Danielle stopped what she was doing and stood up. She noticed that several medical teams were picking up the dead bodies for transfer as she walked back over to the inspector.
“Miss Ash, I don’t want you going with the team in the morning.” Esa could see the disappointment in her face. “It’s not because I don’t think you could help us,” he said, “but I have another assignment for you that I think would be more helpful to the investigation. How old are you, Miss Ash?”
“I just turned nineteen, Inspector Connor.”
“I think you could pass for a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old if you dressed the part, don’t you?”
Danielle knew that the people she worked with thought she was a lot younger than she was. She wore clothes to try and make herself look older but knew they didn’t help much. “Yes sir, I probably could. What do you have in mind?”
“I’m worried that if this so-called Superman is really good at hiding then we might not find him. I want you to play the part of a transferee to the school. I’ll arrange a background for you in which your parents were moved here because of a job change in the commercial banking division. Your first day will be tomorrow and you’ll go through the same questioning as all the other students. Maybe you’ll have to endure stronger measures such as multiple interrogations. I want you to tell anyone that will listen just how stupid it is to be interrogated when you just moved here.”
“After a day or so, if we don’t find Superman, then we’ll leave and see if you can turn up anything. I would suggest that you try to develop a relationship with the girl whose test booklet was taken. There’s got to be a reason why Superman went to all that trouble to steal it. Of course, this is a fallback plan providing we don’t find him tomorrow, and I want you in place before we leave. If we find him then you leave the school and report to John Sinclair to begin your training as an associate investigator. However, if we don’t, then I want you to report each evening to Inspector Sinclair and tell him what you’ve been able to uncover.”
“Where will I live while this is going on?” asked Danielle.
Inspector Connor raised his communicator and said, “Julie, I need you to set up something for me. I want you to find a living space north of where the crime took place tonight for Miss Ash. I’m going to place her undercover as a transfer student.”
“How far north, Inspector?” Julie asked.
“No more than five miles. I know the person we were looking for was moving north from the school. Any further than that and he couldn’t have made it home by daylight. I also want you to take two of our clerical people and have them pose as her parents, and they’ll need to be the right age for a seventeen-year-old student. I want them in the apartment tonight, and I want pictures available for Miss Ash in her communicator to support her cover. Also get in touch with Dan Onda in commercial banking to support our cover story.” There was a momentary pause, and then they heard, “I’ve found a living space and I’ve ordered furniture to be delivered tonight. If you would have Miss Ash flash me her sizes I will have the appropriate wardrobe waiting for her,” Julie said. “Do you want her to have her own floater?”
“Yes, but I’ll want her to use whatever transportation the students she’s observing use until she develops a relationship.”
“It will be waiting for her at the living space.”
“Thank you, Julie.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone that can make things happen that fast,” said Danielle.
“I think given time you’ll be just as efficient at what you do as she is in what she does, Miss Ash. You and she possess a lot of the same traits. I depend on her heavily and she doesn’t disappoint me.” He pressed a button on his communicator and said to Danielle, “I’m sending you her direct communicator code. Contact her and she’ll send you all the information you need to find your new living quarters. Also, just put all your equipment into your floater and I’ll have your department come pick it up. You go straight to your new home.”
“Thank you, Inspector Connor. I’m sorry that my good fortune comes as a result of what happened here tonight, but I promise you that I’ll not disappoint you, either. You’ll inform the rest of the team about my assignment before I arrive in the morning, won’t you?”
“Here’s the beautiful part, Miss Ash. I don’t have to. Julie has already done it. See you in the morning.” His communicator beeped.
“Inspector Connor,” Julie said, “I’ve taken the liberty of using one of our clerical staff and his wife that is on leave from her job to be Danielle’s parents. I’ll be sending pictures momentarily.”
“That is satisfactory, Julie.”
Danielle turned to go and felt a huge sense of pride that Inspector Connor thought she could be as good as Julie. “This new job is going to be exciting,” she thought, and she looked forward to the coming day. Her communicator vibrated and she answered to find Julie on the other end. “I’ve sent a floater to pick you up and take you to your new living space; it will be assigned to you as your departmental transport. I have also assigned a Sandra Wong to pick up your medical equipment.”
“My former boss,” Danielle thought. She laughed and realized, “A pay grade five, no less.” Then she saw Sandra walking toward her with raised eyebrows. Sandra had obviously been hustled out of bed to pick up the medical floater. She had also been directed by Mr. Whorton to explain how she had wasted the talents of one of her subordinates. Yep, Danielle was going to have a good time. Then she said, “Thanks, Julie. I appreciate all you’ve done for me.” Danielle could see Julie smile in her communicator just before she broke the connection. Danielle walked by Sandra and nodded. The former supervisor’s expression was priceless.
Chapter 11
D anielle arrived at school just before Leila and Tag’s public floater arrived. One of her assigned parents took her by floater to insure arrival at the time most students arrived. She had to admit that all of the security forces and the platoon of marines made quite an impression. She knew about it, and she was still intimidated by the scene in front of the school. She paused a few minutes, looking at all the security people and their vehicles. Then she walked forward toward the entrance. As she approached the front of the school she recognized John Sinclair and Colonel Ortiz standing on each side of the entrance. As she started up the steps she noticed that the girl whose test had been taken was right behind her. She looked at John Sinclair and raised her eyebrows, and he got her message because he, too, immediately recognized the girl behind her. The security officers had set up a portal that each student had to walk through. As she went through the alarms went off. A security officer came forward and said, “Please follow me, miss.”
As soon as Leila stepped through the portal the alarms went off again, and the same security officer turned and asked her to come with him also. “Perfect,” Danielle thought, and followed the security officer into the school.
The two girls were taken to an office, asked to sit down, and told that someone would be with them shortly.
“What the heck is going on?” Danielle said to Leila.
“I don’t know. What are all these security people doing here, and did you see those marines?”
“Sure did. Does this happen very often?”
“No! It’s never happened before.”
Oh, by the way, I’m Danielle Ashford. I just transferred here because my parents have a new job at the bank. What a way to begin my first day!”
“Hi, Danielle. My name is Leila Barber. I’ve been going to this school since my first level and trust me, I’ve never seen anything like what’s going on outside. I wonder why I set off an alarm.”
“Me too,” Danielle said. “I’ve never set foot in this building before.”
“Maybe that’s why you set off the alarm,” Leila said.
“This girl is smart, and honestly, I don’t think anybody in the school I attended was as pretty,” thought Danielle. She also noticed that Leila’s face was open, and when she talked she looked you straight in the eye. “I don’t think she would be very good at deception. She really doesn’t know why security stopped her,” Leila decided. So she placed a mental wager with herself, betting that Leila’s interrogation would confirm that suspicion. “If she doesn’t know, then why would someone go to such trouble to steal her test?” She let that thought play around in
