by A. J. Low
Then I remembered the shoe.
I quickly dug into my backpack. Everything was wet inside. The rain had soaked through.
“What are you doing, Sam?” Dad asked. He had stopped pacing and stood in front of me with his hands on his hips.
“I have evidence,” I said, pulling out the Ziploc bag and handing it to my dad. “Here, Dad, Officer Siva, look. It’s a school shoe with the letters J and M written on it in black marker. At first I thought it belonged to James and he lost it when he was kidnapped, but then when I took a closer look—”
“Sam, it’s just a black smudge,” Officer Siva said, taking the shoe from Dad. “I can’t see any letters.”
I took a closer look and realised that the water in the Ziploc bag had caused the black ink to smudge even further. You could barely see the shape of the letters anymore.
“And that’s beside the point, Sam,” Dad said. “The point is that all of you left home without letting any of your parents know.” He turned and looked at the Supper Club when he said this. They immediately looked down at the ground.
“Wait, wait, I discovered something else, something important!” I said.
“Sam,” Mom said. “Enough.”
“No, wait, please just trust me on this, okay?” I said to my parents and Officer Siva. “I really need you to trust me.”
Dad looked at Officer Siva, who shook his head and said, “It’s up to you, Mr Tan.”
Dad nodded. He crossed his arms across his chest. I could see I was being given one last chance. I intended to make full use of it.
“I found something in the forest near the Shinto shrine,” I said. “I’m going to need Watson’s help to find it again.”
“I-really-do-not-think-I-should-move,” Watson replied, looking at Dad.
Dad didn’t say anything for a while. I could see his jaw clench and unclench. “Watson, it’s okay. You can help Sam,” he finally said.
“Please-follow-me,” Watson said.
I don’t think I had ever heard Watson sound so polite before.
Officer Siva, Corporal Boey and I followed Watson deeper into the forest, to the right of the entrance of the forest trail.
I knew once Officer Siva saw the hidden camping ground, he would know that I didn’t risk a night-time investigation for no reason.
“We-are-here,” Watson said.
“I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be seeing, Samuel,” Officer Siva said as he looked around. Corporal Boey looked confused as well.
I was stunned. The camping ground that we had seen before was completely gone. No weird tent, no black rubbish plastic bag. Nothing. The ground was covered in wet leaves and fallen branches like it had never been touched. There was even a puddle where the weird tent had been.
“This isn’t the right place, Watson,” I said. “You must have gotten the coordinates wrong!”
“Although-the-rain-has-interfered-with-my-systems-I-am-certain-this-is-the-correct-location,” Watson said.
“NO!” I shouted. “This isn’t right! There was a secret campground right here, Officer Siva! We saw it, right, Watson?”
“Yes. Sherlock-eats-too-much-but-he-would-never-lie,” Watson said.
Officer Siva and Corporal Boey exchanged a look. She shook her head.
Officer Siva bent down and looked me in the eye. “I think you believe you saw something, Samuel. But I think you want to solve the case so much you are seeing things that aren’t there. You’re not thinking logically. The smart boy detective I knew from before would never have asked his friends to sneak out at night without permission.”
Just then Corporal Boey’s radio went off and she stepped off to the side to respond. She looked up at us and said, “The paramedics are here. We can go.”
“Let’s go, Sher— Samuel,” Officer Siva said. “Wendy needs to go to the hospital. It’s likely her ankle is broken.”
“But I saw—”
“Are you the police?” a voice said from behind us.
We spun around.
“I’ve been very lost for quite some time.”
It was James Mok!
Officer Siva and Corporal Boey led the three of us back to where everybody else was. When they realized our additional companion was James, there was a flurry of activity. Everybody forgot about me and focused on James. They called his parents, they tried to shelter him from the rain and they tried to take his statement.
His clothes were very dirty and very wet and a water bottle was sticking out of his front pocket. I was starting to feel sorry for him when I saw his shoes. They were the same leather shoes with the JM monogram he’d been wearing before the weekend, when he came to talk to my family. They were very clean.
“I just got lost,” he told Officer Siva. “When Emma chased after Sebastian, who was chasing after a monkey, a bunch of other monkeys attacked me. Maybe they smelled food on me or something, but I ran. I ran until I was sure they weren’t chasing me anymore, but by that time, I was deep in the forest and completely lost.”
“You’ve been missing for over 24 hours,” Officer Siva said. “What have you been doing all this time?”
“I tried to get my bearings by using the sun and then the stars to navigate, but the foliage is so dense, I couldn’t see the stars or tell which way the light of the sun was coming from,” James said. “Luckily I knew which plants were edible and which weren’t, thanks to an herbology class I had taken back home. I also remembered to ration the little water I had, though I confess I was just as successful there as I was in navigating.” He took his water bottle out and showed it was empty.
“While the rain was not too comfortable for resting, it did thankfully provide comparatively clean water for me to drink.”
“How did you find us?” Officer Siva asked. “How did you know where we were?”
