Super Detective in the Fictional World

esponsible for marinating the meat.”

He greeted the people who came with her, and everybody sat down.

All of them had brought their own utensils and plates, and Luke chopped the meat on the grill into chunks small enough to fit their plates.

He was done in less than five minutes.

There were no rules for an outdoor barbecue party.
Everybody simply gathered round and talked to each other.

Juliet sat next to Luke, and another two female teachers sat on the other side.
They were clearly interested in him.

They found Luke’s age, looks, job, temperament and behavior very interesting.

Nobody asked any personal questions, and Luke simply talked to them about unimportant issues.

On the other hand, the teachers’ conversation was an eye-opener for Luke.

Maggie, one of the female teachers, said, “It’s actually at night that we’re more likely to have trouble.
I caught two troublemakers last night who actually wanted to go for a midnight swim.
The water might be shallow, but there won’t be anybody around to save them if they have an accident in the middle of the night.”

Lily, another female teacher, also said, “At least you managed to stop them before they went in; when I was on duty the other night, two of them had already been skinny dipping for a while before I spotted their clothes on the bank during my patrol.”

Juliet nodded.
“That’s why this is the best campsite.
After all, this Moon Lake is basically a pool.
Even the deepest part is only 1.5 meters deep.
There’s less chance of an accident happening here than upriver, where the water is deep.”

It wasn’t until then that Luke learned that the lake was called Moon Lake.

Everybody left over an hour later after they were done eating and chatting, except for the two female teachers, who helped clean up.

Luke talked to them while they were cleaning up, and learned that he wasn’t assigned night duty or patrol.

He was here mainly to deal with possible emergencies.

For example, if dangerous wildlife appeared, he could use his gun to deal with it.

The school had already informed the police about their program beforehand, and Luke was free to use a gun on camp grounds if necessary.

The cleanup was soon done.
Tactfully refusing Lily’s offer of coffee, Luke took out a tent and a sleeping bag from his car and returned to the fire by the lake.

He was going to make camp here; he had checked the room at the inn, and it wasn’t anything spectacular.

He also couldn’t be bothered changing the previous officer’s bedsheets, so he decided to camp out next to the lake.

Since the teachers had mentioned that students might sneak out to swim at night, he could keep watch from here.
After all, he only needed two hours of sleep.

The night got darker.
There was nothing but Luke and the bonfire next to the lake.

The insects were blocked by the tent’s mosquito netting, and Luke enjoyed hot tea and read files inside the tent.

Except for the lack of a beautiful female companion, all was right with the world.

At midnight, the fire outside the tent died out, and Luke pulled open the tent’s outer layer.

He crawled out of the tent and walked to the edge of the lake, looking at the ripples on the surface of the peaceful water.

Suddenly, he heard faint footsteps on the other side of the lake.

Luke turned his head silently, and couldn’t help being amused.