Welcome to my newest story. I've always wanted to write a Thomas and Friends story but never knew what type it should be in. I have a few others started as well but this mystery one is the one I'm most excited for. For this story (and probably series) there is going to be a few rules of the universe broken
1) Brandy won't be subjugated to the same railroad rules as everyone else (You'll see what I mean in this chapter). This way I'll be able to more include the engines in her cases.
2) The engines won't have regular jobs or branch lines. This way every engine has a chance to be seen in the story instead of needing to put Brandy in a certain location for a certain engine to be seen.
I hope you enjoy it.
The Case of the Disappearing Mystery Part 1
The island of Sodor can be quite a remote place but if you are like Brandy Garcia it's been home for all of your life. Brandy has been to all of the towns and villages that the island has to offer. Due to her job as a Private Investigator, it pushes her to go to the different places the island has to offer.
Brandy was sitting in her small office in Knapford going over some paperwork from one of her latest cases, sighing loudly. "When did this island not enjoy giving me something exciting to work with once in a while." It had been weeks since the North Western Railway had used her services and thus she had been delegated to taking the boring cases, spying on a lover, tracking down a missing package or worse spying on neighbors because a person was paranoid they were dangerous. While the dumb cases did pay for her bills and all it wasn't fun to finish up something so simple. While mulling over her thoughts the phone rang.
"Brandy Garcia's office. Brandy speaking." She answered.
"Ms. Garcia. My name is Edmundo Singh. I run a farm just outside of Kirk Ronan. I think I may have a job for you." A farm case. Farms usually didn't need her type of experience since most of their problems were run away animals or bugs eating their crops.
"Well Mr. Singh, what seems to be your problem?" She knew she wasn't going to get the whole story over the phone but if she was going to track down a missing goat she might as well be prepared for it.
"I don't want to seem odd to you but I think I may have a loiterer at my farm." This perked up Brandy. What would someone be doing standing around a farm for and be there so long they would be told to leave.
"Mr. Singh, if someone is bothering you, wouldn't you rather call the police?"
"Well this is the interesting part and why I need your services. I've never been able to talk to him. Every time I try to he just disappears." Now what does that mean?
"Well, if you still want me to take your case I would be more than happy to see what I can do about it." The man on the other end seems to sigh in relief.
"I would be so grateful for your help." Brandy looks at her watch and notices that it's only nine thirty in the morning.
"If you would like I can come down to your farm today." He agreed to her coming down to the farm that day. After that they talked for a few more minutes about cost and how she did things. After hanging up the phone, she quickly got up from her desk and walked the fifteen steps across her small office space and grabbing her coat off the coatrack, she left her office.
Outside on Oxford Road, she turned towards where Knapford Station was and headed in the direction of her destination. Considering she had lived on the island for her whole twenty five year life and had traveled all over the island before she was even sixteen, she knew all parts of every town and village the island had to offer and thus it wasn't difficult to walk everywhere. After five minutes of walking she finally arrived at the station. It was the end of April so the air had a tinge of coolness to it but overall it was a sunny and cheerful day.
Walking into the parking lot she realized that it wasn't quite as busy. The morning rush was more than likely done for the day and so the people catching trains were not going to be workers heading to the Mainland or anywhere else on the island for their jobs. As she walked onto the station platform she saw a mother and her young daughter sitting on a bench together, a man reading a newspaper, and what looked like a businessman being quite impatient. At that moment she heard a whistle and saw Fergus pulling a goods train through the Knapford non platform through line. She gave a wave but didn't think the little traction engine saw her. At that point she decided to get her ticket for the train.
The ticket office was a bit more crowded than the platform was. It was a well sized room, brown colored, with benches all around the room and the ticketing booth right in the middle of it. Hung up all along the walls were pictures of the engines that worked for the railroad. She stood in line while the one other person that was with her got their ticket as well. Along with the two of them there were also a total of seven other people in the office as well. Soon enough the young woman in front of her got her ticket and got out of line and she stepped forward.
"One ticket for the next local train to Kellsthorpe Road please." She asked the mid-20s man in front of her. He typed in a few commands into the computer and soon enough out printed her ticket. She handed over the money that was owed for the ticket.
