The Mystery:

October 27th. 07:45 AM. On the morning of El Gato’s October Press Week, Ms. DeSoto unlocked the door to Room 506. Everything was ready for the students. The snack cabinet was filled, the couches were cleaned, the computers were charged, and the few remaining September newspapers…were cut up and scattered on the ground?? It appears that someone used the front page of the newspaper to create a mask for their Halloween costume, but who could have done it? Who committed this atrocious crime? We narrowed it down to five suspects, but all of them seem to have solid alibis. Can you uncover who the real culprit is?

— Annabelle Pan, Graphics Editor 

The Suspects:

Hey, let go of me – what Halloween mask? Mrs. DeSoto thinks I did it? I was in the Opinion section the whole time the editors were putting it together; I even slept there for both nights of Press Week. Come to think of it, I had to visit Kloe on the Games page on Monday night to ask about a particularly awkward sentence, and we chatted about her Cinderella-themed Halloween costume while we worked. The next morning, I made a cup of black coffee to drink while I edited. Actually, I think I left the mug on the title of Page 9 – there’s my proof I didn’t cut up those newspapers! If the mug is there, you can be sure I didn’t do it!

— Tanvi Ambekar, Opinion Editor 

What! Why would I want to cut up the newspaper? I was with the Editorial team the whole weekend, treating myself to the delicious desserts from Icing on the Cake. I devoured them, leaving so many crumbs that are still likely on the Editorial page. However, I did notice Arnav acting extremely suspicious; he was constantly muttering about how he had no Halloween costume and needed to think of something quickly. Do not shoot the messenger, but I would definitely cross-check his alibi.

— Ivan Habib, Website Manager

I promise I didn’t cut up the newspaper. Why would I ruin something I spend so many hours on? I was busy downtown drinking matcha. You can ask the Great Bear workers on the local page, and they will attest that I was there bright and early at 7:30 AM, getting my daily mandatory dose of caffeine, not cutting up a precious El Gato. But I noticed that Tanvi was looking very suspicious. She had a Pinterest tab open on her computer and was searching for mummy costumes, so obviously, Tanvi committed the crime.

— Megan Saul, Editor-in-Chief

Do you really think I did it? Well, think twice because I was on the Games page all weekend. The October issue introduced a sudoku for the first time; I had to try it out. Arnav said it was super hard, so I used a pencil just in case I made any mistakes. To my surprise, I solved it on my first try, so you won’t find any eraser shavings on the Games page, just my lucky number two pencil. Speaking of my pencil, while I was grabbing it, I saw Megan rummaging through Ms. DeSoto’s desk. Pretty suspicious, right?

— Kloe Adams, Games Creator

Hey, don’t look at me, I wasn’t the one cutting up the newspaper! I was almost finished trying to recover the humor page the whole weekend and submit it for edits when InDesign froze. It hit me: I hadn’t saved my page. You can ask my co-editors; he was helping me try to get it back. But I did notice that Megan was looking very suspicious. She kept rummaging through the pages as if there was something she didn’t want people to see. Obviously, Megan had something to do with the crime.

— Arnav Singhal, Sports Editor