The Case of the Problem Prone Bodyslammers--Part Five
by HA
It was Bo who finally broke the silence. "Nephew?" He looked at Mr. Hammond, then at Marvin Marvelous.
"Or possibly son," Shirley said. She looked at Mr. Hammond's hand. "No, I am correct. He is his nephew." She returned her attention to Mr. Hammond and Marvin Marvelous. "I believe one of you can explain everything," she addressed them.
With a sigh, Marvin Marvelous confessed. "Okay, Mr. Hammond's my uncle. His sister was my mom."
"Was?" Blake said.
Mr. Hammond looked mournful. "She died along with her husband in a fire at the factory where they worked. Marvin was just four when it happened."
"Uncle Arnold's been taking care of me ever since," Marvin Marvelous added. He got me interested in wrestling."
"So why hide the fact you're related to the boss?" Bo asked.
"Well, I didn't really want anyone to think I got this job because the boss was my uncle," Marvin Marvelous explained. "I wanted people to see that I could get a job for this promotion without any favors."
"He did get the job through hard work, by the way," Mr. Hammond stated. "The fact that he was my nephew didn't factor into my decision. It was Marvin's idea to keep our family connection a secret."
The Masked Marauder studied his employer and his fellow wrestler. "Now I do see a slight resemblence between you two," he observed. He took a closer look at Mr. Hammond. "A very slight resemblence," he added with a grin.
You know, I just realized something," Blake said, looking at Marvin Marvelous. "Why didn't you go to the big leagues instead of working for your uncle?"
"It was Uncle Arnold's idea," Marvin Marvelous answered.
"I felt that Marvin needed some experience before jumping into the big leagues like the WWF," Mr. Hammond explained. "This business is a mean one, and any mistake will cost you. Besides," he said, looking at his nephew, "I don't have any kids of my own, and I've been lonely for most of my life. Having Marvin work for me has been a godsend. At least I'm with family."
"You two argue like you hate each other," Bo pointed out.
"Well, we're family," Marvin Marvelous said. "What do you expect?"
"We do have some fights, but we make up when no one's looking," Mr. Hammond said. "Especially over his pranks, but as long as there's no harm, I forgive him and have him do some simple chores." He smiled. "In fact, sometimes they crack me up, even those pigs you put in my office one time, Marvin."
Marvin Marvelous grinned. "Yeah, that was one of my best jokes."
Mr. Hammond chuckled a little, then cleared his throat. He spoke with a serious tone. "However, your recent pranks have proved to be harmful to this promotion. Now everyone's wanting to quit."
Everyone got ready for another heated argument. Before Marvin Marvelous could respond, Shirley spoke. "Actually, I can prove your nephew's innocence."
"Really?" Mr. Hammond stared at the junior detective. "You?"
Shirley ignored the surprised look on the owner of the wrestling promotion. "Now, we need to see 'Breaker' Brody, Sylvester Coe, and another suspect."
"You suspect Brody and Sylvester?" Mr. Hammond asked.
"They are on the list," Shirley answered.
"Why?"
"They have possible motives for framing Marvin. I wish to check them out."
"But who is the third suspect?"
"Someone we need to see. Now, if you can lead the way, Mr. Hammond."
Mr. Hammond nodded and got the door. "Just follow me."
"Is she always like this?" the Masked Maruader asked Blake and Bo.
"Yep," Bo said.
"Wouldn't have it any way," Blake said with a small smile.
The Masked Marauder raised an eyebrow at Blake and grinned at Bo. Bo just shook his head.
Soon, they were on their way to 'Breaker' Brody's room. While they walked, Bo and Blake talked with Shirley.
"How did you know that Marvin was Mr. Hammond's nephew?" Bo asked.
"They have, as Mr. Tennyson noticed, a slight resemblance to each other. If you look closely at their faces, you'll notice that they have the same eyes and nose," Shirley explained.
"Okay, but how did you confirm Marvin being his nephew instead of his son?" Blake asked.
