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Chapter Text

Pip had been looking upstairs for something until she heard a crash. She ran out of her bedroom, quickly shutting the box she was searching through, and looked to see where the sound came from. Upwards. She looked up. The flap to the attic was open, hitting off the wall because of the wind from the open bathroom window. Nothing. But why was the flap open?

Mum or Dad were probably up there, she thought before going back into her bedroom to continue her search.

She walked back to the box she had been searching through and it had disappeared. Maybe she had kicked it under her bed by accident? Pip bent down and ducked her head under the bed, trying not to breathe the dust in. She turned her head back and forth but it wasn’t there. Maybe under her desk? Pip shifted her body towards her desk and it wasn’t under there either.

Pip slowly got up while grabbing onto her bedpost.

Could Josh have snook past her while she investigated the sound?

Pip quickly stepped down the stairs and ran into the living room where Josh had been last. “Josh?” She called out.

Pip heard Josh groaning faintly in the distance, “ugh. I’m in the garden.”

“Okay!” Pip shouted back and ran into the garden.

“Why are you in such a rush?” Josh looked at her weirdly.

“I’m not,” she sighed, “just, um, Josh have you seen my little box anywhere? You know the straw one that you used to think was made of a type of straw that was disguised as wood?”

Josh pondered for a moment before replying, “nope, not at all.”

“Are you sure?” She asked him.

“Yep, I haven’t seen that box since you brought it downstairs last month to show Dad something,” Josh said.

She stared at him up and down, “you sure?”

“I haven't seen it,” Josh rolled his eyes at her before running into the trees.

Where could it be?

Pip walked back up the stairs, slower this time but still quick. Her door was shut. Weird. Probably just the wind?

Pip took a short breath before turning the doorknob to the room. It was an absolute mess. Pages flying everywhere. Her window was right open. Clattering against the wind. Her bed covers were all off the bed. 

Pip turned her attention to her wall. A message was written on it with chalk. Her chalk. Her chalk which was currently broken in half on the floor.

σοφία was written in big letters.

Under it was την ποιότητα της εμπειρίας, της γνώσης και της καλής κρίσης· την ποιότητα του να είσαι σοφός.

She knew it was Greek. The letters were the Greek alphabet. She had learnt that in Elliot’s -Mr Ward in school- history lessons.

She knew what σοφία meant. It meant Wisdom. Why would someone write wisdom on her chalkboard wall? 

είσαι meant are you. How did she know that? She didn’t know Greek?

την ποιότητα της εμπειρίας was the quality of the experience . How the fuck did she know that?

The whole entire sentence suddenly unlocked in her mind.

Wisdom. The quality of experience, knowledge, and good judgment; the quality of being wise.

Pip grabbed her phone out of her pocket and took a picture of the wall writing and put it into google translate. She was correct. How did she know that?

Why had someone written the meaning of wisdom on her wall? How did she know what they wrote?

“Pip?” Her mum’s voice called out, getting louder when she stepped inside the room, “you alright?” Mum stared at the wall, “oh.”

Mum sighed, “Pip, did you write that?”

Pip looked at her mum, “no. I didn’t.”

“Do you understand what it says?” Mum asked.

Pip thought for a moment, wondering why her mum was asking her this. She obviously doesn’t speak Greek. Well- at least she thought she didn’t. “Yes.”

Pip was confused. “I think I should finally talk to you about this,” her mum stated, sitting down on Pip’s bed and guestered Pip to sit beside her which Pip did.

“Back before you were born, me and your dad were going through a bit of a rough patch,” mum started, “it happens in all relationships so I didn’t think much of it. But then your dad started hanging out with another woman.”

Pip eyes widened, her dad had cheated on her mum?

“He came to me and confessed to it, I forgave him because I too had been seeing someone else. But the person your dad had been seeing wasn’t really a person… she was a goddess, a Greek one,” mum took a break, letting it set into Pip.

Pip didn’t believe her mother, “you’re lying,” she stated.

Mum started again, “We never knew which goddess it was but a few days later you appeared on our doorstep. The goddess had obviously not gone through normal pregnancy. She had probably just wanted to have a child with your dad and you were made. It’s weird, I know. But you’re still my Pip. You always have been.”

Pip froze in shock. There was no way. Her mum wasn’t her mum. She had a different mum “I’m half goddess?”

Mum nodded her head, “there’s a place where demi-gods -or half bloods, whatever you want to call them- go to. It’s called Camp Half Blood. Now that you know you’re a demigod, monsters will come after you.”

“I have to leave?” She questioned.

Mum nodded solemnly, a tear had started to fall down her face, “it’s in America. Long Island Sound. New York.” Mum wrapped her arms around Pip, “Pip, I don’t want to lose you. That’s why I never told you. You’re still my little Pip.

Pip embraced her mum, tears striking her face, “you’re still my mum you know that? You’ll always be my mum.”

“Oh baby,” her mum weeped, “I’m going to miss you so much.”

“I’ll miss you too mum, I love you lots,” Pip cried into her mum’s shoulders. She hated crying. When other people cried she always ended up crying. Especially when it was her mum, “you’ll always be my mum. Just like how Victor will always be my dad. You two raised me, not them.”

Mum pulled away just after squeezing her half to death, “you should pack, I’ll call Joanna to get her to bring you with Conor to the airport tomorrow.”

“What?” Pip was confused, why Conor?

Mum seemed to read her mind, “Conor’s a demigod. A son of Hermes. So is Jamie.”

“What about Arthur?” Pip questioned.

Mum replied back, “he’s their step-father. He knows they’re not his.”

“Alright,” Pip’s voice shaked out, “I’ll start packing.”

Joanna had come really early. At 5am. Conor was half asleep- no scratch that, he was asleep in the left backseat.

“Don’t worry darling,” Joanna had told her, “I’ll put your bags in the boot.”

Pip opened the door to the right backseat and climbed, “boo!” She tickled Conor awake.

Conor jerked awake, “What! Oh Pip… it’s just you…” Conor drifted back off to sleep.

Joanna rolled her eyes as she started the car, “honestly, you’d think he was a child of Hypnos.”

“More like Hypnos himself,” giggled Pip.

“Hey!” Conor called out, “I’m not sleeping… my eyes are just resting.”

Pip laughed and rolled her eyes, “yeah, just sleeping…”

Conor cuddled himself in the left backseat and against the door, “now sh… I need my beauty sleep. It’s 5 o’ clock in the morning.”

“He was up ‘till midnight even though I told him to be asleep by 9!” Joanna shouted from the front.

“Mum…” Conor groaned tiredly from his corner, “it was 2 by the way. Then you woke me up at 3!”

Joanna chuckled, “I’m not the one who fell asleep at 2 and got an hour of sleep.”

Conor grumbled something before closing his eyes again.

“Wake him when we get to the airport,” Joanna sighed.

Pip laughed, “will do.”

Conor opened his eyes and glared at them, putting a finger to his lips, then sticking his middle finger at Pip and closing his eyes yet again.

Pip smiled. At least she’s going to be stuck with Conor all summer.

Shit. She hadn’t even picked her EPQ subject yet.

Pip pondered in misery as she watched the pitch black skies slowly turn lighter, the street lamps were on and Pip could just about make out Andie Bell’s memorial mural.

She thought back to that fateful day. Sal Singh had asked her where Andie was when Andie had walked by and told put her index finger to her mouth like Conor did. And she told him. She told a soon to be murderer where his soon to be victim was. Andie had been crying that day too. Her cheeks were almost stained red. Along with her mascara as it had been running down her face. She looked so distraught. And Sal looked so angry. But so caring at the same time. That’s why Pip had told Sal. Because she trusted him. And so had Andie. At least up until that fateful day. April 19th 2019.

Conor was extremely energised from all the sleep he had on the plane and in the car so he was dragging a Pip who had not slept in a full day into camp, “I gotta show you everything! I wonder who your mum is! Well can’t wait to figure that out! I remember when I was claimed. I had stole someone’s sword in capture the flag -yeah we do capture the flag here with swords! And other weapons to, I use a dagger by the way- back to the claiming things- it was really cool. Most Hermes kids get claimed that way.”

Conor skipped up to a lone pine tree at the top of the hill, Pip slowly catching up to him, “here is Peleus the dragon,” Conor bent down and petted the large dragon at the base of the pine tree, “this is Pip, she’s good.” Conor looked back up at Pip, “ we’re besties by the way, me and Peleus,” he added for clarification.

A figure had noticed them and was walking towards them, his hands were in his pockets, “Oi! Conor!” He called out.

“Percy!” Conor shouted back, “hey!”

Percy turned to look at Pip, he had dark green eyes with a hint of blue in them, like the sea. He had pitch black messy hair with a tiny streak of grey in the front, “and who’s this?” He asked.

“Pippa Fitz-Amobi,” Pip stuck her hand put, “nice to meet you.”

Percy smiled at her and shook her hand, “Perseus Jackson, but call me Percy.”

I was already calling you that in my head.

“Of course, call me Pip then,” she said.

Percy looked at Pip for a moment, “then we better get on the tour then!” And he set off into the camp.

Pip followed Percy up and suddenly she saw a big blue painted wooden house with an archery field. A river. A lake. So many cabins all lined up. It was so nice.

