When The Snow Falls

Daniel knew something was wrong when he walked into late to the Mystery Club's after school meeting to find the club members sitting at the table in absolute silence. Felix came rushing down the corridor from his last lesson.

They took their places at the table and Daniel cleared his throat.

"Felix and I have found some things out."

"Absolutely wonderful," Amien said in a sarcastic tone. "I can hardly wait."

Daniel looked for a reaction from the other three. Oliver wasn't making any eye contact, Meredith was texting on her phone whilst Harry was looking out the window. He frowned at Felix who shrugged.

"Did something happen before we got here?" he asked.

"We all found out something," Oliver announced. "A key investor in all our parents' companies threatened pull out yesterday."

The important line they had overheard yesterday came back to Daniel. Was it their idea of a warning?

What should he even say?

"That's not good," Felix said. "Did the investor say why?"

"The investor said our parents should curb our club activities," Oliver said. "It was the same for all of us. You two are going to be the only members of the Mystery Club."

Daniel felt like the carpet had been tugged out from under him. They couldn't just leave the club like that. Felix's arm nudged him and he decided to let Felix handle it.

"I see. I didn't know your parents were all business owners," he said.

"My parents run a hospital supply company," Oliver contributed.

"Mine make dental instruments," Meredith replied.

"My parents run a sterile medical dressing manufacturing facility," Harry said. "I don't know what Amien's do. He never says which is odd."

All eyes fell on Amien who bristled at the stares.

"I don't have to say. It doesn't change anything," he said sourly. "I'm leaving."

Amien stood up and stomped out of the classroom. Daniel was conflicted. He needed to speak to Amien as he clearly knew more than he was saying, but something needed to be done about the other members leaving.

Felix nodded at him and he left the room to look for Amien. He had faith that Felix would handle the matter well.

Amien was standing outside the building with a cigarette when he finally caught up with him.

"What do you want?" Amien snapped when he saw him.

Daniel stared at him and saw the cracks in his uncaring facade.

"You can say how you're really feeling. The other members aren't here."

Amien breathed deeply before answering.

"If this major investor pulls out the family company will be in ruins. I'm annoyed at that. It's frustrating."

"You know who the investor is, don't you?"

Amien nodded.

"Is it the headmaster of the school?"

Amien nodded again.

Daniel knew this was his chance to shed a lot of light on the mystery. He looked around. There was no one around apart from a few departing school pupils in the distance, but they were on the grounds of a school that was covering up a death. The last thing they needed was for one of the shadowy figures from the theme park to overhear them.

"Will you tell me everything you know if we go somewhere more private?"

The oldest member of the club stared at him for a long second and sneered.

"What will your boyfriend think?"

"Just shut up and come with me," Daniel said. "You've got some explaining to do."

***

The first place Daniel decided was safe to talk freely was a game themed cafe. It was so noisy in there that no one would be able to eavesdrop on them. He hit a hurdle at the counter though.

"I can't speak much Japanese. Can you order?" he requested.

Amien scoffed at him, but approached the counter. He spoke to the woman at the counter and they were directed to a table between two large groups of exceedingly noisy children.

"I ordered you some cake. Is that all right?" Amien asked.

It seemed that Amien had been observing him more than he'd thought.

"You know if that it was one of the trio of idiots asking this, I wouldn't do it," Amien said suddenly.

"I feel flattered," Daniel replied with a smirk. "So what sort of company do your parents run?"

"They don't run a company. I just claimed that I had the same problem as the other three and lied. They work for the headmaster's current company in senior positions. I was told to stop investigating or they would lose their jobs."

The complicated ties had become a little clearer for Daniel. It was good that he had suggested moving the conversation somewhere else otherwise Amien would still be lying to him.

"What company does he run now?"

"A company which makes pharmaceutical goods. They specialise in non branded drug production. To make it clearer; new drugs are licensed and for a while no other company can produce it. After that period is up, other companies can manufacture it in. The company is a major worldwide supplier."

That made sense. The companies that the other three members mentioned were all tied together by the fact they were connected to the medical industry.

"What company did he run before?"

"It was a pharmaceutical company, but instead of manufacturing, their focus was on developing new drugs."

Something sparked in Daniel's mind. That angel statue outside the school building was something he had seen before, but it was in his previous life which would make sense if the company had closed down a number of years before.

"That company was successful for a while and won lots of grants after the success of a drug," Amien continued.

Now Daniel knew where he had seen the sword the angel statue was holding before. It had been the logo of the company. His real mother had worked in a pharmacy and he had read her training books which often mentioned new drug developments.

"Why did that company suddenly shut down?"

Amien was about to answer when the waitress turned up with their orders. Daniel spent an agonising minute waiting for her to put the plates down and leave.

"I don't actually know what happened with that company, but I do know a rumour," Amien paused. "As part of developing drugs there comes a time when that drug has to be tested. Apparently one of the drugs they were developing got to the trial stage, but it killed the volunteers. I honestly thought it was just a rumour without validity until we saw that skull in the well. That made me think that the rumour was true and the Seven Mysteries exist to scare people away from looking at anything too closely."

That was a lot to take in. Daniel agreed with Amien's viewpoint completely. It was looking like the Seven Mysteries really were created deliberately to hide the school's dark past.

"The company was called Noble Pharmaceuticals. What actually happened was that it was sold to a larger corporation called Nakayama Pharm- it didn't just disappear overnight. The headmaster sits on the board of that company. Has that answered a lot of questions?"

Daniel nodded slowly. There was definitely a lot to add up. Carter must have found something in his investigations related to that failed drug trial.

"I really can't stay in the Mystery Club now," Amien said quietly. "I kind of enjoyed it and I want to see it all through to the end, but I can't. I have something to give you though. I spent last night working on it."

He picked up his bag and pulled out three folded sheets of paper and handed them over. Daniel unfolded it and realised it was hand drawn floor plan of the old school building. Daniel appreciated the gesture as he hadn't had the opportunity to explore it all. It was the kindest thing Amien had ever done. He almost wanted to see the other members' reactions to it.

"It's based on my memory so it might not be correct," Amien muttered.

"I still like it anyway. Thank you," Daniel said.

He frowned when he saw room 23 on the ground floor. It should have been obvious what the clue Carter had left behind referred to. The ground floor was all science labs which had been checked by Amien, Oliver, Harry and Meredith. It would be worth going out there again himself to check it properly.

"As I mentioned before that building was only used for clubs and the labs and that was supposed to continue until the new school year. Instead it unexpectedly closed down in mid April and the trees were planted outside as if they were hiding it. All science lessons became theory based and taught in the new school building. The rumour I remember was that someone had died in an accident there and the school was trying to cover it up. Now that seems like it was true."

Daniel spent a minute appreciating the new information and it reminded him the seventh mystery, the cherry blossom tree had never been checked out.

"I have one last thing to say to you before I leave the Mystery Club," Amien said. "The CEO of Noble Pharmaceuticals isn't the only person from that company at the school. There were other scientists and researchers there who became teachers. Be careful."

Daniel knew the warning was valid.

"Thank you for everything."

Amien stood up, paused and turned back to say one final line.

"If you can't solve it, you're a disappointment to the Mystery Club."