Detective Okoye sat with his head between his hands in the reception area of the school. At least he was getting somewhere with the case. Whoever it was that tried to steal the question paper was the prime suspect.

   "Detective Okoye." The vice principal, Mrs Isioma, called as she carefully walked into the reception area. 

   "Good afternoon ma'am." He greeted, standing up from the chair he was occupying. The vice principal nodded while taking deep breaths. She carefully placed herself on the nearest chair and sighed. Her size made movement difficult for her and it made the detective a little guilty for calling her down.

   "I want to ask you a few questions if that is alright with you." He said taking out his note and pen. The vice principal nodded and sigalled him to continue. "How well do you know your students? The ones currently having the extension classes." He asked. She frowned in confusion. 

    "I know them very well. They are like my own children." She replied and the detective nodded.

   "Has there been any case of stolen exam papers in the past among the current set of students in the school now?" He asked, giving her a pointed look. She bit her lower lip and shifted in her seat.

   "Not at all." She replied after a minute and Okoye raised his left eyebrow.

  "Are you sure?" He persisted.

  "Detective, this school has a very high prestige and has zero tolerance for examination malpractice so no student here has ever indulged in such an act." She insisted confidently, her voice wavering a little. Okoye looked at her trembling hands and sighed. He knew she was lying but he didn't want to pressure her any further.

   "No problem. Was there any student that was against the idea of writing the mock?" He asked again. The vice principal wiped her face with her handkerchief.

   "They were all against it. The announcement was sudden. The kids were openly against it." She said and the detective nodded.

   "Thank you for your time." He said standing up. The woman nodded and gripped the table to aid her standing.

  Detective Okoye walked out of the reception room and looked around the massive school compound. He was once again in a tight corner.

     A bell rang and the students all filed out of their classrooms in groups. They were all chatting and joking around, like nothing happened. The suspect list was becoming bigger. 

8 days before the murder.

 Joy walked into the classroom with her books in hands. She looked at her classmates and sighed. They were all less concerned, like there was no mock exam in less than two weeks.

   Someone bumped into her, making her books fall. She turned to see the culprit only to see the trio that has made her life hell for the past two days.

   "Oh it's Joy. I didn't see you there." Nini said sarcastically. Joy decided not to say anything and just bent down to pick her books.

   "What was your mother even thinking when she named you Joy? I'm pretty sure she'd be regretting it now, it's very ironic." Brume spat, kicking away some of the books on the floor.

  "What are you saying? She's the principal's joy giver. The number one tattletale. Don't worry, I'll keep reminding you that I was not expelled." Gabby said before looking at her friends, "Abeg let's go. If I keep looking at her, my eyes will become sore." She said, walking to her seat. Her friends rolled their eyes at the girl picking her books as they followed Gabby.

    "Gabby is not going to make it easy for Joy at all." Kelvin laughed, placing his legs on his friend's desk. Damien sighed before pushing his legs out of the desk.

   "I don't really care." He replied. He took out his textbook from his bag and pencil case while Kelvin sighed.

   "I wish I could be as serious as you are. I opened my history textbook last night and developed a migraine." He complained and Damien chuckled. "About what we talked about two days ago, I have a plan." Kelvin added seriously. Damien closed his book and turned to his friend.

   "Let me give you a megaphone so you can be louder." He sighed before nodding towards the door. "Let's go outside." He said before walking out of the classroom. Kelvin quickly rushed after him, accidentally stepping on Joy's fingers. She glared at him as she picked the last book on the floor. She couldn't do anything, if she said a word to him then it would be her against the entire class. Even if she was the injured one, they'll still find a way to blame her for it, after all she was the most hated in the class.

   Damien stopped at the corridor far away from their class. Since the prospective SS3 students were divided into only two classes, no one else was in sight at the spot he chose.

   "And what's your plan?" He asked Kelvin who cleared his throat.

   "When I was younger, there was this houseboy that lived with us. He was the only one my father trusted, not my mum, not my older sister, not my older brother, only the houseboy." He paused when he saw the look of impatience on his friend's face, "The houseboy had a plan all along, to steal from my dad's safe. So when he was babysitting me one day, he stole the key to the safe from my father but instead of using it, he pressed it against a flat bar soap. It was a few years later that I found out that he went to remake the key. He returned my dad's key. Days later, he stole the money in the safe and disappeared." He concluded and Damien nodded slowly, lost in thought.

   "Do you think it'll work? Making an imprint on a soap?" He asked Kelvin who nodded.

  "Definitely, plus we have that gateman, Bartho, on our side. All we have to do is get the imprint of the key and ask him to remake it for us. We can just cook up an excuse as to why we need the key." Kelvin said with a smirk on his face.

   "Now, all that is left is to find a way to get inside the office and to the cupboard." Damien said.

   "But how do we get the key to the cupboard? That one go hard." Kelvin sighed.

