Rina: Why did Principal ma'am tell us she doesn't know what game the businessmen are playing if she was being threatened by them?
Reshmi: Good point. Why didn't I think of it before? Something certainly doesn't fit in.
James: Maybe if we get to know what case was on our Principal, we will get some clues. That uncle told us he didn't know as our PET sir has kept it very confidential, even from him, his friend. How disappointing!
Ajay: I guess it is time to follow someone, again.
Riya: Yes, one of us has to follow PET sir and find out what the case is about.
James: Ajay and I will do it.
All together: Okay.
Rina: When?
Ajay: We will start following him tomorrow, inside the school as well as outside. Inside the school, we will see if we can catch anything from his conversations with our Principal. Outside the school, we will check if we can gather anything related to the case.
Swathi: Why don't we ask Principal ma'am about it directly?
Rina: I doubt she will tell us the truth, as, from what we know about her, she is a person who always likes to maintain her dignity before us, students.
Reshmi: She's right, guys. Ma'am will never tell us about the case, even if we ask her.
One day, during Art period...
Mr. Shankar: Vimal, mix the paint colours well. Red and white will give you pink.
Vimal: Oh, okay sir. I was wondering how to mix colours and make it pink. I was trying purple and yellow.
Mr. Shankar: This is why you should always ask and not assume things.
Vimal: Sorry, sir.
Mr. Shankar: Okay, no problem. Mix fast and get going.
James (to his friends, softly): Guys, let's meet in the canteen during the break. I have found out something.
His friends agree to the plan.
In the canteen,
The children of the school like to buy food from the canteen occasionally and eat since the food is very tasty there.
Swathi, Rina, Reshmi, James and Riya are sitting at a table and eating their samosas (crispy potato samosa is one of their favourite dishes in their school canteen), waiting for Ajay to return after meeting their Maths teacher, Ms. Saroja to clarify a doubt.
Ajay enters the canteen and joins them at the table.
Ajay: Oh man, I had to wait for a long time for Ms. Saroja to come to the staff room. Okay, we don't have much time left. Guys, I found out something important which would help our mission.
All together: What?
Ajay: The teacher fired by our Principal for betraying her is Satish sir, who used to handle Social Science for 2nd standard and for some higher classes.
Riya: He is the one who used to help Principal ma'am with her office work, right?
Ajay: Yeah, that is where the problem began. He had accepted bribe from Nikhil's father, using our Principal's name, for admitting Nikhil in our school. Our Principal didn't know about the bribe until the day a case was made on her for bribery. The eye witness for this is Satish sir. PET sir is trying to help our Principal ma'am get freedom from the case by finding proof that Satish sir is the one who accepted the bribe. Satish sir is also in touch with the businessmen who are trying to acquire our school building, so if we keep a close watch on him, we will be able to get more information.
James: How do you know this, Ajay?
Ajay: Nikhil told me. I was talking to him casually and he brought up the topic of the fired teacher. He said he deserved the dismissal. Then, I asked him what happened and he told me all this.
Rina: Let's do one thing. We will meet him and talk to him casually and find out what his mindset is now.
James: Every evening, he goes for jogging in HKR road. There is a children's park nearby. We'll meet him after he finishes jogging and pretend as if we came to the park and casually saw him.
The rest of the friends agree to the plan.
Chapter: 6
The next day, the kids meet the teacher after his regular jog in the evening and pretend as if they see him there casually after coming out of the park and have come to talk to him. He is a man in his late thirties and he is wearing a maroon t-shirt and black track pants. He looks tired after his jog and he also seems to be in a hurry to return home, as he looks at his watch about two or three times within five minutes.
Ajay: Hi sir. Good evening.
Mr. Satish: Good evening.
He then proceeds to walk past them as he doesn't recognise them from the school, since he has not handled any classes for them so far.
The kids look at each other nervously, not knowing what to do next.
Suddenly, Riya walks up to him and says, 'Sir, don't you remember me? I am from Bharat Public school. I once met you to clarify a doubt.’
Mr. Satish: Oh, sorry kid. I don't remember. Which class are you all in?
Ajay: We're in the fifth standard, sir.
Mr. Satish: Ok ok. Are you all in Ms. Geetha’s class?
Rina: Yes, sir.
Mr. Satish: Did you come to the park?
Swathi: Yes, sir. We like this park and so we come here often to play.
Mr. Satish: Ok kids, it is getting late for me, so I'll leave. See you.
James looks anxiously at the others after the teacher turns away and then suddenly, goes near the teacher.
Mr. Satish: What is it, my boy?
James blinks awkwardly without knowing what to say, as he didn't plan anything before stopping the teacher.
Mr. Satish: What do you want?
Reshmi (thinking quickly): Sir, Principal scolded me for going for basketball coaching outside school. She said PET sir is the best. I am learning from PET sir too, sir, but just for some extra coaching, I am going. Is it wrong, sir?
Mr. Satish: Who said it is wrong? For your Principal, everything that the PET teacher does and says is correct and all the others are wrong. Sometimes, you Principal is just blind to certain things.
The kids exchange curious looks with each other.
Reshmi: Ok sir, I had this doubt in my mind. Thank you for clarifying, sir.
Mr. Satish: No problem. Ok children, now I really have to go or my wife will call me for the tenth time. I don't know why women can't buy all the needed cooking ingredients in one shot instead of pressurizing their husbands to buy new ingredients too often.
Saying so, he laughs and walks away.
After he goes…
Reshmi: I've never seen a teacher more loyal to our Principal than him. Since he talks in a negative way about our Principal today, was he acting all those days?