"You will be on the 9:55 local train. Enjoy your journey." With that she left the booth. Looking at her watch Brandy knew she still had fifteen minutes left to kill and decided to see her old family friend that was just next door. She left the ticket office and walked over to the administrative part of Knapford Station. She entered into the hallway of the other half of Knapford Station and knocked on the first door she saw that was labeled Sir Topham Hatt.
"Come in." The voice from inside the office called out. Brandy opened the door and entered into the tiny office space with its two bookshelves, a modern desk, and a sizeable window facing out towards the station.
"Hello Topham." Brandy said to the portly gentleman who looked up at her with a smile on his face.
"Brady, it's so good to see you." He came around his desk and gave her a friendly hug that she returned. "I'm so sorry that we haven't been able to give you any work but honestly it's been quite slow around here." He motioned for her to sit at a chair in front of his desk while he returned behind it and sat down. He was wearing his regular black suit, cream colored shirt, and black tie. She always felt dressed down around him since she was only wearing jeans, a blue button up shirt and her forest green windbreaker.
"It is ok. I've been doing quick paced jobs recently. It brings money in either way. But that's why I'm at the station today, I'm going to see a client about a job." She said.
"Oh. Well it must not be anything boring if it's worth mentioning." He responded.
"It really doesn't seem to be." With that she told him about the call she got.
"I know that farm. They grow some amazing potatoes. But other than that the owners really aren't a well-known pair around here. I've never seen them at community gatherings or farming events for the island. But to have, not only a stranger loitering around your property but someone that doesn't stick around long enough to be questioned is quite unsettling."
"Yes, that's why I am interested in this. I would like to know this man's intentions. Plus it seems weird that he's a stranger to them. I get that agricultural people aren't always the most social of people but there has to be a connection between them. I'm taking the 9:55 local train to Kellsthorpe Road and then the next train to Kirk Ronan to talk to them."
"Oh, the 9:55 local." He pondered for a few seconds. "That train, I'm pretty sure, is being pulled by Ben." Brandy gave a groan at that information. "Actually if I'm not mistaken I think that's the train right now." Brady looked out the window and saw some old, small, green express coaches being pulled to the first platform at the station.
"I guess that is my cue to leave then." Brandy and Sir Topham stood and hugged each other before she left. She was always fond of the Hatt family and her own family was friends with them, with her father being friends with Topham and her mother being friends with his father, when she was still alive.
"Good luck on the case and don't be afraid to check in and talk about what's going on." He smiled at her and she was glad for the well wishes.
"I'll check in soon enough, maybe I'll have something for when I get back." With that she left his office and the building.
Brandy though was a strange person on the Island of Sodor. She had lived her whole life on the island and due to fascination with the railroad, had built a relationship with the engines. Thus by the time she was eighteen years old she was given full permission to ride in the cabs of the engines with the drivers and firemen. When she became a private investigator the engines wanted her around even more since she enjoyed talking about her cases with them and they enjoyed telling her what they thought about them. But with telling about her cases to the engines came her need to deal with their personalities.
"Hello, Ben." Brandy said to the little yellow tank engine that had buffered up to the three coaches being used for the local train. She noticed that most of the people she had saw on the platform and in the ticketing office were now boarding his train.
"Why Brandy, this is a surprise. You must be on case if you are traveling at such an odd time." He smiled fiendishly. "Is it ghosts this time around?" He asked.
"No Ben, it isn't ghosts." She sighed, as she climbed into Ben's cab with his driver, Howard and his fireman, Alec. While she loved all the engines dearly, Bill and Ben had the continuous notion that most of her cases dealt with the supernatural, whether it was ghosts, demons, or spirits. She didn't believe in the supernatural so their constant joking about it slightly got on her nerves.
"Now Ben, don't go annoying her or she won't tell you about what she's working on." Howard said, winking at Brandy. He knew that no matter what the twin engines enjoyed hearing about her cases more than they enjoyed their jokes.
"Right of course. I'll be good." Ben said hopefully.
"Well keep sharp because we are leaving in two minutes." Alec stated. With that the driver, fireman and engine all made sure everything was set to go with the local train. After a few minutes all three were ready and the guard blew the whistle and Ben pulled out of Knapford with the local train. Soon enough they were past the Ffarquhar Branch Line junction when Ben spoke up.
