SAMSON FRYE THE SPY AND THE MASKED MAN

By Tanush Biyani

In a seemingly ordinary school, a mysterious figure wreaks havoc by defacing school property with vicious graffiti. Known only as the malicious masked man, this enigmatic vandal haunts the school grounds after hours, his identity shrouded in secrecy. Amidst the chaos, Samson Frye, a promising recruit, is abruptly expelled from his role as a spy. Despite this setback, Samson remains undeterred in his resolve to unravel the mystery that threatens not only the school but also the safety of the community. With determination and cunning, Samson dives headfirst into a perilous quest to unmask the culprit behind the malicious acts. As tensions rise and danger looms, Samson must navigate a web of deceit and betrayal to bring justice to the school and ensure the public's safety. But with adversaries lurking in the shadows, will Samson's unwavering resolve be enough to triumph against the odds?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing Singapore
• Release date: Apr 2, 2024
• ISBN: 9781543781427

Tanush Biyani

At just 13, Tanush embarked on his authorial journey during the global pandemic. Sheltering at home, he gained fresh insights into the complexities of our world, fueling his desire to share his youthful perspective. His debut story reflects his newfound understanding and youthful voice, resonating with readers worldwide.

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SAMSON FRYE THE SPY AND THE MASKED MAN

TANUSH BIYANI

Copyright © 2024 by Tanush Biyani.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Interior Graphics/Art Credit: Xavier Tan

www.partridgepublishing.com/singapore

For my beloved family

You, my gurus¹, have given me the confidence to write this story

---

1 Gurus—people who have helped you grow. Commonly used in India in Hindi.

CONTENTS

1 The School

2 The Teacher

3 SSL

4 The Group of Friends

5 The Escape Room

6 The Real SSL

7 The Big Reveal

8 Samson’s Next Steps

9 Step One: The Discussion

10 Step Two: In the Field

11 Step Three: Taking Advantage of Digitalisation

12 Step Four: The Suspect

13 Step Five: The Clues

14 Step Six: The Interrogation

15 Step Seven: Making a Perfectly Reasonable Accusation

1

The School

‘Ahhhh!’ screamed Samson’s father as he was wailing in immense pain. A tall figure in a pitch black-coloured jacket had just shot a bullet that had gone through his leg. Samson’s mother immediately rushed to his side and hastily checked if he was still breathing. Out of rage, she took out her sparkling sword and began swinging it violently in a bid to attack the murderer of her husband. However, the man was simply too overpowered. He took out his melee knife and simply slit the wrist of Samson’s mother. Blood was gushing out and formed a puddle on the ground.

‘What do you want to say to your son before I end your life?’ said the man in an extremely deep and horrifying voice.

‘Take care, Samson. I will meet you in he—’ said Samson’s mother as tears welled up in her eyes. However, she couldn’t finish her sentence as the evil man had taken her life.

‘Mummy!’ cried little Samson as he saw her eyes close and lie on the ground motionless.

‘Huh-huh-huh.’ These were the sounds coming from Samson’s mouth as he had begun hyperventilating. It was all just a dream. He had been getting such dreams a lot lately.

However, there was no time to analyse his sleep patterns as he had to get ready for the first day of school!

However hard a country’s government tries to hide it, we’ve got to face it—there are rich and poor schools. Everybody tries to get into a rich institution to get better grades, jobs, and ultimately lives. However, not everyone can attain a place in these high-class schools. So where do they go? They go to the poor schools, but let us not forget, it is often these underfunded institutions that are the ones underestimated in our society.

This story takes place in the city of Marinaville. A place near the prodigious Marina Lake, home to a few hundred native flora and fauna. A place where an individual can unwind from the stress of city life and think about his or her life’s next steps. This was the incredible city where Samson Frye lived.

