The Case of the Mysterious Man-Part Three

by HA Senidal

The man walked on, unaware that a few feet behind him, Shirley and her friends were following him. Shirley noticed he was deep in thought, as if thinking.

Suddenly, the man stopped. Bo noticed. "Uh, Shirl, I think he knows he's being followed."

"Come on." Shirley darted into a nearby alley. Just as Bo and Blake followed her lead, the man turned around. He saw that no one was following him. Relieved, he continued walking.

Shirley peeked out and saw that the man was still moving. "We'd better hurry if we're going to catch him," she told Bo and Blake. She was the first to leave the alley, followed by Bo and Blake.

The man was still in their sights despite the number of people behind him. Shirley, Bo, and Blake weaved through the other pedestrians, often saying "Excuse me" after bumping into them.

"You know, Shirley," Bo said as he brushed past someone. "What are we going to do when we catch up to this guy? Ask him if he helped steal the Mona Lisa?"

"Exactly," Shirley said, her focus still on the man.

"And suppose he has a gun?" Bo asked.

"Don't worry," Blake said. "I've got a black belt in karate. I'm a little rusty though."

"Great." Bo shook his head.

The man looked back briefly, then quickened his walking pace. "I believe he knows he's being followed," Shirley stated. "We can't lose him."

"Is she always like this?" Blake asked Bo.

"Unfortunately," Bo said.

As Shirley and her friends cut the distance between them and their target, the man walked faster. Soon he was running, as if his life depended on it. His pursuers matched his speed, racing past people and often knocking them down.

The man quickly turned around a corner. Shirley, a few feet behind him, was the first to reach it and stopped. Bo and Blake caught up to her and caught their breath.

"Well, that was fun," Bo said while panting.

Shirley looked around and saw a taxi speed away. She thought she saw her quarry in the back of the taxi.

Bo and Blake saw the taxi. "Guess we'll never know, huh?" Blake asked.

Shirley tried not to show her disappointment. "I guess not."

"Alms for the poor!" Shirley saw a man in ragged clothes walking towards them with a large mug in his hand. His black hair was a tangled mess and his beard was not trimmed. "Pardon me, youngsters," he said, revealing his yellow-stained teeth. "Can you spare a little to help your fellow man?"

Shirley wrinkled her nose, then covered it with her hand. The stench was so unbearable. Noticing this, the man chuckled. "Sorry, Miss, but I haven't bathed for quite a while now."

Bo also noticed the smell and quickly reached into his pocket. He put a few coins into the cup. "Anything to get you out of here," he muttered to himself. Shirley produced a dollar bill and put it in the mug.

Blake reached into his pants pocket and pulled out his wallet. He took out three dollar bills and placed them in the mug. Bo was surprised. So was the ragged man, who stared at the contents for a while. He looked at Blake. "Bless you, my son," he said with a wink. He looked at Shirley and Bo. "Bless you all." He walked past them, crying out "Alms for the poor!" and taking his unbearable smell with him. Shirley watched as he left and thought for a moment.

"Thanks, Blake. I think that did it," Bo said. "I work in a fish market and compared to that guy, working there is paradise."

"No problem." Blake put his wallet back into his pocket. "My mom and dad always told me to be generous to the unfortunate."

"Say, whatever happened to your dad, Blake?" Bo asked.

Blake seemed disturbed for a moment, then he smiled nervously. "Say, aren't we going to the mall?"

"Definitely reminds me of home," Blake said as he walked with Shirley through the Redington Mall. Bo was behind them with his fists hanging from his sides and a glare aimed at the other boy.

"Were you a constant visitor to the mall in California?" Shirley asked.

"Actually, I didn't go there much," Blake said. "Even on those rare occasions I went, I just went to the bookstore for mystery novels."

Shirley, Blake, and Bo continued walking through the mall and soon were on the second floor.

"Too bad we didn't catch that guy," Blake told Shirley. "If we did, he…"

He stopped walking.

"Blake?" Shirley said. "Blake, are you okay?"

Blake didn't answer. He was staring at a man talking to a boy who looked around six years old. The boy apparently was in trouble, for a security guard was present and the man was using a disciplinary tone of voice. "You're very lucky security found you. You shouldn't wander around like that. You could've been hurt," the man told his son.

"But, Dad," the boy said, "I know how to take care of myself. Besides, I just wanted to see the new toys."

"I know, son, I know." The man looked at his son, who was clearly upset at being lectured. "But there are a lot of bad people in the world, and some of them could be in here. I was just worried about you." The man looked at the security guard and thanked him for finding his son. "He's my pride and joy, sir. If something happened to him, I don't know what I would've done."

The son heard this and hugged his father. The father hugged his son back. Blake turned around and started walking away from the reunited father and son. Shirley followed him with Bo behind her.

"Blake?" Shirley asked.

