by G. J. Irrera
broke. My watch fell to the floor; I picked it up and checked to see if it was still working, it was and it was 8:22”.
“Is there anything else that you can think of”, Detective Jones asked.
“Yes there is”, I said, “Within a few minutes of Miss Lawton going by Wendy’s boyfriend came from the same direction. I can’t say where he was coming from but he walked down the hall to his locker, put something in the pocket of his jacket and left”.
I just happened to notice Corporal Brenner’s blue shirt. Even though he was locked outside for a short time, he got very wet and that’s when it hit me. Wendy’s shirt was a bit lighter blue then Corporal Brenner’s police uniform but it didn’t show any signs of being wet.
“I think that there is a lot more to this then what Wendy was telling”, I told Detective Jones, “and maybe a few things she wasn’t telling”.
“Just what do you mean by that”, Detective Jones asked.
“Let me explain”, I said.
As I said, it had been raining all weekend and was still raining when the robbery took place. The driveway just outside of the store was wet and muddy. If two boys came in the back door as Wendy said they did the floor in the store would have been wet and muddy, but it wasn’t.
Wendy said that she ran outside to see if she could get the license number of their car. To see the boy’s car leave the parking lot according to Corporal Brenner’s calculations she would have had to run down along the side of the building for over fifty feet and then run back fifty feet to get back into the store.
With the rain coming down as hard as it was that morning no matter how long she was outside or how fast she ran she would have been soaked to the skin.
Don’t forget when the door closes it locks automatically as Corporal Brenner found out when I accidentally let go of the door. If Wendy had gone outside as she said, she would not have been able to get back into the store.
To get back inside she would have had to ring the bell for someone to let her into the store or she would have to walk all the way around the school to get in the front door. Once again she would have been soaked to the skin.
Now remember I told you that Wendy was obsessive about her appearance and that when I first saw her, only minutes after the robbery there wasn’t a hair out of place.
Now how is that possible if one of the robbers pushed her up against the wall and then pushed her to the floor before they ran out of the building and her clothes were spotless, her hair was un-messed and except for her eyes being red form all that crying her make-up was perfect?
Mrs. Henderson returned to the store and told Detective Jones that Wendy and her parents were ready to leave.
“I think I need to speak with Wendy again”, Detective Jones said, “There are a few things that just don’t fit”.
Mrs. Henderson, Wendy, her parents, Miss Lawton and the police all went to Mrs. Henderson’s office.
I followed at a safe distance and listened just outside of Mrs. Henderson’s office. I heard Detective Jones confronted Wendy with the observations that I had made; it didn’t take long for Wendy to break down and confess; this time with real tears.
She had given the money to her boyfriend; He left the store by the front door and put the money in his locker.
She waited a few minutes and then went into her little act to make it look like she had been robbed.
Wendy and her boyfriend were both expelled; at least that’s what I heard. I don’t know what else happened as far as with the police I mean.
The dumb thing is Wendy and her boyfriend got into all that trouble for fifty dollars. That’s how much money Miss Lawton puts into the cash register first thing in the morning.
What is even dumber is that both Wendy and her boyfriend come from wealthy families; fifty dollars to either of them is nothing. In fact I once saw Wendy spend almost a hundred dollars on make-up at the mall.
That wraps up the “School Story Robbery Mystery”; I hope you enjoyed reading it and I hope you will be ready to take on my next mystery.
By the way, if you hadn’t already guessed there was no second boy or any guns.
There are a lot more mysteries that I would like to share with you, some are not quite done but will be available soon.
To learn more about me, Marlow Phillips, and the other stories that are coming please visit my website.
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