Pip was following after Percy fast because, to be honest, she was eager to get away from Conor’s crazy coffee induced ADHD full of sleep brain.

“Wait for me!” Conor shouted, running after them and latching onto Pip.

Fucking hell.

“Help! There’s a bug on me!” Pip tried to get Conor off and slammed him to the ground and laughed before helping him up.

Conor huffed and took her hand, “oh fuck you Pip. I’m not a bug.”

“You act like one,” she rolled her eyes at him.

Conor pouted.

Pip cracked up a little, “ are you… pouting..?”

Pip nearly fell over laughing.

“Hey!” Conor stamped his foot, pouting again.

“Impressive,” a female voice said, walking over to them. She was beautiful. She had beautiful long curls of honey blonde and had strikingly grey eyes. Pip had grey eyes just like her. The blonde seemed to recognise that too.

The blonde smiled at Pip before waving at her, “I’m Annabeth Chase.”

“Pippa Fitz-Amobi, but call me Pip,” Pip waved back awkwardly.

“Well before we give Pip a tour we should talk to Chiron, hopefully Mr. D isn’t there,” Percy laughed before setting off to the big blue wooden house.

Who was Mr. D? Could just be another demi-god but Chiron was the centaur that trained heroes in Greek mythology- well it wasn’t really mythology anymore was it?

Conor, Pip and Annabeth followed after Percy I got the house.

“Oh Chiron!” Percy bellowed.

Chiron the centaur - right out of mythology- walked- no trotted down the hall.

“Ah, Percy, Annabeth,” the centaur turned to face Conor and Pip, “Mr. Reynolds, nice to see you again.”

Conor smiled at the old centaur, “hey Chiron!”

Then Chiron’s eyes settled solely on Pip, “is this a new camper?”

Conor waved his hands around Pip in a magic kind of way, “this is Pip! She’s like my best friend! Well- One of them at least. She’s great!”

“Thanks Conor,” Pip put up her hand in defence, “I’m Pippa Fitz-Amobi.”

“Nice to meet you Ms. Fitz-Amobi,” Chiron's warm eyes looked at her. Pip has a feeling they could become deadly in a matter of seconds. He had been alive for thousands of years to be fair. The centaur had seen a lot.

Chiron turned his warm brown eyes towards Conor, “Mr. Reynolds, will you show Ms. Fitz-Amobi around camp and to the Hermes Cabin,” Chiron stopped for a moment, “she is undetermined right?” He asked Conor and Conor nodded in return.

Conor excitedly put a hand around Pip’s shoulders, “let's go amigo!”

Pip laughed before waving goodbye to the others.

Conor tugged her hand around camp, “the house we were just in -you know the big wooden one? You do! Great!- yeah that’s called the ‘Big House’, yeah I know it's very unoriginal.”

Pip kind of zoned out for a bit while Conor was showing her around but she got the basics. Dining Pavilion over there. Canoeing lake over there. The archery fields over yonder- she’s just joking. Conor would never say yonder. The weaponry. The place where Percy and Annabeth definitely fu- wait that wasn’t the basics. Pretend she never said that. Please.

“-and here is where you’ll be staying! Along with me and my siblings and some other people-“ Conor got cut off by an eccentric two brown haired and freckled face teens running towards him.

“Conor!” The shorter one shouted, lifting his hand up for a high five and Conor jumped up to reach it.

Conor shot finger guns at the shorter one, “Connor!”

Pip stared in confusion.

Conor noticed her confusion and introduced the teens, “oh! This is Connor- it’s spelt with two n’s though. So just spell it that way in your head,” then Conor’s eccentric hands turned towards the taller one, “and this is Travis! He’s 19! Connor with two n’s is 17 by the way. Most people think these two are twins. But they’re actually just brothers! The Stoll brothers!”

Pip stared at the twins that were not twins who also acted like twins, “hey! I’m Pip! Is the Stoll part your actual last name..?”

Travis nodded his head, “yep! It’s a great name to have for a son of Hermes. Well- until you got caught by the police and think your real ID is actually a fake one. True story,” Travis saluted before walking off into the cabin with Connor with two n’s. She should just refer to him as Connor Stoll.

“That’s some of my other siblings,” Conor laughed before grabbing Pip’s hand again. “Oh look! A nice free bunk for you! When I first got here there was so much people because we’re also a place for newcomers like you! But then Percy forced the gods to basically pay child support -long story by the way- so they started claiming most of their kids. You’ll probably get claimed this week and you’ll move up to that cabin unless you’re a Hermes kid, you just say here.” Conor rolled his eyes and started to continue but the bell went off, “oh! It’s dinner! Come on quick! Just leave your stuff, I’ll get you toiletries from the camp store later.”

Thankfully Conor was surprisingly silent the whole way to the dining pavilion. All that talking had probably made him thirsty and hungry. Pip was thankful for that. Now she has something to be thankful for for thanksgiving when Dad somehow loops her into celebrating every single holiday to ever exist.

Conor dragged Pip to the long table with ‘11’ marked on it. Then he made her sit beside him.

There was chatter on the table and someone was about to ask who she was until a… a um… she didn’t know how to describe him but a man at the head of the top table stood up, Diet Coke in hand, “Ahem-“ he cleared his throat to quiet them and the chatter died out, “um.. uh.. we have a new camper today… uh… what’s her name?” Chiron leaned forward and whispered something into the man’s ear. This must be Mr. D. “Poppy Fullum-Anderson!”

Conor groaned and stood up, “it’s Pippa Fitz-Amobi Mr. D!” He shouted. That confirms her suspicions. 

“I said that Conrad!” Mr. D huffed and sat back down at the head of the top table.

Conor facepalmed himself and sat back down.

“Does he always do that?” Pip asked and the table erupted in laughter.

Travis Stoll rolled his eyes, “yep. I think the only time he has ever gotten someone’s name right was with Nico Di Angelo. Percy claims Mr. D Called him Percy Jackson one time but no one really believes him.”

“Oh yeah! Pip so basically, how you get the food is you just kinda think of it? I don’t really know how to explain it, I had to figure it out myself when I got here, ” Conor glared at the rest of the Hermes cabin, “not even Jamie told me!” Conor huffed.

Pip stared at her plate and thought hard. What did she even want to eat? Pancakes. The one’s dad makes. Will it work? With a pop they appeared on the pancakes. Pip lifted up a fork and dug in. It tasted and felt exactly like them.

Conor peered over Pip and into her plate, “Pancakes?”

“Victor Amobi’s special,” Pip smiled.

Conor looked at Pip and smiled back. “I’m glad you're happy.”

“Really?” She taunted.

“Yes really!” Conor hit Pip on the arm while laughing.

Pip turned around and faced the other way while stifling her laughter and pretended to pout.

Pip also learned to do the same thing with a drink and just thought of milk. She always had that with Pancakes.

Chapter Text

Pip lay awake in her bunk. She was in the bottom, Conor on top. It was Jamie’s but he rarely comes to camp so Conor just said he can find a new one and went straight to sleep. But Pip couldn’t. So she tiptoed out of bed and slowly walked towards the door, trying not to make any floorboards creak. She slowly turned the doorknob and walked out the door, carefully shutting it behind her. Pip thread through the grass, making sure to not step on the crunchy bits. She could’ve sworn she saw someone peering at her through a cabin. But the lights were all off so she couldn’t tell which one it was.

Pip turned her direction toward the beach, hearing the waves crash against the quiet shore. She heard breathing and splashing from down the hill and on the beach, she peered over the ledge and saw someone with fluffy black hair sitting down and throwing rocks into the ocean.

Pip climbed down the side of the muddy hill and sat down beside the fluffy haired boy.

The fluffy haired boy turned his eyes around. It couldn’t be. The face. The eyes. The nose. The lips. The shape. The ears. The complexion. It couldn’t be. And it wasn’t. Pip breathed a sigh of relief. It was Ravi Singh. It wasn’t Sal Singh. It was Ravi. Just Ravi.

“Hello?” Ravi Singh said confusingly to her, “do I know you?”

Pip froze for a moment, “maybe? I’m Pippa Fitz-Amobi, but call me Pip.”

“Oh! You’re the new camper!” Ravi exclaimed, pointing at her.

Pip blushed, “yeah…”

Ravi stopped throwing rocks into the ocean and spoke again, “you’re from Little Kilton aren’t you?”

“Yeah, you’ve probably seen me around,” Pip admitted.

“You’re Naomi’s little sister’s friend!” Ravi lit up as he realised who Pip was.

Pip dipped her head down and nodded while smiling. Why was she so happy with Ravi Singh?

Ravi had a warm smile on his face, lit up by pearly white teeth, “I’m a son of Demeter by the way. He was too.” Pip knew who he was . He was Salil Singh.

Pip bit her lip, “actually.. um.. can I ask you a few questions for my EPQ?”

“EPQ?” Ravi questioned.

“Extended Project Qualification,” stated Pip.

“Nice,” Ravi put a hand on his head, “I never got that far in school, dropped out as soon as I could. What is it about by the way?”

Pip froze. She had to tell him. He’s going to hate him now. “The Andie Bell Case.”

Ravi glared, “what! So you just want to-“ 

“Quiet,” Pip whispered, putting a hand to Ravi’s mouth as he continued to glare at her. “Someone will hear you.”

Ravi glared at her hard and Pip quietly giggled, “you’re cute when you glare.”