Blake continued walking without answering. Bo stepped out from behind Shirley and placed himself in Blake's way. "You're not going anywhere until you explain yourself," he said harshly. "What was that all about?"

Blake was silent.

"Blake, we're your friends," Shirley said. "If something's bothering you, you can tell us."

Blake looked at Bo, then at Shirley. He sighed, then walked over to a nearby bench and sat down. Shirley and Bo joined him, with Shirley sitting on Blake's right. "Does it have to do with your dad?" Shirley asked.

Blake smiled weakly at Shirley. "You're a good detective, Shirley. You know that?"

"So what happened to him?" Bo asked Blake.

"He's dead." Shirley looked at Blake. "Your reaction to that man and his son. You didn't look envious, so your parents aren't divorced or separated. You looked depressed, as if you missed having a father."

"What can I say, Shirley? You're a good detective." Blake cleared his throat, then started to explain. "My dad was an inspector with the L.A. division of Interpol. He was good at his job, so good that other police agencies around the world requested his assistance in very difficult cases; as a result, he was always busy and usually out of town or even the country. Whenever he wasn't on some case in some other place, he would spend time with my mom and me. I was a handful for them when I was young. One time, when I was five, I wandered off from them while we were at the mall. They called security, and I was found in the bookstore. My dad was mad at me, but while we were heading home, he explained to me that he didn't want me to get hurt, that he loved me and cared about me too much. When dealing with criminals, my dad was a tough guy. But when he came home, he was a caring husband and loving father."

"How did your father die?" Shirley asked Blake.

Blake hesitated, then continued his story. "It was my sixth birthday. My mom threw a party for me with all my friends. Dad had to go on assignment to England, but he promised that he'd try to be home in time for my party. Time passed, and Dad hadn't shown up yet. He wasn't there when I blew out my candles, wishing that he would show up at any minute. He wasn't there when I opened my presents. I was so angry at Dad for missing most of my party. While my friends tried to cheer me up, the phone rang. Mom got it, and I watched as her face turned pale as she listened to the person on the other line. She was almost in tears. She thanked the other person, hung up, and told Rosa, our maid, to watch the children. She went upstairs and into her and Dad's bedroom. I wondered what was going on and followed her. Rosa was behind me, trying to stop me. I opened Mom's door and saw her crying. At that point, I knew Dad wasn't coming home, ever. I went up to Mom, hugged her, and cried on her shoulder."

Shirley and Bo looked at Blake and felt sorry for him. He said more. "I later learned later when I was older that Dad was killed by a car bomb. After the funeral, a typed letter came from an old friend of Dad's named Frederickson. He was assigned with my dad while he was in England, and he witnessed the explosion that killed him. My dad had helped solved the case in England, and to celebrate, he and some of his colleagues went to a local pub one night. Frederickson drove him there. He said that Dad enjoyed himself, although even a tiny sip of alcohol didn't pass through his lips. Dad eventually decided to leave since he was going home the next day so that he can make it in time for my birthday. He decided to drive since Frederickson was a little drunk. Dad was first in the car while Frederickson tried to keep himself up. The last thing Frederickson could remember was an explosion and getting thrown back down to the ground. When he got up, the car was a flaming wreck. My dad didn't stand a chance." Blake shook his head. "I saw a shrink for a while, but it didn't help much. I still don't understand why my dad died and I still don't know who killed him. There was an investigation, but it turned up nothing."

Finished, Blake bowed his head. Shirley reached out for his hand and held it between both her hands. She looked at Blake with sympathy, and he finally looked up and met her gaze.

Bo turned away from them. He felt sorry for Blake's loss, but he couldn't take the sight of him and Shirley together. He got up and stood near the railing, looking down at the other shoppers. He then spotted something interesting.

"Shirley, Blake!" Bo cried out.

Both got up and went to Bo. "What is it?" Shirley asked.

Bo pointed to someone in the crowd below. Shirley dug through her backpack and took out her small binoculars. She looked through them at where Bo was pointing. She gasped.

"What is it?" Blake asked.

Shirley handed Blake the binoculars. "It's him."

Through the binoculars, Blake saw the man that they have been following earlier. He was sitting on a bench looking at the sheet of paper. He seemed puzzled. "It's definitely him," Blake said as he handed the binoculars back to Shirley.

"Let's go," Shirley said. Soon, she, Blake, and Bo were heading toward the nearest down escalator. They rushed down it, often bumping into people and apologizing.

Shirley, Blake, and Bo were soon on the bottom floor, looking for the mysterious man. "There he is," Bo said, pointing to someone in the crowd leaving the mall. They watched as he exited the mall. Shirley ran past the other shoppers, with Blake and Bo behind her. She was determined not to lose her quarry again.

When they finally reached the exit, Shirley looked left, then right. She saw the man walking along the sidewalk to her right. She followed the man from a distance. Blake and Bo followed her lead. They quickened their pace and narrowed the gap between them and the mysterious man. The man kept a normal pace, seemingly suspecting nothing.

