Despite Whitney’s assurances that she would be on time, Ben and Corey expected her to be late again when they met her at her locker after school. But they were wrong. This time, Whitney was waiting for them, leaning against the long row of lockers like there was nowhere else she’d rather be.
“Hey, Corey,” Whitney said with her usual dazzling smile. Then she glanced over toward Ben and said, “Hey . . . ” It was almost as if she’d forgotten his name.
“So I didn’t use my locker for the whole rest of the day,” Whitney continued. “Just like you asked.”
“Great,” said Ben. “I want to check inside your locker for any evidence, but first let me dust the outside and lock for fingerprints.”
Corey watched as Ben got to work, and Whitney watched Corey. “So, Corey,” Whitney began, “thanks so much for helping me. You’re the best.”
“No problem,” Corey replied. “Club CSI is always happy to help a fellow student.”
“I’m thinking of having a party in a few weeks,” Whitney added. “You’ll definitely be invited.”
“Oh” was all Corey said in response. There was an awkward silence before Ben stood up.
“All right. I found a print and a partial on the lock. I’ll analyze them later.” Ben gestured toward the lock. “Do you mind opening it up for me, Whitney?”
Whitney spun the dial to enter her combination and then swung open her locker door. Ben stared into her locker, frowning, as he tried to figure out the best plan of action. He had a feeling Whitney wouldn’t be happy to see him cover the inside of her locker with black and white dusting powder.
Finally, Ben decided to check the metal edges of the locker door next—the one surface Whitney hadn’t decorated. He thought there was a good chance that the vandal might have touched the edge of the door to open it. Ben carefully dipped his brush into the container of black powder and dusted it over the surface.
Whitney seemed supremely uninterested in Ben’s fingerprinting process.
“So I was thinking,” she said to Corey. “After? When this is all done? We could go get something to eat.”
“Just a sec,” Corey said, stepping forward to take a picture of any prints that appeared under the dust.
“Hey, you know, there’s something about that photo . . . ,” Ben mused, looking at the photo that had been drawn on.
Whitney’s laugh was forced. “What? How spectacularly hideous it makes me look?”
Ben shook his head. “The tape!” he suddenly exclaimed. “I bet we’ll find the vandal’s prints on the tape!”
“What—what are you talking about?” Whitney asked. She looked pale.
“Well, obviously the photo was moved at some point,” Ben explained. “You can tell how hard it would be to draw on it from this angle. So the vandal must have taken it down, drawn on it, and then taped it back up. That’s my theory, anyway. And if I’m right, we could find the vandal’s prints on the tape!”
“Good thinking, Ben,” Corey said approvingly.
But Whitney frowned. Her eyes darted off to the side. “Look, I just—I, um, I really don’t think that the vandal took down the picture. I mean, this is, uh, my locker, you know? I, uh, I look at that picture every day. I would know if it had been moved.”
“But we should check, anyway,” Ben insisted. “Just in case.”
Whitney pressed her lips into a thin line, but she didn’t argue as Ben slowly removed the photo from the inside of her locker.
“Yes!” Ben exclaimed as examined the tape. “Check it out—one complete, perfect fingerprint! We’ll definitely be able to analyze this in the lab.” He peeled off the piece of tape from the photo and secured it so that the print wouldn’t smudge.
Then Corey pulled an ink pad out of the fingerprinting kit. “And, of course, we need to get your fingerprints,” he told Whitney.
Her fists clenched. “Why? I didn’t do it,” she said in a rush.
Ben and Corey looked at each other. “No one said that,” Ben replied. “But since it’s your locker, your prints will be all over it. So we need your prints to make sure the ones we’ve lifted don’t belong to you.”
“Oh. I get it,” Whitney said. She let Corey press her fingertips onto the ink pad, then make a clear print from each finger on a plain white card. Afterward, Corey gave her an alcohol swab to remove the ink from her hands.
“I guess we’re done for now,” Ben said as he packed up the fingerprinting kit.
