Chapter 10
"Hey guys look at this," Kay said. She was still on the computer.
"What?" we all said.
"They're so many fairytales and I can't tell which one's were looking for," Iris complained. Wright ran to comfort her. "Feenie people are watching."
"No please continue," Maya said joyfully.
"Guys." Kay said.
"Yes Kay?" I said.
"Look Cinderella was French." Kay said. "Like the lady who was kidnapped." We stood for a couple of seconds
"Spooky," Iris finally said.
"Well that narrows the search down," Lang said. "We only need to look up French, Danish, and German fairytales."
A little while later, I had a realization.
"Of course," I said.
"What Edgeworth?" Wright said.
"Kay, Maya, look up Sleeping Beauty and The Little Mermaid." Maya gave Agent Lang the Sleeping Beauty copy while she took the Little Mermaid.
"Here are some snacks." Iris said. We all took some.
"Hey in the original Sleeping Beauty. The chick woke up during-"
"Wolf-boy"! Maya yelled. "Ild-chay in the oom-ray."
"Sorry," Lang said. "But the story matches with the museum kidnapping. Spindle, spinning wheel, Tierra shaped keychain."
"The aquarium one too," Kay said. "The girl had a sore throat. And the exhibit was the Baltic seas, where the book took place."
"Ok I crossed referenced a lot of fairytales," Iris said, handing us all some papers.
"Rapunzel. Thumbelina. Beauty and the Beast. Hansel and Gretel. Little Red Riding Hood," I said.
"Why Little Red and Hansel and Gretel?" Lang asked.
"There pretty famous," Wright said.
"Well I don't like Little Red Riding Hood. It's totally fake," Lang muttered.
"As are all fairytales," I replied. Lang rolled his eyes.
"I think it's mean," Pearl declared. "Using fairytales like that." Just then Lang's phone rang. When he was finished the call we stared at him.
"They found the girls in different locations. No signs of the kidnappers. One is in a coma." Iris gasped as Wright comforted her again. "Three are paralyzed. Two lost their memory, seems to be long term. One's insane." Maya gasped. "An the other two are too beaten up to talk."
"Oh no," Kay said. Lang nodded.
"Well Little Red fits the dog park one," Wright said getting back to solving the case.
"I think Thumbelina fits the pond one. With the locket and stuff," Iris said. "Yeah I'm sure it does."
"What confuses me is Hansel and Gretel," Maya said. "It was a girl and a boy, who were taken by the evil witch."
"One was a tomboy," Lang explained. We nodded. "The sandwich was eaten and the crumbs were still there. Interesting."
"Beauty and the Beast fit the last one. With the rose petals, the teacups and the mirror, those were important."
"I feel like we're missing something," I said. The looked up to me. "Well think about it. Why nine fairy tales. And Thumbelina is least famous of the nine."
"That's true. It's like a really, really famous one isn't there and we don't know what it is," Iris said. Lang looked down deep in thought.
"Agent Lang?" I said.
"All the chicks had boyfriends," He started.
"But we proved that they-" Maya began.
"Let me finish," Lang interrupted. "They all had rough times, unlike fairytales. It's like they knew it was going to happen."
"You mean it was planned?" Pearl asked. "That's so mean."
"Not all of them but most of them," Lang said. Pearl gasped and looked at me.
"Yes Pearl?"
"That lady who kissed you!" She started. "You don't think?"
"No!" I shouted standing up. "It can't be." I looked at them. They had sarcastic looks. "Well it's not."
"Edgeworth do you have your yearbook?" Wright asked. I gave it to him after a few minutes of searching through my bag. "What was her name?" Wright asked.
"Carol Smith," I answered. Iris ran to the computer. "I haven't seen her in years. Why would she do it for some kidnapping organization? Iris what are you doing?"
"Looking at criminal records," she said.
"OK I can do that legally. Let me on," Lang ordered. Iris let him on while still standing there.
"Edgeworth," Wright said. I looked at him. "I looked everywhere any I can't find a Carol Smith. Are you sure she was in your grade?"
"Positive!" I said grabbing the book. I looked everywhere. Finally I looked at the homecoming page. There was the list of nominees. "That sneaky-"
"Edgeworth," Wright said giving me a glare. "Kid in room."
"Right."
"This the girl?" Lang said showing us a file.
"Yeah that's her."
"She was found guilty for assisted kidnapping about two years ago. She got off parole about three months ago," Iris read.
"Guys look at this," Kay said. We ran over to her. "I was looking at the names of the victims in the order that they were kidnapped, and I found a clue. A pretty big one at that. Like a calling card."
"Well what you find?" Maya asked.
"The names go like this. Shannon. Nova. Olivia. Wren. Willa. Hayden. Irma. Taylor and Elaine."
"You're point?" Lang said impatiently.
"If you take all the first letters of the names you get S, N, O, W, W, H, I, T E," Kay started.
"Snow White," I concluded. "Quick! Look it up!"
"Edgeworth," Wright said.
"Is this about the case or about that imposter?"
"Both. Edgeworth she was on that plan," Wright proclaimed. I turned toward him sharply.
"But who would they be targeting? The only one who's foreign is Lang and he doesn't fit the deception at all. He's a man. And you'd think he'd be targeted for Little Red Riding hood."
"I'm right here you know."
"Edgeworth! You're forgetting someone," Wright said. I glared at him.
"You can't possibly mean!" Wright nodded. "Franziska does not fit the bill Wright! She's at her apartment."
"Actually she's at a hotel until her building is fixed up. Um, The Regal Plaza I think," Lang said.
"So!"
"Mr. Edgeworth, Snow White stays at a place that does not belong to her. Franziska is just staying at the hotel," Maya said. I glared at her.
"Mr. Edgeworth!" Kay said. "I know you want to keep her safe, but arguing about it isn't going to help anyone."
"How do we know it even fits her? We don't even know which country-"
"Snow White's German," Iris said as she looked at the computer.