"For starters, Marvin doesn't share Mr. Hammond's body frame," Shirley said with a slight grin. "Also, Mr. Hammond doesn't have a wedding ring."
Blake caught on. "So he's not married."
"Meaning that Marvin is Mr. Hammond's nephew for sure," Bo said. "Nice deduction, Shirley."
"Why, thank you," Shirley said, accepting Bo's praise.
They arrived at "Breaker" Brody's door. Mr. Hammond walked up to it and knocked. "Brody! Let us in! It's urgent!" he called.
A voice spoke from behind the door. "Uh, hold on a sec, Mr. Hammond," it said hesitantly. "I'll be right there."
Everyone heard things being moved within the room. "Break the door down," Mr. Hammond told the Masked Marauder.
Shirley sniffed the air. "Ah..."
"Sorry, Breaker," the Masked Marauder said before ramming his shoulder against the door. Another ram opened the door.
Everyone poured into the room and found the bald wrestler kneeling on the floor next to an open bag. They saw a dark-brown substance inside. It emitted a pungent odor.
Mr. Hammond sniffed around, then his eyes widened. "What the...?"
"Fertilizer," Shirley said, coming in for a closer look.
"Fertilizer? As in plant food?" Bo said.
Blake took a closer sniff. "Yep. Pretty powerful stuff."
Shirley looked at "Breaker" Brody. "I take it this is why you left the gym early?"
"Yeah," "Breaker" Brody answered, shame-faced. "I had to go get it without the guys knowing. They always make fun of me and my green thumb."
The Masked Marauder looked at the label on the bag of fertilizer. "Hmmmm...looks like good stuff, Breaker. Were you taking a peek to see if it was really good?"
"That's right, Sean," "Breaker" Brody answered. "I wanted to make sure the guy wasn't ripping me off, so I opened it a couple of minutes ago to make sure."
"So you just opened the bag here?" Bo was a little astonished. "Aren't you trying to keep this a secret?"
Marvin Marvelous waved the air. "Yeah, Breaker. The smell's getting to me." Nearby, Mr. Hammond and the Masked Marauder covered their mouths.
"So, uh, what brings everyone here?" "Breaker" Brody asked, looking at his boss, his fellow wrestler, and the three kids with them.
"We're trying to prove my innocence," Marvin Marvelous said.
"These kids think that Marvin is not responsible for these recent accidents," Mr. Hammond explained, gesturing to Shirley and her friends.
"And you think I did them?" "Breaker" Brody said in disbelief.
"Not anymore," Shirley said. "Would you like to come with us?"
"To where?" the bald wrestler asked.
"To Sy Coe's room," Shirley answered.
Without question, the small group went to Sy Coe's room after "Breaker" Brody sealed the bag of fertilizer, much to everyone's relief. This time, the Masked Marauder knocked on the door. Sy Coe opened the door and looked out. "Why, Mr. Hammond, Sean. What brings you here?"
"Can we come in for a moment, Sylvester?" the Masked Marauder asked in a friendly manner. "We need to ask you a few questions."
"Uh, sure," Sy Coe, letting everyone in.
Once inside, Shirley began the conversation. "Sylvester, do you write in your little notepad every day?"
Sy Coe was reluctant to answer. Instead, he stared at the young sleuth and said "Uh, um..."
"Sy, answer the question," Mr. Hammond ordered. The three wrestlers looked at the ring worker.
"Uh, yes," Sy Coe answered.
Shirley continued her questioning. "What do you write down in the notepad?"
Sy Coe was not going to answer, but he felt the stares of his employer and the two wrestlers. "Sylvester, we're trying to prove that Marvin's not behind these accidents. Can you please answer the young lady's question?" the Masked Marauder requested.
Sy Coe trembled for a moment before answering. "Uh, I write down what happens every day."
"Why?" Shirley persisted.
Sy Coe wiped the sweat off his brow, then bowed his head. "I'm writing a book," he said, keeping his head bowed.
"A book?"
Sy Coe nodded. "A book. About wrestling. I wanted to do a fictional account of the happenings of a wrestling promotion based on my experiences."
