After taking note of the names of the two students in his notepad, Detective Okoye decided to check out the new CCTV camera that was found. He knew that if there was a separate camera then it would have been connected to the principal's computer.

   As he approached the admin block, he saw his partner talking with some officers there.

  "And you decided to come." He simply said, walking past the man. His partner ran after him grinning cheekily.

   "My wife just gave birth. You don't expect me to leave her in the hospital to run after a teen murderer, do you?" The man said. Okoye raised his eyebrows at his partner's knowledge. "The officers outside briefed me." The man added.

   "Jamaal, congrats on your wife's delivery but let's focus on the case, shall we?" He said and Jamaal nodded. They both entered the principal's office and Okoye headed straight to the computer on the desk. "A different security camera was found at the entrance of this building and it's not connected to the control room. Can you find out if it's connected to this computer?" He asked. 

   "Anything that has to do with computers is my specialty." Jamaal boasted. He sat on the chair and began to type on the computer. A few minutes later, he sighed while turning to face his partner. "Done. The footages were locked but I have my ways." He said, wiggling his eyebrows. Okoye rushed to his side ignoring the smug look on his face.

   "Retrieve the footage of August 28th, around nine o'clock. That's when the principal arrived in the school." He said. Jamaal went straight to the search bar and typed the date and time. A video popped up and he opened it.

   Five minutes into the video, they both saw the principal walk into the building and a few minutes later, a girl walked in. Jamaal quickly paused the video and looked at his partner.

   "Do you think she's the one?" He asked in a whisper. Okoye stared at the screen for some time and played the video. In the video, a boy walked towards the block but didn't enter. Barely a minute later, the girl walked out of the building shakily. She and the boy talked for some time and they both left.

   Okoye paused the video this time and rubbed his jaw. If the students were having their night prep, then why would a student meet the principal that late at night?

   "Officer." Okoye called the officer that stood by the door. "Call me the teacher in charge of prep. If the prep classes are divided based on gender, then call the teacher in charge of the girls' class." He ordered and the officer saluted before rushing out.

    The two detectives walked to the door of the office. A few minutes later, the officer returned with a smallish woman behind him. She looked at her surroundings in fear as she approached them.

   "Good day teacher. We just want to ask you a few questions." Detective Okoye said. Jamaal took out his notepad and pen and looked at Okoye expectantly. "I assume you were in charge of the prep class the night the incident occurred." he said and she nodded.

   "Y..yes sir. The girls' class." She stuttered and Okoye nodded.

  "After the prep started, did any student leave the class ten to fifteen minutes later?" He asked. The woman furrowed her eyesbrows on confusion and shook her head.

  "I'm not sure." She said, tapping her bag. She thought for a while before gasping. "The principal went round the classes when prep started. It was the first time he did so since he never came that late on Sundays. After he left, a student said she wanted to use the restroom. I told her we just started the prep class but she said it was urgent and I let her go." The teacher explained. Okoye nodded his head at the information while Jamaal scribbled on his notepad. The woman looked from one detective to the other before widening her eyes.

    "Did she- did she k..ki-" she stuttered.

   "We are not sure of anything yet. We were just asking." He assured her. She nodded but the shock didn't leave her face. "Now, what is the name of the student that left the class?" He asked.

   "Her name is Natasha, Natasha Adams."

****

Three days to the murder.

    Damien and Kelvin rushed to the back of the school, towards the rear gate. They both made sure that no one was following them or would notice their absence before leaving.

   "Are you sure the key would be ready by now?" Damien asked his friend.

   "It should. Bartho is always accurate about stuff like this." Kelvin replied. As the approached the gate, Bartho entered the school with a tattered bag in his hand. He saw the two boys and smiled.

   "E be like say una dey time me. I just dey come from my uncle's shop." He said to them. He took a see through nylon out of the bag he was holding and gave it to them. Damien quickly took and brought out the key inside. "Una sure say na phone you wan collect?" Bartho asked again and Kelvin sighed.

   "What else are we going to collect if not phone eh?" He asked and Bartho shrugged.

   "I no want make person come cast me o or call police for me say dem dey look for something important." He warned and the two boys nodded.

   "Once the key works, we'll give you your balance or even extra." Damien assured him and the gateman grinned.