“Well, if you’d let me explain, I’m going to tell you why,” Pip said and took her hand away from Ravi’s mouth.

Ravi glared, “explain it then,” he snapped.

“I’m going to solve the Andie Bell case,” she stated.

Ravi snorted, “the Andie Bell case is solved. Remember? My brother went into the woods, confessed to the murder and killed himself.”

“That’s what they think he did,” Pip said, “but Ravi. I think that your brother is innocent.”

Ravi was about to snort again but froze, his eyes widening, “is this some sort of sick joke?”

“No,” she sighed, “I think Sal Singh is innocent.”

“Why?” asked Ravi.

Pip looked up into Ravi’s eyes, for a second believing they were Sal’s, “I knew Sal, he’d never hurt her.”

Ravi smiled, “I believe you. Same time tomorrow, meet here and I’ll show you a place where we can do it.”

Pip and Ravi looked up to the sky, still full of stars, no one else was awake. And then neither were they.

A boy with curly brown hair and light brown skin peered over the edge of the hill, “oh Con! They are over here!” The boy giggled while skipping off.

Conor climbed down, “Leo what the fuck do you mean they-“ Conor stared at Ravi Singh, “oh.”

The two were still asleep, Ravi’s warm hands grasped firmly around her. Their hair was covered in sand. Their clothes too.

“Oh I have got to take a picture of this!” Conor snickered and brought out his phone from his pocket. It had a triangle on the back. A blue one. It was in the place of where apple’s logo would be on an iPhone. It looked simple but high tech. Conor positioned the phone in the perfect angle to get a good shot of them, getting Ravi’s face in frame along with Pip’s hair being all messed up over her favourite pyjamas.

Percy walked towards them with Annabeth running over him, “Conor, did you find her?” Annabeth asked. She felt a sort of affinity for the new camper. A bond of some sorts.

“I didn’t just find her,” Conor winked at the couple and guided them down to Ravi Singh cuddling with Pip.

Percy froze, “isn’t that the weird hermit Demeter kid? People say he’s crazy. That he sleeps in the woods.”

Annabeth hit Percy over the head and Percy winced, “Ravi doesn’t sleep in the woods,” she rolled her eyes.

“Yeah!” exclaimed Conor, “he sleeps on the beach!”

Annabeth's face palmed herself and muttered something about teenage boys.

A boy’s voice groaned from beneath them, “shit,” Percy said, “the hermit crab is waking!”

Ravi ‘hermit crab’ Singh simply say up, making sure Pip’s head was resting on his legs so it wouldn’t fall on the sand and glared at Percy, “shut up Jackson.”

Percy blew a raspberry at him and Ravi sighed.

“Hey Ravi!” Conor yelled.

Ravi winced covering his ears, “jeez Conor, I’m right below you! And hey! Haven't seen you in a while!”

“You know hermit over here?” Percy asked, staring down at him.

“Jackson,” Ravi glared at him fiercely, “do you have any other nickname other than hermit?

Percy thought for a moment, “hm… nope.”

“That must be a first for you,” Ravi rolled his eyes and took his jumper off, putting it under Pip’s head, it was cotton, it felt like a pillow. Ravi carefully laid the jumper and Pip’s head on the ground and stood up, “bye Jackson and Chase, and bye Con!” Ravi stormed off down the beach and up the hill, most likely back to the Demeter cabin or the woods. 

“Stupid Jackson,” Ravi muttered to himself while walking fast deep in the woods.

He kicked a stone, “I swear to the gods, does he ever shut up?”

“I mean,” Ravi slumped again a large rock, “why does he fucking think I act like a hermit. Him and his stupid water themed nicknames.”

The ground suddenly rumbled beneath Ravi, vines wrapping around the rock, “what the fuck…?” whispered Ravi to himself, the ground shortly opened and swallowed him up after.

Ravi crashed his head against a wall, that’s gotta be serious. Wait a wall!? Ravi sat up and leaned against a wall, it’s like the wall’s were all moving around. That’s probably just his concussion. His back rested against the wall and it flung him forwards. “shi’, t’ey def… it-net… ly… moving,” he muttered.

He put up a hand to the wall he used to be leaning against, then Ravi forced all his weight and slowly stood him. His head was pounding like a heartbeat and the world spun. 

“Wher’ t’e fu’ am I?” He tried to look at his surroundings but they were all blurred. His line of vision flashed black before everything cleared again.

Ravi! A giggly boy voice called out.

It couldn’t be… A figure almost identical to Ravi walked through the shadows, Ravi…

The hair was the same. The nose was the same. The eyes were the same. The ears. Even Sal’s sweet warm smile. 

“Sa-al..?” Ravi whispered, tears filling his eyes. 

Sal wrapped his arms around Ravi, filling him with a hug.

“I missed you so much,” Ravi cried, “I love you, please don’t leave again.”

I’ll never leave you silly, Sal’s voice full of joy and cheer laughed out.

Sal walked towards the shadows again, they were in the woods again. The familiar trees made sounds as the harsh British wind collided with them. Come Ravi. Join me.

Join me.

Join me.

Join me.

Join him.

Join Sal.

Ravi walked towards the shadow filled woods and held Sal’s hand. But it wasn’t there anymore.

“Sal?” Ravi called out as the world began to spin around again. Ravi lost Sal again. Ravi lost Sal to the woods. Again.

“Sal!” He screamed.

Rachel was taking an early morning stroll in the woods. She had been running late because she had stopped to talk to Juniper on the way. Rachel looked around at all the nature. She could hear all the nymphs having their early morning chats. They were all waving to Rachel as she passed by and of course she waved back as usual.

Everything was the usual routine. Early morning stroll. Chat with Juniper. Wave to the other nymphs. Well until she saw the crack in the ground.

Rachel peered into the hole, she knew the inside of it very well. It was the labyrinth. But it couldn’t be. The labyrinth was long gone. It was destroyed. While Daedalus died.

But it was. It was the labyrinth. Some of it had survived and grown it back. It seemed more ruthless this time. More wild. A figure was passed out at the bottom. Rachel climbed down and lifted up the figure. It was a boy. A Demeter kid she thinks. The one who never leaves the cabin.

He whispered something, “Sa-al?” His voice broke at that name. Who was Sal?

He was heavy but Rachel could manage it until she found someone else.

“Sal!” He screamed again. This time he wasn’t in the woods. He wasn’t in the woods where Sal was found. Where he lost Sal. Ravi jolted upright. Where was he? He rubbed his eyes and head. His hair was still a mess from the beach. And getting flung around in that place he fell into.

A golden boy came into the room. Why was he gold? People can’t be gold.

“Why you gol’?” Ravi blurted out.

Golden boy snapped his head towards him, “…what?”

Ravi stared at him, “you gol’” he pointed to the golden boy.

Golden boy pulled a chair and sat beside Ravi. The sound of the chair screeching against the ground was loud. Ringing in his head. Ravi winced, “ca’ you qui’t?”

Golden boy sighed, “Ravi, how many fingers am I holding up?” Golden boy held his hand up and wiggled his fingers. Why was there so many of them?

“How'd you know na-e?” Ravi questioned.

“How many fingers?” Golden boy asked again.

Ravi squinted and counted them, “..30?”

Golden boy sighed and walked off muttering something that Ravi couldn’t make out.

What had Ravi done wrong? There were 30 fingers. Stupid Golden boy. Why was he golden? Was he related to Midas? Midas was the gold one right? Ravi never paid attention in Mr. Ward’s history lessons. Even though he was Sal’s favourite teacher.

Golden boy was back this time with a gold sponge, a spoon, and an glass of equally gold liquid. He sat back down on the chair and it screeched loudly. Ravi winced again. Could golden boy be any louder? 

“Eat this,” the golden boy held the sponge in a spoon up to his mouth, guestering for him to eat him.

Ravi didn’t trust the gold sponge but he opened mouth anyways and the golden boy put the spoon with the gold sponge in his mouth and pulled the spoon out.

Ravi chewed the sponge but it didn’t taste like sponge. It tasted like the muffins Sal used to make. The hot fresh out of the oven feel. Ravi would always sneak them as soon as they popped out the oven and would burn his tongue every time. It was still amazing. And he hasn’t had them for over 5 years.

“More…” Ravi croaked out. He needed to taste Sal’s muffins again.

Golden boy waved a finger, “nope. You’ll explode, Ravi.”

Ravi's smile turned into a frown.

“Drink this now,” the golden boy held the glass of gold to his mouth. Ravi let it in and sipped it, it didn’t taste like gold. He didn’t know what gold tasted like, but it probably tasted like a metallic substance. Right? It tasted like a cold milkshake he’d have during the summer with Sal. Why was everything pointing to Sal today? First Pip. Then the place where he saw Sal. And now the weird food and drinks golden boy was giving him.

Golden boy took away the glass, “you can’t have too much.”

Ravi pouted, begging the golden boy but he still said no.

Golden boy put a hand on Ravi’s head, “oh,” he bit his lip, “hopefully the fever will go away with your concussion.”

So he did have a concussion! Oh yeah. People usually didn’t have 30 fingers. And people weren’t usually gold.

Ravi lay back down on the bed and closed his eyes. His world quickly faded to darkness.