Samson was a ten-year-old youngster. He lived in the countryside with his uncle and aunt, a place where there were little or no exciting events taking place. Why did he live with his relatives, you may ask? Well, let me tell you the answer—his parents, Sam and Veronica, passed away when Samson was only three years old! Ever since, poor Samson has been scalded with an irreparable wound of a childhood without his parents. Due to this, Samson also grew up much faster than he should, not physically but, in fact, mentally! He had lost his innocence and bubbly character much earlier and had become a fairly serious individual due to the hostility he was living in.

Teabort and Marina were extremely self-centred and did not genuinely care for Samson. They only provided him with the necessary amenities for his life. Teabort was a tall yet skinny figure, comparable to a lamppost. He had a poker face, which made him uninviting to Samson which, well, he was! Marina was a short woman who had tons of makeup on her face to hide the heinous face that she used to show to Samson.

As we all know, our memory slowly but surely does fade and it is very tough for people to recall occurrences that have happened a long time ago. Likewise, Samson did not remember what exactly had happened to his deceased parents when he was only three.

Samson and his uncle, Teabort and his aunt, Marina lived in an unreasonably mammoth mansion. It could fit a large joint family of more than thirty members, but lucky for the Frye family, there were only three people in the family, just three! This gave the residents of the Frye bungalow ample space and could make any guest that is unfamiliar with the locality very lost for quite some time.

In Marinaville, as long as you could pay for the school fees, getting into these rich academies was not really that tough. So you may expect a rich person to easily make the cut to attend a rich institution, but this was not the case. Samson was unable to get into a rich school. He went to an underfunded institution that was infamous in the whole city. The moment residents of Marinaville heard its name, they were filled with revulsion. The institute’s name was Predators Elementary School.

In the city of Marinaville, education was mandatory for the kids only when they turned ten. Before kids turned the age of ten, it was all fun and play. However, life for Samson was truly different. Back to the current year, this was the year Samson got admission into this infamous school.

It was a Monday and Samson Frye was getting ready for the first day of school. He was having mixed feelings about the day. I suppose everyone has felt like this before. Samson did not know what to expect and was unquestionably anxious, but he was also excited by the fact that he was going to school for the first time in his life.

Samson rose to the occasion with this feeling. Thoughts swam across his mind when he was brushing his teeth—What will I be learning on the first day of school? and Is it going to be scary? When Samson was bathing, thoughts came in like a jug of water pouring into a glass—Will I be able to make new friends or will I suffer from isolation? Similarly, when Samson was having his breakfast, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, he questioned himself, will attending school even be useful for me? With these thoughts, Samson boarded a typical but poorly maintained school bus to reach his supposedly poor school.

When Samson boarded the bus, he let out a silent gasp and said to himself in shock, Oh my goodness!

He saw a world of difference in the vehicle from the life that he had been exposed to.

A miscreant bellowed, ‘Look who’s there, Mr. Richie, living in a bungalow is here!’

There were some hooligans on the bus fighting with each other, and some extremely dedicated school athletes, so as to not insult. These individuals were throwing and kicking different types of balls all over the bus; but among all these disturbing actions, there was a small group of people at the front of the bus, who were extremely quiet and disciplined-looking. The moment Samson saw them, he decided to sit with them for this peculiar first day of school.

I am currently presuming that you have heard the phrase ‘Never judge a book by its cover’. This phrase is a very popular one, and a lot of people have heard and know what this phrase means. For everything invented by humankind, for example, technological devices, goods to make life easier, and many more, different people have different views. Some may have a view that is very distinctive from yours.

Similarly, Samson did not believe in the phrase ‘Never judge a book by its cover’ because he had a completely different thought process. He thought that if he sees a beggar on the streets with filthy and torn clothes, he is most probably poverty-stricken and there are very slim chances that he is not poor and judging him was not going to be harmful. Thus, Samson followed his strong feelings in this matter.

‘Hey, mate! What’s your name? I am Watson,’ the well-kept minor questioned Samson amiably.

This was the friendliest tone he had ever been talked to in his life for as long as he could remember.

Filled with happiness, Samson replied, ‘Hi, Watson! Nice to meet you! I am Samson. Which grade are you in?’

Watson was elated and replied to Samson saying that he was in