"So what is this newest case you have?" Ben asked slightly impatiently. Howard went to scold him for his tone but Brandy just laughed.
"Apparently there is a farmer on the outskirts of Kirk Ronan that is dealing with a person that won't go away." She started but before she could say anymore Ben cut in.
"Well that doesn't seem much like a mystery." He snorted. "That farmer needs to just learn to be more assertive and not have to pay someone to tell someone to leave." At this point they flew through Crosby tunnel.
"Ben, you really think she's going out of her way to just tell someone to stop hanging around a farm?" Alec questioned as he shoveled another batch of coal into his firebox.
"I guess not, but what else could there be?" The little engine stated.
"Well get this. This has been going on for a couple of weeks and every time the farmer goes to question the person to leave or why they are on his property, the person disappears before the farmer can even walk over to him."
"So it is a ghost." Ben exclaimed.
"It's not a ghost." Brandy stated. At this point Ben had to stop the train at Crosby station so Brandy had to halt her story. After a few minutes the train started back up for Wellsworth.
"So tell me again how someone disappears and this case isn't about a ghost? It's extremely all about ghosts. That farmer needs a priest not a PI." Brandy just shook her head.
"Well he called me to figure out what's been happening to him and I intend to get to the bottom of it. If he wanted a priest he would have called a priest and not me. How many churches are there on the island?" With that Ben became silent.
The rest of the 45 minute journey to Kellsthorpe Road was minimum between Brandy and Ben. Every so often Ben would mutter to himself about religion or ghosts but never spoke out loud during the journey so Brandy just talked to Howard and Alec about what else was going on. Once the train got to Kellsthorpe Road, Brandy learned that the last week had been quite boring on the railroad and she was glad she didn't miss much in the way of importance.
She disembarked on platform 4 and made her way over the footbridge to the ticket center. The station wasn't that busy and since it was 10:40 she wasn't surprised at the light amount of people that were heading around the island. There were people on all five different platforms, when she got to the ticketing office and went inside.
The building was a lot more expansive than Knapford's and there were a few more people inside that were taking advantage of the inside atmosphere. This building had a lot more seating area than Knapford, with benches all over the building. Entering into the station building, on the right side was a door that entered into an area solely for railroad employees only, so she turned left for the passenger area.
Heading up to the ticket counter there was a sole woman in her 40s on duty. She was wearing a blue railroad uniform and had a smile on her face when Brandy approached her. "How can I help you?" she asked.
"One ticket for the next train to Kirk Ronan." She asked. She paid the money and was handed her ticket.
"The train will arrive here on Platform 1 at 10:50. The train will be leaving promptly at 11 o'clock."
"Thank you, one question though, who will be pulling the train?" it was actually a very common question since certain passengers enjoyed certain engines pulling their trains.
"Edward is doing all the passenger runs on the Kirk Ronan Branch Line today." Brandy smiled knowing Edward would be the one he could talk to about the case.
Leaving the station building Brandy thought about Edward. They had become close when Brandy was fourteen and she was just taking a serious interest in the railroad and engines themselves. If anything Edward was probably one of her closest friends and always enjoyed the time they spent together, whether it was talking about one of her cases or something going on with the railroad. They shared a lot of similar interests and one of Brandy's first cases was helping Edward find a missing shipment of iron rods he was supposed to collect but had gone missing. Edward was the wisest engine on the island and thus Brandy really enjoyed his input on cases she had.
Brandy sat on a bench on platform 1, enjoying the warmth of spring and just trying to gather her thoughts when she heard a familiar whistle in the distance. From around the corner she saw Edward puffing towards the station pulling three red branch line coaches. Once Edward came in view of the station he smiled when he noticed that Brandy was one of his passengers.
"Why Brandy, what a pleasant surprise. Where are you going today?" Edward asked as he stopped at the station to let out his passengers.
"I'm heading to Kirk Ronan for a case." Brandy responded.
