most obvious places to stash someone (not that I ever have kidnapped someone but from prior knowledge).

    "Thanks Ms. Peck," Bob said getting out of the trunk.

    "Who did this do you?" I asked

    "I don't know.  I saw you on the ground and got out because I thought you had fainted or something but then someone hit me on the head and stuffed me in the trunk," Bob explained rubbing his head.

    "Well wait here.  I'm going into the art dealership.  Then we'll go report this to the police," I said walking towards the building.  I noticed that there were no more limos parked beside ours, which meant Professor Mueller had already left.

    I opened the door and walked in cautiously.  A short, balding man was standing behind the counter.  I walked up to him.

    "Hi I was wondering if a Stephen Mueller has come in here to ask about selling some art," I said,

    "Miss, that's highly confidential.  If you had permission from this man to tell you about his art and if he's in need of money, I would certainly let you know.  I take my job very seriously," the man said looking shocked.

    "I just want to know if he's come in here," I said wrinkling my forehead.  The man wiped his forehead as he thought.

    "Yeah he came in here a while ago," the man said shaking his head, as if still thinking this was a bad idea.

    "How much do you think Sebastian Gunderman's art costs?" I questioned.  The man chuckled.  "Over a million dollars.  I'd give anything to get my hands on one of his pieces.  Say, that Stephen Mueller was talking to me about Sebastian Gunder - ," he shot a hand over his mouth and his eyes grew huge. 

    "He told me not to say nothin' to nobody," he uttered looking horrified.  "Don't you say nothing," he warned pointing a finger at me. 

"Don't worry," I said smiling to myself.  " I won't."

    I hopped into the car feeling rather pleased with myself, being able to squeeze information of the art dealer without much effort.

    "Police?" Bob asked starting the car.

    "No time for that," I said seriously.  "I have a crook to catch."