“A little bit of luck and a little bit of echolocation,” James said. “I heard voices, but I couldn’t tell where they were coming from. I’m ashamed to say I panicked and just ran in any direction, hoping to find somebody. I didn’t even think to yell to try and get your attention. It wasn’t until I heard someone yell ‘No’ that I knew exactly which direction to go, and that was fortunately more or less the direction I was already traveling in. I couldn’t believe my luck when I found you all.”
James’ gaze rested on me.
I couldn’t hold my tongue anymore.
“You’re a liar.”
“Samuel!” Officer Siva said. “You can’t—”
“Where’s your weird tent thing?” I asked, ignoring Officer Siva.
James’ eyes narrowed, but he didn’t say anything.
“Where’s your trash bag full of muesli wrappers and empty water bottles?” I continued. “It’s where you stored the set of clothing you’re wearing now. Watson saw it. You must have been wearing different clothing more suited for camping.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” James said. His confusion appeared sincere, but I knew better.
“Stop lying!” I shouted. “You faked this whole thing! You’re trying to come off as this poor little boy, but you’re actually a manipulative—”
“That’s enough, Samuel!” Dad shouted. I hadn’t realised he was listening. “I am going in the ambulance with your sister and you and your mother will follow us in the car.”
“But—”
“But nothing,” Dad interrupted me. “Get in the car now. You too, Watson.”
As we walked towards the car, I overheard Dad tell Officer Siva that James had been scoring higher than me on some tests, and that might explain why I would accuse him of such things.
No one was taking me seriously, and worse than that, Dad didn’t believe me.
We drove halfway to the hospital in silence. When we were almost there, Mom finally spoke.
“Samuel, you...” She took a breath before she started again.
“We thought we could trust you. We thought you knew you could come to us with your hunche
s,” she said. “I am very disappointed in you, but that does not compare to how disappointed your father is.”
“I…I know I messed up, Mom, but why would Dad be more disappointed?” I asked.
“You remember your case in Fort Canning?”
“Yah?”
“You asked your father to go with you to investigate the ghostly moans at night, and what did he say?” Mom asked.
“He said yes.”
“Actually, he said SCIENCE! because your father is a silly kind of man. But he didn’t say no. He took you and Watson out, and you guys explored the area and solved your mystery together.
“He’s disappointed that you didn’t ask him again because you assumed he would turn you down. He doesn’t understand why you think he wouldn’t have listened to you. And instead of asking permission, you just sneaked out. More importantly, you put yourself, your sister, and all your friends in danger. You hurt your father very deeply, you know.”
I stared out the rain-streaked window the rest of the way. I didn’t know what to say.
When we reached the hospital, Watson and I followed Mom into the emergency room. Dad was already there, along with a doctor checking out Wendy’s ankle. Wendy kept wincing when the doctor tested her ankle, and I winced along with her.
When he was done testing, the doctor said, “It is very likely we are dealing with an ankle fracture, but I’ll have to send her for an X-ray to make sure.”
He looked at Wendy’s chart and continued, “If it is a fracture, it’s likely a lateral malleolus fracture and will not require any surgery and she might even walk out of here tonight. I’ll go order the X-ray and come back when the room is ready.”
“Thank you, doctor,” Mom said.
After the doctor left, nobody said anything for a while. We heard various hospital machines around us whirr and beep. We heard various conversations between doctors, nurses, and patients. I looked at Wendy and she smiled weakly.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“That’s good to hear,” Mom said. “But it doesn’t change anything.”
“You sneaked out of the house in the middle of the night,” Dad said. “You went to a dangerous place where a boy had already gone missing. The three of you have completely lost our trust.”
That was it. Those were the words I had been dreading, and I wanted to make them not true. It was the only thing that explained what I said next.
“He wasn’t lost or missing,” I said. “He planned this from the beginning. The ‘clues’ we found were just red herrings he left behind, specifically for me, I think. Watson and I saw his campground, which he must have moved after we left to check on Wendy. Was this his plan all along? To discredit me?”
“Why?” Dad asked.
I looked into his eyes for the first time since we left the house, and saw suspicion and disappointment.
“Why would he do these things?” Dad asked again.
“I…I don’t know, but if we go back before he’s had a chance to—”
“Go back?!” Dad said, throwing his hands in the air. He had almost shouted it, and Mom moved towards him and whispered in his ear. He exhaled and turned away from us.
“Your father and I have decided that, until further notice, under no circumstances are you to investigate any more cases,” Mom said. “We’ve allowed your detective activities because we thought you were mature enough to be responsible, but clearly we were wrong. We will also decide what other punishments are required after we get home.”
I slumped against the wall and sat down.
“Do you understand, Samuel?” Dad asked, still facing away.
“Yes, I understand.”
Wendy and Watson nodded as well.
“First I lost my lanyard with my key card in it, and now all of this,” Dad said. “This has been a terrible day.”
On that, we agreed.
The rest of the week passed about as well as I could have expected. Wendy did have a fracture, but it was a minor one and she didn’t even need a real cast. It was a plastic one that she could take off at night. The doctor said she could walk on it after a few hours as long as she used the cast whenever she was going to be up and about.