   Damien removed the golden chain on his neck and laced the key with his chain making it look like a pendant.

   "To avoid story that touches." He muttered. They thanked the gateman again and walked back to the academic block. 

   "When do we go for the papers?" Kelvin asked as they drew closer to their classroom.

   "Sunday night. The principal doesn't come to school on Sundays and even if he does he won't stay till late. That's when we'll move. Immediately after prep is over, when the compound is still noisy. We'll go in and out without anyone noticing we're gone." Damien explained, "We'll enter through that small space for window, the one on the ground floor." He added. Kelvin stopped in his tracks when a thought crossed his mind.

   "Wait o. We didn't think of something. How do we enter the principal's office? It'll be locked." Kelvin said and to his surprise, his friend laughed.

   "YOU didn't think of that one." Damien corrected, "The principal's door is a little faulty. Twist the handle and push, twist it again and push it harder and you have an open door." Damien explained smugly.

    "Damn!" Kelvin exclaimed, "How did you know about that one?" He asked in astonishment.

   "Do you remember that time the old gateman wrote the names of students that snuck out including ours and kept it on the principal's table?" Damien asked and Kelvin nodded.

  "That week the principal was sick and surprisingly, he never saw the paper." Kelvin said.

   "Let's just say I tried my luck with the door and took the paper." Damien said and Kelvin opened his eyes twice the size.

   "Guy!" He exclaimed, "the quiet ones are the deadliest. You were just sitting there that time and we were wetting our pants, thinking we'd get expelled." He added. "You have to teach me your ways. I can't even go a few minutes with somebody's secret without telling you everything." He sighed. Damien laughed at his fake frown. 

   They reached the entrance to their class and saw Joy and Sam walking out. Kelvin gave a wolf whistle gaining their attention. Joy hissed and quickly walked the opposite direction.

   "Sam Sam, how far na?" Kelvin asked, grinning at the class prefect. The boy in question shook his head with so much force.

   "It's not like that abeg." He defended immediately before adding, "You know my heart will always be for your sister." Kelvin's face twisted in disgust at the statement.

   "Heart kill you there. She's twice your age sef." He said, before placing his hands on Damien's shoulder and they both entered the class. 

   Sam walked to the direction Joy went. The girl had asked to speak with him and he wondered if she had a plan. Damaging the cameras was one thing but entering the principal's office was a Herculean task. He saw Joy leaning against the wall outside the classroom block and walked up to her.

   "Joy." He called gaining her attention. She looked at him and sighed.

   "Sam, do you have a plan?" She asked and he looked taken aback. He shook his head and she nodded slowly.

   "Let's just stop this nonsense." She said and he looked at her in confusion. "I mean let's just end it here. You and I know it's impossible to enter the principal's office, not to talk of getting the papers." She added in concern. She had thought about it over and over again and she knew that it was stupid to even think of getting the papers in the first place.

    "Just because it's hard doesn't mean it's impossible. We can still do something." He urged and she shook her head.

  "What if we get caught eh? You are lucky, your parents might just change your school. I'm not graced like that. I might just end up in a public school, no school at all or even get married off. I can't mess up my life just because of a few papers." She added. Tears slowly gathered in her eyes as she voiced out her worries. She knew that she had no other option if she was to be expelled. Living in a polygamous home didn't give room for second chances. Her father was a narrow minded man, it was either you were for school or not. If paraventure she was expelled, she knew she won't see the four walls of school ever again. Just like her step brother who was expelled in his SS1, he was sent off to trade.

    "It's fine. Let's call it quits. You are smart enough to ace the exams." Sam said, giving in. The girl before him was no longer Joy the entire class hated but Joy who was scared for her future.

   "And you have friends to help you out in the hall." She added jokingly and the both of them smiled. Joy had no friends. A few people talked to her but it was mostly for an assignment or test, nothing else. Her lack of friends made her hateful so she resorted to being the most hated girl, rather than the wallflower. At least they noticed her…

    They both turned to return to their class when they saw the three musketeers sashaying out. Nini was the first to notice the both of them and looked at them suspiciously.

   "Joy and Sam. Bonnie and Clyde. What are the both of you doing here?" She asked and her friends giggled.

   "The basket mouth and the mumu class prefect; an untold love story." Brume said and they all laughed.

