It had been some time now since me, Bappi, and Rahul began our secret investigation. We had been watching people—quietly, carefully—trying to see if anything about them felt… off.
Eventually, we narrowed down our suspects to six. Teacher Sakib was one of them.
It was a quiet Friday evening when we gathered at Bappi's house. His parents were out, so we had the space to speak freely. Rahul took a deep breath and looked at us seriously.
"We've done it, boys. We're close—really close. I'm sure of it. But this case isn't simple. There might be more than one culprit involved. We have to stay sharp."
We laid out our hand-written list, each name circled and marked with stars. Our suspects were:
1. Rahim – A close friend of Onni. Ever since her death, he's acted strangely. One day he even laughed out loud in the middle of class, without any reason. Rahul added him to the list.
2. Sammy – A girl from Hasan's class. She used to bully Hasan whenever she got the chance. No one liked her. After Hasan's death, she didn't come to school for months. Rahul picked her too.
3. Basit – A gang leader from Class 9. He was seen threatening a student who disappeared not long afterward. Bappi added his name.
4 & 5. The Twin Brothers – They hardly talked to anyone, always kept to themselves. But we saw them speaking to two of the missing students—just days before they vanished. Both Rahul and Bappi marked them as suspicious.
6. Teacher Sakib – This one was mine.
As I explained my reasoning, I noticed Rahul watching me closely, listening to every word.
"Alright, Walid," Bappi said. "You only picked one suspect, so I'm guessing you've thought about this a lot. Tell us—why Teacher Sakib?"
"Yeah," Rahul added. "We're all ears."
I nodded and took a deep breath.
"It goes back to when me and Bappi saw the night guard… you know, cutting up that body. After that night, Bappi ignored me—pretended nothing happened. Left me alone with that nightmare."
Bappi frowned. "I already apologized! I panicked, alright? I'm not proud of it."
"I'll keep reminding you," I muttered. "So you don't do it again."
Anyway, during that time, I was isolated. One day I was late for school, and Teacher Sakib stopped me. He called me over and started asking really strange questions. Took me behind the building and interrogated me like I was a criminal. His tone… his eyes… it was terrifying.
Then, just like that, he smiled and told me not to worry. Said everything was alright. And left. A few days later, the school guard was found dead.
Later, I caught him watching me. Once while I was under a tree, alone. Then again, and again. I thought maybe he was assigned to protect me. Like some bodyguard the principal had sent. How naïve of me.
Then one day, Bappi was sick and didn't come to school. I was alone again. So I wandered behind the building, just to get some air. That's when I saw him—Teacher Sakib—running out of the bushes with a briefcase. He saw me and said it was "school business."
It didn't feel right.
"That's everything I know," I said. "I don't know if it's enough, but he feels more suspicious than anyone else on that list."
Bappi sat back, surprised. "You never told me any of that. Good job, man."
Rahul looked thoughtful. "Interesting. He's done a lot of shady things. I wonder if the police even looked into him properly. That briefcase… I want to know what was inside."
He leaned forward.
"But still, we don't have solid proof. Not yet. Let's meet again in three days. We'll gather more info. This time, at my place."
"Your place?" Bappi asked. "I don't even know where you live."
"Yeah, same," I added. "Didn't you say your dad works at a private firm? And your mom…"
"Died," Rahul said quietly. "Here's my address." He handed us a folded piece of paper. "Don't tell anyone."
As the boys continued their discussion, elsewhere—
A voice spoke from the shadows.
"Is it necessary to kill them?"
A pause. Then another voice responded coldly.
"Yes, sir. They're getting too close. They threaten everything."
"Good," the first voice said. "We shall eliminate them."