or they've thought about it carefully."
"Had you secured the drawer before you left?" Naina asked.
"Yes. The day before." She reached into her bag and produced a small key. "I had it with me. I've been carrying it every day as a kind of — reminder that there was still a reason to come back."
Karthik cleared his throat. "The State Board filing. We can file on Monday. The documentation is sufficient — the original mark sheets establish the discrepancy, the spreadsheet documents the pattern, and Kavitha's testimony provides the direct witness account of the administrative pressure. The Board has an independent ombudsman office specifically for institutional fraud complaints. The filing goes to them, not to the school, not to the police."
"And the digital evidence?" Naina said. "Someone has been using her credentials to maintain her account."
"That's criminal computer access," Karthik said. "Separate from the exam fraud — a police matter. But we file the Board complaint first. The Board investigation creates a formal record, and that process is much harder to interfere with than a police complaint that might be managed locally."
Naina nodded. "The students. They'll be asked to testify — about what they witnessed. The classroom confrontation."
"Students are not compelled to testify in Board administrative proceedings," Karthik said. "But their accounts are admissible as supporting statements if given voluntarily and with parental consent." He paused. "We need at least one parent willing to allow their child to give a statement."
"Rohan's parents," Naina said. "Rohan will tell them. He's been waiting to do this for three weeks." She paused. "And Dev."
"Two students is enough as supporting testimony," Karthik said. "The documentary evidence is the primary case."
Kavitha had been quiet for a while. She was looking at Naina with the expression of someone taking inventory. "You've been there two weeks," she said.
"Yes."
"And you found all of this."
"I had help. Dev left me a trail. Rohan wanted to tell someone from day one. Priti was honest. You left a letter." She paused. "And I had one advantage that you didn't — I came in from outside with no history, no reputation to protect in this building, no relationship with anyone who could manage what I saw. I was a stranger. Strangers see things that people inside don't see."
Kavitha looked at her for a long moment. "My students," she said. "They've been—"
"They've been doing what thirteen-year-olds do when they trust an adult and want to protect someone they love," Naina said. "Not perfectly. Not without complication. But out of the right impulse." She paused. "They'll be glad to see you."