"A book on pro wrestling?" Bo wondered out loud.
"Yeah." Sy Coe raised his head and faced everyone. "Although I changed the story to a mystery after all these accidents started happening."
"So you're not behind these accidents?" Marvin Marvelous asked.
"Nope. I swear to God, I didn't do anything wrong," Sy Coe said nervously.
"Then why didn't you cooperate when Shirley asked you about the notepad?" Blake asked.
"Well, I'm quite shy about my writing, really," Sy Coe answered sheepishly. "I don't like it when people read my stuff."
"Why's that, Sy?" "Breaker" Brody asked.
"I thought you guys would laugh at my writing, like you laugh at me," Sy Coe admitted, bowing his head shamefully. "I know all of you talk about me behind my back. You all call me 'Sy Coe' because you all think I'm weird."
"Breaker" Brody looked at the ring worker and felt ashamed. "Sorry about all that, Sy...I mean, Sylvester." The bald wrestler walked up to Sy Coe and patted him on the shoulder.
"Okay, yet another suspect is innocent," Bo remarked.
"Yeah. Looks like we're out of people," Blake added.
"Great, I'm screwed," Marvin Marvelous commented.
"No, you're not," Shirley said, turning to Mr. Hammond. "Is Bill Turner still here?"
"Actually, he left after I yelled at him for the bad pizza," Mr. Hammond revealed. "Probably to cool off." He blinked and looked at Shirley. "Wait a minute, you think Bill Turner's the guy who's behind all the accidents?"
"He has the means and opportunity. As security chief, he has access to everything and he can set up the accidents," Shirley concluded.
"But the accidents started about a month after Bill joined up," Mr. Hammond said. "In fact, the accidents are the reason why I hired him in the first place."
"Yet, they still happened," Bo said. "A little too suspicious, don't you think?"
"But if Bill's the one behind all the accidents, why would he do it?" Blake asked.
"Why don't we find out?" Shirley said. "Mr. Hammond, did Bill say when he was coming back?"
"He said he'd be back in maybe a half-hour. Why?"
"We're going to find a motive," Shirley replied.
They made their way to Bill Turner's room. Shirley tested the doorknob and found it was locked. "Do you have the key?" she asked Mr. Hammond.
"Nope." Mr. Hammond shook his head. "No matter where we are, Bill always takes his room key with him, even when hotel policy forbids it."
"How are we going to get in?" the Masked Marauder asked.
Shirley reached into her pocket and pulled out her Swiss army knife. "This is how," she said as she showed it to everyone. She knelt next to the door and found the appropriate tool from the knife.
Bo rolled his eyes. "Not a surprise to me."
As Shirley began picking the lock, the Masked Marauder walked up to Blake. "I hope she knows what she's doing," the wrestler told him.
"Believe me, she does," Blake said.
Marvin Marvelous watched as Shirley worked on the lock. "I dunno. It looks like she's having some trouble."
Shirley heard a click from the lock and stood up. Her face wore a look of satisfaction. "There. Now it's open," she said confidently. She opened the door and motioned for everyone to come in.
"Whew. Not bad," "Breaker" Brody commented before going in. "I'm glad she's on our side."
"Definitely," Sy Coe said in agreement.
All of them entered the room and found that it was clean. "Dang, I knew Bill was Mr. Tidy, but I never imagined that he was this clean," Marvin Marvelous said while looking around. "There's hardly anything on the floor, and even all the stuff on his table is organized," he added, pointing to a table against the side of the room.
Shirley walked up to the table and looked through the papers on it. "Well, well, well..."
"What? What?" Mr. Hammond asked, stepping closer to Shirley. He looked over her shoulder. "What did you find?"
"A possible motive," Shirley said, looking at some newspaper clippings. "Tell me, Mr. Hammond. Do you remember a Teddy Felder?"
"Teddy Felder?" Mr. Hammond tried to remember. "Um, I'm having trouble remembering..."
By then, everyone was gathered around the table. "Teddy Felder?" "Breaker" Brody said. "That name does sound familiar..."
