The Case of the Lunchtime Abduction-Part Nine
by HA
The ENIGMA agents kept their rifles leveled at Shirley and the others, awaiting their leader's command. "Well, Holmes? Any last words?" Mr. E asked again.
Shirley nodded at Bo and Blake. Blake carefully passed Molly to Stink. "Take care of her," he told Stink.
Molly reached out for Blake with a trembling hand. "Don't leave me..."
"As a matter of fact, I do, Mr. E," Shirley said, reaching into her pocket. Bo and Blake did the same. "Now!" she shouted.
All three pulled out one golf ball each and threw it as hard as they could into the ENIGMA agents. Before the agents could react, the golf balls landed on them hard, causing little explosions. Some of the agents fell back, startled.
"Nani?" Mr. E said.
"Hey, what the...?" one agent said.
"Exploding golf balls," Shirley said.
She, Bo, and Blake threw another round of golf balls at the ENIGMA agents. The explosions made them step back.
"Ante baka!" Mr. E shouted to his henchmen. "Fire!"
The ENIGMA agents powered up their rifles. In response, Shirley and her friends threw some red balls at them. They exploded on contact, each releasing a gaseous cloud.
The ENIGMA agents noticed a noxious odor and started gagging. Tears welled in their eyes. "S-s-stink bombs..." one agent gasped.
"Stink, get Molly to safety!" Shirley shouted.
Stink managed to take Molly past the gagging agents toward some nearby crates. "You'll be safe here, Molly," he told her as he carefully leaned her behind some crates.
Molly moaned in response. "S-so bright..." she said, her eyes trying to adjust to the lighted interior.
While the ENIGMA agents were still suffering from the stink bombs, Shirley pulled out a small squeeze bottle out of her pocket. Bo and Blake followed suit.
Bo looked at the bottle in his hand. "I hope this stuff works."
Blake saw the ENIGMA agents starting to recover from the horrible stench. "Let's hurry."
Stink took out a squeeze bottle from his pocket. He left Molly and positioned himself behind the agents. "Stink..." Molly managed to say. "Don't leave me..."
They started running by the ENIGMA agents, squeezing a red powder all over them, especially their faces. They managed to cover all of the agents with the powder before they could fire. Stink ran behind the agents and spread his powder on their backs. He quickly rejoined Molly.
The agents looked at the red specks on their uniforms, then they aimed their rifles at Shirley and the others. "Gee, what was that all about?" one agent asked sarcastically.
Suddenly, the agents dropped their rifles and started scratching themselves, especially in the face and the back. "Itching powder!" one of them shouted, scratching around his uniform and his face.
Mr. E and his remaining henchman watched as the ENIGMA agents fell to the floor scratching their own bodies madly. "What's going on here?" Mr. E bellowed.
Bo read the label on his bottle. "Laugh Riot Itching Powder. New and improved formula. Seeps through clothing."
The agent standing next to Mr. E fired his gun at Shirley. She moved just in time to avoid being hit by a red particle beam.
The agent moved in for a closer shot. Blake ran up to him and kicked the gun out of his hands. The agent threw a punch at Blake's head. Blake dodged the punch and grabbed the agent's arm. In one quick move, he threw the agent to the ground. The agent landed roughly on his back. He groaned in pain and did not get up.
Blake picked up the fallen agent's gun and pointed it at him. "Stay down," he said.
Bo picked up a rifle and aimed it at the still scratching ENIGMA agents. "Don't try anything." He threw a rifle at Stink, who caught it and pointed it at the defeated agents while still staying with Molly.
Mr. E surveyed the scene in front of him. All of his agents were on the ground scratching themselves with their own guns trained on them. His second-in-command was on the floor as well with his own gun being aimed at him. "Well, Holmes, you're quite the resourceful one."
"My last encounter with your men taught me to be prepared for anything," Shirley told the ENIGMA leader.
"Really," Mr. E said. "I have to give you a little credit, Holmes. My men had particle beam weapons, and you took them down with novelty gags." He sighed. "I don't know whether to be angry or embarrassed."
The back door flew open. Detective Tremain, Inspector Hewitt, and a group of police officers stormed into the warehouse.
"Okay, nobody..." His gun drawn, Detective Tremain took in the sight before him: Eight man in uniform rolling around the floor scratching themselves all over; some kids, some of them pointing guns at the man on the floor; and a man in black sitting in a chair.
Inspector Hewitt spotted his son and his friends. "Why am I not surprised?" he said to himself.
The police officers started picking up the helpless ENIGMA agents and reading them their rights. "Make the itching stop!" one agent screamed. "Make it stop!"
"Don't worry. I'm sure the jail's showers are still working," one police officer said.
Inspector Hewitt walked up to Blake. "You just can't stay out of trouble, can you?" he asked.
"Can't be helped, Dad," Blake said, smiling and still pointing the gun at the fallen agent.
Inspector Hewitt took something out of his pocket. "By the way, son, here's your bug back," he said, handing Blake the listening device he had planted on him.
"Uh, thanks, Dad."
Shirley and Bo walked up to Inspector Hewitt. "How did you know about this place?" Shirley asked.
"Someone called the police station and said that he spotted the van that picked up the ring around this area," Inspector Hewitt said. "To be honest, we got lucky." He looked around. "I was going to ask you kids if you were all right, but I don't think I have to."
"You got that right," Bo said.
"So, where's Molly and the ring?" Inspector Hewitt asked them.
Stink brought out Molly from behind the crates. "Here she is," he said. "Better get a doctor or something."
Detective Tremain saw the poor condition Molly was in. "Somebody get those paramedics over here now!"
As one of the policemen went outside, two more helped Stink with Molly. "How is she?" Inspector Hewitt asked Shirley.
