"What? He lied?" cried Nathan in disbelief. "About what?"

"He stated not to have been in any other wagon, yet I saw him move away from the spectators during the argument between Caervey and Rowle. I didn't know who he was back then, but he was noticeable when everybody else was moving closer."

"Oh boy, if that ain't major league suspicious, I don't know what is."

"Giving him the benefit of the doubt, he might have got out of the bathroom, heard the commotion, looked around, and saw who was involved. In his position, it's understandable to turn around right away," hypothesised Tem.

Nathan resigned to a shrug. "Tough. We have multiple clues we could follow up on, or do you think that's enough to close the case?"

"No, this needs to be tighter." Tem looked back at Jim Krane's compartment. His jaw tensed up as he pressed his teeth together. So much pointed towards Jim. Closing this case quickly would be ideal and he wished he could do just that.

"The best outcome would be to find the items. Then, every skeptic has to admit we are the detectives we say we are. If that’s impossible, finding the culprit should give the teachers enough pressure to lead them to the contraband," said Tem fiercely.

"And how happy Damian and Eleanor would be," added Nathan.

"Uhm, yeah, that too," muttered Tem, already deep in thought again.

"Ok, let me see if I can sum up the clues we could follow up on," said Nathan. "First, talk to Eleanor's friend. Second, talk to Damian about Jim. Third, ask Eleanor about that silver ring we found.

For the other open clues we have talking to that girl," he rummaged through his notes, "Emma Birkels, about her missing casket, find the owner of that rat, and talk to Ashley if she has any news."

"I don't know about Ashley. I have a hard time placing her. I feel like she is mocking me the whole time while being helpful." Tem scratched his chin.

"No idea, I'm no expert at understanding girls," said Nathan.

Tem opened his mouth, but stopped himself, again. A few seconds later he said, "That Emma Birkels simply sounds forgetful to me. She probably left her box at home. But for completeness’ sake, we should talk to her. The rat, though, seems like a waste of time. What's a rat supposed to do?"

Once again, Nathan only shrugged.

"I like your order for the major clues. Let's try to ask Eleanor's friend first," said Tem, his curiosity about what happened last year winning.

As soon as the investigators changed wagons, they ran into a surprise. Right there, in the corridor, leaning against a window was the girl they were looking for. Fierce looking as ever, Melinda pushed herself away from the window and came closer.

"Hey there, just the ones I was waiting for. Took your sweet time with Jim, ey?" said Melinda with a casual tone, like talking about some fun pastime.

"Er, yes. A thorough investigation requires a solid time commitment," replied Tem, with a puff of air at the end. At this point, it became harder and harder for him to remain polite with all the snide comments coming at him. Not for long, then everyone was about to see and recognise his skills as a detective.

"Oh, it's all business with you, isn't it? Ah, never mind. I wanted to speak to you because I have to admit, some things aren't adding up for me," she said, the last sentence changed into a whisper as she let go of her usual manner.

"Such as?" asked Tem, one eyebrow raised. So he had been correct in reading her reaction to Eleanor's comment. The question remained why she decided to talk to them. Did she want to help her friend, or was it merely a tendency for gossip?

Tem mimicked her stance and came closer to hear what she had to say.

"Well, I don't know why Eleanor keeps saying she doesn't know what that loony threatened her with. You know, she never speaks of her mother's death. All we know is that she lost her mother when she was very young. Suddenly, Jim drops a comment about werewolves gnawing at her bones as they did with her mother and everything changes."

Melinda stretched out her palms with a shrug and grimaced. "As if he'd smacked her right in the face. She caught herself quickly, mumbled an apology or something, and left. She completely blocked questions towards that topic and ignored Jim for the rest of the year."

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Hmm, Jim must've hit a nerve there. How could he have known a detail that would hit home perfectly?" asked Tem, more to himself than anybody else.

"Yes, I was asking myself exactly this. It gets more interesting. A similar thing happened to Damian. I wasn't there for it though, but Jim said something to Damian and afterwards he behaved like he didn't know Jim at all," said Melinda in disbelief.

"That fits with the fact that he didn't mention him as a potential suspect for the theft of his watch. Although, it didn't stop Eleanor. That is indeed a curious detail, Melinda. Thank you."

"No big deal. I want to make sure you nail that git and find the stolen pieces. For whatever reason, these two seem too scared to provide all the details, but I'm not afraid to fill in the gaps. If I can help in any other way, let me know," said Melinda, her fierce demeanor back in place.

They parted ways and Melinda went directly back towards her compartment.