"I remember," Marvin Marvelous said. "He's that kid who died after his friend did a wrestling move on him."
"Yep," Sy Coe said, nodding in agreement. "Theodore Felder, age six. Family and friends called him 'Teddy.' We did a show in Florida a year ago."
"Breaker" Brody caught on. "Yeah. When we were about to leave, some family who attended our show slapped us with a lawsuit. They said their son died after a friend of his tried a neckbreaker on him. They said the friend got the idea after watching us."
"Oh, now I remember. I always try to forget the bad stuff," Mr. Hammond said with a sigh. "I'm glad we were able to settle that one outside of court. The family wasn't exactly happy, but they were satisfied with some compensation."
"Can you blame them for being upset?" Blake said.
Shirley skimmed the articles. "Yep, it's all in here. The death, the charge, the settlement, the family's grief."
Bo saw something familiar on one clipping. "Hey, that's the picture I saw back at the gym."
"Huh?" the Masked Marauder said, puzzled.
Shirley handed the clipping to Bo after he motioned for it. "I found this picture on the ground next to the bench where Captain Courageous was nearly choked to death," Bo recalled. "It was a picture of some kid. That kid," he added, pointing to the photograph in the article while showing it to the others. "No wonder Bill took it away so quickly."
"OK, so there's a connection between Bill Turner and Teddy Felder," Blake established. "But what?"
"I think I might have found it." Shirley had taken out her magnifying glass and was looking closely at another newspaper photograph. She read the caption out loud. "Teddy Felder's parents, Martin and Lois, and uncle Randy discuss the monetary settlement offered by wrestling promoter Arnold Hammond at a press conference." She kept the magnifying glass over the person on the right. "Mr. Hammond, look at this man, Randy Felder. Does he look familiar to you?"
Mr. Hammond looked at the magnified image. The man was wearing a suit. He seemed imposing despite the fact he was wearing glasses. His hair was a little long and he was clean-shaven. "Nope. He doesn't look remotely familiar to me."
Sy Coe and the wrestlers leaned in for a look at the man Shirley was focusing on. "Nope. Doesn't look like anyone I know," the Masked Marauder said.
"I'd have to agree," Marvin Marvelous said.
"Ditto," "Breaker" Brody said.
"Can't say I know him," Sy Coe said.
"Try removing his glasses, shaving his head, and giving him a beard," Shirley recommended.
Bo and Blake leaned in for a closer look. After scanning the image of the man, Bo understood what Shirley meant. "Wait a sec. That's..."
Blake completed Bo's statement. "Bill Turner."
END OF PART FIVE
by HA
It was Bo who finally broke the silence. "Nephew?" He looked at Mr. Hammond, then at Marvin Marvelous.
"Or possibly son," Shirley said. She looked at Mr. Hammond's hand. "No, I am correct. He is his nephew." She returned her attention to Mr. Hammond and Marvin Marvelous. "I believe one of you can explain everything," she addressed them.
With a sigh, Marvin Marvelous confessed. "Okay, Mr. Hammond's my uncle. His sister was my mom."
"Was?" Blake said.
Mr. Hammond looked mournful. "She died along with her husband in a fire at the factory where they worked. Marvin was just four when it happened."
"Uncle Arnold's been taking care of me ever since," Marvin Marvelous added. He got me interested in wrestling."
"So why hide the fact you're related to the boss?" Bo asked.
"Well, I didn't really want anyone to think I got this job because the boss was my uncle," Marvin Marvelous explained. "I wanted people to see that I could get a job for this promotion without any favors."
"He did get the job through hard work, by the way," Mr. Hammond stated. "The fact that he was my nephew didn't factor into my decision. It was Marvin's idea to keep our family connection a secret."
The Masked Marauder studied his employer and his fellow wrestler. "Now I do see a slight resemblence between you two," he observed. He took a closer look at Mr. Hammond. "A very slight resemblence," he added with a grin.
You know, I just realized something," Blake said, looking at Marvin Marvelous. "Why didn't you go to the big leagues instead of working for your uncle?"