"ENIGMA's been starving her," Shirley said.
"Not to mention they kept her tied up," Bo said.
"And locked her up in a big box just for kicks," Blake said, still pointing the gun at his prisoner.
Inspector Hewitt looked at Blake's prisoner. "Where's the ruby ring?"
The man looked up at the inspector. "I-in a safe in the upstairs office," he said shakily.
Inspector Hewitt reached for the man's hood. "Why, thank you, Mortson," he said as he pulled the hood off, revealing the familiar face of Mortson.
Bo looked at Mortson. "Hey, what's going on here?"
"Apparently, this agent took on Mortson's identity in order to gain access to the ring," Inspector Hewitt said. He turned to a nearby policeman. "Go to the upstairs office. Take this guy with you so that you can open the safe."
The policeman pulled the fake Mortson to his feet. "C'mon, buddy, and no tricks," he said to him as he dragged him to the closest stairs.
Inspector Hewitt returned his attention to Shirley, Bo, and Blake. "You kids are really something. Especially you, Shirley Holmes," he said with a smile.
"Why, thank you, Inspector," Shirley said.
The paramedics had arrived and started to examine Molly. Molly's parents came in and immediately rushed over to their daughter.
"Molly!" Mrs. Hardy said.
Molly looked up. "Mommy? Daddy?"
Mr. and Mrs. Hardy bent down next to Molly. Mrs. Hardy took Molly's hand. "Yes, Princess, it's us," she said as loudly as she could.
Inspector Hewitt and Shirley shared a look.
Molly tried her best to keep her head up. "Mommy, I don't feel well..."
"Don't worry, Molly, it's all over," Mrs. Hardy said to her daughter. "It's all over." She looked at her husband and cleared her throat.
Mr. Hardy frowned as he looked around. "Where's my ring?"
"We're recovering it right now." Inspector Hewitt gave him a cold look. "Perhaps you can wait outside with your daughter and wife."
Mr. Hardy continued to frown. "Very well, Inspector. I expect it to be unharmed, especially after your incompetence."
"Of course."
Detective Tremain joined Inspector Hewitt and noticed Shirley, Bo, and Blake. "Inspector, what are they doing here?" he asked, pointing to the kids. "And why are those boys holding guns?"
Bo and Blake looked at each other and handed their guns to the nearest police officer. Stink let out a small chuckle before handing over his.
Shirley noticed that Mr. E was still sitting in his chair. "Uh, Detective, Inspector, you may want to arrest him, too." She pointed to the man in black.
"I was wondering when you would get to me," Mr. E sneered.
"And who is this clown?" Detective Tremain asked.
"Try the leader of ENIGMA," Bo said.
Inspector Hewitt looked at the seated dark figure. "You mean that's Mr. E?"
"That's right," Blake said.
Mr. E looked at Molly and her parents, who were being escorted outside. Stink was right behind them. "How touching," he said. "I suddenly feel ill."
Inspector Hewitt stepped up to Mr. E. "Looks like I've finally got you," he said. He reached for the kerchief hiding Mr. E's mouth.
"No offense, Inspector, but this is still my case," Detective Tremain said. "If this guy's going to be unmasked, I'll be doing it."
Inspector Hewitt stepped aside. "Go ahead, Detective. It's your collar."
Shirley and the others watched as Detective Tremain marched up to Mr. E. "Okay, buddy, you're under arrest. We've got you."
"Oh really?" Mr. E said.
"Yeah," Detective Tremain said. "What are you going to do about it?"
Mr. E laughed a little. "A little piece of advice for you, Detective: Don't be me."
"Oh, I wouldn't want to be you right now." Detective Tremain reached for Mr. E's hat. "You've got a lot of explaining to do about your little group." He removed the hat. "Oh, you really...What the...?"
Shirley and the others came in for a closer look. They stared at Mr. E, noticing the uncovered top of his head. It was bald, white, and shiny.
Inspector Hewitt stepped forward and removed Mr. E's goggles and kerchief. His eyes widened in disbelief. "No..."
Instead of a human head, everyone beheld a plastic head with a simple nose and mouth and two tiny camera lenses as its eyes.
"A mannequin?" Bo said.
"Try a dummy," Shirley said.
A cruel laugh came from the plastic head. "I told you not to be me," the voice of Mr. E said.
"I don't believe this," Detective Tremain said. "You mean these bozos were taking orders from a dummy?"
The head moved, looking at Shirley and the others. "Disappointed? I said I supervised the entire operation. I never said I was really here," Mr. E said.
"Did your men know?" Shirley asked Mr. E.
"Of course," Mr. E said, laughing. "But don't bother asking them about who and where I really am. They're all lesser agents from one of our smaller bases, plus they're one hundred percent loyal."
Inspector Hewitt looked down. "So close..."
"Ah yes, Inspector. So close, yet so far," Mr. E said. "You'll never catch me. Never."
Blake tried to comfort his father. "Don't worry, Dad. Maybe next time..."
"Oh, next time." The dummy moved its head, its gaze now fixed on Shirley. "I'll still be keeping an eye on you and your little town of Redington. I'm not finished with you yet."
To everyone's amazement, smoke started to come out from the dummy's eyes. "We will continue our little game another time, my dear," Mr. E told Shirley. "Sayonara."
"Get back!" Inspector Hewitt shouted.
Diabolical laughter came out from the dummy as more smoke came out of its head. Shirley and the others ran to a safe distance. From there, they watched as the dummy's head exploded.
"Whoa," Bo said.
The destruction of the head did not end Mr. E's laughter, however. It continued to come from the dummy, filling the room.
As the laughter continued, Shirley stared at the headless dummy. She knew that Mr. E was right; it was not over between them.
END OF PART NINE