“And he’s asle…” 

Ravi awoke again, this time a brown short haired girl was sat on the chair golden boy had brought.

Pippa Fitz-Amobi. Why was she here?

“Hey I heard you got a concussion,” Pip said.

Ravi raised an eyebrow, “how are you so sure I didn’t get one?”

“Your voice was all slurred when you talked to Will Solace. You also thought he was golden…” Pip laughed out while smirking.

“Hey!” Ravi shouted gleefully.

Pip looked at Ravi, “your concussion any better?

Ravi thought for a moment, “hm… well my voice isn’t slurred, and I don’t think you’re golden.”

“I’m actually teal,” Pip nodded.

“Guess it’s getting worse…” Ravi nodded solemnly, struggling to hold in her laughter.

Pip turned to the door, “oh Will!” She laughed.

Will Solace peeped his head through the doorway, “everything ok?”

Pip smiled and laughed, “yea-ah!”

Ravi giggled along with her. Pip felt like his other half and he had only really known her for a few hours. Well depending on how long he was out.

“Hey! Golden boy!” Ravi called out to Will, “how long was I out?”

“Well the first time a day and the second a few hours,” Will told him before popping back out the door.

So he had known Pip for a day and a half, maybe 3 quarters.

“Pip,” Ravi turned to Pip, “what time is it? Oh and the date.”

Pip glanced up to a circle, Ravi assumed it was a clock, “about half five in the morning.”

“Oh,” Ravi’s face darkened, “sorry…”

“For what?” Pip asked him, “I couldn’t sleep anyways.”

Ravi looked at Pip, “thanks.” He smiled.

Pip looked at Ravi, “you’re welcome.” She smiled.

“I should probably go now…” Pip looked to the door,” talk to you later?”

Ravi nodded, “yep, now shoo! I need my beauty sleep!”

“Well it doesn’t work very much,” Pip stared him down.

Ravi’s mouth flew open, “how dare you! I need it to look ravishing!”

Pip froze and burst into laughter, “ravishing?”

“Ravishing!” Ravi laughed.

Pip never left after that and they just kept cracking jokes and puns until the sun rose.

“Pip,” Connor started, “why have you been hanging out with Ravi lately?”

Pip stared at him. Why was he asking her that? He’s friends with Ravi, why can’t she be?

“Not that you can’t,” Connor jumped to defend himself, “I just was wondering.”

“Um..” Pip thought for a moment, “he’s funny, and it’s nice to have someone else from Little Kilton, you know?”

“Yeah, I know,” Connor said, leaving it alone.

“And… um…” Pip was going to tell him, “I know what my EPQ is going to be.”

“Really! That’s great,” Connor's face turned into a confused expression, “what does that have to do with Ravi-“ Connor’s eyes widened, “no- you are not!”

“Yes I am,” Pip gulped, she had told this to Ravi, why can’t she tell it to Connor.

“I’m going to solve the Andie Bell Case,” Pip took a breath and swallowed her saliva, “I'm going to prove Sal Singh innocent.”

Connor looked her in the eyes, “you never give up, do you Pip?”

“No, I don’t. And I won’t.”

Chapter Text

[production log - entry 1]

So, I’m glad my proposal was accepted. I was obviously still going to do the case if it was rejected but at least I have an excuse for my parents when they ask.

Also I’ve talked to Ravi and once he’s out of the infirmary he’s going to let me interview him so that’ll probably be in 1-2 days. Demi-gods heal pretty quickly. I should already have my questions prepared but I’ll just do them later. After dinner maybe? Definitely before the campfire though. 

(REMINDER TO DELETE ANYTHING MENTIONED CAMP AND THE GODS/DEMIGODS BEFORE SHOWING THIS TO ANYONE WHO DOESN'T KNOW!!!)

I have to call Angela Johnson for her interview later today. I’ll type that tomorrow.

The production log is intended to chart any obstacles you face in your research, your progress and the aims of your final report. My production log will have to be a little different: I’m going to record all of the research I do here, both relevant and irrelevant, because, as of yet, I don’t know what my final report will be, nor what will end up being relevant or not. I don’t know what I’m aiming for. I will just have to wait and see what position I am in at the end of my research and what essay I can bring together.

(THIS IS STARTING TO FEEL SO MUCH LIKE A DIARY!???)

I’m hoping it will not be the essay I proposed to Mrs. Morgan. I’m hoping it will be the truth. What really happened to Andie Bell on the 20th April 2012? And – as my instincts tell me – if Salil ‘Sal’ Singh is not guilty, then who killed her?

I don’t think I will actually solve the case and discover the person who murdered Andie. I’m not a police officer with access to a forensics lab (obviously) and I am also not deluded. But I’m hoping that my research will uncover facts and accounts that will lead to reasonable doubt about Sal’s guilt, and suggest that the police were mistaken in closing the case without digging further.

So my research methods will actually be: interviewing those close to the case, obsessive social media stalking and wild, WILD speculation.

(DON’T LET MRS MORGAN SEE ANY OF THIS!!!)

The first stage in this project then is to research what happened to Andrea Bell – known as Andie to everyone – and the circumstances surrounding her disappearance. This information will be taken from news articles and police press conferences from around that time.

(Write your references in now so you don’t have to do it later(or forget due to lights out!!!)!!!)

Copied and pasted from the first national news outlet to report on Andie’s disappearance:

‘Andrea Bell, 17, was reported missing from her home in Little Kilton, Buckinghamshire, last Friday.

She left home in her car – a black Peugeot 206 – with her mobile phone, but did not

take any clothes with her. Police say her disappearance is “completely out of character”. Police have been searching woodland near the family home over the weekend. Andrea, known as Andie, is described as white, five feet six inches tall, with long blonde hair. It is thought that she was wearing dark jeans and a blue cropped jumper on the night she went missing.’ 1

After everything happened, later articles had more detail as to when Andie was last

seen alive and the time window in which she is believed to have been abducted.

Andie Bell was ‘last seen alive by her younger sister, Becca, at around 10:30 p.m. on

the 20th April 2012.’ 2

This was corroborated by the police in a press conference on Tuesday 24th April: ‘CCTV footage taken from a security camera outside STN Bank on Little Kilton High Street confirms that Andie’s car was seen driving away from her home at about 10:40

p.m.’ 3

 According to her parents, Jason and Dawn Bell, Andie was ‘supposed to pick (them) up from a dinner party at 12:45 a.m.’ When Andie didn’t show up or answer any of their phone calls, they started ringing her friends to see if anyone knew of her whereabouts. Jason Bell ‘called the police to report his daughter missing at 3:00 a.m. Saturday morning.’ 4

So whatever happened to Andie Bell that night, happened between 10:40 p.m. and

12:45 a.m. 

And I’m going to figure out what happened.

Connor skipped into the cabin and Pip quickly shut her laptop so he wouldn’t see any of it. She knows he doesn’t approve of it.

Connor shuffled around towards her, noticing the quick closing of her laptop, “you know, um, I think trying to solve Andie’s case is pretty cool. I never really thought Sal really killed her. Even though all the evidence points to him.”

Pip looked up at him, guess he did approve.

“I just don’t want you to get hurt,” Connor sighed, “you know. If it turns out Sal actually didn’t kill Andie and it was someone else. The real killer is still out there.”

“No one’s gonna come after a school girl doing a project,” Pip laughed it off.

Connor looked her in the eyes, “just promise me you’ll try to stay out of trouble?”

Pip awkwardly joked, “a Hermes kid? Asking me to stay out of trouble?”

“Pip,” said Connor, grasping her hand, “promise me.”

“I promise to try and stay out of trouble,” Pip told him.

Connor smiled at her before dragging her off the bunk, “Connor,” she complained exhaustively like she had done it so many times before.

“Oh come on!” Connor giggled gleefully, “we’ll be late to dinner!”

Pip rolled her eyes, “didn’t know you’d try to kill me just to get food.”

“I did not try to kill you,” Connor deadpanned, “that’s like 10 centimetres…”

“Same thing,” she shrugged.

Connor stuck his tongue out and ran off pulling her with him.

She ran with him hitting him on the head harshly.

“Ow!” He winced, rubbing his head dramatically.

And they continued to do that the whole way there until they had to stop because Mr. D looked like he was about to turn them all into Dolphins.

[TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW WITH ANGELA JOHNSON FROM THE MISSING PERSONS BUREAU]

Some of the stuff Angela and I said is inaudible due to the environment i was in during recording. I’ll leave notes at the end on what I think she or I said.

Angela: Hello.

Pip: Hi, is this Angela Johnson?

Angela: Speaking, yep. Is this Pippa?

Pip: Yes, thanks so much for replying to my email.

Angela: No problem. 

Pip: Do you mind if I record this interview so I can type it up later to use in my project?

Angela: Yeah, that’s fine. I’m sorry I’ve only got about ten minutes to give you. So what [inaudible] want to know about missing persons? *

Pip: Well, I was wondering if you could talk me through what happens when someone is reported missing? What’s the process and the first steps taken by the police?