"It was Uncle Arnold's idea," Marvin Marvelous answered.
"I felt that Marvin needed some experience before jumping into the big leagues like the WWF," Mr. Hammond explained. "This business is a mean one, and any mistake will cost you. Besides," he said, looking at his nephew, "I don't have any kids of my own, and I've been lonely for most of my life. Having Marvin work for me has been a godsend. At least I'm with family."
"You two argue like you hate each other," Bo pointed out.
"Well, we're family," Marvin Marvelous said. "What do you expect?"
"We do have some fights, but we make up when no one's looking," Mr. Hammond said. "Especially over his pranks, but as long as there's no harm, I forgive him and have him do some simple chores." He smiled. "In fact, sometimes they crack me up, even those pigs you put in my office one time, Marvin."
Marvin Marvelous grinned. "Yeah, that was one of my best jokes."
Mr. Hammond chuckled a little, then cleared his throat. He spoke with a serious tone. "However, your recent pranks have proved to be harmful to this promotion. Now everyone's wanting to quit."
Everyone got ready for another heated argument. Before Marvin Marvelous could respond, Shirley spoke. "Actually, I can prove your nephew's innocence."
"Really?" Mr. Hammond stared at the junior detective. "You?"
Shirley ignored the surprised look on the owner of the wrestling promotion. "Now, we need to see 'Breaker' Brody, Sylvester Coe, and another suspect."
"You suspect Brody and Sylvester?" Mr. Hammond asked.
"They are on the list," Shirley answered.
"Why?"
"They have possible motives for framing Marvin. I wish to check them out."
"But who is the third suspect?"
"Someone we need to see. Now, if you can lead the way, Mr. Hammond."
Mr. Hammond nodded and got the door. "Just follow me."
"Is she always like this?" the Masked Maruader asked Blake and Bo.
"Yep," Bo said.
"Wouldn't have it any way," Blake said with a small smile.
The Masked Marauder raised an eyebrow at Blake and grinned at Bo. Bo just shook his head.
Soon, they were on their way to 'Breaker' Brody's room. While they walked, Bo and Blake talked with Shirley.
"How did you know that Marvin was Mr. Hammond's nephew?" Bo asked.
"They have, as Mr. Tennyson noticed, a slight resemblance to each other. If you look closely at their faces, you'll notice that they have the same eyes and nose," Shirley explained.
"Okay, but how did you confirm Marvin being his nephew instead of his son?" Blake asked.
"For starters, Marvin doesn't share Mr. Hammond's body frame," Shirley said with a slight grin. "Also, Mr. Hammond doesn't have a wedding ring."
Blake caught on. "So he's not married."
"Meaning that Marvin is Mr. Hammond's nephew for sure," Bo said. "Nice deduction, Shirley."
"Why, thank you," Shirley said, accepting Bo's praise.
They arrived at "Breaker" Brody's door. Mr. Hammond walked up to it and knocked. "Brody! Let us in! It's urgent!" he called.
A voice spoke from behind the door. "Uh, hold on a sec, Mr. Hammond," it said hesitantly. "I'll be right there."
Everyone heard things being moved within the room. "Break the door down," Mr. Hammond told the Masked Marauder.
Shirley sniffed the air. "Ah..."
"Sorry, Breaker," the Masked Marauder said before ramming his shoulder against the door. Another ram opened the door.
Everyone poured into the room and found the bald wrestler kneeling on the floor next to an open bag. They saw a dark-brown substance inside. It emitted a pungent odor.
Mr. Hammond sniffed around, then his eyes widened. "What the...?"
"Fertilizer," Shirley said, coming in for a closer look.
"Fertilizer? As in plant food?" Bo said.
Blake took a closer sniff. "Yep. Pretty powerful stuff."
Shirley looked at "Breaker" Brody. "I take it this is why you left the gym early?"
"Yeah," "Breaker" Brody answered, shame-faced. "I had to go get it without the guys knowing. They always make fun of me and my green thumb."
