That so-called "colonel" got into my nerves.

Prank him felt good for a moment. But, turned out into an empty effort since he would not know it was me.

Well, he would have some quality time for a while, thanks to my departing gift.

While the car moved away from the greenhouse, I asked myself why morons like that are always the ones running the show?

Some irony created by the universe to make fun of us detectives? Or, is being a total ass a stupid requisite to go up the chain of command?.

Since those were rhetorical questions, I let them go.

I had a very big ace in my sleeve, and I needed to focus on my next moves.

I looked to my companions inside the car.

The doctor was quiet, the murder of the gardener had an impact in his mood, as it would be expected. Until that moment, he didn't show concern. But now, I could read in his cloaked expression, that he was very bothered.

About Vol., she was looking at the landscape and enjoying the view of the different buildings.

She was smiling, which made me realize that she was not worried about the doctor being mad at her anymore. She became her normal self, always happy, always cheerful, to the point of innocence.

She might be a demon, but to me, she was much more human than a lot of representatives of the so called "mankind": our present killer included.

The streets were empty, no sign of life anywhere, or other cars. Our limousine seemed to be the only thing working in the entire place.

I supposed that they had already suspended school activities. Getting ready to receive the parents of the students and the expected visit of the police.

Voluptia and I decided to make a quick change before meeting mother Ana in the teacher's mess hall.

The limo would take us to our respective quarters to change clothes, grab other devices, and maybe a bath, before joining mother Ana.

Our lunch was scheduled for 2 pm. So, we didn't have much time.

Mother Ana should have changed her own lunchtime to meet us. That way it would be polite respect that. I remembered that she always used to state how important was to follow the daily chores with an organized patern and an effective time schedule. That, I was sure, it should not have changed. So, our lunch, much later than her habitual time, was for certain an adaptation due to the events of the day. Still, she would be very hurt if we did not get there in time. And that I would not allow to happen.

The limo stopped in front of the teacher's house and I got out. I Shook the doctor's hand and gave Vol. a tight hug while we got separated again.

She told me, in her mind, that she intended to use the small time break to perform some of the errands I asked her before. 

She could change her shape and clothes the way she wanted. Because of that, she didn't need a bath. And since she could produce a very delicate and delicious fragrance from her body she didn't smell bad. It was a pheromone fragrance, that helped her to lure the ones she wanted to seduce. 

I told her to keep a close eye to the time because I didn't want to bother my mother.

She told me that won't take much of her time to visit the student's quarters. So, I agreed with her plan.

That would speed up the investigation. I also told her that I would control her time by our mind link.

It was very easy for her to go out of the nun's dormitories, visit the students in their rooms and come back; without the nuns realizing that she was pretending to have a bath.

I opened the door after we hugged again.

This time the teacher's house was more alive than before. 

As I climbed out of the car I saw a very fat man watering the flower beds in the balcony of the house. He was wearing a white shirt and thick black pants.

Inside I saw some of the teachers  engaged in some sort of conversation In the resting room while listening to the news. They were all sat around a big 52 inches plasma TV. 

They were engaged in a very hot discussion. But, as soon as I arrived, they stopped the arguing.

 I noticed that all eyes of the crowd turned to me. 

That made me feel uncomfortable.

We have a saying for that in my country: "the subject has arrived". And that was how I felt when the room froze by my arrival.

I could hear the voice of the anchor of the TV News commenting. The sound of the TV was very loud.

"...and no one can know how long it will take to the authorities..."

One of the priests got up and got close to me. The others just moved their heads to us and muted themselves. They wanted to hear what I had to say...

The man in front of me was much older than the doctor. I imagined that he would have the same age of mother Ana or being older than her. He was a very tall and thin man with a prominent chin and a pointy nose with big nostrils. His nose was so peculiar that it was like his nose got smashed against his face. His tiny and deep hazel eyes gave him an aspect of a very distinctive man, that besides his age, had still a lot of energy to spare. Like everyone in the room, he was wearing a black suit and well-polished shoes. In the neck of their suits, there was a peculiar tiny white stripe, covering the front buttons. That white piece of garment was what showed that they belonged to the church. He introduced himself:

"My name is father Frederico. I am the head teacher in the house. You must be Detective Roger, am I right son?".

His tone was very low and delicate. However, I could sense some tension in his voice.

He offered his hand in a cordial shake and I shook it,

"Yes, I am one of the pupils of mother Ana, and she is waiting for me to lunch. Knowing her and the Church I am sure she is having lunch later than her usual, so I just want to change fast and go out."

That seemed to bother the rest of the teachers.

"How is the progress going with the landslides?", he insisted.

"Landslides? What do you mean by that?", I asked getting caught by surprise.

Then I looked to the TV and saw a road blocked by cars. It was the same road up the mountain that I took to arrive at Holly Mother of the Health. Even being daylight my excellent memory could relate the aspects of the place. The camera zoomed to the blockade. Right in the middle of a sharp turn, we could see a very huge hole in the ground. The root of some pine trees were almost upside down. Many trees fell inside the opening. Dirty and rocks were accumulated by the side of the broken mountain road. The ground collapsed and severed the track leaving a huge rip in the mountain.

I sat in the arm of the nearest couch and listened to the anchor describing the scene:

"...The access to the top of the mountain was ripped apart. We were told that the Fire Department and the Forest Guard are arriving at the local. Yes, it is confirmed, the access to the road will be blocked, until the repairs can be done to the site, without provoking more landslides...Now it is with you, Sabrina Camargo ...".

The TV showed the face of a young reporter holding her microphone. I looked to all those men inside the room.

We were all trapped inside the school grounds: there would be no further evacuation or arrival of the police...

Thank you for you support and reading  this work. Liked it, click Like, comment, subscribe. See you in Episode 12, things are getting hot...

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