"Well how lucky for me. Let me turn around my train and you can hop aboard and tell me all about it." When all of Edward's passengers got out Edward pulled out towards the Kellsthorpe Road yard to turn his train around. In the time that Brandy was waiting for Edward to come back, she saw Salty leave the yard with a freight train and saw Emily pull into the station with the local train from Vicarstown. After a few minutes of waiting Edward pulled up to platform 1 again all turned around.
"So you have the branch line all to yourself today?" Brandy asked, making polite conversation once she climbed into his cab.
"That I do. The Kirk Ronan Branch Line is a very nice passenger run when you want to take a break and not be so hustled." Edward said happily.
"I wish I could be hustled a bit. The last few weeks have been nothing but boring." Edward just chuckled. One of their biggest differences was that Edward knew how to relax and smell the flowers along the way. Brandy always enjoyed being busy.
"I'm ready on my end Charlie." Sidney, the fireman, said to the driver."
"Alright I'll be on the lookout." Charlie responded, while looking out the cab towards the back. Promptly at 11 the whistle from the guard blew and the train departed for the branch line.
Once they were beyond the station and heading towards the junction, right by the Hawin Croka Canal, Edward started up the conversation. "So what's this case all about now?" So Brandy told him and his crew all about the phone call, the case and even her conversations with Sir Topham Hatt and Ben. By the time they were past the junction she had finished up her whole retelling.
"Can you believe that Ben thought Mr. Singh should have went to a priest instead of me?" Brandy exclaimed.
"That little rascal will believe in anything if it can make a good ghost story." Edward responded. Brandy knew about the troubles Edward had with Bill and Ben. They were coming up towards Rolf's Castle and soon Edward would have to stop to let off passengers.
"So what do you think about it?" Brandy asked, wanting to get her friend's input.
"I think you have three mysteries on your hands right now." Edward responded. "You have to figure out who the man is, what the man wants, and why he keeps disappearing when the farmer is around." At that moment they reached Rolf's Castle and had to stop at the station to drop off and pick up passengers.
Rolf's Castle was a small town that had lots of closely placed buildings that was set on the Hawin Croka. Not many passengers got off and even fewer got on. The remaining passengers on the train would be going to Kirk Ronan. The twenty minute journey was half taken up getting to Rolf's Castle and the other half was getting to Kirk Ronan. It was a quick but pleasant journey. After a minute or two they set off once again.
"So it feels like once I solve one mystery," Brandy started up again. "The other two should fall into place."
"Of course." Edward stated. "If you figure out who the mystery man is, you can figure out what he wants since you know who he is and what he has to do with the farm. Once you figure that out it will be simple to figure out why he doesn't want anyone to see him around the farm." Brandy smiled. If engines could be investigators Edward would be at the top of the list for that job. He was quite good at thinking rationally.
"Biggest problem though is Mr. Singh has no clue who the man is and he's seen him several times. He has no idea who he is and what he has to do with him or his farm."
"Well that will come out in due time, just have to keep looking." Edward responded. Charlie chuckled though.
"The island may be large and have many towns on it but it is still a small and cozy area. No way is this guy just so unknown member of the island. Even if you have moved here only a month or two ago, people know who you are. He has a story and people know who he is. You just have to talk to the correct people." Charlie said. Edward hummed in agreement.
"It sounds like this is the case of the disappearing mystery." Sidney said, adding into the conversation which just made Edward laugh.
"You are absolutely correct Sidney. Brandy you have to figure out who the mystery is, why the mystery is, and why the mystery is disappearing. It's a three pronged case." Edward stated. "Brandy, we are arriving at Kirk Ronan now." Brandy looked out the cab and sure enough the four platform station appeared in view. Edward pulled into Platform 1 and stopped, Brandy got out and faced Edward.
"Thanks for the ride. I'll give you an update when I come back. See you around." With that Brandy walked away with everyone saying goodbye to her.
On her way out of the station she realized that Edward made her case a bit easier but a lot more complex with the three pronged analogy. She had no idea where to start and yet she had three mysteries to solve.
"The case of the disappearing mystery," She mumbled to herself. "Great, now how to solve said case.
Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. Like I said before I do have a few other Thomas and Friends stories that are started but this one might take priority (depends on how they all go). Please review and tell me what you thought about it.