The chase continued for a while. Eventually the man turned right around a corner. Shirley and her friends reached it, then stopped. They looked to their left, then ahead, then to their right. The man was nowhere in sight.

"Well, looks like we've lost him...again," Bo said.

Shirley was about to agree when she spotted a nearby alley. She pointed it out to her friends. "He probably went through here." She walked into it. Bo and Blake looked at Shirley, then at each other, shrugged, and followed her.

They looked in the alley. It was a dead end and there was no sign of the man. Trash and old cardboard boxes littered the area.

"I don't understand." Shirley walked deeper into the alley for a closer look. "He couldn't have just disappeared."

Bo looked around. "He's definitely good at that."

Blake was about to offer what was on his mind when all three heard a gruff voice from behind. "Don't look behind you."

Shirley and her friends complied. Shirley looked from the corner of her eye and caught a glimpse of the mysterious man, then quickly looked forward again. She couldn't believe that she ignored the possibility of the man hiding in a building to avoid his pursuers. Blake tried to keep his cool, as did Bo.

"Now, why have you three been following me, eh?" the man asked.

Blake spoke first. "We're just curious-"

"Shut your mouth!" the man shouted. "I know why you've been following me. Don't think I know who you've been working for. Your youth doesn't matter; they'll use anyone these days."

"Who's 'they?'" Bo asked, keeping his gaze on the dead end.

"You really don't know?" The man sounded surprised. "A likely story!" He paused. "Listen, you three, even though you might be just some snoopy kids and not who I think you are, I'm involved in some serious business, and if I catch you three tailing me again, you'll regret it."

Shirley heard footsteps. All three turned around and saw that the man was indeed gone.

"That was a close one." Bo wiped his brow. "I thought we were goners."

"You said it," Blake said. "I'm amazed he didn't shoot us."

"He wasn't armed," Shirley said. "I didn't hear a gun click. Besides, it wouldn't be a good idea to shoot anyone at this time of day."

"Great. What a day." Bo was not exactly thrilled at being so close to death. "We follow a guy, lose him, go to the mall, find him there, follow him again, he finds out, and he threatens us." He looked at Shirley. "Can't we just call the police?"

"On what grounds?" Shirley said. "He would probably accuse us of harassment."

Blake turned to Shirley. "So, what's our next move?"

"Our next move is to go home." Shirley looked at her watch. "We don't want to be late for dinner and upset our families, now do we?"

Later at home, Shirley, Mr. and Dr. Holmes, and Gran were having dinner. Shirley had come just in time to eat, and both her parents and Gran accepted her story of her being with friends at the mall.

Midway through the meal, the phone rang. Mr. Holmes got up and answered it. "Hello?" After talking with the person for a while, he called Shirley. "It's for you, Shirley. Someone by the name of Blake Hewitt."

Shirley quickly got out from her seat and snatched the phone out of her father's hand. "Hello?"

"Hi, Shirley." It was indeed Blake's voice. Shirley was surprised. Blake was calling her? "I was wondering. Do you have any plans tomorrow night around 7:00?"

At first, Shirley was having difficulty forming words, but eventually she spoke. "Uh, no. Why?"

"Well, my mom wants to meet you and Bo and have you over for dinner," Blake explained. "I told her that you two were the first real friends I made in Redington."

"She wants to meet us just for that?"

"Ever since my dad died, I've kept to myself." Blake paused. "My mom's so happy that I've made some friends. So, can you come?"

Shirley searched for the right words to say. "Oh, sure. Okay. I'll be there."

"Great!" Blake sounded excited. "I hope to see you there, Shirley. I'll call Bo. Maybe we can talk about that problem that's been bothering us."

"Oh. Oh, sure. Okay, Blake," Shirley said, trying to control herself.

"Bye, Shirley." Blake hung up.

Shirley hung up and went back to her seat to eat her dinner. Mr. Holmes asked, "Who's Blake Hewitt, Shirley?"

"Oh, he's a new kid at school," Shirley said. "He and his mom moved here from California."

"Would his mother be Dr. Lauren Hewitt?" Gran asked. "She's the archaeologist who recently took a position at the museum."

"I guess so." Shirley took a bite out of her meal. "Blake never mentioned her name, but he did say she was an archaeologist."

"What did he want?" Dr. Holmes asked.

"He invited me and Bo over for dinner to meet his mom," Shirley said.

"So, what is your relationship with Blake?" Mr. Holmes asked his daughter.

"Uh, I think I'll go to bed right now." Shirley quickly got up and went upstairs to her room.

Mr. Holmes sighed and shook his head. "Looks like our little girl has grown up."

"She sure has, Robert," Dr. Holmes said.

Gran simply smiled.

END OF PART THREE