Angela: So, when someone rings 999 or 101 to report someone as missing, the police will try to get as much detail as possible so they can identify the potential risk to the missing person and an [inaudible] police response can be made. The kinds of details they will ask for in this first call are name, age, description of the person, what clothes they were last seen wearing, the circumstances of their disappearance, if going missing is out of character for this person, details of any vehicle involved. Using this information, the police will determine whether this is a high-, low- or medium-risk case. **

Pip: And what circumstances [inaudible] make a case high-risk? ***

Angela: If they are vulnerable because of their age or a disability, that would be high-risk. If the behaviour is out of character, then it is likely an indicator that they have been exposed to harm, so that would be high-risk.

Pip: Um, so, if the missing person is seventeen years old and it is deemed out of character for her to go missing, would this be considered a high-risk case?

Angela: Oh, absolutely, if a minor is involved.

Pip: So how would the police respond to a high-risk case?

Angela: Well, there would be immediate deployment of police officers to the location the person is missing from. The officer will have to acquire further details about the

missing person, such as details of their friends or partners, any health conditions, their financial information in case they can be found when trying to withdraw money. They will also need a number of recent photographs of the person and, in a high-risk case, they may take [inaudible] samples in case they are needed in subsequent forensic examination. And, with consent of the homeowners, the location will be searched thoroughly to see if the missing person is concealed or hiding there and to establish whether there are any further evidential leads. That’s the normal procedure. ****

Pip: So immediately the police are looking for any clues or suggestions that the missing person has been the victim of a crime?

Angela: Absolutely. If the circumstances of the disappearance are suspicious, officers  are always told ‘if in doubt, [inaudible] murder.’ Of course, only a very small

percentage of missing person cases turn into homicide cases, but officers are instructed to document evidence [inaudible] though they were investigating a homicide. ***** & ******

Pip: Sorry just a sec here, [ inaudible ] sorry about that, but after the initial home address search, what happens if nothing significant turns up? *******

Angela: They will expand the search to the immediate area. They might request telephone information. They’ll question friends, neighbours, anyone who may

have relevant information. If it is a young person, a teenager, who’s missing, a reporting parent cannot be assumed to know all of their child’s friends and acquaintances. Their peers are a good port of call to establish other important contacts, you know, any secret boyfriends, that sort of thing. And a press strategy is usually discussed because appeals for information in the media can be very useful in these situations.

Pip: So, if it’s a seventeen-year-old girl who’s gone missing, the police would have contacted her friends and boyfriend quite early on?

Angela: Yes of course. Enquiries will be made because, if the missing person has run away, they are likely to be hiding out with a person close to them.

Pip: And at what point in a missing persons case do police accept they are looking for a body?

Angela: Well, timewise, it’s not . . . Oh, Pippa, I have to go. Sorry, I’ve been called into my meeting.

Pip: Oh, OK, thanks so much for taking the time to talk to me.

Angela: And if you have any more questions, just pop me an email and I’ll get to them when I can.

Pip: Will do, thanks again.

Angela: Bye.

*

either you or do you

**

appropriate or immediate

***

not exactly sure, the sentence works fine without it so the inaudible doesn’t really matter.

****

She definitely said DN, so it was probably DNA

*****

TH sound, probably think because I can’t think of anything else that fits

******

she definitely said on in the middle of that. I heard ‘ear’ so maybe early as the first word. Early on? 

*******

I was just telling off the people (aka Connor and other Connor + Travis) for messing around while I was on the phone. Nothing important to the report.

By the way I found these statistics online:

80% of missing people are found in the first 24 hours. 97% are found in the first week. 99% of cases are resolved in the first year. That leaves just 1%.

1% of people who disappear are never found. But there’s another figure to consider: just 0.25% of all missing person cases have a fatal outcome. 5

And where does this leave Andie Bell? Floating incessantly somewhere between 1% and 0.25%, fractionally increasing and decreasing in tiny decimal breaths.

But by now, most people accept that she’s dead, even though her body has never been recovered. And why is that?

Sal Singh is why.

The cabin was empty. Pip was just lying in her bunk. She skipped the camp activities. Pretending to be sick and telling them she’d head to the infirmary later. In reality that wasn’t true. She was waiting for Ravi to be free from the infirmary today and he was going to come over and they were going to record the interview.

Pip was so bored and itching to get on the case she had already set up the microphone, the recording app on her phone. Her computer so she could research with him after the interview.

She kept glancing up at the ceilings. She was pretty sure there were 2 spiders up there. Just waiting for her to drop her guard. So they could pounce on Pip and attack her. Why the fuck was she saying that about 2 spiders. A spider couldn’t hurt her. Or could it?

Pip slowly got off of the bunk and watched the spiders crawl on the ceiling above her while she slowly backed up into a corner.

When Ravi came in and saw a cowering Pip in the corner he ran over, “Pip!?” Ravi whispered to her, “shit, what’s wrong?”

Pip lifted up a shaky finger towards the two furry small creatures, “sp-sp-spiders…”

“Ah,” Ravi said, grabbing a chair and someone’s shoes from under their bunk. He stood on top of the chair and threw the shoes on the two spiders. “There,” Ravi looked back at her and smiled, “all fixed.”

Pip looked up at him, “thanks.”

“No problem- AAA” Ravi slipped off of the chair but he slid into Pip. Ravi’s face nearly touched hers. He quickly jumped off her and brushed himself off. 

“Sorry,” they both apologised.

“It’s fine,” they both said.

“Anyways,” Pip said, walking back towards her bunk and fixing up the equipment, “let’s start!”

“Alright- wow!” Ravi looked over the equipment, “where’d you get all this stuff?”

Pip bit her lip and looked off to the side, “stole it from the big house.”

Ravi smirked, “what was that?”

Pip stuck her tongue out at him, “I know damn well you heard me right.”

Ravi winked and shrugged his shoulders and settled himself on the bottom bunk.

Pip turned her phone back on and pressed record.

[PRODUCTION LOG - ENTRY 2]

[TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW WITH RAVI SINGH, BROTHER OF SAL SINGH]

Pip: So, how old are you?

Ravi: Why?

Pip: Just trying to get all the facts straight.

Ravi: OK, Sergeant, I just turned twenty. 

Pip: (Laughs) (Side note: OH MY GOD, MY LAUGH IS ATROCIOUS ON AUDIO. I’M NEVER LAUGHING AGAIN!!!! OH GOD I'M LAUGHING AT MY LAUGH!!!) And Sal was three years older than you?

Ravi: Yep.

Pip: Do you remember your brother acting strangely on Friday the twentieth of April 2012?

Ravi: Wow, straight in there I guess. Um, no, not at all really. We had an early dinner at, like, seven maybe? Not sure the details are little fuzzy because I wasn’t really keeping track of the day- it was just a normal day. Anyway, it was before my dad dropped off Sal at Max’s, and he was just chatting along, like normal Sal. If he was secretly planning a murder, it wasn’t at all obvious to us. He was . . . chirpy, I’d say was a good description.

Pip: And what about when he returned from Max’s?

Ravi: I had already gone up to bed. But the next morning, I remember him being in a really good mood. Sal was always a morning person. He got up and made breakfast for us all and it wasn’t until just after that he got a phone call from one of Andie’s friends, Emma I think. That’s when we all found out she was missing. From that point, obviously, he wasn’t chirpy any more, he was worried.

Pip: So neither Andie’s parents nor the police rang him during Friday night?

Ravi: Not that I know of but then again- it’s not like Sal told me everything. He could’ve gotten a phone call during the night from the police. When he was asleep. But Andie’s parents didn’t really know Sal. He’d never met them or  been to their house. Andie usually came around here or they hung out at school and parties.

Pip: How long had they been together?

Ravi: Since just before Christmas the year before, so about four months. Sal did have a couple of missed calls from one of Andie’s best friends at, like, 2 a.m. Probably that was the time Jason and Dawn had called them so they went straight to calling Sal. His phone was on silent, though, so he slept through them.

Pip: So what else happened on that Saturday?

Ravi: Well, after finding out Andie was missing, Sal literally sat on the phone, calling her few minutes. It went to voicemail each time, but he figured if she’d pick up for anyone, it’d be him.

Pip: Wait, so Sal was calling Andie’s phone?

Ravi: Yeah, like a million times, throughout that weekend and on the Monday after too.

Pip: Doesn’t sound like the kind of thing you’d do if you knew you had murdered the person and they would never pick up.

Ravi: Especially if he had her phone hidden somewhere on him, or in his room.

Pip: An even better point. So what else happened that day?

Ravi: My parents told him not to go to Andie’s house, because the police would be busy searching it. So he just sat at home, trying to call her. I asked him if he had any

idea where she’d be, and he was stumped. He said something else I always remembered. He said that everything Andie did was deliberate, and maybe she’d run off on purpose to punish someone. Obviously by the end of the weekend he realised that probably wasn’t the case.

Pip: Who would Andie be wanting to punish? Him?

Ravi: I don’t know, I didn’t push it. I didn’t know her well; she only came around a handful of times. I mean, I presumed the ‘someone’ Sal was talking about was Andie’s dad, Jason.

Pip: Jason Bell? Why?

Ravi: I just overheard some stuff when she was here. I figured she didn’t have the best relationship with her dad. I can’t remember anything specifically. You know, wasn’t really paying attention at the time.

(Phew, he says ‘specifically’ not ‘pacifically’!! I hate when Lauren’s boyfriend, Tom is around and he says that!!!)

Pip: Specifics are what we need. So when did the police contact Sal?

