The Imperial Detective Examination (3)

As everyone started to settle into their examinations, April Hale got up and exited the room. She quietly opened the door and noticed the man who was standing across the hall from her, leaning against the wall, with his arms folded.

"Well, Mr. Suthers. I didn't expect you to actually show up," April said.

Anthony Suthers was a man with short, curly dark hair and icy blue eyes. He was dressed in a charcoal gray pinstripe suit that was so sharply and neatly pressed, you could see the creases in the suit pants clearly from several feet away.

"So the child is in there?" he asked.

April nodded. "Yes. It appears she's a little on the apprehensive side, after that ignoramus Francois Marquette decided to take out his frustrations on her," she said.

Anthony Suthers nodded. "It will be interesting to see where this leads. What do you think, April?"

"Me?" April hesitated for a moment. "As to whether or not she'll pass...I have a feeling she will. She's from a detective's family."

"That she is. Her dedication at this age is phenomenal. I'm quite impressed." He gazed at the door.

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Question #36. You have been contacted by the owner of a corner store who says that he knows that a neighborhood boy has been stealing from him. Upon investigating you find out that the boy has been stealing under orders from his father. In this case, who would receive the punishment?

Lilly stared down at her paper, trying to imagine the scenario. If Nina was stealing jewels from people because her mother made her do it... She mulled it over in her mind a bit, then started writing her answer down.
I think that the father would receive the punishment because maybe he was telling his son he would hurt him if he didn't do it. And the son shouldn't be punished because maybe he was afraid of his father and did it because if he didn't his father would hurt him. Maybe if the son felt real bad he can pay the store back or work for them but if he did it if he was scared he shouldn't have to.

Lilly looked back down at her answer. Will they think this is correct? she thought. On the advice of a lot of her test taking guides, and from Riley himself, she had breezed through the multiple choice portion and was now on to the simple answers to the scenarios. One down...how many left to go? She glanced down at the next question.

Question #37. A woman comes up to you and says that she suspects she has been defrauded. She presents to you a jewel, and says that she bought it from a professional jeweler. You go to that same jeweler, and he says that the woman is lying. What do you do next?

This was an easy question for Lilly to write an answer to. You need to go to another jeweler and have them look at the jewel but you need to make sure they are very far away from both the lady and the jeweler that she says sold him the fake. Because you need to find someone that's impartial.

She turned the page and looked at question #38. Her eyes widened.

Question #38. You have been asked by a man to watch over his house, because he suspects that his wife has been unfaithful to him. You are under strict instructions not to be seen in the neighborhood while the surveillance is going on. While you are watching his house, you witness a man injuring a woman, stealing her purse, and then fleeing. What is your best course of action?

Lilly thought for a moment. This involved a dangerous crime—which needed to be reported by law. Withholding information on a dangerous crime was a simple crime in and of itself. On the other hand, there was the obligation to the original customer. If somehow the wife found out about the surveillance happening...Lilly shook her head. She picked up her pencil and started writing. You need to help the woman first and report the crime because her life is more important than someone being unfaithful.

She shook her hand in the air—all this writing was making her hand cramp up. She paged through the rest of the test and saw that she only had a few more short answer questions left, so she picked up her pencil and began reading through again.

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Riley was sitting on a leather sofa underneath a floor-to-ceiling stained glass window in the main library's reading room. The panes in the window were in pastel colors and arranged to show a stylized rendition of a tree. The reading room was cavernous, and lined with comfortable chairs as well as rows of tables with lamps attached for people to do research work.

A grandfather clock in the corner chimed ten times, and Riley realized that the exam was probably half over by now. Wonder how she's doing, he thought. I hope she's taking her time with this. I remember the questions being pretty serious...like that one about the man killing the dog. Riley shuddered. I hope she doesn't have to answer something like that...

He returned to his book. There was still plenty of time to relax before the test was over. As he continued reading, a dark shadow fell across his vision. He looked up to see Kayla Shepherd standing in the beam of light.

"Well, fancy meeting you here," he said, quietly.

"I could say the same," Kayla said, smiling. She then sat down next to Riley. He blushed when he realized how close she was to him. "What brings you to the central library?"

"Waiting for Lilly to finish the test."
"Oh, that's today!" Kayla smiled. "I didn't realize it, otherwise I would've called to with Lilly good luck. "

"She was really nervous last night," Riley said. "Almost didn't want to take it at all. I just hope she's feeling all right now. By the way, what are you doing here?"

"Research," Kayla said. "My editor is having me look into the background of someone that was just arrested for murder in another city. Apparently they were involved with some major crimes in Veritas."

"Need any help with that?"

"Well, I'd much rather do it alone. No offense, but it just feels so GOOD when you accomplish something yourself." Kayla chuckled. "Especially when it's a byline on the front page."

"Well, I'll just wish you luck then. And...if you happen to be done by lunch time, would you be interested in joining me and Lilly?"

