Merciless Crimes: A Thrilling Closed Circle Mystery Series (Merciless Murder Mystery Thriller)

by Tikiri Herath

  I looked up, startled.

  It was Ruby.

  Chapter Thirty-seven

  “What’s with the fancy getup?” said Katy, ogling Ruby’s outfit.

  The teacher had traded her designer suit and fox fur wrap for a flowy gold lamé dress that exposed a good part of her breasts and all her midriff.

  Perched precariously on her head was a peacock feathered crown, and around her neck was a gold necklace in which was set the biggest red stone I’d ever seen. Her lipstick was smudged and her eyes were bloodshot.

  I did a double take, wondering where this apparition of a drunken Cleopatra from a garish B-movie had come from.

  Ruby’s part of this rave?

  “Who let you in?” said Ruby, pursing her plump red lips. Her voice was slightly garbled, like she’d been drinking for a while.

  The girl with the braids who’d opened the door for us slinked into the crowd and disappeared.

  “We heard the music and smelled the drinks,” I said, raising my empty shot glass to her.

  Ruby turned to the girls lying about Isabella’s feet.

  “Who told them about tonight?”

  They shook their heads. I could see fear in their eyes, even in Isabella’s. It was peculiar how Ruby commanded such an unusual amount of respect from these students.

  “No one had to tell us,” I said, hoping we hadn’t got the girls in trouble. “We could hear, or rather feel the music all the way in our room.”

  Ruby’s eyes bulged.

  “In your room? Where did she put you up?”

  “The corner apartment reserved for the student monitor,” said Katy.

  “She put you in there?” she said, spluttering. “I told her to put you in the basement!”

  “Oh, really?” I said, forcing a smile. “Sounds like your principal preferred us to be a little closer to the girls.”

  Ruby glowered.

  “I thought you were supposed to be on duty tonight,” I said, rustling up another smile.

  A dark shadow crossed her face.

  “Are you here to rat on my party?” she snapped, her legs swaying, like she had a hard time staying balanced. Katy and I took an involuntary step back.

  Around us, the party raged on, oblivious to the conflict happening near the door. The music kept thumping, and the girls kept dancing and drinking.

  “If we wanted to tell on you,” I said, “we would have woken up the guard, the other teachers, maybe even the principal. We just came for a drink.”

  Ruby leaned closer and pointed a red manicured nail at us. “If you speak of this to Martha May, I will have your heads.”

  “You don’t have to worry,” I said. “To be frank, we’re not Martha’s greatest fans either. Can’t stand that woman.”

  Ruby blinked rapidly, as if she hadn’t fully grasped what I’d said.

  Katy blew a raspberry. “I’m so glad tomorrow’s our last day.”

  “You’re leaving tomorrow?” Ruby said in surprise.

  “That’s the plan,” I said, playing along, ready to do whatever it took to coax her into letting her guard down and sharing as much information as we could glean from her.

  Besides, it was only half a lie. If we didn’t find Brianna by the next day, Martha May would kick us out.

  Ruby gave us a curious look. She lowered her voice. “Why did Martha ask you to come?” she asked. “What does she really want?”

  She didn’t like us, but she distrusted her headmistress even more. This could be just the place to dig for information, especially since Ruby was too drunk to lie or act.

  “To find Brianna Madison, the runaway,” I said, with what I hoped was a nonchalant shrug.

  Ruby let out a sigh of relief.

  “Thank goodness you finally caught her.”

  “We have verified information,” I said, remaining vague.

  “Was she with her boyfriend? Martha’s been driving us crazy about her the past few days. What a pain.”

  So, she didn’t know where Brianna was?

  “I can’t wait to wrap everything up and head back to New York,” I said.

  “You’re from New York?” said Ruby, her eyes widening.

  Katy smiled wistfully. “I’m beginning to miss home.”

  “Oh, my god, I love New York. I hate this stifling dinky nowhere backward place. You girls are soo lucky.”

  Her face had softened considerably.

