Page 170 of Meet Me at the Metro

The evening sun sweeps across the master bedroom as I step through its threshold. I quietly look around, inspecting the t-shaped space for traces of Theo or his dad that might still be left behind. I findthem in the framed pictures on what I’m assuming to be Kimberley’s nightstand.

I pick up one of the photographs to get a closer look, smiling as I study the familiar faces beneath the glass. Theo and Connor look young in this picture, no older than twelve. They have massive grins on their chocolate-covered lips as they strike goofy poses before a massively lit Christmas tree. Twinkling lights of amusement rides and London’s nighttime cityscape loom in the background.

They look carefree and happy—so close. I’d do anything to see them like that with each other again.

I set the picture back down, carefully returning it as I grab the next frame. I quickly cover my mouth to stifle my giggles as my eyes roam over the nostalgic photo. It’s an image of Connor, no older than four, sitting in a bathtub full of bubbles. Though, they reach beyond the confines of the tub. They’re scattered in small mountains along the tiled floor and piled atop Connor’s tiny head. He’s even got them assembled like a white-haired beard over his face. He looks ridiculously adorable, and I am definitely going to—

“You find it?”

Connor’s voice completely startles me as it calls from downstairs, and the frame in my hands crashes to the floor. I cringe at the small crack it makes as it meets the carpet. A corner of the frame splits apart, freeing the glass and photograph inside, along with several rectangular pieces of paper stuffed inside.

“Shit.”

I drop to my knees and scramble to pick up the mess I made, working as quickly as I can to fit the broken pieces back together again and gather the small, loose documents.

“Ellie?”

“Y-yeah, I found it. Be down in a minute!”

The dozen or more sheets of paper that were concealed within the decor are the hardest things to gather. There are so many of them that I can barely keep them in my grasp.

I begin stuffing them back inside the frame when I catch a glimpse of the front of one of them. It's a bank deposit slip—as I fan them outin my hands, I realize they all are. My eyes widen when they scroll over the various, large amounts of money scrawled against them.

£7,000, £14,000, £5,000, £3,500, £9,000....

The hefty sums kept coming, and each of the slips was addressed to Kimberley. The strangest part I couldn’t understand was the short range of dates written at the corners of the papers. By a quick glance, there was no more than a six-month window between them all.

I was sure her salary atGildenhillgranted her a profitable income, but I never imagined it could be anything of this abundance. Unless the University was well adept in frequently giving their employees generous bonuses, but considering the recent scandal spreading around campus, I didn’t see that being possib—

Oh, my God.

I tried thinking of all the ways it could make sense but fell short. I couldn’t come up with any rational means for her to acquire that significant amount of money in such a short span of time.

I suck in a shallow breath, rapidly blinking and scanning over the bank documents once more to be sure my eyes weren’t misreading the numbers.

They weren’t. Together, the deposit slips had to total at least £40,000 or more.

“What the hell?”

I wanted it all to be a coincidence: finding the deposit slips hidden so inconspicuously within the photo frame, Kim’s close ties with the University, and the news article Connor shared with me only a few months ago...

I draw my phone from my pocket and quickly type in a Google search, hoping that when the results pop up, I’ll have remembered wrong. So many truths have been revealed to me in such a short matter of time these past few weeks. I’m not sure I’m prepared to uncover any more right now, but I suppose I don’t get a say in the matter because the top web search link that pops up is one my eyes have seen before.

Police begin an investigation after £50,000 goes missing from Gildenhill University funds account.

I’m uneasy as I hastily read more of the news article.

…Gildenhill University has been rocked by revelations of an embezzlement scheme involving substantial sums of money illicitly withdrawn from tuition funds. The discrepancies surfaced when several departments of the school noticed that projected budgets for student programs and services were mysteriously short of the expected funds. Further examination led to the discovery that a series of transactions, masked as legitimate compensation for extracurricular expenditures, had been processed without proper authorization....

My hands shake as I return my gaze to the bank slips held in my grasp.

They were no coincidence; they were a certainty.

I never even contemplated Kimberley could have such a significant involvement in a fraud that had been hauntingGildenhillfor months. All this time, the person responsible was right beneath our noses.

My head snaps toward the hallway outside the bedroom as a stair creaks in the distance. The upstairs remains empty, but another squeak along the steps has me hastily tucking the loose documents into my back pocket and setting the broken photo frame back along the nightstand.

“Better not be in my room!”

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