The Masked Marauder looked at the label on the bag of fertilizer. "Hmmmm...looks like good stuff, Breaker. Were you taking a peek to see if it was really good?"
"That's right, Sean," "Breaker" Brody answered. "I wanted to make sure the guy wasn't ripping me off, so I opened it a couple of minutes ago to make sure."
"So you just opened the bag here?" Bo was a little astonished. "Aren't you trying to keep this a secret?"
Marvin Marvelous waved the air. "Yeah, Breaker. The smell's getting to me." Nearby, Mr. Hammond and the Masked Marauder covered their mouths.
"So, uh, what brings everyone here?" "Breaker" Brody asked, looking at his boss, his fellow wrestler, and the three kids with them.
"We're trying to prove my innocence," Marvin Marvelous said.
"These kids think that Marvin is not responsible for these recent accidents," Mr. Hammond explained, gesturing to Shirley and her friends.
"And you think I did them?" "Breaker" Brody said in disbelief.
"Not anymore," Shirley said. "Would you like to come with us?"
"To where?" the bald wrestler asked.
"To Sy Coe's room," Shirley answered.
Without question, the small group went to Sy Coe's room after "Breaker" Brody sealed the bag of fertilizer, much to everyone's relief. This time, the Masked Marauder knocked on the door. Sy Coe opened the door and looked out. "Why, Mr. Hammond, Sean. What brings you here?"
"Can we come in for a moment, Sylvester?" the Masked Marauder asked in a friendly manner. "We need to ask you a few questions."
"Uh, sure," Sy Coe, letting everyone in.
Once inside, Shirley began the conversation. "Sylvester, do you write in your little notepad every day?"
Sy Coe was reluctant to answer. Instead, he stared at the young sleuth and said "Uh, um..."
"Sy, answer the question," Mr. Hammond ordered. The three wrestlers looked at the ring worker.
"Uh, yes," Sy Coe answered.
Shirley continued her questioning. "What do you write down in the notepad?"
Sy Coe was not going to answer, but he felt the stares of his employer and the two wrestlers. "Sylvester, we're trying to prove that Marvin's not behind these accidents. Can you please answer the young lady's question?" the Masked Marauder requested.
Sy Coe trembled for a moment before answering. "Uh, I write down what happens every day."
"Why?" Shirley persisted.
Sy Coe wiped the sweat off his brow, then bowed his head. "I'm writing a book," he said, keeping his head bowed.
"A book?"
Sy Coe nodded. "A book. About wrestling. I wanted to do a fictional account of the happenings of a wrestling promotion based on my experiences."
"A book on pro wrestling?" Bo wondered out loud.
"Yeah." Sy Coe raised his head and faced everyone. "Although I changed the story to a mystery after all these accidents started happening."
"So you're not behind these accidents?" Marvin Marvelous asked.
"Nope. I swear to God, I didn't do anything wrong," Sy Coe said nervously.
"Then why didn't you cooperate when Shirley asked you about the notepad?" Blake asked.
"Well, I'm quite shy about my writing, really," Sy Coe answered sheepishly. "I don't like it when people read my stuff."
"Why's that, Sy?" "Breaker" Brody asked.
"I thought you guys would laugh at my writing, like you laugh at me," Sy Coe admitted, bowing his head shamefully. "I know all of you talk about me behind my back. You all call me 'Sy Coe' because you all think I'm weird."
"Breaker" Brody looked at the ring worker and felt ashamed. "Sorry about all that, Sy...I mean, Sylvester." The bald wrestler walked up to Sy Coe and patted him on the shoulder.
"Okay, yet another suspect is innocent," Bo remarked.
"Yeah. Looks like we're out of people," Blake added.
"Great, I'm screwed," Marvin Marvelous commented.
"No, you're not," Shirley said, turning to Mr. Hammond. "Is Bill Turner still here?"
"Actually, he left after I yelled at him for the bad pizza," Mr. Hammond revealed. "Probably to cool off." He blinked and looked at Shirley. "Wait a minute, you think Bill Turner's the guy who's behind all the accidents?"