Ravi: It was that Saturday afternoon. They called him and asked if they could come over for a chat. They arrived at, like, three or four-ish. Me and my parents came into the kitchen to give them a bit of space, so we didn’t hear any of it really.

Pip: And did Sal tell you what they asked him?

Ravi: A bit. He was a little freaked out that they recorded it and st– 

Pip: The police recorded it? Is that normal?

Ravi: I don’t know, you’re the sergeant. They said it was routine and just asked him questions about where he was that night, who he was with. And about his and Andie’s relationship.

Pip: And what was their relationship like?

Ravi: I’m his brother; I didn’t see all that much of it. But, yeah, Sal liked her a lot. I mean, he seemed pretty chuffed he was with the prettiest, most popular girl in their year. Andie always seemed to bring drama, though.

Pip: What kind of drama?

Ravi: I don’t know, I think she was just one of those people who thrives on it. You know?

Pip: Did your parents like her?

Ravi: Yeah, my parents were cool with her. She never gave them a reason not to be. They always thought she was a sweet girl and good for Sal.

Pip: And so what else happened after the police interviewed him?

Ravi Err, his friends came around in the evening, you know to check if he was OK.

Pip: And is that when he asked his friends to lie to the police and give him an alibi?

Ravi: I guess so.

Pip: Why do you think he did that?

Ravi: I mean, I don’t know. Maybe he was rattled after the police interview. Maybe he was scared he would be a suspect so he tried to cover himself. I don’t know.

Pip: Presuming Sal’s innocence, do you have any idea where he could have been between leaving Max’s at 10:30 and getting home at 12:50?

Ravi: No, because he also told us that he started walking home from Max’s at like 12:15. I guess maybe he was alone somewhere so he knew that if he told the truth he’d have no alibi. It looks bad, doesn’t it?

Pip: I mean, lying to the police and asking his friends to as well does look bad for Sal. But it’s not absolute proof that he had anything to do with Andie’s death. So what happened on the Sunday then?

Ravi: On the Sunday afternoon, me, Sal and his friends volunteered to help put up some missing posters, handing them out to people in town. On the Monday, I didn’t see much of him at school, but it must have been pretty hard for him because all anyone was talking about was Andie’s disappearance. Because she was the most popular and stuff. You know?

Pip: I remember. Even Josh’s pre-school talked about it.

Ravi: Police were about too; I saw them looking through Andie’s locker. Yeah, so that night he was a little down. He was quiet, but he was worried, that’s what you’d expect. His girlfriend was missing. And the next day –

Pip: You don’t have to talk about the next day if you don’t want to. I know it’s hard.

Ravi: (Small pause) It’s OK. We walked into school together and I went off to registration, leaving Sal behind in the car park. He wanted to sit outside for a minute. That was the last time I ever saw him. And all I said was ‘see you later’. I (another pause) I knew police were at the school; rumour was that they were talking to Sal’s friends. And it wasn’t until like two-ish that I saw my mum had been trying to ring me, so I went home and my parents told me that the police really needed to speak to Sal and had I seen him. I think officers had been searching his bedroom. I tried calling Sal too, but it just rang out. My dad showed me this text he got, the last time they’d heard from Sal.

Pip: Do you remember what it said?

Ravi: Yeah, it said: it was me. I did it. I’m so sorry. And . . . (Another small pause) It was later that evening when the police came back. My parents went to answer the door and I stayed in here listening. When they said they’d found a body in the woods, I was so sure for a second that it was Andie they were talking about.

Pip: And . . . I don’t want to be insensitive, but the sleeping pills . . .

Ravi: Yeah, they were Dad’s. He was taking phenobarbitals for his insomnia. He blamed : himself afterwards. It’s not like he could’ve seen it coming though, he still doesn’t take anything any more. He just doesn’t sleep much. 

Pip: And had you ever before thought that Sal could be suicidal?

 Ravi: Never, not once. Sal was literally the happiest person there was. He was always laughing and messing around. It’s cheesy but he was the kind of person that lit up a room when he walked into it. He was the best at everything he ever did. He was my parents’ golden child, their straight-A student. Now they’re left with just me.

Pip: And, sorry. (small pause) but the biggest question then: do you think Sal killed Andie?

Ravi:  I . . . No, no I don’t. I can’t believe that. It just doesn’t make sense to me. Sal was one of the nicest people on the planet, you know. He never lost his temper ever, no matter how much I wound him up in our sibling fights. He was never one of those boys that got in fights. He was the greatest big brother anyone could have and he always came to my rescue when I needed it. He was the best person I ever knew. So, I have to say no. But then, I don’t know, the police seem so sure and the evidence . . . yeah, I know it looks bad for Sal. But I still can’t believe he had it in him to do that.

Pip: I understand. I think those are all the questions I need to ask for now.

Ravi (Sits back and lets out a long sigh) So, Pip. You said this is for a school project? 

Pip: It is, yep.

Ravi: But why? Why did you choose this? OK, maybe you don’t believe Sal did it, but why would you want to prove it? What’s it to you? No one else in this town has

trouble believing my brother was a monster. He was the beast of this town.They’ve all moved on.

Pip: My best friend, Cara, she’s Naomi Ward’s sister.

Ravi: Oh, Naomi! She was always really nice to me. Always over at our house, following Sal around like a puppy. She was one hundred per cent in love with him.

Pip: Oh, really?

Ravi: I always thought so. The way she laughed at everything he said, even the unfunny stuff. Don’t think he felt the same way back, though.

Pip: Hm.

Ravi: So you're doing this for Naomi? I still don’t get it.

Pip: No, it’s not that. What I meant was . . . I knew Sal

Ravi: You did?

Pip: Yeah. He was often over at the Wards’ house when I was too. One time, he let us watch an over fifteens film with them, even though Cara and I were only twelve. It was a comedy and I can still remember how much I laughed. Laughed until it hurt, even when I didn’t quite get it, because Sal’s laugh was so contagious.

Ravi: High and giggly?

Pip: Yeah. And when I was ten, he accidentally taught me my first swear word. Shit , by the way. And another time, he taught me how to flip pancakes because I was useless at it but too stubborn to let someone do it for me.

Ravi: He was a good teacher. 

 Pip: And when I was in my first year at school, these two boys were picking on me because my dad is Nigerian. And Sal saw. He came over and just said, very calmly, ‘When you two get expelled for bullying, the next grammar school is half an hour away, if you even get in. Starting from scratch at a completely new school, think about it.’ They never picked on me again. And afterwards Sal sat with me and gave me his KitKat to cheer me up. Since then, I’ve (pause) well (long pause) never mind.

Ravi, Hey, come on, share. I let you have your interview – even though my hair is probably still fiddled with sand from the beach sleepover.

Pip: Since then, he’s always been a hero to me. I just can’t believe he did it. He’d never hurt her. Sal couldn’t do that. Not the Sal I knew.

That’s it for that interview. I might try and get Sal’s police interview. I’ll research that later to see if I’m able to. Maybe some others while I’m at it. Ravi’s giving me a lot with this.

I have the Stanley Forbes interview tomorrow so can’t wait for that! (Sarcasm by the way.)

Ravi and I did research on the rights for Sal’s interview and I think I’ll be able to get it. It’s worth a shot anyway. We had to end it early due to camp activities being cut short due to unforeseen weather conditions (Percy started a hurricane by accident).

Anyway campfire is in five minutes so I’ll do more research tomorrow while waiting to call Stanley.

Chapter Text

[production log - entry 4] 

What happened next in the Andie Bell case is quite confusing to glean from the newspaper reports. There are gaps I will have to fill with guesswork and rumours until the picture becomes clearer from any later interviews; hopefully Ravi and Naomi– who was one of Sal’s best friends by the way– can assist with this.

Using what Angela said, presumably after taking statements from the Bell family and thoroughly searching their residence, the police asked for details of Andie’s friends.

From some seriously historical Facebook stalking, it looks like Andie’s best friends were two girls called Chloe Burch and Emma Hutton. I mean, here’s my evidence:

[Facebook post of Andie with Chloe Burch and Emma Hutton replies along with Andie Bell replying to them]

This post is from two weeks before Andie disappeared. It looks like neither Chloe nor Emma live in Little Kilton any more. (Maybe private-message them and see if they’ll do a phone interview? Looking from Chloe’s posts, she lives in New York. I’ll take a trip to her work- or where I think she works!)

Chloe and Emma did a lot on that first weekend (21st and 22nd) to help spread the Thames Valley Police’s Twitter campaign: #FindAndie . I don’t think it’s too big of a leap to assume that the police contacted Chloe and Emma either on the Friday night or on Saturday morning. What they said to the police, I don’t know. Hopefully I can find out.

At some point on the Saturday the police contacted Sal. 

‘DI Richard Hawkins confirmed that officers had questioned Salil Singh on Saturday

21st April. They questioned him as to his whereabouts for the previous night, particularly the period of time in which it is believed Andie went missing.’ 6

That night, Sal had been hanging out at his friend Max Hastings’ house. He was with his four best friends: Naomi Ward, Jake Lawrence, Millie Simpson and Max.

Again, I need to check this with Naomi next week, but I think Sal told the police that he left Max’s house at around 12:15 a.m. He walked home and his father (Mohan Singh) confirmed that ‘Sal returned home at approximately 12:50 a.m.’ 7 (Note: the distance between Max’s house (Tudor Lane) and Sal’s (Grove Place) takes about 30 minutes to walk – says Google)

The police confirmed Sal’s alibi with his four friends over the weekend.