  “You’re welcome to visit us anytime,” said Katy. “We own a high-end bakery and we cater to the celebrities of New York.”

  “Celebrities?”

  “Fashion launches and socialite birthday parties and such.”

  Ruby beamed. Katy’s words had hit the right note.

  We smiled our artificial smiles back at her, my stomach feeling queasy. Unlike Katy, I wasn’t a fan of acting. But if I showed her how I really felt, I’d be thrown out of this place in seconds.

  “Hey, can I get another drink?” said Katy, showing her empty shot glass. “Something nice and strong?”

  Ruby snapped her fingers. “Girls, get off your lazy asses and get these ladies another shooter.”

  Two students sitting at Isabella’s feet scampered over to the liquor table, eager to follow her orders.

  Ruby was relaxing.

  Good.

  I turned to her. “Do you party like this often?”

  “At the start of each semester,” she said, brightening up. “Except we’re late this year, almost halfway through now.”

  “Why so late?”

  “I didn’t get myself organized well enough, then we had to wait for a warm spell so we can open the windows afterward and air the room before anyone comes up.”

  “Like the principal?”

  “She hates dealing with the girls directly. She never comes to this floor. Ever. Always stuck in her office.”

  “So today’s a good day for a party, huh?” said Katy.

  “Today’s a very special day.”

  “What’s special about tonight?”

  “It’s our chance to welcome the new girls,” she said with a wink to Isabella’s group.

  “Fresh meat!” hollered someone, and the group collapsed in laughter.

  “Where are the other teachers?” I asked, trying to keep an even voice. “Do they know about these parties?”

  Ruby gave a smug smile.

  “They’re too far away to hear anything. This room was soundproofed in the eighties when it was the school’s music conservatory.” She gestured grandly around the room. “Just the way I like it. And my girls would never tell on me.”

  “We love you, Ruby Queen!” cried a few girls who’d overheard her.

  Ruby laughed and twirled her hands in the air like an Egyptian queen. The girls giggled, mimicking her like the mindless subjects of a royal court.

  Katy raised an eyebrow.

  This felt more like a cult gathering than an innocent teen party.

  “The staff cleans up every morning anyway,” said Ruby, turning back to us, her proud smile intact.

  “They never catch on?” I asked. “The smell, the empty bottles, and the stains on the carpet?”

  “I pay Cathy’s team to keep quiet. Those people can hardly pay their rent, so they’re happy to make a bit of extra on the side.”

  As soon as a girl returned with fresh drinks for Katy and me, Ruby gestured us to follow her deeper into the room.

  We waded through the half-drunk girls gyrating awkwardly to the music, until we were at the very end, where the windows were. But all the curtains in the room had been drawn. They were thick and heavy, floor-to-ceiling drapes that didn’t let any light out or in.

  Huddling against the drapes were two dozen lanky girls, standing out from the party crowd, still in their school uniforms. They looked scared and nervous, like they had been lined up for an execution.

  I counted twenty-five, all who looked barely thirteen.

  Chapter Thirty-eight

  “Meet the fresh meat,�
� said Ruby with a grand wave.

  Katy and I exchanged an alarmed look.

  Was this some kind of hazing ritual?

  “Come, come,” said Ruby, urging us to follow her. “You have to see this.”

  As we approached the girls, an older student in a shimmery green gown stepped up to Ruby and curtsied low. Ruby waved a hand graciously over her head, like she was giving her a blessing.

  “It’s a cult,” whispered Katy.

  A second girl in a skimpy black dress offered an open bottle of champagne to Ruby with an awkward bow.

  I looked around me wondering if anyone here, apart from Ruby and us, were of legal age to drink.

  A crowd of observers had gathered now, chattering excitedly, like a show was about to begin. Ruby stepped up to the new girls.

  Katy and I slipped to the side. Something told me we didn't want to be too close to the front, whatever was going to happen.

  A third girl was offering something to Ruby, her head bowed down, her arms raised, like she was worshiping the teacher.

