As the three friends continued walking, Malina still could not shake off the feeling that the disappearing coal mystery becoming more and more foggier by the minute. How else could this mystery unveil itself? Her answer was still uncertain.
"Miwa, do you like playing princess?" Enzo had asked Miwa. "If Tintin is with me, we play princess all the time," Miwa answered. This struck Enzo as so confusing. "Wait...you make Tintin play princess with you?" Enzo asked. "But he's a boy." "But you've never seen him in a princess crown," Miwa said. "Mommy says he looks fabulous with a princess crown." "I have to afmit, Tintin has told me all about your guys' antics," Enzo said. "He tells me that wearing tutus with tights can really flex your leg muscles on the..."
Malina paused. "Guys, look!" she said, pointing to a truck that stopped by a sidewalk. The driver came out and talked to one of the thugs. "And where will all this go to?" he asked. "The one place where we'll get it all," the thug replied. Malina suddenly realized where all the missing coal was heading. "They're heading for the quarry!" she whispered.
Soon after the two men headed into the truck, the trio raced to the open rear compartment. It was packed full with coal. "What a haul!" Enzo said, astonished. "So this must be all the coal that was stolen. The nerve of those maniacs!" They suddenly felt the truck moving, so the three friends piled inside, concealed by the coal.
While the friends rode in the truck to the local quarry, police cars were now heading toward the same direction as the truck was. But apparently, since they were so late in rounding up every single sergeant, they were coming late.
"I say Thompson," Thomson told his partner as they drove behind the trail, "leaving the town without power is some cold situation." "Precisely," Thompson said. "Can you imagine the look on the people's faces when they realize their homes are left with no power?" The two detectives laughed harmoniously. But their revelry was cut short after they realized they were about to hit an oak tree. Just like that, they had to wait for a police van to come pick them up.
Hours later, the truck had arrived at the quarry. The two drivers then got off, whereas Malina, Enzo, and Miwa stayed inside the rear compartment. "Okay, this is it," Malina said. "Let's get this done fast." "Right," Enzo said. "It takes a thief to catch a thief. Ain't that right, Miwa?"
But Miwa was nowhere to be found...again! "Miwa?" Enzo said, sifting through the pile of coal. "Miwa!" "She got away from you again?!" Malina asked. "But she can't just disappear like that! Unless..." Enzo made a horrifying discovery. "Unless...one of those guys kidnapped her!" he exclaimed. "Quick! We gotta save her!" They quickly got off the truck and proceeded to sneak into the quarry unnoticed.
Soon, the two quietly made their way to the quarry, careful not to be seen by the thugs, or they would get caught. Sneaking past huge barrels and large crates, Enzo sighed. "Two disappearances," Enzo said. "Hmm?" Malina said. "Counting her sneaking out of Marlinspike Hall, and just right now," Enzo said. "But where on earth could she have...?"
Suddenly, he heard a girl's scream. "Miwa!" Enzo said. The two friends ran toward the source of the scream. Soon, they found themselves right at the center of the loading dock. The thugs began closing in on them as they shrank in solid fear. Enzo let out a cry of fright when he saw one of the thugs grabbing Miwa by the shoulders. Miwa was bound and gagged; her mouth was taped shut, and her hands were tied. The tape covered her shrill yells.
"Well well well," the leader of the gang said, "looks like you two have joined the party." "What are you doing with all that coal?" Enzo yelled. "That's none of your business!" the leader exclaimed. "There is no way you'll ever defeat us!" Miwa struggled to break free, but the thug holding her slapped her cheek. "If you so much as lay your filthy hands on Miwa, I swear I will kill you!" Enzo shrieked angrily.
Chuckling, the leader strolled over to Malina and Enzo, saying, "What do we have here? A sailor boy and a pretty little damsel in distress." Malina felt his cold fingers stroking his hair, and through gritted teeth, she said, "I am not a damsel, I'm a woman." "Fighting, are we? Well, we'll see when your flimsy, ladylike personality gets the best of you!" This angered Malina even more. "I AM NOT A LADY!" Malina shrieked, kicking the man in the groin.
"So I see!" the man said, doubling over in pain. "How about a little deal? You give me the gun, and I'll give your little girl back. Are we good on that?" "Okay, but no tricks!" Enzo said, with a gun in his hands. "But give me Miwa first!" "First, the gun," the man said, gesturing to him. Enzo slowly put the gun down and faced the thugs. "Now, give me Miwa," he said. The thug thrust Miwa to him, and Enzo hugged her tightly. "Now," Malina told the thug, "turn that truck around, and return the stolen coal back."
"Of course, I will," the thug boss told her as he approached the truck. "But me and my shipmates have just decided..." "Decided what?" Malina asked suspiciously. "That you and your little friends are of no use to me at all, and that we will kill you," the man said, gesturing to the heavily armed thugs. "You're welcome."
Soon, the men charged toward the friends, who all split up in different directions. Five of the thugs chased after Malina, then they cornered her by a freighter. Lucky for her, Malina was a quick thinker and a master of on-the-spot butt kicking! In a fury of flying fists, Malina beat the men senseless.