"Seems we're doing something right. People are more and more accommodating to talk to us," mused Tem.

"But is it really helpful? To me it all still seems vague," said Nathan.

"True, but I wonder if there is another case underneath this one. What's up with Jim having a hand mirror, anyway? I'd wager this ain't the usual gear for a 16-year-old boy." Tem frowned and Nathan joined in.

"You think that mirror belongs to somebody else? Maybe he stole that one, but the owner hasn't realised it yet?" asked Nathan.

"Good point. Well, if some girl is missing her mirror this will close the case for sure. So far we have no evidence. Still, it might be worthwhile to speak to Damian again. Although, I have a feeling he won't be very forthcoming."

The boys went back to Damian Caervey's compartment, only to find Rowle and other Slytherins in it.

"Damian finally left for some other compartment after talking to a prefect. Good riddance. Imagine the train ride with him staring at me in disdain the whole time," said Rowle with oily contempt.

"Do you know where he went?" asked Tem.

"Nah, as if I care."

"On a side note, what do you know about Jim Krane?"

"Sheesh, don't get me started. Usually had been a loner, that guy. Sooo much fun to share a dormitory with. At some point, he found a couple friends one or two years lower. But even with these, he changed for the worse last year, nearly impossible to talk to him. He is pretty much only in the dormitory to sleep, so we gave up trying to chat some time ago. I know little about him," said Rowle.

"Anything got stolen from your dormitory last year?"

"Not that I know of. I had all my stuff when packing." Rowle shrugged. "Nobody else complained. You think he had anything to do with the thefts here?"

"We are still investigating his potential involvement. Thank you for your cooperation," said Tem amiably.

"Whatever. As long as Damian leaves me alone," said Rowle, rolling his eyes.

They didn't have to search too long for Damian, who had crammed himself into another compartment with his fellow Gryffindors. He stepped outside the compartment at Tem's request.

"Did you find my watch? Do you know who did it?" asked Damian Caervey eagerly.

"Not yet. We are still investigating a couple of leads. You probably heard by now that Ms Harris has been separated from her necklace and that she blamed Jim Krane for it?" said Tem.

Damian's face tensed up as he pressed his jaws together, his eyes narrowing. "I heard about her misfortune, but nothing about Krane," Damian pressed out his answer through clenched teeth.

"Is it correct you had an altercation with Jim Krane last year?"

"Yes."

"You chose not to see him as a potential suspect for the theft?"

"Yes."

"Any reason for this?"

"I... I just don't think he is the type to steal stuff. And... there's no reason now. We left him alone, he ignores us and life's going on as usual. Besides, I apologised, and he accepted." Damian coughed. "Pardon me, had a dreadful bean a minute ago."

"Right. So, just to clarify. You see no justification to incriminate Jim Krane for the theft?"

"No, not more than any other person on this train, I suppose." Damian looked down the corridor as if he expected somebody could overhear what he said.

"Can you explain what happened between you and Jim Krane last year?" asked Tem.

"Why? What does that have to do with this situation?" said Damian.

"Well, that's what we're trying to ascertain. It might help with Eleanor's misfortune as well."

"Hmm...," Damian paused, thinking, "There was the evening with the Shrieking Shack when he barricaded himself in there. On the next day, he told me that wasn't cool, so we left him alone. End of story."

"What exactly did he tell you that next day?" asked Tem.

"Ah..., I don't know. I must've felt bad about it already, so I was eager to resolve the issue, anyway. Basically, it didn't matter what he said, anyway," replied Damian.

Tem looked at the boy with a thoughtful frown. Somehow, this previously raging boy acted immensely frightened and defensive. There was a lot more behind what Jim must've said to him than he let on. Perhaps more than Eleanor encountered.

"You know what. Now that I think of it. Jim could not have done it. I'm sure. There is no way and he also wouldn't do it," added Damian. "Rowle on the other hand had the means. I'm telling you, look more in that direction."

"Alright. Thank you for your input. We'll take it into consideration," said Tem.

"Splendid. I hope to hear good news from you, soon," said Damian, trying unsuccessfully to change into a chipper demeanour.

"You can count on us," said Tem with confidence in his voice. He felt it, too. At least to find the stolen items. Based on his experience they would show up soon enough unless somebody threw them off the train. Sure, using magic is a possibility, but as far as he knew, Hogwarts students could not use spells to fling things away to spaces they wanted to hide them. While he was unable to uncover magically veiled objects, normally there were signs. He could at least point a teacher in the right direction when they arrived. That must be enough for now.