  “What’s that in her hands?” whispered Katy.

  Ruby poured the champagne into the black object, swaying on her feet and spilling the liquid everywhere, including on the girl.

  “That’s a stiletto,” I said, peering through the crowd that had thickened around us. “It’s one of Ruby’s black high heels.”

  “Disgusting,” said Katy.

  As we watched, the girl took the spiky heel and presented it to the first student in the line.

  The poor new girl looked horrified, but the crowd cheered madly.

  “Drink! Drink! Drink!” came the chorus of young voices.

  With shaking hands, she took the shoe and put it to her mouth. The girl swallowed the champagne as the crowd chanted, “All hail the ruby queen!”

  “Gross,” said Katy, as the kid downed the drink. “All that sweat and foot juice too. How sick can you get?”

  My stomach recoiled, but I kept my focus on making sure my camera captured this bizarre ritual.

  Part of me wondered if we should be calling the police.

  Ruby twirled around, laughing. I turned around slowly to get a panned shot of her dancing across the room.

  It was Ruby we had to keep an eye on. She could very well be the mastermind behind Brianna’s disappearance and Sam and Jayden’s deaths. And here we’d been going down the wrong rabbit holes.

  “I bet you she’s the one who’s supplying them with drugs and cigarettes,” I said in a low voice.

  “She must pay the staff a lot to clean this place up the morning after,” said Katy, making a face. “I don’t blame them for taking the money though. I’d clean the whole building for cash, if I got paid minimum wage and had to live in that underground cellar.”

  “Ruby’s not paying them for the cleanup as much as for their silence. That woman has more up her sleeve than she shows.”

  “It’s strange Cathy and her staff didn’t tell us about this party, isn’t it?” said Katy. “They knew we’d find out soon enough.”

  “They didn’t want to be implicated. They’re keeping their heads low and just doing their job,” I replied.

  “I bet you the staff knows everything that’s happening in the school, maybe even where Brianna—”

  A side door opened, distracting her.

  It was the door to the anteroom on the side with bookshelves and laptops for the students. When I saw it during our tour on the first day, I’d thought it was a study where the girls could shut out the noise and get some work done.

  But there was no studying being done in that room that night.

  “Tom White?” whispered Katy, staring in shock at the man standing at the threshold, a wide grin on his face.

  It was the teacher who’d sat at Ruby’s table in the dining hall, the one who’d helped Jayden walk to the clinic.

  I rubbed my eyes, wondering if I’d fallen into another freaking scene from Alice in Wonderland. Just when I thought things were getting bizarre, they took another grotesque turn.

  Tom was shirtless, showing off his toned and tanned body, but it was the figure behind him that arrested me. It was a young girl sitting on a table, buttoning up her party dress.

  She jumped down, adjusted her gown, and stepped up to Tom. He grinned as she passed him by. With a flick of her hair, she stepped out of the room and disappeared into the crowd.

  Soon, another girl in a red sequin dress stepped up to him. With an exaggerated bow, he ushered her inside. After winking at Ruby, who’d been watching the scene, a sly smile on her lips, Tom turned around and shut the door behind him.

  “What the heck’s going on here?” said Katy.

  “They’re grooming these girls,” I said, wondering for the second time that night if I should call the police. I hoped my camera was still recording.

  Ruby had moved toward the end of the line and was forcing the last new girl to drink from her shoe. I guessed it was one way to show them who was the alpha teacher. These students would be under her thumb from now on.

  I marched up to her and pulled her away from the girl. Ruby turned around with a wide smile.

  “Enjoying yourselves, ladies?”

  I pointed at the study door.

  “What the hell is going on in there with Tom?”

  “They’re getting their first experience,” slurred Ruby.

  “First experience?”

  Every fiber in my body screamed at me to ram that door down and get that girl out.

  “Tom’s a sweetheart,” Ruby replied, licking her lips. “The girls absolutely love it.”

  She let out a shrill laughter.

  She’d been drinking directly from the bottle as she went down the line, and her words were getting even more garbled. “Just a little taste, that’s all. After that, he’s all mine.”

