3

XXX

Magda and I had already had our last lesson, but our homeroom teacher's request made us nervous. The math teacher, Mr. Kowalski, had invited us to his room.

We both showed up at his last break. Upon entering the office, we saw two police officers sitting next to the teacher.

"Kiempińska, Grzywocz, sit down," the teacher pointed to our chairs. "Gentlemen, I have a case for you."

We both sat down; I was surprised, Magda very nervous.

I suspected the worst. Maybe by some miracle the police had found out we were looking around the computer room. But the principal should have been there. "

We heard you were snooping about the break-in at the computer room.

" "That's not true

," I denied. "Kiempińska, weren't you taught not to interrupt seniors?"

"Nothing happened. We just want to let you know that if this happens again," the policeman said, "and we get any more information about snooping, we'll have to charge you with obstructing an investigation."

"Did you get it?" the teacher added.

"Yes, of course."

"Great, now get back, the bell rings in a minute," he said, glancing at his watch. "

Goodbye."

XXX

Magda and I were going to see Aleks and Tomek.

"Do you think," Magda began, "that we shouldn't leave this case alone? You heard what those policemen said.

" "Apparently, but that's precisely why this case intrigued me even more. What are those policemen so afraid of?"

"Maybe they found out we were in the computer room that day?"

"No, I'm sure not. Mr. Wiesiek wouldn't have done that; he has something to hide, that he fell asleep at work. But it had to be someone else.

" "But who?

" "For example, Mr. Opiński. We talked to him about the burglary. He could have told those cops about our conversation. But that's the most interesting thing. Why aren't those policemen doing anything about it? Have you seen the report? And why are they so keen to make sure no one snoops on this burglary?"

"I don't know."

"Me neither, but if we find something on those policemen, Aleks, and Tomek, the mystery will be solved."

XXX

Aleks turned on the computer. All four of us sat in chairs.

"So what exactly are we supposed to be looking for?" Aleks asked, curious.

"It's about those police officers."

I briefly mentioned the police report, the inspection of the computer room, and today's conversation.

"Man, you're pretty good. I wouldn't dare," Tomek commented.

"True, but let's get to the point. What are these officers' names?" Aleks asked.

"Henryk Konieczny and Paweł Skowronek," I said, reading the names from the photocopied police report. "We have to find something on them. And the target of hacking into the main computer.

" "That's simple," Aleks said, entering data into the computer. "There's a lot of data being entered into that computer."

"For example, what?" I didn't fully understand. "

For example, all grades in all subjects."

"And I thought grades were posted in a gradebook," Magda asked. "

That's how it is in most schools, but not in ours. We have a computer system, which personally makes no sense to me.

" "Well, at least now the matter has taken on a completely different dimension. Do you think someone hacked into this database?

" "It's not that simple; it could take several days," Alex explained. "But someone could quickly reprogram the computer so that they could read the data on their own computer and change it without anyone noticing."

"So now we could even hack into our school database?" Magda asked.

"Well, not exactly. We'd have to reprogram the data on the school computer first," Alex replied. "Wait, let me see a few files."

"So we just need to check who suddenly raised their grades?"

"Well, yes, but that won't be enough evidence," I said. "But there's also a hair.

" "What hair?"

"A hair we found on the computer keyboard. It most likely belongs to the burglar.

" "That's right.

" "There's nothing about them. They're not particularly distinguished," said Aleks.

"Gee, we have to find another way..." suggested Tomek. "Maybe we could access the Warsaw Police Headquarters website?

" "That's a good idea, but we have to crack the password," Aleks pointed out.

"Can you do that?" I asked, curious.

"Yes, but..." Tomek began.

"Of course, we hope it stays between us. You realize it's illegal.

" "Of course, we'll be as silent as the grave," I assured him. I understood the gravity of the situation.

"Okay, so let's go in," Aleks said.

Aleks typed in the website address.

"Now we need to enter the name of the first one... Henryk Konieczny," he said, typing in the username. "Now all that's left is the password."

"This will take a while," Tomek explained.

Aleks got to work. A moment later, the password was cracked, and we all saw a detailed description of the policeman. The boy immediately clicked on his professional experience.

"You have to read this," Magda said. "

I have something, look at this—two years ago, this policeman investigated the case of a murdered woman. The woman's family filed charges. Konieczny mishandled the investigation. Later, the case against him was dismissed," I read, clearly intrigued. "I bet it's exactly the same with the second one." "

Let's check it out, because I don't see anything suspicious here anymore," Aleks suggested.

A moment later, the boy clicked on the description of the second policeman.