Missing posters went up. House-to-house enquiries started on the Sunday. 8

On the Monday, 100 volunteers helped the police carry out searches in the local woodland. I’ve seen the news footage; a whole ant line of people in the woods, calling her name. Later in the day, forensic teams were spotted going into the Bell residence. 9 And on the Tuesday, everything changed.

I think chronologically is the best way to consider the events of that day and those that followed, even though we, as a town, learned the details out of order and jumbled. Mid-morning: Naomi Ward, Max Hastings, Jake Lawrence and Millie Simpson contacted the police from school and confessed to providing false information. They said that Sal had asked them to lie and that he actually left Max’s house at around 10:30 p.m. on the night Andie disappeared.

I don’t know for sure what the correct police procedure would have been but I’m guessing that at that point, Sal became the number-one suspect.

But they couldn’t find him: Sal wasn’t at school and he wasn’t at home. He wasn’t answering his phone.

It later transpired, however, that Sal had sent a text to his father that morning, though

he was ignoring all other calls. The press would refer to this as a ‘confession text’. 10

That Tuesday evening, one of the police teams searching for Andie found a body in the woods.

It was Sal.

He had killed himself.

The press never reported the method by which Sal committed suicide but by the

power of high school rumour, I know (as did every other student at Kilton at the time). Sal walked into the woods near his home, took a load of sleeping pills and placed a

plastic bag over his head, secured by an elastic band around his neck. He suffocated while unconscious.

At the police press conference later that night no mention of Sal was made. The police only revealed that bit of information about CCTV imaging placing Andie as driving away from her home at 10:40 p.m. 11

On the Wednesday, Andie’s car was found parked on a small residential road (Romer

Close).

It wasn’t until the following Monday that a police spokeswoman revealed the following:

‘I have an update on the Andie Bell investigation. As a result of recent intelligence and forensic information, we have strong reason to suspect that a young man named Salil Singh, aged 18, was involved in Andie’s abduction and murder. The evidence would have been sufficient to arrest and charge the suspect had he not died before proceedings could be initiated. Police are not looking for anyone else in relation to Andie’s disappearance at this time but our search for Andie will continue unabated. Our thoughts go out to the Bell family and our deepest sympathies for the devastation this update has caused them.’

Their sufficient evidence was as follows:

They found Andie’s mobile phone on Sal’s body.

Forensic tests found traces of Andie’s blood under the fingernails of his right middle

and index fingers. (It’s not looking good for Sal here)

 Andie’s blood was also discovered in the boot of her abandoned car. Sal’s fingerprints were found around the dashboard and steering wheel alongside prints from Andie and the rest of the Bell family. 12

(Suspicious, but they were together. He’d obviously drive her car sometimes.)

The evidence, they said, would have been enough to charge Sal and – police would

have hoped – to secure a conviction in court. But Sal was dead, so there was no trial and no guilty conviction. No defence either.

In the following weeks, there were more searches of the woodland areas in and around Little Kilton. Searches using cadaver dogs. Police divers in the River Kilbourne. But Andie’s body was never found.

The Andie Bell missing persons case was administratively closed in the middle of

June 2012. 13 A case may be ‘administratively closed’ only if the ‘supporting documentation contains sufficient evidence to charge had the offender not died before the investigation could be completed’. The case ‘may be reopened whenever new evidence or leads develop’. 14

Off to another campfire sing along: another indie rock night that Connor has emotionally blackmailed Ravi and I to come along. But there’s just one final part to the background of the Andie Bell/Sal Singh case and I’m on a roll.

Eighteen months after Andie Bell’s case was administratively closed, the police filed a report to the local coroner. In cases like this, it is up to the coroner to decide whether further investigation into the death is required, based on their belief that the person is likely to be dead and that sufficient time has elapsed.

The coroner will then apply to the Secretary of State for Justice, under the Coroners Act 1988 Section 15, for an inquest with no body. Where there is no body, an inquest will rely mostly on evidence provided by the police, and whether the senior officers of the investigation believe the missing person is dead.

An inquest is a legal enquiry into the medical cause and circumstances of death. It cannot ‘blame individuals for the death or establish criminal liability on the part of any

named individual.’ 15

At the end of the inquest, January 2014, the coroner returned a verdict of ‘unlawful

killing’ and Andie Bell’s death certificate was issued. 16 An unlawful killing verdict literally means ‘the person was killed by an “unlawful act” by someone’ or, more specifically, death by ‘murder, manslaughter, infanticide or death by dangerous driving.’ 17

This is where everything ends.

Andie Bell has been legally declared dead, despite her body never having been found. Her death certificate had been issued.

Given the circumstances, we can presume that the ‘unlawful killing’ verdict refers to murder. After Andie’s inquest, a statement from the Crown Prosecution Service said:

 ‘The case against Salil Singh would have been based on circumstantial and forensic evidence. It is not for the CPS to state whether Salil Singh killed Andie Bell or not, that would have been a jury’s job to decide.’ 18

So even though there has never been a trial, even though no head juror has ever

stood up, sweaty palmed and adrenaline-pumped, and declared: ‘We the jury find the defendant guilty,’ even though Sal Singh never had the chance to defend himself, he is guilty. Not in the legal sense, but in all the other ways that truly matter.

When you ask people in town what happened to Andie Bell, they’ll tell you without hesitation: ‘She was murdered by Salil Singh.’ No allegedly, no might have, no probably, no most likely.

He did it, they say. Sal Singh killed Andie. But I’m just not so sure . . .

And I think I’m getting closer to finding out.

(Next log – possibly look at what the prosecution’s case against Sal might have looked like if it went to court. Then start pecking away and putting holes in it.)

(And reminder to file the request for Sal and other people’s interview after the sing a long!!!!!!)

(Just realised I need to type up Stanley Forbes interview! Shit! I’ll do that later!!!!)

Ravi leaned close into Pip, “wanna get out of here?” His voice was very unclear and muffled over the sound of a bunch of teenagers screaming- sorry singing a random The Smiths song. At least she thinks it’s The Smiths. Pip definitely recognises the song from somewhere.

Pip bit her lip and shook her head, “um, it’s alright, I have to stay here for Connor,” Pip glanced over at Connor and saw him screaming his heart's content with an Aphrodite kid. Pip smiled, “actually, I think he’ll be alright.”

Pip got up off the tree stump bench and pulled Ravi up too. 

Ravi put his hands in his pockets and dragged Pip over the fields.

Pip laughed, “Ravi, where are you taking me?”

“I can’t tell you!” Ravi giggled, grabbing her hand and ran off into the woods with her.

The leaves rattled like a chime as the wind blew through and over them. They quickly went deep into the woodland and Pip could hear the nymphs gossiping in the bushes and trees.

Ravi stopped in front of a large overgrown barn made of metal. “Ravi, what’s this?” Pip asked him, looking over the ivy-covered corroded metal.

Ravi closed his eyes and gulped before opening them again, “this is… was… the place Sal used to take me to a lot…”

“Oh,” Pip bit her lip, “I’m so fucking sorry Ravi.”

“But it’s not just that!” Ravi tried a smile, dragging Pip into the old metal barn that looked like the roof was going to cave in in the next five seconds.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1. 

Bang!

Yeah a tile definitely fell off there.

Ravi let go of Pip once there were in the building and flipped a switch. Pip was shocked that it actually worked and the decades old lights flickered on. They looked like they hadn't been used for a while. Five years. Nearly Six.

Ravi led Pip to the centre of the space, “this,” he leaned down and pointed at- oh my god, “is something I made for Sal.”

Sal and Andie posing at the beach was in a frame. Sal’s school pictures. Pictures from Max Hastings’ house that night. A younger Sal -around Josh’s age- was smiling, a bandage over his left cheek, was messing up an even younger boy’s hair, the boy was sticking his tongue out in the picture. Holy shit. This was Ravi. Ravi looked so much like Sal. Oh my fucking god.

Pip thought back to when Elliot was dropping her and Zach back home after Connor’s murder mystery party. Elliot had swerved the car when he saw Ravi. Because he thought Ravi was Sal. Pip had too. No doubt Zach and Cara had thought so too. 

“This is beautiful,” Pip sniffed, there was flowers all decorating the pictures.

Ravi smiled at Pip and pointed to the bouquets of flowers, “those are pansies. They were Sal’s favourite.

Pip thought for a moment, bringing up a mental image of her front and back garden, “oh! I think dad has some pansies- can’t remember if they’re in the front or back.”

“He always liked the yellow ones the best,” whispered a broken Ravi. A Ravi who had to grieve his brother in secret. A Ravi who hasn’t been able to grieve for his brother properly. Pip thought back to Sal’s grave back in Little Kilton. Some outsiders would think it’s an old grave. But it’s just a vandalised grave of a teenager. Sal was just a teenager. Andie was too.

Pip hugged Ravi tightly, “I’m sure… I’m sure he loves this.”

“th-anks, Sarge, thank you,” Ravi cried into her shoulders, “god, I miss him so much.”

“I do too, Ravi,” Pip turned Ravi to face her, “I promise. I swear on the River Styx I will figure this out. That you’ll get justice.” A sound of thunder loudly boomed over them, making Ravi flinch.

