Chapter 6
Autumn Berry – POV
The morning felt unusually quiet. Maybe it was the lingering tension from yesterday's case, or maybe it was just me overthinking. Quinn, of course, had other plans.
"Autumn!" she burst into my room, nearly tripping over her own feet. "You need to come—now!"
I raised a hand, halfway between groaning and sipping my coffee. "Unless someone's set the dorm on fire, I'm not moving."
She rolled her eyes dramatically. "Poisoning. Cafeteria. Male student. Could have been staged, but… he collapsed! Seriously!"
That got me up fast. "Poisoning?" I muttered. My stomach tightened, a mix of adrenaline and dread. This was my first real case, not a minor theft or prank. Quinn's wide eyes made it worse.
By the time we reached the cafeteria, a small crowd had gathered. Students whispered nervously, filming with phones. Some laughed nervously, claiming it must be staged, while others looked genuinely alarmed.
The victim, a tall second-year student, lay pale and trembling on the floor, a faint sheen of sweat on his forehead. Medics crouched beside him, checking vitals. He groaned weakly, clutching his stomach.
Rhea was already there, clipboard in hand, moving calmly through the chaos. She glanced at me, eyebrows raised. "Autumn, Quinn. Over here."
I followed her, taking in every detail. My photographic memory kicked in automatically — the tray he had been carrying, the exact positioning of the chairs, the faint smear on his water bottle, even the angle of his dropped pencil. Quinn hovered behind me, trembling slightly and gripping her juice box like it was a life preserver.
Liam was crouched with his laptop, fingers flying over the keyboard. "CCTV footage is scrambled," he muttered. "Someone's trying to hide their tracks."
Dorielle appeared beside me, leaning casually. "Probably just a fainting spell. Or maybe he ate something bad. Don't worry so much." Her smile was soft, but the flicker in her eyes made me instinctively step back.
Theo was already examining the victim. "Weak pulse, delayed eye response… mild poison, but not lethal. Timing is crucial."
Rhea clapped her hands once. "Alright. Everyone has a role. Autumn, observe everything unusual. Liam, tech. Theo, medical. Dorielle, witness statements. Quinn… you document."
Quinn's eyes widened. "Document! I am ready! Visual documentation master!"
I crouched near the scene. The smell of cafeteria food mixed with the metallic tang of fear in the air. My eyes darted over the counters, trays, bottles, and students. A faint smear on a juice bottle caught my attention. Someone had touched it — maybe dropped something into it.
Flash — I remembered the exact sequence of students lining up earlier. The student with the neat hair and nervous glance had lingered longer than the rest. Something about him didn't fit the panic.
Liam whispered, "Someone accessed the CCTV right when it happened. The footage was altered to look random."
I focused on Dorielle. She was asking questions of students, coaxing out details, but her words seemed carefully constructed, leading witnesses subtly while staying friendly. I didn't trust her fully.
Theo knelt beside the victim again. "Symptoms indicate ingestion minutes before collapse. The culprit had access to his food or drink. Poison matches traces on this bottle."
I crouched by a tray, scanning the crowd. My memory replayed everything: who bumped into whom, who moved suspiciously, even the faint smear on the napkin dispenser.
I whispered to Quinn, "Look at the bottle by the drinks. See that faint mark? Someone tampered with it."
She leaned over. "Gross… but yes, I see it!"
Rhea gathered everyone. "Let's go over observations. Autumn?"
I described the sequence in detail — nervous glances, the misplaced items, the faint residue. Liam cross-referenced it with the CCTV, Theo confirmed the poison timeline, and Dorielle observed witness reactions.
Then, a subtle detail clicked. The victim's phone lay on a table, buzzing with a series of messages. From what I could see on the cracked screen, someone was angry, betrayed. The tone… almost personal. My memory sparked — a faintly familiar handwriting on a folded note in the victim's hand: "I trusted you. This ends now."
Rhea's eyes narrowed. "Personal motive. This wasn't random."
I added quietly, "He was… someone's other man. Someone found out."
Dorielle tilted her head, pretending surprise. "Well, that's… dramatic." But her eyes lingered on me too long. Something about her didn't feel right.
We pieced together the timeline, the interactions, and the traces. The woman responsible — a fellow student — had poisoned him after discovering he was involved with someone else. It wasn't lethal, thankfully, but it was deliberate and emotionally charged.
Confronted, she broke down. "I… I didn't mean for it to go this far! I just wanted him to stop lying to me, to stop cheating. I didn't think he'd collapse…"
Rhea nodded. "Immediate danger is over. Security will handle it from here."
Dorielle clapped softly. "Quite the first case. Exciting, isn't it?"
I exhaled slowly, still trembling from adrenaline. Quinn hugged me tight. "You were amazing! You noticed everything!"
I managed a weak smile. "I just remembered what I saw… It wasn't magic."
Later, back in my dorm, I opened my laptop to organize notes. Ping.
A new message appeared:
*"Good work today. Don't think you're untouchable. —Watcher"*
My stomach twisted. Flash — high school memories of betrayal, whispers, and threats. My fingers tingled as I realized: today was only the beginning.
Quinn peered over my shoulder. "Someone's watching you again?"
I nodded slowly. "…Yes. And it's bigger than this case. Much bigger."
I stared at the ceiling, mind racing. The first real crime was solved, but someone — the Watcher — was orchestrating events behind the scenes. And I knew my life in the club was only going to get more dangerous from here.
END OF CHAPTER 6