"That's right, exactly the same," Tomek said.

"Well, I think we have the answer to the mystery," Magda said. "

Are you suggesting they're not putting much effort into solving this case?" Alex asked.

"Not exactly. Surely they wouldn't want us to keep snooping around," I explained. "

Right."

"I think the burglar must also have known something about the police officers' past and blackmailed them into taking the case and then dropping the investigation. Otherwise, they'll reveal something against them in that case from two years ago," I said. "

Clever. I think that's it."

"So all that's left is finding this burglar.

" "It won't be easy. We'd have to look through the database," I said.

"We have to access the school's website," Tomek said.

"How so? You said it was impossible." "

Accessing the database is possible, but any improvements are not. Of course, after breaking the appropriate security measures."

"Well, let's get to work."

XXX

Magda and I were walking home. After nearly two hours of work, everyone had found several names of people whose grades could be changed.

"Who do you think could have changed those grades?" Magda asked me. "

I don't know, I personally suspect Krzysiek and Kamil from our class; they were never very good at math.

" "Well, they were, but they don't have very high grades. Only Cs and Bs. "

"Cs and Bs at Kowalski's, they're world-class!"

"You're right, actually. It's good that Aleks and Tomek helped us so much.

" "They're really cool, I like them.

" "Me too."

Suddenly, my phone rang.

"Oh, hi, Mom.... Now, okay... I'll be with you soon.

" "Is that your mom?"

"Yes, she's got the results of that hair test. Come with me to the hospital."

"It's late."

"Oh, come on, tell her you did the work with me."

"Okay."

We both headed towards the hospital. We hadn't noticed anyone following us since we left Alex and Tomek's.

XXX

Magda and I left the hospital. We already had the test results.

"We need to go to the police as soon as possible," Magda replied.

We had both walked a little way from the hospital.

"I think that should be enough," I said.

"So, let's go to the police station."

We both quickened our pace.

"You're not going anywhere." Two people approached us.

"Kamil, Krzysiek? What are you doing here?" I was surprised to see them. "

We came to warn you." Krzysiek pulled out a knife, which terrified us.

"Stay away from this matter, and nothing will happen to you," Kamil said.

"You're not needlessly poking your noses into other people's business," Krzysiek pointed out.

"Okay, come on, Magda..." We both started to walk away.

"Not so fast," Kamil shouted. "First, give us back what you got at the hospital.

" "And don't be so clever, Anka," Krzysiek said. "

We didn't get anything at the hospital," I lied.

"We heard your conversation," Kamil said. "Do you think we're that stupid?"

"Okay."

I quickly pulled something out of my pocket and threw it a few meters away.

"Gas," I said to Magda.

We both started running.

Kamil and Krzysiek quickly glanced at the item I'd thrown. However, it wasn't the item we were looking for, but the lip gloss I had in my purse.

"That's not it, after them!" they both shouted and gave chase.

Magda and I ran as fast as we could. Kamil and Krzysiek ran after us as fast as they could.

We both ran out of the alley and passed various shop windows.

"It's a shame there's no bus coming," Magda said, running. "

We have to get to the police station, it's not far from here. About a kilometer..." I shouted. "We have to run through the park, it'll be faster..."

"Then straight ahead and to the right!" Magda shouted.

Krzysiek and Kamil were running right behind me and Magda. The distance was only about five meters.

A moment later, we ran past all the shop windows and turned into the park.

Krzysiek and Kamil also bypassed the shops and followed us into the park.

Magda and I were running very fast and had a head start.

"I'm having colic, I can't do it anymore," Magda said.

"You can do it!" I shouted. "Please.

" "I can't..." Magda was slowing down.

"We have to lose them, let's turn," I suggested.

I turned and ran left, but Magda didn't notice and ran in the opposite direction.

"Come on, run left after Anka, I'll run after Magda," Krzysiek ordered.

The two split in the indicated directions.

XXX

Krzysiek ran after me, never letting go or losing me. I headed for the nearby playground.

"Give me back, and I'll leave you alone," Krzysiek shouted.

I didn't respond, still running towards the playground without stopping. I reached the sandbox and grabbed a handful of sand. As soon as Krzysiek ran up, I threw sand in his eyes, which made him wince and cringe involuntarily.

I ran away. The boy couldn't open his eyes, he took an unfortunate step forward, hitting his knee on the sandbox wall and landing in it.

I ran back and dialed the police.

XXX

Magda ran. The only thing she could think of was stretching the branches and releasing them so they would hit Kamil. Finally, after making up some time, the girl hid behind the bushes. Kamil started looking for her. He walked very slowly, trying not to make any noise.

