Author's Note: I strongly suggest going onto YouTube and listen to John Barry Seven's Hit & Miss while reading the segment of the Chan Clan taking part in their stage rehearsal.
Chapter 7: In the secret passageway and another attempt
A short while later, the group of kids gathered together to discuss what to do next upon the discovery of the secret passageway.
Upon the discussions, it was agreed that the Teen Angels would search through the secret passageway, accompanied by Garfield, while the others continue with their practice and preparations for the Music Talent competition.
"Let us know what you guys found." Fred said as Garfield and the Teen Angels proceed to take their leaves. "It should be helpful in getting us to the bottom of this mess."
"Unga." Captain Caveman nodded as he waved his hand.
Watching the five heading walking the floor, the others shared looks with each other.
"I sure hope they find a clue or two." April said. "Because with Taffy's broken leg, it tells us that whoever wanted Christine Damon to win means serious business."
"And the sooner we get to the bottom of this mess, the better." Henry agreed.
However, unbeknownst to the group, a shadowed figure was watching Garfield and the Teen Angels making their way into the secret passageway.
Once the group cleared the area and head back to resume their rehearsals, said figure swiftly walked over to the door and followed Garfield and the Teen Angels down the secret passageway.
(The Teen Angels and Garfield)
The secret passageway was mostly dark, saving for a few illuminated signs pinpointing the direction of the fire exits, and as such the girls and Garfield were each armed with flashlights.
"Golly, this sure is one dark and creepy passageway for a fire exit." Brenda remarked as they looked around.
"You're telling me." Garfield nodded as he shined his flashlight onto the floor plan he was holding. "Either way, it's gonna be interesting to see what we've got here when we reach the end of this passageway..."
The air cadet trailed off when they reached a fork, and the group paused and leaned towards Garfield.
"Alrighty..." Garfield said as he consulted the floor plan and dragged his finger onto the spot they're currently at. "This is where we are right now."
"And where does this passageway lead to?" Taffy asked.
"Hmmm..." Garfield instinctively glanced to the passageway heading towards their right before tracing it on the floor plan.
The group arched their eyebrows when Garfield traced the passageway to a room, then he looked up as the light briefly reflected on the lenses of his glasses.
"If I'm not mistaken, the passageway on our right leads back to the main building, terminating at the perp rooms on the ground floor." Garfield said.
"We head straight?" Caveman asked as he pointed his club towards their front.
"Exactly." Dee Dee nodded. "Come on."
The others all nodded back before they resumed their walk down the passageway, during which they heard loud machinery and what sounded like ventilation equipment.
"Unless I miss my guess, these passageways are used not just for the stage assistants, but also for maintenance personnel, on top of serving as an emergency fire exit." Garfield observed.
"That's what we'd think as well, Garfield." Dee Dee agreed.
There was some silence between the four as they continued on down the passageway, then Garfield glanced backwards towards Taffy, who was continuing on with her crutches.
"How's the leg holding up, Taffy?" He asked.
"Oh, nothing I can't handle." Taffy replied as she hopped forward, wincing as she did so. "Doctor says that I just need to be hang in there for three-four weeks before I can start walking again without the crutches."
"I figured." Garfield nodded thoughtfully.
"Say, how were you able to know that Taffy was gonna need to wear a cast just by looking at her foot, Garfield?" Brenda asked.
"Oh, I had advanced first aid training, as part of the training offered by the Royal Canadian Air Cadets." Garfield replied.
"What do you guys do anyways?" Taffy asked as they turned towards Garfield. "Are you guys required to actually join the military?"
"No." Garfield shook his head. "The Royal Canadian Air Cadets is a youth organization, dedicated to empowering young people and teaching them stuff like survival, citizenship and aviation. The organization is partnered with the Royal Canadian Air Force, but cadets aren't obligated to join the military, though it can be a career option for them later on once they age out. It's like the cadet program offered by the Civil Air Patrol in the States."
