Chapter 11: To Capture a Kidnapper
Back at the Chan family's home, Henry and Stanley had just returned downstairs and found the rest of their siblings looking around the house as if they were in search of something.
"Hey," Henry called out to his brothers and sisters, "what's going on?"
"We're trying to find Anne and Scooter," Flip answered his brother.
"We can't find either of them anywhere," Nancy said with dread.
Henry and Stanley looked at each other, concerned. "Well, what happened when you last saw them?" Henry questioned.
"Anne last stormed out of the room of the culinary after an unfortunate disagreement," Tom informed his eldest brother.
"And Scooter," Mimi pouted while placing her hands on her hips, "he runs out after throwing a childish tantrum…again."
"In other words," Suzie reworded her youngest sister's statement, "Mimi was bossing Scooter around…again."
As Mimi crossed her arms pouting, Henry continued to question his siblings. "Did you check outside?"
"That was the first place we looked since that's where they went after they left us," Suzie further explained, "but there was nothing. We assumed they probably snuck back in and hid themselves as a joke, but that doesn't seem to be the case."
"To make things worse," Nancy shuddered, "we tried calling them on their Chan-Coms, but neither of them would answer. We're starting to get worried."
"May I ask why is everyone still awake?" The Chan Clan's conversation was interrupted by the concerned voice of their father.
"Oh, sorry, Pop," Suzie apologized, "but we're trying to find Scooter and Anne."
"Yeah," Stanley said, "they're gone." The second eldest Chan child quickly disguised himself as Sherlock Holmes. "But fret not. Sherlock Stanley will find them in no time."
"Will you get out of that stupid disguise?!" Henry ordered. "Now let's check outside one more time to be sure."
Henry opened the front door, and in an instant, he heard a certain young voice.
"Henry! Henry!" It was young Scooter running as fast as his six-year-old feet could take him. "Henry! Pop! Chief!"
"Scooter?" Flip appeared at the front door alongside Henry.
Their father approached as well along with Mimi, who was in a scolding mood. "Scooter Chan! Do you know what time it is? Where were you this late? We were worried sick."
"Not now!" Scooter ran to his father and pulled on his hand. "Hurry, you gotta come! Anne's in trouble!"
The remaining middle Chan children, along with Nancy and Chu-Chu, gasped in shock.
"What do you mean?" a concerned Henry asked.
Young Scooter explained with great haste, "We were going to the gas station place to get some snacks, but those kidnapper guys were there and found us and took our Chan-Coms. I got away, but they still got Anne!"
"Holy mackerel!" a worried Alan face palmed. "You take your eyes off her for a moment and look what happens!"
"We gotta do something!" a determined Stanley, removed from his Sherlock costume, said.
"And we will indeed," his father agreed. The knowledgeable detective walked off his front porch and headed next door.
"Hey, Pop," called Flip, "where're ya goin'?"
"To visit our ill-tempered neighbor," Charlie answered his eager son.
Inquisitive, as always, the nine children followed.
Charlie knocked on the door of the ever-grumpy Mrs. Cantanker, and the foul-tempered woman answered.
"Oh, it's you, Chan," the old woman grumbled with great annoyance. "What do you want this late?"
"Please pardon, Mrs. Cantanker," the polite Mr. Chan avowed, "but I was hoping you would tell me where my daughter, Anne, was taken."
"Huh?!" the Chan Clan all gasped while peeping over their fence.
"What are you getting at, Chan?" Mrs. Cantanker murmured.
As Charlie began to speak, the curious Chu-Chu, was sniffing the lawn of their hostile neighbor, and eventually sniffed his way into her home unnoticed.
"I believe I am stating that you are one of the kidnappers we have been searching for." The wise Charlie Chan had exposed the elderly woman's true identity!
"What proof do you have of this?" Cantanker demanded to know.
"You mean apart from you being left-handed like one of the criminals described and the kidnappings in this town starting not long after your arrival?" Charlie explained his deduction. "It was your cane. While I was searching the park after the abduction of the twin boys, I noticed small hole prints in the ground. They were the same hole prints your cane leaves. Also, I have looked up your previous residences. You have lived in five different states before coming here, the very same states the other kidnappings took place."
"That's pretty clever of ya, Chan," Cantanker growled, "but you'll need better evidence than that to nail me!"
The bark of the Chans' family dog was then heard. Chu-Chu exited Mrs. Cantanker's house wearing a black-hooded mask with white tiger stripes on it over his head!
Noticing this, Charlie disclosed, "I believe that would be the better evidence."
"Okay, Chan," Cantanker backed away slowly, "you may have the answers, but you don't have me!"
Right away, she pressed a button on the back of her cane, opening her garage and revealing a motorcycle. Despite her elderly body, she was quick on her feet and made a run for it.
"She's getting away!" Scooter alerted his siblings.
"Oh, no, she won't!" Flip pulled out the dragnet he fetched from the family's shed. "Quick, Nancy! Grab one end of the net."
Nancy obeyed her brother and the two, beating Cantanker to her motorcycle, wrapped the villainous woman in the net. As she struggled, Henry and Stanley both grabbed her to prevent her from breaking free.
"Let me go!" the old woman yelled.
"We'll let you go when the police get here!" Henry retaliated.
"Well, that wraps up this case!" Flip proudly said.
"I'm afraid not, Flip," his father disagreed.
"Huh?" Flip asked.
"What do you mean?" asked Mimi.
"We merely apprehended the head leader of the henchmen," Charlie stated. "The real mastermind of this kidnapping scheme is still out there."
As most of the Chan children looked on in fright, the three middle children were consumed with guilt.
"It would appear that Anne's theory was highly precise," Tom said.
"Yeah," sighed the eldest Chan daughter, "I guess she owes us another 'I told you so'…if we ever see her again."
Alan placed his hand on Suzie's shoulder as a sign of comfort. "Don't talk like that, Suzie. Of course we will."