At Tuesday morning’s assembly, James was asked to tell his story. He did not deviate from the story he told Officer Siva one bit. He didn’t mention my outburst during his tale, but it didn’t stop the whole school from knowing about it.
I regretted that outburst. It wasn’t like me to make accusations without any real evidence but I knew I was right. I had explained my reasoning to the Supper Club, and they all believed me, even Eliza. That made me feel a lot better.
On Wednesday, we all presented our science projects for the fair. Jimmy presented his Comfort-Toe, which Mr Lim said wasn’t really a science project. Then Jimmy showed a bunch of charts on how the thong of a sandal affected the area between the large toe and the second toe and how his Comfort-Toe would prevent that. Mr Lim was sufficiently impressed to allow him to enter the fair.
I entered a small apiary I had designed for maximum honey collection. Not only could I study bee society up close, I could also eat delicious and healthy organic honey.
Nazhar, Eliza and Wendy all refrained from entering anything as their interests were not science-based, though Nazhar did think about entering a historically accurate catapult. He decided against it once he realized how long it would take him to build one.
James presented a backpack that could unfold and become a large tent with an attached sleeping bag. There was also a cooler connected to it, with foldable insulation sewn inside to keep things cold. James called it a Camp Pack and explained that it contained all the essentials for camping in one small all-in-one container, so people only had to remember to bring one item with them when they went camping.
When it was in backpack form, James showed that there was still some space inside to put cold food in, as the outer lining of the backpack is what became the built-in cooler. There were also small side pockets for clothing, and metal hooks for shoes and sporting equipment. There was even a special hook for attaching a fishing rod. It was all rather ingenious.
On Thursday, we had an hour when all the teachers and students walked around the assembly hall where our projects were showcased to look at them and ask questions.
Mr Lim was one of the judges, so he asked a lot of questions. He asked Jimmy what he thought his Comfort-Toe would provide to the world, and Jimmy replied, “World peace!” When Mr Lim seemed unconvinced, Jimmy elaborated, “How to be grumpy when your toes are so comfortable? World peace one toe at a time!” Mr Lim could only smile.
They announced the winners on Friday, right before school let out. As expected, James won the competition and I got second place. It was the first time I hadn’t won a science competition since I started entering them. I knew James would get a lot of sympathy, especially when his reply to many of the judges’ questions was “I wish I’d had this with me when I was lost over the weekend” or something similar.
Jimmy stunned everyone by getting third place. Some of the judges had tried the Comfort-Toe and found it very comfortable.
His mom had already told him that, win or lose, she would be patenting the Comfort-Toe and exporting it worldwide. Jimmy wanted to call it ‘Jimmy’s Big Toe.’ His mom was trying to talk him out of it.
The school wanted to take a picture of the three winners, so I had to stand in between James and Jimmy for the photographs.
When we walked out of school, Jimmy and I followed James. Other kids were running towards their parents or to wait for a bus.
“I know how you did it,” I said.
“Do you?” He turned around to face us.
“The whole thing was staged from the beginning.”
“Please, tell me how I did it.” James’ eyes narrowed again.
“It started with your nanny and your dog,” I said. “As I saw on Monday, your dog is very, very excitable. You knew it would take very little for him to go o
ff running. You made sure the leash would snap somehow, maybe cutting part of it and letting your dog do the rest.”
When James neither confirmed nor denied, I continued. “You had your science project with you, your Camp Pack, and you slept in it Sunday night and used it to shield yourself from the rain Monday evening. Congratulations on winning the science fair, by the way.”
James finally smiled. He looked around to make sure nobody else was listening in. “Very good, and you didn’t even have to look at the leash to know I had cut it. That was a very good deduction.”
“You confessed!” Jimmy said. “We’ve got you now!”
“Alas, your robot servant and his recording mechanism aren’t here,” James said. “You would have had me for sure.”
“He’s not a servant,” Jimmy said, sulking. “He’s our friend.”
James turned towards me. “Please, continue.”
“The clues we found were planted,” I said, emboldened by his somewhat surprising admission. “You knew Nazhar would want to look at Lim Bo Seng’s tomb, so we would find your map. When we looked at it, you knew Nazhar would also know about the Shinto shrine in the interior of the forest and would tell us that’s what your ‘hard to find’ note was referring to.”
“Unfortunately for you, that map could have belonged to anybody and there are more than a few people who try to find that shrine,” he said.
“You knew that once you were considered missing, nobody would be allowed to hike until you were found, in an effort to preserve any physical evidence,” I said. “Nobody would accidentally find you camping out there.”
With a smirk, James said, “Oh, you’re very good at this.” He was mocking me, of course.
“And you’re very mean,” Jimmy said.
James only smiled wider. “Tell me about the shrine,” he said.
“The shoe wasn’t yours, but I was meant to think it was. That’s why you wrote ‘JM’ outside,” I said. “But I know you never wear that kind of shoe. You wear the shoes you got in London.” I pointed at his white monogrammed leather shoes. “Besides, the sole of the shoe I found was completely new, unlike Wendy’s soles which Eliza pointed out were threadbare from use.”
