The first thing I did the next morning was make a list of my goals for the day. I’ve often found tasks are much easier to deal with when they are written down. That is why I always carry a notebook and multicolored pen in the pocket of my favorite coat. My first priority was to check the gradebook for signs of previous hacking. A task easily accomplished with the code I wrote years ago. The task was pleasing, but the results were not. An outside source had repeatedly hacked into one particular student’s grades. That student was the late Mackenzie Monarch, and I was willing to bet the hacker slept in the same room as me. Bother! That proved Hades was being blackmailed by Mackenzie. Now the questions were “why?” and “was it enough to make him kill?” I had no idea how to start the search for why, so I figured I would start on my third task, researching the company from Mackenzie’s saved draft.

After a few hours of scouring the internet and combing through records, I discovered that the company was owned by Hades’ father, Damian and they specialized in corporate law. With this new information I could now answer why Hades put up with Mackenzie’s demands. Hades was never good enough in his father’s eyes. He was always criticizing Hades. Damian didn’t like that Hades dressed in all black and acted emo or goth. Damian wanted Hades to take over the company, marry the perfect girl, live in the perfect house in the perfect neighborhood, and take over the company. Hades wanted to do anything else. If I had a big secret, I wouldn’t want my disapproving father to find out either. However, I still didn’t know the secret. It was time to dig deeper. I read the email properly this time instead of skimming it. Suddenly it hit me, Hades was gay. I had never bothered to think about it before, but it made sense. Most boys our age were always talking about girls. I never took an interest in relationships and Hades didn’t talk to me about them either, so I never paid much attention. And if his dad found out Hades would never marry the perfect girl or have kids to continue the bloodline, who knows what he might do. With this new information I was almost ready to confront Hades. There were two more things I had to do first.