Escape Theory - By Margaux Froley Page 0,49

file cabinets with the medical history of every student that had ever attended Keaton.

Devon used her flashlight to locate the file drawer marked C-D. Dolgens, Matt. A note about a broken finger his freshman year. Devon remembered him sitting on the lacrosse bench that season with a cast on his arm and a grumpy look glued to his face. The flu freshman year. Chlamydia sophomore year. Ha! Being that good-looking and constantly hooking up with girls did have its downside. Nothing whatsoever about prescriptions for anything, which meant that any pharmaceutical Matt took, he was taking illegally. Abusing a substance is how the Keaton Companion would look at it. Rule #2a.

Devon’s head swam with how many other students could possibly be in the same boat as Matt. Did Hutch get his Oxy illegally? Despite almost everyone’s insistence that he wouldn’t take the stuff, what if he had a prescription for some unknown reason? Her fingers walked to the G-H drawer. She put her hand on the metal handle, but stopped and closed her eyes. What if she opened this drawer and found out that Hutch did have a prescription for Oxy? What if his file mentioned bouts of depression, or bi-polar disorder? She promised herself: If any of that were in his file she would drop this whole murder theory and begin to accept that Hutch did indeed commit suicide. But she needed proof.

She opened the drawer and scanned the files. Harris, Sasha. Harrington, Joel. Heyman, Alexa. Hoth, David. Hutchins, Eric. Hyde, Grace.…

No ‘Hutchins, Jason’? She ran through the drawer once more. No. She pulled Eric’s file, maybe something in there would help. Stomach flu, sophomore year. Torn ACL junior year. And that was it.

Devon closed the drawer as quietly as she could. Why would Hutch’s file be missing? Would the police or coroner have needed it? Nurse Reilly would have made copies for them rather than let any of her files out of this office. There had to be a reasonable explanation, except that the gnawing pit in her stomach was acting up again, telling her there was nothing reasonable about any of this.

What about Isla? Matt had said Isla was the one with the problem, not to mention, Isla had actually given Devon Oxy to hold on to. What secrets was her file keeping?

Martin, Isla.

Wow: a regular in the Health Center. Freshman year; the flu and panic attacks that followed with a prescription for Xanax. A chest infection, sore throat, and severe cramps. Sophomore year: a cold, severe cough, sinus infection, prescription for Z-Pak. Then she had a bruised tailbone, for which a small dose of Vicodin was prescribed. Complaints of depression, followed by a prescription for Paxil. As of junior year she started the year with a prescription for Xanax, 10 mg. No Oxy or Adderall. But the line between abusing pharmaceuticals and using pharmaceuticals was starting to seem pretty thin.

Devon’s eye caught the flash of Mackintosh, Devon, as she started to close the drawer. Well, she had already broken into the Health Center. One little peek at her own file wouldn’t hurt. Mackintosh, Devon. Freshman year, height, weight. Sophomore year, jeez, they weren’t kidding about the Freshman 15.

Blood type: AB.

Mother’s Blood Type: B

Father’s Blood Type: A (10/11)

That’s weird. Why would her father’s blood type be listed? Was that a date next to it? As far as Devon knew, her father was a sperm donor. Did her mom even know the blood type of the donor? Maybe the school had asked for it and her mom had to go back to the sperm bank to find out? Wait, why did this matter now? My blood type is not why I broke into the Health Center in the middle of the night. Stick to the game plan, Devon.

She had to think about Hutch’s death scientifically. The files didn’t point to anything helpful. What would she need to prove that it wasn’t suicide? If everyone’s prescriptions were registered and stored here, that meant that Hutch’s Oxy might still be here if it was legally administered to him. A stretch, but at least Devon could cross Hutch’s possible legitimate need for Oxy off her list. But where were the meds stored in here?

The one locked cabinet in Nurse Reilly’s office was a giveaway. Why attempt the security unless it was something worth securing? Devon tried to imagine where she would keep the key if she were Nurse Reilly. Opening and closing the drawers on Nurse Reilly’s desk would be loud,

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