By the end of the week, the Pack had gotten back into the swing of things. The underground car park had been completed, and the above ground car park was halfway done. The driveway was being worked on as well, with Jack and Alfie digging away the last of the old bushes for new plants. Ned was finishing the sand traps on the golf course, and Oliver and Byron were working on the foundations for the children's area. Fredrick had been given the task of starting digging up the pool. Kelly was clearing away the last of the old trees, and Max, Monty, Isabella and Magenta were moving between the teams, collecting dirt and delivering loads. The best bit was that pillars were being put into place in the car park, so the ground floor could soon be built on top.
However, Jack hadn't found the time to go and see Duke yet. At the end of the day, he was far too tired to travel to Crovan's Gate and back. The front loader was desperate for answers, and was impatiently waiting for the chance to head down there.
However, after several days, his wish was going to be granted.
It was early morning at the yard, and the machines were all awake, waiting to go to work. After twenty minutes of doing nothing, the Foreman approached them, smiling broadly.
"Why are you so happy?" Patrick asked.
"I have just been on the phone, and it seems like we'll be having a very important guest at the site today." The machines all began to whisper excitedly to each other, wondering who it was going to be.
"I bet it is going to be that movie star." Isabella said to Magenta, and they giggled happily.
"Maybe it'll be one of the controllers." Oliver suggested.
"Yawn, boring!" Max and Monty said together.
"I heard there was some famous historian, she might come and look at the Mid Sodor backstory." Alfie said, looking at Jack. Jack nodded, but could only think about a certain historian he had to talk to.
"I am sorry to disappoint you, but the guest is Cedric Berrob." The Foreman explained. The machines were still interested by this, and continued to mutter.
"I didn't know he was on the Island." Byron boomed.
"He was actually on Jeremy's first flight after the runway had been fixed." The Foreman explained. "Anyway, he'll be at the site around midday, and he is very picky so hopefully he'll be pleased with us. Isabella and Magenta, I need you two to go and collect some plants and more bags of cement. The rest of you need to head over to the site now." The Pack all nodded, and they all headed towards the gate.
"I wonder what he will look like." Magenta said excitedly.
"He sounds like some old codger." Patrick grunted.
"No, he has to be young." Nelson said, who had Byron on his trailer.
"Wasn't he in that movie we saw at the drive-in theatre?" Ned asked.
"Are you thinking of the Harry Potter one?" Isabella giggled, and the Pack laughed as Ned flushed. Jack chuckled with the rest of them, but his mind was stuck on Duke. He slowed down a bit, and was soon level with Fredrick.
"What is it?" Fredrick asked kindly.
"I am going to go and see Duke later on." Jack whispered.
"Ah, yes, good idea." The digger said, flustered.
"You will have to distract the others for me." Fredrick stopped suddenly, and looked at the front loader.
"Cover for you? I don't think I can do that!" He said, his eyes wide with fright.
"If you want to get to the bottom of this stupid safe thing, then you are going to have to tell a little white lie while I get to the bottom of things, ok?" Jack snapped. Fredrick nodded, and Jack smiled briefly before speeding off.
"Whatever happened to respect for your elders?" Fredrick muttered, as he continued down the road, but was stopped by a chugging sound. He looked around, and realised Buster was going slower than him.
"Have you not told Patrick and I something about that safe?" The steamroller asked. Fredrick let out another sigh, and quickly began to explain.
The Pack soon arrived at the construction site, and quickly hurried off to continue their jobs from the previous day. Rain was forecast for that afternoon, so they had to hurry to make things look their best before Cedric arrived.
Jack and Alfie were continuing with their work on the driveway. As they worked, Isabella and Magenta pulled up.
"You two need to hurry up." Magenta smiled.
"How come?" Alfie asked, as he dug out one of the remaining bushes.
"We have just brought all the new plants." Isabella said, and turned to reveal all of the pot plants, full with young trees ready for planting.
"Finally, we have a reason to work." Jack chuckled. Magenta continued down the muddy road, while a group of gardeners rushed over, and quickly began to unload Isabella.
"So Isabella, what do you think Cedric will look like?" Alfie asked.
"Hmmm.... he sounds like he'll be young, and rather nice." The lorry replied, nodding. "What do you think Jack?"
"What?" The front loader said. He had been staring at the end of the lane, wondering about when to leave. "Oh, I don't really care what he looks like, as long as he lets us keep the contract." Alfie and Isabella continued the discussion, but Jack picked up several bushes and took them down towards the hotel, where a skip was located for the ecological waste. Jack quickly added the bushes onto a pile of dead trees and turned. Patrick and Buster were nearby, working on the last section of the car park. Jack honked his horn in a friendly manner, and headed off towards Alfie and Isabella.