"I see." Dee Dee said as she and the girls nodded thoughtfully before she eyed Garfield's dress shirt and added, "And judging from your medal ribbons and the pilot wings, not to mention the fancy rank you've got on your shoulders, I'd say you've achieved a lot in the Air Cadets."
"It is a lot of fun." Garfield smiled.
"I can imagine, especially since I'm sure you guys get to fly aircraft as well." Brenda nodded. "Anyways, what did you say your rank is currently?"
"Warrant Officer First Class." Garfield replied. "Which is equivalent to a Chief Master Sergeant in the States."
The girls once again nodded thoughtfully, where by that point, Garfield has taken the lead.
It was then that Garfield suddenly had his right hand up and formed into a fist, which the girls saw.
"Hold up." Garfield said. "There's something up ahead."
The girls quickly stopped and peered around the wall corner, during which Garfield leaned forward to take a closer look as he shined his flashlight towards what was ahead of them.
"What is it, Garfield?" Dee Dee asked.
"There's a door to our left." Garfield said before he consulted the floor plan and frowned. "Odd...This door and whatever is behind it isn't shown on the floor plan."
"Let me see." Dee Dee said as she took the floor plan from Garfield and took a closer look, and she frowned when she pinpointed their current location on the floor plan and saw that Garfield was right. "You're right, Garfield. The door isn't in the floor plan."
"But how?" Taffy asked. "I'm certain that the venue should've been constructed according to the floor plan, as any changes would've required the needed approvals."
"My hunch is that this door, and whatever was behind it, was added later once construction was done." Garfield said as he examined the sides of the door.
Pointing at the edges of the wall, Garfield then added, "Notice how sharp the concrete wall edges are?"
Dee Dee leaned forward to take a closer look, then upon examining the wall edges with her flashlight shining on it, she nodded.
"You're right, Garfield." Dee Dee said. "These wall edges are sharper than usual, which is typically a sign of someone drilling a hole into it."
"A rectangular hole to install this door." Brenda interjected.
"Exactly." Dee Dee nodded.
"Which makes you wonder if Mr. Barbot knows anything about this secret room." Garfield said as Taffy reached over to try the doorknob.
As expected, the door was locked, and Garfield and the girls glanced at each other.
"I suppose none of you have brought your lock picks?" Garfield asked.
The girls all shook their heads before turning towards Cavey, who was silent up until that point.
"No, but that doesn't mean Cavey has something that can help us get into the door." Dee Dee said.
"Right, Cavey?" Taffy added.
"Unga." Cavey nodded as he reached into his fur and began searching for something. "Me think me have tool."
As the four watched the caveman tossing objects out from his fur, Garfield wondered to himself how did the caveman managed to store so much items in his fur while maintaining his small size.
"說不定原始人隊長的毛內空間跟哆啦A夢的四次元百寶袋一樣。" (Perhaps the space in Captain Caveman's fur is the same as the 4D pocket Doraemon is equipped with.) Garfield observed as they watched Cavey toss out various junk from his fur.
Eventually, Cavey found what he was looking for and he passed it to Dee Dee.
"Me think this can unlock door." Cavey boasted.
Dee Dee nodded as the caveman handed her a stone key, and she proceeded to insert the key into the lock as Garfield arched his eyebrows.
No sooner did she turn the key did they hear the door click, and Dee Dee turned the door knob and opened the door.
"A universal key made of stone?" Garfield adjusted his glasses as Dee Dee returned the key to Cavey.
"Unga." Cavey nodded as he placed the key back into his fur.
The five cautiously pushed the door open before entering the room, whereupon Garfield shined his flashlight around before finding a light switch.
He reached over to flick the switch on, only to find that the room remained dark as they had found it.
"Looks like we're gonna have to keep using our flashlights, ladies." Garfield remarked.
The girls all nodded as they used their flashlights to take a look around the small room.