   "Don't worry. That one is sorted out. During morning prep tomorrow, we just have to make sure to keep soap in the boys restroom." Damien said and Kelvin smiled.

    "I'm very sure we are twins in a spiritual realm or maybe soulmates." Kelvin said, wiggling his eyebrows at Damien. Damien shuddered before rushing back to their class with Kelvin hot on his tail.

   As soon as they entered the classroom, the principal came into the classroom but funny enough, nobody paid him any attention as they all chatted.

   "Natasha, meet me in my office." Mr Martins said, walking out of the classroom. 

   Natasha looked at his retreating back in confusion. The principal only had business with her father so she saw no reason why he would call her. She retrieved her school tie from her bag and decided to wear her complete uniform in case her father was in the principal's office.

   "I wonder what he wants." She said, trying to fix her tie. She randomly tied it and groaned. This was the main reason why she never wore it. A hand removed hers from the tie and began to fix it. Tobe smiled at her while loosening the mess she created with the tie.

   "Just go and come back fast. Classes will soon start." He said, before adjusting her collar. "There." He said and she smiled.

   Natasha left the class not even sparing the incoming teacher a glance. She approached the office door and knocked. The sound of the office bell signaled her to come in.

   "Natasha." The principal said as she entered the office. He was leaning against his desk with his hands folded against his chest. "How are you preparing for the exams?" He asked and she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

   "Is that why you called me sir?" She queried, already annoyed at the time she was wasting there.

   "No, actually I called you here to tell you that this coming exam will be very, very difficult. It's no news that the daughter of the director of the school board is not that smart. How would you like to study the exam papers before the exam?" He asked, licking his bottom lip. Natasha shuddered in disgust.

   "I'm not interested." Natasha said, turning to leave the office.

   "It's a simple offer Natasha. Don't even think of telling anyone else about what I just told you." He said but Natasha slammed the door before he could complete his sentence.

   'That bastard.' Natasha thought as she stormed out of the admin block. She had heard rumors about the principal's disgusting ways but she never knew she would experience it one day.

   Tobe shifted uncomfortably in his seat as he waited for Natasha to return. She hadn't committed an offense so why was she taking so much time? He decided to go and wait for her outside the admin block. 

   "Excuse me ma'am, I need to use the restroom." He said and he didn't wait for his permission to be granted before leaving the classroom.

   "Romeo, Romeo. Out to search for his Juliet." Gabby snickered and the whole class laughed.

   Natasha sighed as she decided to head to the school garden. She wasn't in the mood to sit in class and listen to the teacher talk on and on like a radio without batteries. The principal was right about one thing: she wasn't all that bright as a student. She didn't even have any idea on how she was going to pass the exam. Depending on Tobe was a lot of work on the boy..

    "Natasha!" Tobe called as soon as he saw his girlfriend walking towards the school garden. She turned around and smiled at him but she looked sad and he wondered what happened in the office.

   "Shouldn't you be in class?" She asked, taking a seat on the bench and Tobe rolled his eyes taking a seat beside her.

   "Is there any problem? Why did the principal call you?" He asked and she looked down at her filed nails. She figured there was no point in telling the boy what went on in the office.

   "It's nothing." She said, leaning her head against his shoulder.

   "Are you sure?" He asked and she nodded against his shoulder. He knew something was up but he didn't want to pressure her. "We should be in class." He said and she laughed. "What if a teacher sees us?" He asked, not making any move to stand up or leave.

    "Let them see. Missing one class won't kill us." She replied, taking his hand and tracing his nails. "Your nails are long. I'll cut them later."

   "No abeg. I like them like that. I want it to be longer sef." He joked and Natasha laughed, holding his hand properly.

    Joy was carrying the class notes to the staff room when she saw the two lovebirds snuggled up in the garden. She scoffed at their nonchalant attitude towards their lessons. She was not even surprised, Natasha probably had an idea about the questions to be written, after all her father was influential and he won't let his child fail. Tobe was lucky enough to snag her because he would be the first person she'd give the answers if she had it. 

   Joy knew her problem wasn't passing the exam. She had that one in the bag already. She wanted to be the number one, the unbeatable, the one child that will make her father proud. She was from a polygamous family, a family where the entire family rocked shoulders in everything and the children competed academically. Her step sister was formerly the best student of Willow Heights before she graduated.

   All Joy wanted was to up her sister and the only way to achieve that was to beat Damien in the mock exam, to become the best. And to become the best, she had to beat them in their own game. If she had the exam papers, then she would have an upper hand in getting a perfect score. She had a feeling that Damien probably has the questions since he was the principal's son after all.

    But if she got her hands on those papers, she would be on the same level with Damien. She looked up at the CCTV camera located at the entrance of the admin block. She knew she wouldn't go anywhere near the principal's office if those cameras were everywhere. Her only option was to find a way to get rid of them.

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