On the other hand, Enzo quickly took Miwa to a quiet part of the docks, where he quickly untied Miwa's hands and removed the tape from her mouth. "I'm scared," Miwa said. "You'll be fine," Enzo said. But his answer cut short when the gang began closing in on them. Miwa was the first to react, beating up the other thugs. "That's for bullying me!" Miwa said to one thug while punching him in the nose. "And that's for being mean to my mommy!" she exclaimed after slapping the other thug's bottom, which caused him to howl in pain. "Good job Miwa!" Enzo said while doing his part in punching the other guys' faces.
However, their fighting didn't last that long.
Soon, the three friends were tied to a pole stuck on the bottom of a wood platform, which was being wheeled toward the ocean. "There's nothing you can do!" the thug boss said. "With all that coal, we're gonna be rich! Rich! And you three will be left to rot in the deep end!" He cackled maniacally as they thugs wheeled the platform to the edge. "Well, I guess this is how it ends," Enzo said. "It was a pleasure serving you," Malina said, closing her eyes. But soon...
"Looks like we caught 'em red-handed," the police sergeant said as he and his crew pulled up from every direction! "Oh joy! We're saved!" Enzo shouted excitedly. "Cops! You came just in time!" Malina said. "W-What?! That's not possible!" the thug boss yelled angrily. "Well apparently, Malina here called to report stolen property," the sergeant said while Malina nodded in agreement.
"And check this out!" a policeman said, opening the truck compartment. "This was all the coal that was supposed to be delivered to the whole town!" "Precisely," a familiar voice said. It was the Thompsons! They had come up to investigate the scene of the crime as well! "Sir, please let me go! I have rights!" the thug boss told the sergeant. "Yea yea yea, give it a rest, will ya?" the officer said, handcuffing the thug. "I'm placing you all under arrest for theft of stolen property and accounts of illegal counterfeiting." Each and every policeman handcuffed the thugs one by one, and were hauled into a police van. "Take 'em away boys!" the sergeant commanded and the van drove off to the county jail.
Meanwhile, the police officers loaded their cars with the stolen coal deliveries and drove to the city to return each delivery to their rightful owners. The Thompsons then untied the three friends. "Now what?" Malina said. "Well, there's no other choice but to return Miwa home," Enzo said. "Of course!" Thompson said. "Let's go in our car, shall we?" Thomson said. Everyone then piled into the car and drove home.
Back at Marlinspike Hall, Tintin was playing with the children while Benton sat by the fireplace, looking after Ming Shen. "You're really looking a lot better now," Benton said. "I guess I am," Tintin said. "But I still feel like something's..."
"Hey Tintin!" a voice called. Tintin rushed to the back door and opened it. It was Malina and Enzo! "You guys came back! And the coal?" Tintin asked. "Is it..." "They're delivering the coal right back," Enzo said. Suddenly, Tintin had a burning question to ask. "And Miwa?" Tintin whimpered. "Is she still...?" "Tintin! Tintin!" a voice said. Tintin turned and immediately ran toward Miwa, embracing her tightly. "Oh my gosh, Miwa!" Tintin exclaimed, with tears flooding from his eyes. "Oh...oh my goodness, I was so worried about you!" Turning to Malina and Enzo, he asked, "Is she okay? Tell me she's okay!" "She's perfectly fine," Enzo said.
"Good, good," Tintin said. Then he got up, walked up to Malina and Enzo, and angrily twisted their ears. "OW!" Malina and Enzo both screamed. "Then what were you two knuckleheads thinking?!" Tintin scolded. "Letting a child sneak out at night while she was completely unsupervised?! You guys oughta be ashamed of yourselves!" Walking to Miwa, Tintin began to scold her too. "And don't you ever, and I mean ever, run away from me again, young lady!" Tintin exclaimed. But Miwa understood and kept hugging him. "Oh, I'm sorry I scolded you," Tintin said more calmly, hugging Miwa. "I just love you so much."
The doorbell rang. "Mommy!" Miwa said, releasing her grasp and running to the foyer. "Mommy! Mommy!" "Miwa, my dear!" Veerasak exclaimed, picking up his daughter and hugging her. "Hi, my little girl," Linda said as she entered after her husband. "Hi Mommy," Meimei said as she hugged Linda. "Hello, dear,", Linda said. "So, how was the date?" Benton asked. "It was okay, until the power went out," Linda said. "So we improvised and had a lakeside dinner," Veerasak told them. "Sounds romantic," Lucille said. "How did the kids behave, Tintin?" Linda asked. "They were absolute angels," Tintin said, "even in the dark."
Soon, all of the missing coal was returned to ever home in Brussels, and the town was saved from a severe coal shortage that almost left the town with no power at all. Enzo had formed a string bond with Miwa. Malina was finally promoted to being the main security at the docks whenever she worked with Enzo and his sailor buddies. And Tintin's life was back to normal. Well, almost normal. On the next day, Veerasak found Tintin and Benton at the park one afternoon. After greeting them, he asked, "Tintin, how come I overheard Miwa talking to Meimei about coal trucks and action at the docks last night?" Tintin and Benton both looked at each other, laughed, and finally said, "You have no idea."