"I honestly wonder why would someone add this room later after the rest of the venue was opened up?" Dee Dee remarked.
"Perhaps it was supposed to be a secret storage room." Brenda offered.
"Though it wouldn't explain why the door wasn't hidden." Garfield frowned. "Though on the outside, it would look like it's just another one of those doors leading to a mechanical or storage room, especially if said person isn't familiar with the floor plans."
"And if this is a secret storage room, what's it used for?" Taffy added.
The others all shrugged, during which Dee Dee noticed the bookshelf on the other end of the room.
"Say, there's a bookshelf on the wall there." She said. "Though by the look of things, it seems like whoever had this room built has yet to stock it up with books."
"Maybe." Brenda said as she walked over to the bookshelf and picked up one of the few books that was on it.
Taffy frowned when she saw the cover of the book, and she swiftly took it from Brenda before she flipped through the pages.
"Zowie!" Taffy exclaimed.
"What is it, Taffy?" Garfield asked as he, Cavey and the girls leaned forward to take a look.
"This book is a guide on some of the world's most priceless jewels and diamonds!" Taffy declared as she showed them a page.
Cavey reached into his fur and got a magnifying glass out before proceeding to take a look at the photo of the diamond on the page.
"Diamond look clean here." Cavey said as he pointed at the photo, and Garfield's eyes narrowed in recognition.
"Hey, let me take a look at that." Garfield said as he grabbed the book from Cavey and took a closer look at the diamond.
Reading the text accompanying the photo, Garfield turned towards the girls as he said, "This is the Clean Mineral, which was the diamond that was stolen while on display at Montreal's City Hall couple night's ago."
"Stolen?" Brenda enquired.
"Yes." Garfield nodded as he turned to face the girls and Cavey. "Like I've mentioned earlier, the police hasn't been making much progress in identifying the culprit."
"Who, as you've mentioned, was also dressed as the Phantom." Dee Dee pointed out.
"So at least we know for sure that the diamond thefts is connected to the mess here." Taffy said. "Considering that this guide on diamonds is found here."
"Though we're no step closer as to who the culprit really is." Dee Dee frowned.
Before Garfield, Brenda and Cavey could say anything, the door behind them suddenly slammed shut, and there was an obnoxious click accompanying the slam.
Garfield and the girls shared looks with each other before he quickly rushed over to the door and tried to turn the doorknob, only to find it stuck.
"Houston, we've got a problem." Garfield said as he tried to pull the door open.
"Please don't tell me that we're locked in this room." Brenda said.
"I'm afraid we are." Dee Dee remarked.
Back at the stage, the Chan Clan were well underway with their rehearsal on stage.
Henry was behind the drumset and he looked towards Stanley and Anne, who were both holding their guitars.
Stanley, who's the lead guitar in their sibling band, glanced back towards Henry, who nodded at him as the technicians prepared.
Alan was making sure his alto sax was in tune while Tom prepared his trumpet, all as Suzie was standing behind the keyboard.
Flip, who's the youngest in the band, was also on stage, anxiously preparing his tenor saxophone.
Alan glanced at his younger brother, and it was clear that he can see that Flip was nervous about performing on stage.
"Flip, you okay?" Alan asked as he reached his hand to his brother.
Turning towards Alan, Flip shrugged, "I'm okay, it's just that 這是我第一次 (this is my first time) performing on stage."
Alan nodded understandingly, knowing that Flip was code-switching from English to Cantonese like he and the younger siblings typically do while communicating with each other at home.
"不用擔心。" (Don't worry.) He said reassuringly. "You will do just fine, Flip. Just relax."
"Okay, if you say so..." Flip shrugged.
It was then that the technicians gave Henry the thumbs up, and Blaney nodded at them.
"Chan Clan, it's your cue." He said through the speakerphone.
Stanley turned towards Henry, who nodded at him, and then he turned back towards the seats off stage while the other performers look on from backstage.
