Free Watson's Case by F.C. Shaw Page A

reasons. NOPE. Keep looking.” He waved his pupil to the door. “Oh, one more thing: IS work.”
    â€œI’ve been working all evening,” Rollie assured him.
    â€œGOOD. Listen, if you’re having a hard time keeping up with all your studies while working on this mole case, I can take you off the case.”
    â€œNo!”
    â€œThis mole case is very important, but your studies come first,” continued Yardsly. “I’ll be watching your school work, and if I see any more late work or missed assignments I’ll take you off the case. DEAL?”
    Rollie nodded. Trying very hard not to huff in frustration, he left quickly. He was doing his best to get all the work done, but his mind was not on it. He also realized that as much fun as it was studying with Wesley and his friends, he could probably get more work done if he studied alone up in his dorm room. He could not believe Yardsly would consider taking him off the case. Furthermore he could not believe how easily Yardsly had dismissed his suspicions of Rupert. Normally Rollie trusted Yardsly’s word, but he found it difficult to do so right then.
    No, he would not let Rupert off the hook yet.
    * * * *
    â€œYou’re what ?” squeaked Cecily.
    â€œI’m staying here for the weekend,” Rollie repeated casually.
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œWesley invited me to hang out with him. He has to stay.”
    Cecily studied him. “Fine, I guess.”
    â€œAnd I plan to do a little investigating. Why are you mad?”
    â€œI’m not mad.” She crossed her arms. “I just don’t want to be left out of the case.”
    â€œI’ll fill you in on everything Monday.”
    â€œMaybe I should stay. My other roommate, Margot, stays every weekend.”
    â€œSure, Cecily, but I’ll probably hang out with Wesley most of the time.”
    â€œNever mind,” she sighed. “I have a lot of laundry to be washed. I’ll see you Monday.”
    Rollie walked her outside and watched her leave in the hansom. The sparse hours of daylight waned as a thick fog oozed in. He hurried back into the warmth of the building. As he entered, he bumped into Rupert carrying an armload of old newspapers out.
    â€œGet out of my way,” he bossed.
    Rollie stepped away from the front door to let him pass. “Wait, what are you doing with those newspapers?”
    â€œThrowing them out, what do you think?”
    â€œDoes Headmaster know?”
    â€œOf course. I’m in charge of delivering and throwing out the newspapers every day,” Rupert retorted haughtily.
    Something about what Rupert said didn’t seem right. Rollie pushed a bit further. “Where do you deliver them?”
    â€œThe teacher’s lounge, duh. How long are you going to interrogate me, detective?” Rupert shifted his tubby weight impatiently.
    â€œI’m done.” Rollie turned on his heel and started upstairs.
    As he climbed, he thought. If there was any significance to the Dancing Men code in the Daily Telegraph , maybe Rupert knew about it since he handled the papers. Maybe he was the one who doodled on them since he seemed to enjoy scribbling other figures. But the figures tacked on his wall were not Dancing Men. Rollie doubted Rupert had learned the code yet because he missed so many classes. This week he had attended Ms. Yardsly’s class once. Rollie wondered how Rupert got away with all his absences, for the teachers never let on that they minded. Why was he absent so much? What was he doing instead?
    Rollie climbed and climbed, his frustration mounting with each step. He shifted back to the code in the newspaper in order to distract himself from being angry with Rupert. He wondered if any more codes would appear on more pages. He anticipated finding out Monday. He had never before been so excited to read the newspaper—
    Besides the one Auntie Ei had sent him. Where was the map, and what was it a map