  “How can you be okay with this?” I said, shaking her by the shoulder.

  “Oh, don’t you judge now.” She pulled away, that condescending scowl returning to her face. “The girls want it. They ask for it.”

  “They’re not even legal age,” shouted Katy, unable to mask her anger any more.

  “Party pooper!” cried a student next to her, jabbing her in the waist.

  “Hey, stop that,” said Katy, stepping away from the girl.

  “Yeah, don’t be such poopers,” echoed Ruby, pouting. “You’re ruining everything.”

  A dozen girls surrounded us, their angry, dark faces turned at us.

  I wanted to punch the woman in the face, peacock crown and all, and shout at her to stop this madness, but I knew this crowd would rip us to shreds if we tried.

  I pulled Katy away.

  “Time to go.”

  “This is wrong,” she said, shaking my hand off. “They’re taking advantage of minors.”

  “We’ll have a riot if we stop the party. There’s another way to stop this. We have evidence now.”

  Just as I turned around, I bumped into a girl almost a head taller than me.

  It was Isabella.

  Her furious face came dangerously close to mine, as she tried to stare me down.

  “Please move aside,” I said, keeping my gaze and voice firm. “You know this is wrong just as much as anyone.”

  “Why are you always trying to stop us from having fun?” She spat the words out, her spittle landing on my face. “You didn’t come here to party. You came to spy on us. Bitches!”

  Someone had turned off the music and the entire room had gone silent.

  “You’re spies!” she shouted, pushing me on my shoulder, making me stumble backward.

  “Isabella, calm down,” I said.

  I could have easily tackled this girl, but that was the last thing I wanted to do. She may have been taller than me, but I was the grown-up here.

  “Don’t tell me to calm down!” she screeched, advancing on me.

  I stepped back, but curled my hands into fists, just in case.

  “Oi! Stop harassing my girls!” />
  I whirled around to see an angry Ruby, inches from me on the other side.

  They were trying to corner us.

  Her eyes bored into mine, her lips curled in scorn, and the smell of her dank alcohol fumed breath wafted my way.

  I stared back at the strange spectacle of the teacher, a steely anger growing inside of me.

  “You’re dead drunk,” I growled. “You’re giving them drugs and alcohol. Whatever’s going on in that room is wrong. These girls are underage. Do you realize what you’re doing?”

  “I’m doing my best to bring some happiness to these poor girls and you’re spoiling it for everyone,” she snarled. “If you rat us out to Martha May, I’ll make you pay.”

  “You’re the adult here, for goodness’ sake. Where’s your sense of responsibility?”

  “Get out of here!” screeched Ruby.

  “Get out!” echoed Isabella, screaming, her fiery eyes on Katy and me.

  Within seconds, Isabella’s posse had surrounded us and a chant filled the room.

  “Get out! Get out! Get out!”

  Chapter Thirty-nine

  I felt a dozen hands on my back.

  Within seconds, the girls had ganged up and pushed Katy and me through the main doors.

  We stumbled out of the common room, tripping over each other. Behind us, the doors slammed shut and raucous laughter came from inside.

  Someone cranked the music up, like they were giving us a collective finger.

  “They’d have shown us more respect if they knew we were packing heat,” said Katy with a grimace, dusting her vest.

  “They’re brainwashed,” I said. “Drugs, alcohol, and sex, and every one of them is under-aged. They’ll regret this when they’re older.”

  “That sick Tom is a sleazy pedophile,” said Katy, shaking her head. “A criminal. I swear, I’m home-schooling Chantelle from now on.”

  “Something tells me Ruby was telling the truth.”

  “About what?” asked Katy.

  “These parties are happening behind Martha May’s back,” I said, my mind whirring. “The girls are rebelling against her strict rules, and those two are taking full advantage of it.”

  I pulled out my mobile and checked the camera app. It was still recording. I turned it off with a prayer of thanks that it had kept rolling throughout it all.