"Darn, he's too quick." Buster huffed.
"Snails are too quick for you." Patrick snapped, and Buster glared at him. "We'll wait until he talks to the old engine, then we'll talk to him."
"He probably won't tell anyone." Buster said, thinking.
"Let's just wait until he gets the information, then we can calm down." Patrick said. Buster nodded, and the two continued with their jobs.
By midday, the sun had been blocked out by thick, dark clouds, leaving the site very dark and gloomy. The cement in the car park hadn't dried yet, so the Foreman had a sign put up to lead Cedric's car to a different area. Several trees had already been planted, but the gardeners were waiting to talk to Cedric about their work. Jack, Alfie, Kelly, Patrick, Buster, Nelson, the lorries and the dump trucks were waiting patiently, while the others did a few more minutes work.
"This is very exciting." Kelly said. "Too bad Miss Jenny isn't here."
"Oh, don't worry; she should be back soon enough." The Foreman said. "And Cedric is going to remain on the Island until the work is completed, so she will be able to meet him." Kelly beamed brightly at this.
"Look over there!" Max said.
"It's a limo!" Monty gasped.
"Oh goodness, he is early." The Foreman said, looking down the lane at the shiny silver Chrysler limousine heading towards them. Behind them, Oliver, Byron, Ned and Fredrick pulled up, red in the face from racing there. The limousine pulled up, and a bodyguard stepped out of the car, nodded at the Foreman and the machines, and signalled for a man to get out.
The Pack had held the breath, watching the car eagerly, but they were thoroughly disappointed. Cedric was tall, and was wearing an expensive suit and shining shoes, but he was very pale and looked like he was disgusted about being there. Indeed, he put on white gloves and refused to put a hard hat on.
"He doesn't need on, all that hair gel is probably like a second skull." Byron whispered to the machines, and they all stifled giggles.
"Hello Sodor Construction Company." Cedric said. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you."
"And it is a pleasure to meet you." The Foreman said, and went to shake hands. Cedric examined his left hand, and briefly shook it.
"I see that Miss Packard still isn't back." Cedric said, a bit huffily.
"Yes, we are expecting her back in a few days." The Foreman said. Cedric nodded, and headed down into the basement car park. The Foreman signalled, and Oliver, Fredrick, Buster and Patrick followed to explain their work.
"Go back to your jobs and try and do a bit more work." A workman said. The bodyguard suddenly approached the machines, who froze.
"My name is Jacob, I am Mr Berrob's head of security and assistant." He said. "Mr Berrob has made some changes and requires a machine called Thumper to be picked up." The machines all looked at Nelson, who smiled nervously.
"I can go and collect him." He said.
"Good. Your Foreman will be told of your whereabouts." Jacob said, and walked away. As Nelson and the others all headed off, Alfie turned to talk to Jack, but found no one there.
"Did anyone see where Jack went?"
When Jacob had approached the group, Jack had managed to slip away as the machines focused on the strange man. The front loader was going as fast as he could, trying to put as much distant between himself and the construction site. He reached Ulfstead within fifteen minutes, and realised he didn't have much of a chance of getting to the Skarloey Railway in time. However, Jack decided to continue. He soon reached a main turnoff, and went left instead of going towards Thomas' branch line. He travelled down the road for ten minutes, before turning off again. For the last fifteen minutes, Jack went along a road with a sharp bend, and eventually reached Wellsworth Station. Not surprisingly, Edward was there, along with Rocky.
"Hello Jack, what brings you to this neck of the woods?" Edward said brightly.
"I need to get to the Skarloey Railway, I have to ask Duke something."
"Really, what about?" Edward asked, give Jack a curious look.
"Oh, er... um... just something about Mid Sodor, the Foreman sent me." The front loader replied nervously.
"We could take you, we are heading there anyway." Rocky boomed.
"Yes, there was a collision at Brendam, lots of trucks have been damaged." Edward said. Jack noticed a long line of trucks, fill with broken trucks. Jack smiled and thanked the two, and Edward's fireman and a workman got Rocky's chains around Jack's axles and he was hoisted up onto a flatbed and secured. Edward set off two minutes later, and Jack enjoyed being blasted by wind as they raced along the main line, going up Gordon's Hill and speeding down the other side. The journey was a lot quicker, and Jack couldn't help but honk his horn cheekily at Caroline as he passed. The car gasped, and nearly drove into a tree, making Jack boom with laughter. It was still a while before they reached the Skarloey Railway. No engines were at the station, but Colin the crane was there, unloading a heavy piece of machinery from a lorry. Edward stopped by the engine sheds. Duke was resting there, along with Duncan and Ivo Hugh.