Whitney turned to Corey. “So, how about it?” she asked him. “You want to get something to eat? Some ice cream?”
“Ice cream. That sounds awesome,” Corey replied. Now that he thought about it, his stomach had been grumbling for his afternoon snack.
Ben shot Corey a look. If they were going to solve this case quickly, they needed to analyze the evidence today.
Corey got the hint. “But no, thanks, Whitney. Normally, I definitely would, but we’ve got to analyze these prints. And find out how Hannah’s interview went.”
“Oh,” said Whitney.
“We’ll be in touch as soon as we know more,” Ben promised. “And hopefully the vandal won’t strike again—but if they do, text me right away. Or Corey. Or Hannah.”
Whitney took out her phone, and Ben recited each of their numbers. He wasn’t positive, but it seemed like Whitney only typed in Corey’s number.
Next, Ben and Corey went straight to the lab attached to Miss Hodges’s classroom to analyze the prints. Hannah was already there, waiting for them.
“Hey, guys. How did the fingerprinting go?” she asked.
“Pretty good,” Ben replied. “We even picked up a print from the tape attached to the vandalized photo!”
“Nice work!” Hannah said. Then she pushed a card across the counter. “Since I was interviewing Alyssa, I got her fingerprints, too.”
“So you think she’s a suspect?” asked Corey.
Hannah shook her head. “Actually, no. But since she knows Whitney’s locker combo, I figured Alyssa’s prints might be on it. At least this will help us rule them out.”
“How did the interview go?” Ben said.
“It was kind of tough,” Hannah replied. “Alyssa was really upset and distracted. It was hard to keep her focused. She thought Corey should be interviewing her. I swear, she must have mentioned it four different times.”
Corey looked surprised. “Seriously? Are you for real?” he asked as a grin spread across his face. “I can’t believe the whole school is talking about my interview skills! Word is really getting around.”
“Maybe,” Hannah said. “But, anyway, back to the interview. Alyssa admitted that she knows the combination to Whitney’s locker, but she completely denies doing anything to the photo. And you know what? I believe her.”
“How come?” asked Ben.
“Well, I know I don’t have Corey’s amazing interview skills,” Hannah joked, “but I still observed her very carefully. She maintained eye contact with me the whole time, and she never stuttered or stammered or fidgeted or anything. And I also—I just have a feeling, you know? And I think that counts for something.”
“It definitely does,” Ben said. He moved back from the microscope. “Anybody else want to take a look at these prints?”
Hannah peered into the microscope first, then Corey had a turn. “Lots of smudges and partials,” Corey observed.
“Yes. And these ones from the locker door are clearly Whitney’s, which is to be expected,” Ben said. “What do you think about the print from the tape?”
Hannah looked into the microscope again. “I’d say that’s Whitney’s print too,” she replied.
“Now, I was able to lift a few prints from the photo itself,” Ben continued. “Whitney’s prints are obvious—again, that’s to be expected—but check this one out. The whorl is pretty different.”
The swirly lines on that fingerprint were obviously different from Whitney’s prints. Hannah picked up the piece of paper where she had had Alyssa stamp her fingerprint and then compared the two. “It matches Alyssa’s fingerprint,” she said. “But that doesn’t mean anything, really. Since Alyssa gave the photo to Whitney, her prints would be all over it.”
The three friends were silent for a moment. Then Hannah spoke again. “Guys, I think this case is a waste of time,” she said.
“No,” Ben disagreed. “I mean, someone vandalized that photo. And we shouldn’t quit until we’ve figured out who. What’s next? Will someone graffiti the outside of Whitney’s locker? Or perhaps steal some of the decorations from inside?”
“Hopefully not, of course,” Hannah said. “But unless something else happens . . . the trail is cold, right?” She turned to Corey. “You’ve been pretty quiet. What do you think we should do next?”
Corey shrugged. “You both made good points,” he said. “So I think we should wait and see if the vandal strikes again . . . or if any other clues turn up.”
Ben and Hannah could both agree on that.