Ravi’s eyes widened, “you,” he said, his voice breaking with every word he was about to say, “you swore on the River Styx?”

[production log - entry 5]

[TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW WITH STANLEY FORBES]

Stanley: Yep.

Pip: Hi, Stanley, this is Pippa, we were emailing earlier.

Stanley: Yep, yeah, I know. You wanted to pick my brains about the Andie Bell/Salil Singh case, right?

Pip: Yes that’s right.

Stanley: Well, shoot.

Pip: OK, thanks. Erm, so firstly, you attended Andie’s coroner inquest, didn’t you?

Stanley: I sure did, kid.

Pip: As the national press didn’t elaborate much further than reporting the verdict and the CPS’s later statement, I was wondering if you could tell me what kind of evidence was presented to the coroner by the police?

Stanley: A whole bunch of stuff.

Pip: Right, could you tell me some of the specific points they made?

Stanley: Err, so the main investigator on Andie’s case outlined the details of her disappearance, the times and so on. And then he moved on to the evidence that linked Salil to her murder. They made a big deal about the blood in the boot of her car; they said this suggested that she was murdered somewhere and her body was put in the boot to be transported to wherever she was disposed of. In the closing remarks the coroner said something like ‘it seems clear that Andie was the victim of a sexually motivated murder and considerable efforts were made to dispose of her body.’

Pip: And did DI Richard Hawkins or any other officer provide a timeline of what they believed were the events of that night and how Sal allegedly killed her?

Stanley: Yeah, I do kinda remember that. Andie left home in her car and at some point on Salil’s walk home, he intercepted her. With either him or her driving, he took

her to a secluded place and murdered her. He hid her body in the boot and then drove somewhere to hide or dispose of her body. Mind you, well enough so that it hasn’t been found in five years, must have been a pretty big hole. And then he ditched the car on that road where it was found, Romer Close I think it was, and he walked home.

Pip: So, because of the blood in the boot, the police believed that Andie was killed somewhere and then hidden in a different location? 

Stanley: Yep.

Pip: OK. In a lot of your articles about the case, you refer to Sal as a ‘killer’, a ‘murderer’ and even a ‘monster.’ You are aware that without a conviction, you are supposed to use the word ‘allegedly’ when reporting crime stories.

Stanley: Not sure I need a child to tell me how to do my job. Anyway, it’s obvious that he did it and everyone knows it. He killed her and the guilt drove him to suicide.

Pip: OK. So for what reasons are you convinced of Sal’s guilt?

Stanley: Almost too many to list. Evidence aside, he was the boyfriend, right? And it’s always the boyfriend or the ex-boyfriend. Not only that, Salil was Indian.

Pip: Um . . . Sal was actually born and raised in Britain, though it is notable that you refer to him as Indian in all of your articles.

Stanley: Well, same thing. He was of Indian heritage.

Pip: And why is that relevant?

Stanley: I’m not like an expert or anything, but they have different ways of life to us, don’t they? They don’t treat women quite like we do, their women are like their

possessions. So I’m guessing maybe Andie decided she didn’t want to be with him or something and he killed her in a rage because, in his eyes, she belonged to him.

Pip: Wow . . . I . . . Err . . . you . . . Honestly, Stanley, I’m pretty surprised you haven’t been sued for defamation.

Stanley: That’s ’cause everyone knows what I’m saying is true.

Pip: Actually, I don’t. I think it’s very irresponsible to label someone a murderer without using ‘suspected’ or ‘allegedly’ when there’s been no trial or conviction. Or calling Sal a monster. Speaking of word use, it’s interesting to compare your recent reporting of the Slough Strangler. He murdered five people and pleaded guilty in court, yet in your headline you referred to him as a ‘lovesick young man’. Is that because he’s white?

Stanley: That’s got nothing to do with Salil’s case. I just call it how it is. You need to chill out. He’s dead, why does it matter if people call him a murderer? It can’t hurt

him.

Pip: Because his family isn't dead.

Stanley: It’s starting to sound like you actually think he’s innocent. Against all the  expertise of senior police officers.

Pip: I just think there are certain gaps and inconsistencies in the supposed case against Sal.

Stanley: Yeah, maybe if the kid hadn’t fucking killed himself before getting arrested, we would have been able to fill the gaps.

Pip: Well, that was insensitive.

Stanley Well it was insensitive of him to kill his pretty blonde girlfriend and hide her remains.

Pip: Allegedly!

Stanley: You want more proof that that kid was a killer, fangirl? We weren’t allowed to print it, but my source in the police said they found a death threat note in Andie’s school locker. He threatened her and then he did it. Do you really still think he can be innocent?

 Pip: Yes I do. And I think you’re a racist, intolerant, dickhead, mindless bottom- feeder –

(Stanley hangs up the phone)

Yeah, so, I don’t think Stanley and I are going to be best friends.

However, his interview has given me two bits of information I didn’t have before. The

first is that police believe Andie was killed somewhere before being put in the boot of her car and driven to a second location to be disposed of.

The second bit of intel lovely Stanley gave me is this ‘death threat’. I’ve not seen it mentioned in any articles or in any of the police statements. There must be a reason: maybe the police didn’t think it was relevant. Or maybe they couldn’t prove it was linked to Sal. Or maybe Stanley made it up. In any case, it’s worth remembering when I interview Andie’s friends later on.

So now that I (sort of) know what the police’s version of events were for that night, and what the prosecution’s case might have looked like, it’s time for a MURDER MAP.

Tomorrow morning because lights out is in three… two… yep.

[messy map of little kilton with the important locations circled]

So professional-looking. But it does help to visualize the police’s version of events. I had to make a couple of assumptions when creating it. The first is that there are several ways to walk from Max’s to Sal’s; I picked the one that heads back through the high street because Google said it was the quickest and I’m presuming most people prefer to walk on well-lit streets at night.

It also provides a good intercept point somewhere along Wyvil Road where Andie potentially pulled over and Sal got in the car. Thinking like a detective, there are actually some quiet residential roads and a farm on Wyvil Road. These quiet, secluded places – the circled ones – could potentially be the site of the murder (according to the police’s narrative).

 I didn’t bother guessing where Andie’s body was disposed of because, like the rest of the world, I have no clue at all where that is. But given that it takes about eighteen minutes to walk from where the car was dumped on Romer Close back to Sal’s house in Grove Place, I have to presume he’d have been back in the vicinity of Wyvil Road around 12:20 a.m. So if the Andie and Sal intercept happened at around 10:45 p.m., this would have given Sal one hour and thirty-five minutes to murder her and hide the body. I mean, timewise, that seems perfectly reasonable to me. It’s possible. But there are already a dozen ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions elbowing their way in.

Andie and Sal both leave where they are at around 10:30 p.m., so they must have planned to meet up, right? It seems too coincidental for them not to have communicated and planned it. The thing is, the police have never once mentioned a phone call or any texts between Andie and Sal that would account as a meet-up arrangement. And if they planned this together, at school for example, where there would be no record of the conversation, why didn’t they just agree that Andie would pick Sal up from Max’s house? It seems weird to me.

I’m rambling. It’s 8.am and I just missed breakfast so my only source of food is half a Toblerone that I nicked from Ravi yesterday, that’s why.

Pip yawned while stretching and trying to get up.

“Pip!” Percy Jackson screamed in her face and a big splash of water was poured onto her face.

Pip winced and closed her eyes and spat the water away, “what the fuck Percy…” she whispered groggily. 

Percy ruffled his fingers through his hair, “Chiron wants ya. Something to do with Rach’ or whatever.” Percy turned to the door and muttered, “I swear to all the gods if it’s another prophecy.

Pip had a pretty good idea of who ‘Rach’ was. Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Daughter of the CEO of Dare Industries, William Dare. Most importantly: the Oracle of Delphi.

Why the fuck was Chiron asking to see her about the motherfucking Oracle?

Pip hit the underside of the top bunk with her fist. A wince was heard from the top and Connor peered down. “Oh my g- Pip? What the he- AE AHH!!” Connor fell off the railings head first onto the hard wooden floor.

Pip’s eyes widened looking down at the figure rubbing his head, “Connor!” 

“Eh- i'll be fine- not my worst injury,” Connor stood up and wiped off non-existent dust off himself.

Pip sighed, “I don’t even want to know your worst.”

Connor eyes turned into a void of darkness as her stared into the distance, “no,” he gulped, his voice becoming more void of hope every passing word that escaped from his endless vocal cords, “thou does naigh want eth to know thy knowledge.”

“Most of what you just said is complete utter -excuse my French- shit,” she glared at him, getting up and hitting him over the head.

Connor put a hand to his heart, “thy hurt thou whom haseth thou wilt not shall brain capsule-“

“Seriously Connor,” Pip mentally face palmed herself and laughed, “brain capsule?”

“Thy does naigh taketh thou seriously? ” Connor continued to speak in that utter piss of a mockery of old English.

Connor bit his tongue, “stupid, it’s not utter shit!”

Pip rolled her eyes, “anyways, got to go, you heard Percy.”

“You probably planned that to get away from me!” Connor stuck his tongue out and pouted back on the floor.

Pip guestered to her dripping wet self, “yeah because I totally planned getting soaked at 8 in the morning…”