"Here you go Jack." Edward said, as Rocky began to lift Jack up, his supports out.
"Hello Edward." Duke and Ivo Hugh said, while Duncan yawned, looking grumpy about the disturbance.
"Thanks for the lift Edward." Jack smiled, as his tyres hit rail. "Will you be able to pick me up when we are both finished?"
"We should be at the works for about fifteen minutes, but can wait for you." Edward's driver said. Jack smiled, and Edward headed off, blowing his whistle as he went.
"So Jack, what can we do to help?" Duke asked. The old engine quite liked the Pack, as they had helped him out after a landslide had trapped him two years ago.
"Well, we are working on a hotel in the forest on the Arlesdale Railway." Jack explained. "Things were going fine for a few days, but then Byron, our bulldozer, found a body." Duke and Ivo Hugh gasped
"That doesn't sound good!" Ivo Hugh said, looking a bit pale.
"This story just got better." Duncan smiled, no longer grumpy about Jack's presence.
"Why are you here then?" Duke asked. "I haven't been near that railway for years, how could I have killed someone?" Jack laughed nervously at this, and Duke raised an eyebrow.
"I wasn't implying that." The front loader said. "But Fredrick, who is our new digger, discovered this weird safe nearby. And then they found another body on the exact same day." Jack explained. Duke nodded, and pondered for a few minutes, leaving Jack a bit nervous.
"So... I came all the way over here to ask you if you knew of any stories about treasure or anything in the area." Jack asked. Duke nodded again, and then looked at him.
"Well, there was one story I heard my crew talking about while I was being prepared for the shed." The tender engine said. He paused, and Duncan grunted.
"Hurry up and tell it then!" He said. Duke looked at him and muttered something about impudent scallywags before looking back at Jack.
"I'll tell the story then, but no one interrupt me." Jack and the other two engines nodded, and listened as Duke began his story.
"As my crew recalled it, this event happened about a year before the railway closed, and I thought about it for some time after being locked up. I remembered that one day, a group of eight people showed up on the railway. There were all around twenty, and looked very rugged, quite the typical adventurer. We got them regularly on our railway, as there were a number of mines and mountains around us. I remember that these particular men spoke with the manager upon arrival. It seemed that they wanted an engine to take them up towards Arlesdale. I couldn't take them due to my Picnic train. However, Falcon, or Sir Handel to you lot, was available. His coaches were loaded up, and they soon set off. I didn't know what happened after then, but Falcon returned later on, but without the adventurers.
'They want to stay there for a couple of days.' Falcon told me. 'I have to go and pick them up in a few days.' None of us really thought about it at the time, and soon Falcon was off to collect them. Stuart and I were preparing our trains when Falcon returned, looking rather petrified.
'What happened?' Stuart asked.
'One of the men was lying by the tracks, dead.' Falcon said, stuttering a bit. 'All the other men were gone, but my driver saw some of their supplies scattered near some trees, so they obviously left in a hurry.' All of us engines on Mid Sodor were shocked when we heard the story. We saw the police when they interviewed the manager and Sir Handel's crew. The police didn't really ask us engines for our views back then, though Falcon was glad not to be bothered.
After the interviews, we were all hoping to put it behind us, as none of us wanted to dwell on the possible murder that much. However, about several days afterwards, I overheard my crew talking as we were waiting for our passengers one day.
'I think it is pretty stupid." My driver was saying.
'Think what you want, but the evidence is out there.' My fireman replied, to which my driver boomed with laughter.
'There isn't any! You, just like half the people in this area, think that there is some treasure buried down there.' He replied.
'Was buried down there, those people have obviously dug it up.' My fireman retorted, and I could hear my driver sighing.
'Let's just agree to disagree, alright?'
'Fine, but don't think that means I am going to drop it....'
"Hang on a minute, your saying that there is treasure near Mid Sodor?" Duncan asked excitedly.
"Were you paying attention to the last bit of it, or did you just go deaf after I said 'treasure'?" Duke scoffed. "My fireman, like many other people near Mid Sodor, thought that there was treasure buried under the mountain area between Clagh Ooyre and Gob-Y-Deighan. They then believed that the eight treasure hunters that Sir Handel, well, Falcon, took on his train managed to dig it up."
"That wouldn't explain why someone was killed." Ivo Hugh said.
"Oh, I think it is very logical." Duke said. "Being in my shed for 22 years did give me time to think. I eventually came to the conclusion that the man who was found dead must have changed his opinion about them taking the treasure, if they found any, and they killed him and took his share, and then left before Sir Handel could return." The engine finished his conclusion, and looked back at Jack, who was stunned. Many thoughts were racing through the front loader's mind, none of them that pleasant. But one thing seemed to be making sense. If he just had enough information....
