Read Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy Page 25

Amanda insisted on sitting as far away from the scene of her incident as possible, which meant that they ended up in the first row. She didn’t like being so close—it made you conspicuous and people on the stage could spit on you if they got too enthusiastic—but the good thing was that she couldn’t see any of the other students except the ones to either side. Of course if she threw up again for any reason, everyone would see, whereas if she were in the back no one would, unless they turned around.

  While she was contemplating the optimum seating arrangement, Headmaster Thrillkill, Professor Stegelmeyer, and Professor Scribbish took the stage.

  “Hm ummm,” Thrillkill cleared his throat. The hubbub stopped instantly. “Good morning, class,” he said. “We are here today to tell you about your term project, which will take place under the supervision of Professors Stegelmeyer and Scribbish.” The two teachers looked out at the class sternly. The mood seemed way more serious than the occasion warranted and Amanda was tempted to laugh. She looked over at Ivy, who looked like she too was stifling the giggles.

  “The project will count for half of your grade. You may work with others but you must turn in your own report, which will be due the last day of school. The report will comprise at least a hundred pages and is to include images documenting the crime scene, evidence, suspects, and any locations you deem important. You will upload your report to the Legatum intranet. You will also present your findings at a special assembly that day. The four houses—Holmes, Father Brown, Dupin, and Van Helden—will compete against each other. The winning house will enjoy special privileges next term, including a custom tour of London. We encourage teamwork, but if you are found copying someone else’s work you will be summarily expelled. Legatum has a zero tolerance cheating policy.”

  Boy, this was something. A hundred pages? The only time Amanda had ever written a hundred pages was when she’d created screenplays, and those had tons of white space. This report sounded way harder, although she did like the idea of having special privileges if her house won, which she was sure it would. With her, Ivy, Amphora, Simon, and Nick working at it, they couldn’t fail. Fortunately the Wiffle kid was in another house—Van Helden, she thought. She wouldn’t want to have to depend on him.

  “I want to make it clear that while this is a mock crime, you should take it extremely seriously. Everything has been set up for you just as it would be if it were real. You will be expected to use all the skills you’ve learned in your classes in order to solve the mystery. You will have access to the crime lab between the hours of 5:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. Under no circumstances are you to be in the lab outside those hours.”

  Not a problem. Amanda had no intention of being at the lab at 3:00 in the morning. Why would he think anyone would want to do that?

  “You will not hoard evidence. You must make available to the other students anything you find in the state in which you find it. You will also follow standard crime scene investigation procedures so as to protect the evidence. If you accidentally damage evidence, you must log the details on the intranet.

  “We will not tell you what the crime is. You will know it when you see it. It will be your job, however, to ascertain its scope, deduce why it was committed, and identify the culprit or culprits. We are here to answer general questions but we will not comment on specifics of the case. If you want to know anything that has to do with school rules and policies, we will help you. If you run out of supplies, we are here to help. We will also direct you to sources that may assist you with topics that are covered in your classes. But we will not answer questions about personnel or evidence, and we will not help you in the lab. You are detectives. You will solve the crime. Are there any questions? Yes, Mr. Muffet.” He looked at Nick, who was holding his hand up.

  “Professor, does it matter how you arrive at your conclusions as long as you’re correct?”

  “We expect you to show your work. We will decide on the merit of the methods. We heavily discourage guesswork, for example.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  “Other questions? Miss Halpin, please come see me this afternoon to discuss your special requirements.” He peered over his glasses at Ivy.

  “Yes, Professor.” Ivy would have a hard time providing images. Amanda couldn’t imagine how she’d solve the mystery but she didn’t seem to be worrying about it.

  Thrillkill turned to leave the stage. “You are dismissed. Good luck, everyone.”