Crouching, Magda found a mirror in her purse and threw it a short distance away.

Kamil quickly ran to the spot. At the same time, Magda ran out from behind the bushes and ran towards the path as fast as she could. It took a moment for the boy to see her and run after her.

I

headed for the knife that had fallen from Krzysiek's hand when he fell into the sandbox, but at the last moment he got up and grabbed it himself. I got scared and started running. The boy was chasing me, running right behind me.

I jumped over the fence, but I slipped on the sidewalk, where I landed, losing my balance.

Krzysiek also jumped over the fence and found himself right next to me.

XXX

Magda reached the path. But she kept running towards the playground. Kamil kept running after her.

The girl saw me from a distance and saw Krzysiek putting the knife to my throat.

Magda ran up to us both.

"Leave her alone!" Magda screamed.

Kamil ran up to Magda and grabbed her. Magda tried to pull away, but the boy was stronger.

"Give me what you have, and I'll leave you alone," Krzysiek said.

"Then take this and hide the knife," I begged.

Krzysiek lowered the knife from my throat, but kept it in his hand. The boy slowly started taking things out of my pocket. Finally, he saw a hair in the clear plastic wrap. He grabbed it. They both got up and started running.

"Stop, police!" shouted the policemen who had arrived at the scene.

XXX

Magda and I were sitting in the house. I was trying on an outfit for this afternoon, the date I had with Piotrek.

"You look nice," Magda commented.

"Thanks," I replied. "

It's lucky that burglary case ended yesterday, otherwise you'd be thinking about it all the time. If you hadn't called the police..."

"You're right, actually. Fortunately, everything ended well. The police took Krzysiek and Kamil away. I'm curious to see how this turns out.

" "Me too. What time is your appointment?"

"5:00 PM. I have to leave soon.

" "I have to go now. I have lunch. We'll call you.

" "Okay."

"I'll keep my fingers crossed."

Shortly after Magda left, my mother called me into the living room.

"Good morning, my name is Michał Pieczarka, I'm from the police investigation department," the young man greeted, shaking my hand.

"Good morning," I replied.

"I wanted to thank you very much for your help with the burglary. The case has been solved. Yesterday, after the two boys were arrested, they both pleaded guilty. Furthermore, that hair in the plastic bag you found greatly aided our investigation.

" "I understand the database has been secured?"

"Of course. After a thorough search, we found the changes they made.

" "And what about those police officers?"

"They've been suspended." Those two boys presented evidence they supposedly found online against them in a case from two years ago. They told me how they stole a key from your school's groundskeeper and the IT specialist and made it up, and how they slipped a sedative into the boy's coffee. And, of course, how they blackmailed the police officers by finding the evidence. It turned out the murdered woman was the aunt of one of them, which is why they knew so much about it and were able to blackmail those officers later.

" "Great."

"Thank you again for your help. Weren't you serious about such matters?

" "I don't understand."

"This isn't your first solved case, is it? I heard about the case in France. Haven't you ever considered solving mysteries professionally?"

XXX

Magda couldn't hide her satisfaction. Her investigation and mine were over. However, the matter of her parents still tormented her. True, since the last argument at home, peace and a positive attitude towards each other had prevailed, but the girl was still tormented by the question of whether they would reconcile for good.

The girl returned home. After undressing, she went into the living room. She saw her mother crying.

"Mom, what happened?" Magda asked.

"Is it about the father..." the girl's mother said, crying. "

Did something happen to him?

" "No, he's moving out. He's just packing in our room.

" XXX

I arrived at the agreed-upon place. I dressed in a very nice skirt and an elegant blouse. I had a small white handbag on my shoulder. Piotrek hadn't shown up yet. He'll definitely be here soon, I said to myself.

A moment later, I saw a boy walking towards me. He put on jeans and a long Nike T-shirt.

"Hi Ania," Piotrek greeted.

"Well, hi." "

We're heading that way," Piotrek pointed.

We started walking.

Suddenly, we both noticed a black car driving right past us. The car stopped right next to us, and to my utter surprise, two guys got out and grabbed Piotrek. Despite struggling, the boy was put in the car.

"Her too, there can't be any witnesses," someone sitting in the front said.

Two guys grabbed me too and dragged me into the backseat next to Piotrek.

"What's going on, what's going on?" I screamed. I didn't know what was happening. It happened so fast.

One of them also got into the back near the right door, the other into the front passenger seat. The driver started the engine and drove away with a screech of tires. TO