Oddly enough, nobody panicked
Daniel burst into The Oddity office like a man whose house was on fire. “It’s gone.”
Jamie looked up from her laptop. “What’s gone?”
“My article. The investigative piece. Three months of work. Gone.”
“Gone where?”
“If I knew that, Jamie, it wouldn’t be missing.”
Theo didn’t look up from his screen. “Did you check the trash folder?”
“Of course I checked the trash folder, I’m not an idiot.” Silence. “Okay, I checked it twice just now, but that’s not the point.”
Jamie leaned back in her chair, a small smile playing at her lips.
“So what’s the plan?” Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
“We investigate.” Twenty minutes later, Jamie had constructed what could only be described as a conspiracy theorist’s wet dream. Red string connected printed screenshots, sticky notes, and a photo of the office printer. In the center: a picture of Daniel looking vaguely constipated.
“See the pattern?” Jamie gestured wildly at the board. Lena squinted. “That’s… a picture of Daniel.”
“Exactly. The victim is always at the center.”
“Jamie, this looks like you’re about to accuse him of killing JFK.”
“I’m not ruling anything out.” Across the room, Theo had his laptop open, scrolling through version history with more focus than when he does layouts. “Last edit was Tuesday at 11:47 PM,” he announced. “By Daniel.”
Daniel rushed over. “What does that mean?”
“It means you were the last person to touch it before it vanished into the digital void.”
“That’s not helpful, Theo.”
“I’m aware.” Theo’s fingers flew across the keyboard. “Also, you named the file
‘FINAL_FINAL_v3_ACTUAL_FINAL.docx.’”
“Your point?”
“My point is that’s psychotic.” Lena was deep in her phone, scrolling with the intensity of someone searching for the meaning of life. Ollie peered over her shoulder. “What are you doing?”
“Checking if anyone posted about it. Maybe someone hacked us. Maybe it’s on Reddit.”
“Why would someone steal Daniel’s article and post it on Reddit?”
“I don’t know, Ollie! Clout? Chaos? Revenge?”
“Who would want revenge on Daniel?” They both looked at Daniel, who was currently arguing with Theo about file-naming conventions. “Fair point,” Ollie admitted. Speaking of Ollie, he’d taken it upon himself to interview the entire staff. He cornered an intern near the coffee machine. “Where were you Tuesday night at 11:47 PM?”
The intern blinked. “Asleep?”
“Can anyone verify that?”
“You…my roommate?”
Ollie scribbled in a notebook. “Convenient.” Jamie interrupted them, pulling Ollie by his sweatshirt and then suddenly reached into her camera bag and pulled out her camera. “Here,” she said, handing it to Ollie. “Take some pictures around the office. If someone is doing anything sneaky, get evidence.”
Ollie looked down at the camera. “You trust me with this?”
“I trust you to point it at things,” Jamie said. “That’s about as far as it goes.”
“Got it.”
“And don’t touch my settings.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” A few hours later, Jamie took the camera back as the investigation finally began winding down. She frowned when she checked the display. “Why is my SD card full?”
Ollie looked up innocently. “Full?”
“It says there are 347 photos.” Jamie started scrolling. Her expression slowly fell. His sandwich from six angles. His coffee. A close-up of a cookie. His fork. His empty lunch container.
She looked at him. “Ollie.”
He shrugged. “You said to document anything suspicious.”
“Your lunch is suspicious?”
“You didn’t specify.”
By hour two, the office had descended into complete chaos. Jamie had added more string. Daniel stood in the middle of it all, looking like a man on the edge. “This is a disaster. We go to print in four hours and my article is gone-”
“Oh, we’re fine,” Julia said, not looking up from her laptop. Everyone froze.
“What?!” Daniel’s voice cracked. “I sent the file to print on Monday.”
“You… what?”
Julia finally looked up, smiling. “You finished it last week. I sent it Monday. We’ve been ready to print for three days.” More silence. Jamie gestured weakly at the detective board. “So this was all…”
“Completely pointless? Yes.”
Theo closed his laptop. “I’m going home.” Lena looked at her phone. “I just spent two hours on Reddit for nothing.”
Daniel just stood there, processing. Julia shrugged. “In my defense, I did think it was funny.”
“I’m quitting,” Daniel muttered.
“No you’re not.”
“…No, I’m not.”
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