chapter ten

A new clue. An accidental encounter. but still stuck on square number one.

        I spent most of Sunday in the library, pretending to work on my history paper when I was in fact making lists—one for each of my suspects. I made three columns in my notebook and wrote down anything abstruse that I had witnessed, hoping the juxtaposition would help me to make some shrewd deductions, or at least an educated guess. Unfortunately, when I was done, each of the guys still was a suspect. Every one of them came off as corrupt in some fashion.

I was still at square one. But not for long. I was going to solve this case even if it killed me.

Monday proved to be the warmest day of winter so far, which I took to be an auspicious sign. After classes, I went to the quad to stake out the post office. The facility closed at 5 P.M., and I knew Sehun would be working. I had decided to tail him and see if he did anything odd after work. If there was something going on with him, it definitely hinged on the post office. It was the best lead I had. 

I sat on a bench alongside the ancient building, a textbook open on my lap. I was hidden from view of the main entrance, but I'd be able to see if anyone walked out. Luckily, there were other kids out and about, so i was able to blend in—just a regular student enjoying the relatively balmy day. 

At precisely 5:03, the door to the post office opened and slammed, and Sehun took off across the pathway to the guys' dorm. In the dusk, I could just make out the outline of a package as he shoved it furtively under his jacket. My skin sizzled with excitement—and apprehension. This could be it! Yay! But I didn't want Sehun to be the guilty party. Damn. 

I mean, could I really be attracted to a criminal? 

I waited until he was a good twenty yards ahead of me, then I tucked my book away and scurried after him. He entered the form through the back door, so I waited a count of thirty (I was getting better at this) and then snuck in. Instead of stopping at his own floor, Sehun continued upstairs to the third. After the door closed on the hallway, I jogged up and glanced through the slim window down the hall. Sehun was knocking on the door to Jongin's room. 

I held my breath. Jongin opened the door, and the two of them exchanged curt greetings. No camaraderie between these two, that was for sure. Then, Sehun ped his jacket and handed over the package to Jongin. My heat felt as if it was pounding in my temples as Jongin slapped a wad of cash into Sehun's hand. This was it. Clear evidence. Sehun and Jongin obviously were colluding. 

But was Sehun selling Jongin drugs right now, or was he simply delivering the pills to Jongin, who would then sell them to others later? Either way, it was obvious that Sehun was complicit in the crime. Suddenly I felt as if I needed to sit down. Sehun was guilty. How could he be guilty? 

Sehun did a cursory check of the bills in his hand. It didn't seem like an exorbitant amount of money to me, but I didn't have time to dwell on what that might mean. Sehun didn't dawdle. The door closed, and he turned toward me and started back down the hall. My heart hit my throat and I went to run back downstairs, but then realized I'd never make it all the way out without Sehun hearing my running footsteps. Thinking fast, I headed upstairs instead, toward the fourth floor. As the door opened, I sat down quietly on the stairs above and pressed myself against the wall, hoping against hope that Sehun wouldn't randomly decide to go up instead of down. 

He didn't. I listened as he descended the stairs. The door to the second floor opened and slammed. I was safe. 

Impetuously, I jumped up and ran back down to the third floor. Something inside of me was telling me that now was the time to catch Jongin red-headed. Chances were he was opening the package and inspecting its contents right then. If I could catch him in the act, I could call in Kris and this could all be over by tonight. 

I paused in front of Jongin's door, took a breath, and tried the doorknob. It turned and clicked quietly. Locked. 

Dammit! There was only one thing left to do. I raised my hand and pounded on the door. There was an instant stream of incoherent mumbling, then the sound of crinkling paper and plastic wrap. I cursed under my breath. Whatever Jongin had received, he was hiding it right then. By the time the door opened, his hairline was dotted with sweat. 

He seemed surprised and bemused when he saw me standing there, as if my presence were a huge quandary. He even struck his head out into the hallway to look both ways and make sure it was just me. For my part, I felt nothing but rancor in his presence. I so wanted Sehun to be innocent that in three seconds I had rashly decided that Jongin had somehow coerced Sehun into being his accomplice. The fault, in my mind, rested entirely on Jongin's shoulders. He was, after all, still the biggest I'd met on campus. It would be perfect if I could arrest him and find Sehun and Yixing, both of whom I liked, to be blameless. 

"Hey!" I said, shoving by him into the room. My eyes did a quick scan of Jongin's side of the place. There was nothing. No box. No wrapping. No pills. Nada. 

"Hey. What're you doing here?" Jongin asked, closing the door. His expression was almost malevolent as he turned to me. I obviously had interrupted something important. As if I didn't know that. But his behavior only underscored that fact. 

All I needed to know was, where he had hidden the box. "Oh...I just thought I'd drop by," I said, sitting down on his bed. I bounced a couple of times to see if I could hear any paper crinkling, thinking he may have shoved everything under th mattress. All I heard was the squeaking of the springs. 

"Uh huh," Jongin said, hovering over me. He eyed me up and down as if he was trying to figure me out. "What for?" 

"Oh, you know, just to say hi," I said with a shrug. 

Maybe it was under the bed. I yanked my hat off and twirled it around my finger until it flew right off. Jongin and I both hit the ground to retrieve it, and I checked under the bed. here was a ton of crap under there, but it was too dark in the room to tell if any of it was a freshly opened box. This little excursion was not going well. 

When I stood up again, Jongin handed me back my hat, and there was something completely different in the way he was looking at me. His irate frown had turned into a smug smile, his eyes were now alight with his usual cockiness, and he was standing way too close to me for comfort. 

"Okay, I get it," he said, nodding. "I see why you're here." 

"You do?" I asked, bewildered by his mercurial behavior. 

"Don't play coy, now." he said. "I don't know why I didn't figure it out before. You come to karate... you sit with us at lunch... you're all o