Kayla frowned. "Sorry, Riley. I already have plans. Maybe next time."

"Oh...all right. Well...good luck." Riley nodded and waved back at Kayla, then returned to his book. It was hard to concentrate on reading when all that he could think about was her.

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Question #50 was finally finished. Lilly wondered how much time they had left to take the written exam as she put her pencil down gently on her desk. She looked around the room. A lot of people were still writing away. A few people were staring into space, looking as if they had obviously finished, and one man was rubbing his temples in frustration. There were still many that were still writing.

"Ladies and gentlemen, your hour is up. Please finish your work and put your pencils down," April Hale announced.

A series of muted groans issued from the people that were still writing. Lilly yawned, stretching. She had never taken a test this long before, not even in school, and it was still quite a few years before she'd have to worry about sitting the high school entrance exam required of all students entering high school in Veritas.

Everyone got up from their seats, picked up their books, and began filing into the center aisle. "If everyone would please bring their test booklets up to the front, please, in single file," said one of the male proctors. "You have a fifteen minute break before the interview portion starts, and if you need to use the facilities, turn right when you exit this room and they are at the end of this hall. In fifteen minutes, we would all like you to be seated in the Red Room across the hall, and we will call you alphabetically by last name for your interview."

That meant Lilly would probably be going close to last. She joined the group handing in their booklets, and when she came close to the front, she held it out hesitantly to the proctor, who took it with a gentle smile.

The test takers filed out in the hallway. "Oh man, what'd you answer for #26?" she heard one ask.

"Can't remember now...my mind feels like it's full of noodles."

"I answered D."

"No way! I answered A...which one do you think was the better choice?"

"Depends, you think the person was guilty without a reasonable doubt or not?"

Lilly tried to think back to that question. "I can't remember either," she said. "My mind feels like it's full of mashed potatoes though."

The noodle-minded person laughed. He reminded Lilly of Mr. Foley somewhat. "So, how did you think you did, sweetie?" he asked.

"Well, the multiple choice ones were fairly easy. You just have to remember all the technical stuff," Lilly said. "The short answer ones...I had to think a lot about them. It was hard, especially when you're thinking about the people involved and how they feel."

A woman leaning against the wall chuckled dryly. "Just like a little kid to get emotional about a case...This is all business. You have to distance yourself and only go for the whole truth. At least, that's what my mother's always told me."

"Your mama's a detective?" Lilly said, beaming.

The woman smiled. "Retired now, but when she was my age, she had quite an impressive record."

The participants milled around the hallway. Some of them went towards the restrooms, but Lilly decided to go into the Red Room and relax a bit. She peeked inside and her eyes went wide.

"Wow..."

The Red Room got its name from the walls, which were painted cinnabar. The floor made of granite and marble tiles in the shape of diamonds, arranged to look like stars. A long, heavy and ornate conference room table, made with what Lilly believed was mahogany, dominated the room, ringed with ornate wooden chairs that were upholstered with velvet the same color of the walls. The walls were lined with various bookcases that held many leather-bound volumes.

Anthony Suthers was standing in the corner. He had a book open in his hand, and was reading it closely. He looked up as Lilly's shoes clacked against the marble and noticed her entering. He gave her a somewhat stiff smile.

"So, you're Lillian Rowley. Your reputation precedes you," he said, as he replaced the book on the shelf and quietly walked over. "Daughter of Jasper Rowley, younger sister of Riley Rowley, the youngest citizen in the past twenty-five years to have taken the Imperial licensing exam...until now." Lilly looked into his ice-blue eyes and felt a shiver run through her.

"Y-yes," she said, nervously. "And you are?"

"Forgive me for being rude. My name is Anthony Suthers, and I am a member of the Ministry of Justice." He gave Lilly a formal bow. "In my capacity, I am in charge of evaluating the laws and punishments meted out to simple and dangerous criminals."

"Nice to meet you," Lilly said. "You've written some books, haven't you? I studied from one."

Anthony nodded, smiling at Lilly again, but she felt no warmth from it. "The worst is over now, as they say. I must take my leave of you. I hope you passed the written exam, and I wish you luck on the interview." As some of the other test takers entered the room, Anthony headed towards the door.

Lilly found a seat on one side of the table and sat down, finding that it was high enough off the ground and cushioned enough that her feet could barely touch the ground. There weren't enough test takers in the room to fill the seats around the table, so a lot of the others milled around the room, looking at the books on the shelf or making small talk about the examination.

April Hale came to the door. "Would Mr. Daniel Arthur please follow me to the interview room?" she announced. The man that reminded Lilly of Mr. Foley left his spot at the wall and followed April Hale outside.

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In another room, Anthony Suthers searched through the test booklets until he found the one with Lilly's name written on the front cover. Silently, he leafed through it, reading the answers to all the questions.