Chapter 37

I stopped off at my locker to switch books around so I’d be able to do my homework assignments, despite not knowing when or whether I’d be able to hand them in. When I opened the battered door, a piece of paper fluttered down from where it had been lodged between the door and its frame. It listed a phone number and Cayenne Proctor’s name. My lunchtime avoidance strategy had worked: she had wanted to interrogate me. However it wasn’t relevant now since the way Jaymon Solassie had chosen to make his views felt was surely not the result of his own initiative. My initial inclination was to crumple the piece of paper into a ball and throw it into a bin, but my nerdly thirst for knowledge triumphed and I folded the piece of paper and stuffed it in a pocket.

On leaving the school campus, I found Dimitri sitting outside the main gate, waiting for me. He looked pale, as though he was suffering from delayed shock at the realisation of what he’d done in facing up to Jaymon Solassie.

“My mom’s going to kill me,” he said. “I’ve never been in trouble before.”

“Dimitri, you’re a hero,” I said. “If it weren’t for you, I’d be on my way to hospital with a fractured skull like Jay Calhoun.” I made an instant decision. “I’ll come home with you and back you up.”

Dimitri looked grateful as we set off towards his house. “I thought you were grounded,” he said.

“But I’m doing what’s right and that’s what matters, just like you did. Besides, what’s the worst that can happen? I’m already grounded,” I said. “Finding Joanna is my top priority, and this suspension means I’ve got tomorrow free. Jay Calhoun’s currently still off school but one of the other hillbillies told me where he lives. I’m going to talk to him tomorrow to find out what he and his family know.”

“Don’t you think it funny that Principal Hochstadler didn’t ask about Joanna?” asked Dimitri.

“Perhaps he doesn’t even know she’s missing. It’s strange she wasn’t mentioned during the Home Room notices. You’d think the police would be keen to know whether anyone saw her in the town centre after she left me.”

“But if Mrs Gibbons saw everything, surely she heard everything too and told the Principal.”

“That’s a good point. Perhaps the police are keeping her disappearance quiet for some reason, and the school staff have been briefed not to mention her,” I hazarded.

The rest of the way to Dimitri’s we continue to muse over this conundrum but didn’t reach any conclusions. His mom wasn’t home, most likely out doing voluntary work.

“You wait here,” said Dimitri, indicating the lounge. “I’ll try to access the hotel security camera footage for you.” He was secretive about the hacking tools he used and I respected that.

I gingerly lowered myself onto the sofa, wincing as my aching stomach grumbled in protest. Taking my laptop out of my backpack, I found I was still able to access the Antonovs’ WiFi as the password hadn’t been changed since the previous day. Using a map website that provided an aerial view of the mountain, I eventually managed to locate the track Hailey had described and followed it up the mountainside until it petered out upon reaching a yard with buildings. I calculated the distance from my home at about eight miles as the crow flies. I switched to the website’s map view and saw the yard and buildings bore the legend ‘Calhoun’s Place’, just as Hailey had said.

Next I accessed the town newspaper’s website. There in the latest news was confirmation that I really hadn’t wanted. It reported that, according to an unidentified source, all branches of local law enforcement were engaged in the search for a schoolgirl who had gone missing on Saturday. The girl wasn’t named but there was no doubt in my mind who it was.

Dimitri appeared at the lounge door. “I’ve got it,” he said smugly. “It’s downloading at this very moment.”

“You’re a genius as well as a hero.”

I followed Dimitri to the server room. “It’s still downloading,” he said disappointedly.

“Must be very high definition.”

Dimitri clicked through a couple of windows on the server. “It’s a huge file. They must record twenty four hours at a time from each camera. Luckily it’s a fast connection and the download is over half way. Would you like a soda while we wait?”

“Please.” I was feeling hungry after missing out on a proper lunch.

I followed Dimitri to the kitchen, where he grabbed a couple of sodas from seemingly endless supply kept in the fridge.

“Why did you stay behind after the Principal kicked us out?” Dimitri asked.

“I was asking about Coach Budd and the Tri-State Championships. Apparently Coach Budd suddenly decided to retire and, unless another coach volunteers their time to run the cross-country team, we won’t be able to take our place in the Championships.”

“That sucks,” said Dimitri.

“Yes,” I agreed. “But the Principal managed to track down the trophies we won. Mine are in my backpack.”

“Cool,” said Dimitri. “Let’s have a look.”

I’d left my backpack in the lounge so we headed there. I took out my trophy and medallion and handed them to Dimitri.

“My mom would love me to bring something like these home to show off,” he admitted, as he respectfully examined the pair. “They’ve even been engraved with your name.”

“And they spelt it right,” I chuckled. “That was the first thing I checked.”

After Dimitri handed back the trophies I returned them to my backpack, then we made our way back to the server room.

“Great, the download has finished,” announced Dimitri. “Let’s see what it shows.”

Initially there wasn’t much to see as it was dark and there was nobody around.

“Fast forward to just before 10.30 am,” I said.

Dimitri skimmed forward to 10.26am then returned to normal playback speed. It was now light and the security camera was recording passers-by. The quality was very good for a CCTV system: there wasn’t the usual problem of trying to identify individuals by squinting at blurry faces. At 10.29 am, the recording showed Jo and me exiting the hotel dressed in our prom finery. It showed us talking, then me taking Jo’s hands in mine, Jo turning away to leave, then turning back and kissing me on the lips.