Swathi: Since he seems to have something against our Principal, we should watch him closely. Then, we will be able to get some clues.
The other kids agree.
Chapter: 7
After a few days…
The kids find out the house address of Mr. Satish and go near his house.
Mr. Satish is walking in his garden and talking on the phone. The kids hide behind some bushes near the house and from this distance, they are able to hear what he is talking. His house looks big and beautiful and modern.
He is talking to one of the businessmen obviously as he says, 'I will make sure you get that building'.
The kids exchange apprehensive looks.
Mr. Satish: Yeah, the kid's father doubts me.
Swathi (whispering to the others): He thinks Nikhil's father doubts him. Actually, Nikhil and his father know very well that he is the culprit.
Mr. Satish: Make sure you bring him to the spot. I don't know how you will do it, but you have to.
Reshmi (getting anxious): Oh no! They are going to kidnap...
She is stopped by Riya who closes her mouth with her hands.
Riya: Shh…wait. He's saying something important.
Mr. Satish: Yeah... yeah, I remember.
He then continues his phone conversation and discusses the meeting venue.
It's the empty floor in … plaza.
After he finishes his conversation…
James: What plaza? I didn't catch the name.
The others shake their heads indicating 'no'.
Rina: I think the name started with S.
Ajay: But we have many shopping complexes with that name such as Sterling plaza, Shivaji plaza and Souvenir plaza.
Swathi: How do we find out which plaza it is and what if we go to the wrong place? Their conversation might get over before we find out the correct place.
James (shouts): That's it. Yes.
The others: What?
James: In our anxiety, we forgot an important clue that Satish sir gave us. He said 'empty floor', do you remember?
Rina: Oh, yeah. Only Shivaji plaza is new and has an empty floor.
Swathi: No, Souvenir plaza also has an empty floor. Do you remember? There is one floor fully dedicated to shows and it has no shops.
Reshmi: Yeah Swathi, but that one cannot be their meeting spot as it is a famous hall and it has many CCTV cameras.
Riya: Oh, yes. Correct.
Chapter: 8
The next day happens to be a Sunday, making it easy for the kids to go to Shivaji plaza and find out what their old teacher is up to.
At the time decided upon by Mr. Satish and the person on the telephone, the kids reach the spot and wait behind a banner from which they will be able to see Mr. Satish and who he meets and hear the conversation.
Before Mr. Satish could arrive, a few other men reach the place.
Riya gives a loud gasp of shock and one of the men turn towards the banner and then shrugs and goes back to the place where the others are present.
Rina: Riya, shhh. Be quiet or they will hear us. Later, we will discuss.
Riya: Okay, sorry. That man...
Rina: Yeah, I know.
The man who gave Riya a shock is the same man they had seen the previous year in Goa. It turns out that their suspicion the previous year is partly false and partly true. The man is not related to the gangsters who were caught the previous year because of enforcing child labour, but he is related to some other people who have plans of acquiring their school building and planning some other illegal activities in their city. Or both the groups could be related to each other too, which the kids are yet to find out.
A man with a beard speaks to the others (three men): We have to give him an answer soon, or he will become more furious.
The kids exchange shocked looks and then, they hear the noise of the front door opening and they see their ex-teacher, Mr. Satish walk in.
As the men were discussing, he looks angry and as soon as he goes near them, he says, 'I need proof soon. It has been so many days since I gave you this work.’
A short man with a moustache: We are following the PET teacher closely. We will surely get proof very soon.
Their ex-teacher nods his head and then says, 'I have to go now. Give me the proof soon and then collect the money from me.
After they leave, they quickly lock the main shutter of that floor with the kids inside, without giving the kids time to leave the place.
The kids exchange nervous looks and then run towards the closed shutter.
Ajay is about to knock the shutter door when James stops him by taking hold of his hand firmly.
James: Ajay, wait, I can still hear the men's voices. Won't they ask us what we are doing here and won't they become suspicious if they see us here?
The others nod in agreement.
Ajay: Sorry, guys. I got scared when they locked the shutter door.
The kids wait for some more time and then, gradually, those men's voices begin to fade away and the kids realise that they must be walking away from the place. After some more time, the voices completely disappear and then, the kids start frantically knocking the shutter door. They knock the door for a long time but no one seems to be around to hear them.
Swathi: Oh no, we have got locked inside this empty floor. No one comes here usually. What do we do? We are in big trouble now.
Reshmi: Swathi, relax. Don't panic. We can't do anything by panicking. Let's think and see if we can come up with a solution.
Swathi: Okay.
Riya (in a panicked tone): Guys, we're done for. The time is now 4pm and they close this center at 4pm on Sundays.
Chapter: 9
Reshmi: It is a bad idea to have decided to come here.
James: Who did we think we were? Did we think we were like 'Scooby Doo mystery-solving kids'? We are not. We are just ordinary school kids.
Ajay: Okay. Let's stop blaming each other and see what can be done. Come on, let's check out each window.
Rina: But this is the eighth floor. Even if we shout, nobody will be able to hear us.
Riya: Instead of assuming things, why don't we at least try?
Ajay: Yeah, that's right. Okay, come on guys, we are braver than we think. Think of all the difficult situations we encountered last year.
Still, we were successful in our mission. In this mission also, we will be successful and save our school and our Principal from wicked plots against them. Are you all with me?
His friends, together: Yes.
Ajay: Okay. Let's not waste time. Rina, you check out the window there on the right side. James, you take a look at the window on the right. I will check the window there at the back. The others, keep exploring the place and thinking of ways to escape.