  Joy shook her head and walked into the block followed by Sam. Those girls were the queens of jumping into conclusions and she was not going to exchange words with them.

  "They fit each other. I'm sure Sam is doing it to get answers for the exam." Gabby said and her friends nodded.

   "Abii." Nini agreed. "Speaking of exam, when do we meet the principal for the papers? I never even asked." She said and Brume nodded her head.

   "Sunday night. Before you shout, the pervert suggested that he answered the paper before giving it to us. We need to collect it very close to the exam date so he won't have a chance to change the questions when we threaten him." Gabby explained. Her friends nodded in agreement. Brume looked around before putting something in Gabby's hand. Gabby opened her hand and saw a pocket knife. She gasped before tucking it inside her skirt.

   "Just in case the idiot doesn't take the threat well and decides to do something extraordinary." Brume whispered and Gabby nodded.

   "We'll be right outside so don't be afraid, okay?" Nini assured her. Gabby smiled at her friends and they held each other's hands and walked off.

~~

   At the end of their afternoon classes, Natasha and Tobe walked out of the classroom block hand-in-hand. 

  "Is that your dad?" Tobe asked, pointing at a huge man who was talking with the principal in the middle of the school compound. She saw him and quickly dropped Tobe's hand like a hot potato and distanced herself from him.

   Her father, Mr Adams, turned and saw his daughter already staring at him. He waved her over and she slowly walked towards him. The man towered the principal, almost twice the man's height. His presence alone commanded respect and everyone that knew him gave him that respect. When Natasha reached, the principal looked at her from her head to her toes before smiling smugly. 

   "Daddy, good afternoon." She greeted. Her father nodded and noticed the lack of tie on her neck.

   "Where is your school tie?" He snapped and she unconsciously touched her neck.

   "In my bag. I just removed it after class." She replied and he narrowed his eyes.

   "And how are you preparing for the mock exam on Monday?" He asked and she gulped.

   "I'm trying my best sir." She replied and he nodded.

   "You should. I personally suggested the mock exam to the other members of the school board. Make sure you pass, do you understand? Don't go around disgracing me." He spat and she nodded her head.

    "Once again, thank you Mr Adams for the engineer. I have no idea how the cameras were suddenly damaged." The principal said.

  "Don't mention it." Natasha's father said before looking at his daughter one more time and entering his car. The shiny black Mercedes Benz drove out of the school compound and Natasha sighed in relief.

   "Just imagine how he'd act when he hears his daughter is busy with her boyfriend rather than reading her books." The principal said. Natasha felt her heart sink into her stomach when the words spilled from his mouth. "He is coming on Monday to see how the engineer is working and he and I are going to have a long conversation. If any other ear hears about that offer, say goodbye to your privileges." He smirked before walking off to the direction of his office.

    Tobe balled his fist in anger as he stood up from the back of the parked school bus where he was crouching.

   "Natasha what offer is he talking about?" He asked in anger and she almost got a whiplash.

   "Did you hear..?" She slowly asked and he rolled his eyes.

   "Natasha, tell me the truth. What is going on?" He insisted and she sighed. She found herself spilling everything to him, from the moment the principal called her up to the moment he left. Tobe listened to her intently as he felt the anger in his body shooting up. If it was an animation, fogs of smoke would have already been coming out of his ears and nostrils.

   When she was done, Natasha felt part of the burden lift from her shoulders. She looked up at Tobe only to see him fuming in anger.

   "Why didn't you tell anyone about it? You kept quiet all this time." He barked and she looked down at her shoes. "Natasha, we will figure something out but for now, don't go anywhere near that bastard or his office, understood?" He warned and she nodded before breaking out in a sob.

   The school compound was already empty as the students had gone to their hostels to rest for the afternoon. Tobe hugged Natasha as she cried out. He patted her back as his head thought of ways to get her off the hook.

   "I hate him so much." She cried, gripping the back of his shirt.

   "Me too Nat, me too." He said through his clenched jaw.

 ********
Three days to the murder huh? The end is almost here people.

We've already reached 200+ reads guys. Thanks a bunch to all those reading my book.

This week's shout-out goes to  @Ibby_gal, to be next week's shout-out, just vote and comment.

~Korisa🧡