With his left hand fingers in position, he glanced at his other siblings, who had also gotten the cue and are ready, before he positioned his right hand near the guitar strings.
The Chans collectively took a breath before they all hit the E-flat major opening chord of Hit & Miss as performed by the John Barry Seven.
Once they all hit the opening chord, Stanley began to play the first fifteen notes of the introductory solo guitar part.
Eventually, Henry, Suzie, Anne and the other siblings received their cue from Stanley as they began to play their parts once Stanley reached the fifth bar.
With Suzie playing the keyboard notes, Stanley continued with his part and pumped it in while Henry gently played the drums.
At the beat of the music, most of the people backstage began to nod their heads.
Shaggy also began to subconsciously tap his foot while nodding to the beat of the music, all as Mudsy appeared.
"Now, I don't know much about modern-day music." Mudsy remarked as he joined April, Skip and Augie. "But this sounds like real music to me."
"It is, Mudsy." Skip nodded. "In fact, it's the theme song to the BBC's Juke Box Jury, a popular music panel TV show in the UK."
"Uh...what's a TV show?" Mudsy asked in confusion.
"Hoh boy." Skip remarked as he and Augie glanced at each other.
Watching the Chan pumping away in their rehearsal on stage, Shaggy turned towards the gang as he remarked, "Like, Henry and Stanley sure picked a great piece to perform in the competition."
"Well, it's a shame they didn't decide to incorporate some Bruce Lee moves in their act." Shelly smirked. "Because it could've knocked the socks off the audience and judges, which then leaves room for a star like me to become the centre of the competition."
"Oh, I highly doubt it, Sh-" Daphne was about to continue when a loud crash on stage caused them to jump.
"What now?" Biff asked as they quickly turned back towards the stage.
Upon turning back towards the stage, the group quickly took in what had just happened.
Stanley was in the middle of playing the climax guitar part, his right fingers tingling with the strings and his feet swinging with the beat and was looking upwards when he saw something above the stage came loose.
Instinctively, he abruptly stopped his playing before he quickly pushed Alan, Tom and Flip out of harm's way.
And just in time, too. No sooner did he push his younger siblings out of harm's way did the stage prop crash right onto the spot where the trio were standing at just seconds earlier.
When the others joined them on stage and surveyed the damage, it was clear that the younger siblings were shocked by what they had just witnessed.
Shaggy's eyes first went to the crashed prop before they rolled towards the top and stopped at where the prop was installed at.
"You've got to be kidding me." He finally said.
"No kidding, Shag." Stanley agreed. "That was a close one, too."
"Are you guys all right?" Daphne asked in concern as she, Velma, April, Clam and Biff rushed over to the Chan Clan.
"We're fine." Henry quickly said as they gathered together. "Though as Stan said, that was a close one."
"Yeah, and judging from what just happened, my best guess is that this prop came loose while you guys were in the middle of your rehearsal." Fred said.
"But how could it come loose?" Suzie asked. "It's not like we were performing heavy rock music."
"I don't know, but regardless, it seems like our plans for rehearsing smoothly on stage has went up in smoke!" Alan said.
"Went up in smoke?" Bubbles asked. "But how did your plan went up in smoke if there's nothing on fire here?"
"Bubblehead." Shelly sighed. "He meant that the plan didn't go well as intended."
It was then that the whole theater went dark as a loud, haunted laughter filled the space, then the same haunting voice exclaimed, "Christine must win!"
Once the lights returned, as Barbot and Blaney joined the group, Biff said, "Regardless, someone sure wants Christine to win very badly."
"And that someone will see to that at any cost." Velma nodded. "It's times like this that tells us that we need to draw a firm line and say that 'enough is enough.'"
"What better way to do that than warning Christine and her sister to back off?" Daphne added as she gestured discreetly towards the Damon sisters, who were standing backstage and were watching the whole thing go down.
The others followed the redhead's gaze and glanced at the sisters before they nodded thoughtfully.
Please read and review!