His chain of thought was interrupted by a loud whistle, as Edward appeared, his tender facing them as he reversed towards them.
"Are you ready to go Jack?" Edward asked.
"Yes, I am ready." Jack said, smiling slightly. "Thanks for talking to me Duke." He added, looking over at the Narrow Gauge engines.
"Any time. Come and see me if you need any more assistance." Duke said, smiling.
"Bye!" Ivo Hugh said. Rocky lifted Jack back onto the flatbed, and they headed off again.
It was late in the afternoon by the time Jack got back to the construction site. Harvey had taken Rocky to Tidmouth to deal with an accident, and Jack had hitched a ride. Molly had then been able to take the front loader the last leg to Arlesdale, and Jack was able to find a road to take him back to the site. He was surprised to see that Cedric was still there, the limo right at the top of the drive. Alfie turned around when Jack showed up. The excavator, who had been helping with more digging, stared bug eyed at him, and mouthed 'quick, hide!' to him, but Cedric noticed him showing up.
"I haven't seen that one around here that much today." Cedric said, and Jack's engine nearly fell out as the Foreman stepped out from behind him, along with, of all people, Miss Jenny.
"Jack, where have you been!" She boomed, looking furious.
"Sorry Miss Jenny, but I... um... had to, er..." Jack was looking for the right words, but he couldn't think of a good enough cover up.
"Let me guess, you just went for a little stroll and got lost?" Miss Jenny asked, arms crossed.
"Something like that." Jack said quietly.
"We might not have noticed you were missing, but then we got a call." The Foreman said. "There was an accident at slate quarry on the Skarloey Railway, and we needed you to go and clear away some rubble." Jack let out a loud groan, and got a lot of mysterious looks.
"I have to go Jenny, it was nice to meet you." Cedric said, shaking her hands a fraction longer than the Foreman's.
"Same here, hope to see you again at some point." Miss Jenny smiled. Cedric and Jacob got into the limousine, and Jack moved aside to let it pass. He looked back at Miss Jenny and the Foreman, but they had chosen not to deal with him at the moment, and he sighed.
"You chose a bad day to bugger off." Alfie chuckled. "Miss Jenny returned from her holiday about twenty minutes after you left."
"That is unlucky." Jack chuckled. "Sorry, but I can't chat." Alfie was shocked, and watched as Jack sped off, heading towards the children's area. Fredrick was heading away, and the two nearly collided.
"Oh Jack, I tried to say you were doing a job for the small engines, but they didn't buy it." Fredrick said.
"That's alright, it will be worth it. Duke gave me some great information." Jack whispered.
"What sort of information?" Fredrick asked, rolling a bit closer.
"From what he told me, it seems that we could solve a sixty year old murder, discover some treasure and find out why those two men were killed, and the possibility that there are still some bodies left to discover." Jack said, and couldn't help but smile, while Fredrick gasped.
"More bodies? But how many more could there be?"
"Three?"
"Yes, three."
"THREE?"
"Again Jacob, three." Cedric sighed grouchily, as he flicked through two autopsy reports. Jacob took his thick black sunglasses off and mopped his face.
"So there have been five murders connected to the treasure?"
"Technically six if you count the one that happened in 1946, but only five in recent years." Cedric said, and looked up at Jacob's stunned face. "Oh please, these men were in their eighties, they weren't actually going to contribute anything else to the world."
"Yes, but they could have had children, and grand children, and great grand children!" Jacob said.
"Several of them were married at some point, my father mentioned their weddings in his journals." Cedric said. "One of them may have had a child, you could check when we get back to the apartment." Jacob just sighed, giving up hope, and decided to change the topic.
"I think some of the machines are getting suspicious." He said. "Like where did that red one spend halve the day?"
"I don't really care what the prawns are doing, as long as they are fulfilling my duties." Cedric snapped. He put down the autopsy reports, and sighed. "It seems that the two were Clarence Richards and Vernon Green."
"Wasn't Richards the cartographer?" Jacob asked.
"Yes, very interesting he was killed. My father stated that he was Norman's favourite." Jacob nodded, and leant back in his seat.
"How long do you think it will take to find the next body?"
"Oh, I already know where the approximate locations of the last three bodies." Cedric said, smiling widely. "And if I am correct, we'll soon have all five pieces of the map and enough treasure and buy every inch of this pitiful Island." And he began to chuckle slightly, and Jacob joined in. They laughed and laughed, and didn't stop for the rest of the journey. They were just too happy: soon, they would be the richest people on Sodor, and the Island would be putty in their hands.