"He has the means and opportunity. As security chief, he has access to everything and he can set up the accidents," Shirley concluded.
"But the accidents started about a month after Bill joined up," Mr. Hammond said. "In fact, the accidents are the reason why I hired him in the first place."
"Yet, they still happened," Bo said. "A little too suspicious, don't you think?"
"But if Bill's the one behind all the accidents, why would he do it?" Blake asked.
"Why don't we find out?" Shirley said. "Mr. Hammond, did Bill say when he was coming back?"
"He said he'd be back in maybe a half-hour. Why?"
"We're going to find a motive," Shirley replied.
They made their way to Bill Turner's room. Shirley tested the doorknob and found it was locked. "Do you have the key?" she asked Mr. Hammond.
"Nope." Mr. Hammond shook his head. "No matter where we are, Bill always takes his room key with him, even when hotel policy forbids it."
"How are we going to get in?" the Masked Marauder asked.
Shirley reached into her pocket and pulled out her Swiss army knife. "This is how," she said as she showed it to everyone. She knelt next to the door and found the appropriate tool from the knife.
Bo rolled his eyes. "Not a surprise to me."
As Shirley began picking the lock, the Masked Marauder walked up to Blake. "I hope she knows what she's doing," the wrestler told him.
"Believe me, she does," Blake said.
Marvin Marvelous watched as Shirley worked on the lock. "I dunno. It looks like she's having some trouble."
Shirley heard a click from the lock and stood up. Her face wore a look of satisfaction. "There. Now it's open," she said confidently. She opened the door and motioned for everyone to come in.
"Whew. Not bad," "Breaker" Brody commented before going in. "I'm glad she's on our side."
"Definitely," Sy Coe said in agreement.
All of them entered the room and found that it was clean. "Dang, I knew Bill was Mr. Tidy, but I never imagined that he was this clean," Marvin Marvelous said while looking around. "There's hardly anything on the floor, and even all the stuff on his table is organized," he added, pointing to a table against the side of the room.
Shirley walked up to the table and looked through the papers on it. "Well, well, well..."
"What? What?" Mr. Hammond asked, stepping closer to Shirley. He looked over her shoulder. "What did you find?"
"A possible motive," Shirley said, looking at some newspaper clippings. "Tell me, Mr. Hammond. Do you remember a Teddy Felder?"
"Teddy Felder?" Mr. Hammond tried to remember. "Um, I'm having trouble remembering..."
By then, everyone was gathered around the table. "Teddy Felder?" "Breaker" Brody said. "That name does sound familiar..."
"I remember," Marvin Marvelous said. "He's that kid who died after his friend did a wrestling move on him."
"Yep," Sy Coe said, nodding in agreement. "Theodore Felder, age six. Family and friends called him 'Teddy.' We did a show in Florida a year ago."
"Breaker" Brody caught on. "Yeah. When we were about to leave, some family who attended our show slapped us with a lawsuit. They said their son died after a friend of his tried a neckbreaker on him. They said the friend got the idea after watching us."
"Oh, now I remember. I always try to forget the bad stuff," Mr. Hammond said with a sigh. "I'm glad we were able to settle that one outside of court. The family wasn't exactly happy, but they were satisfied with some compensation."
"Can you blame them for being upset?" Blake said.
Shirley skimmed the articles. "Yep, it's all in here. The death, the charge, the settlement, the family's grief."
Bo saw something familiar on one clipping. "Hey, that's the picture I saw back at the gym."
"Huh?" the Masked Marauder said, puzzled.
Shirley handed the clipping to Bo after he motioned for it. "I found this picture on the ground next to the bench where Captain Courageous was nearly choked to death," Bo recalled. "It was a picture of some kid. That kid," he added, pointing to the photograph in the article while showing it to the others. "No wonder Bill took it away so quickly."
"OK, so there's a connection between Bill Turner and Teddy Felder," Blake established. "But what?"
"I think I might have found it." Shirley had taken out her magnifying glass and was looking closely at another newspaper photograph. She read the caption out loud. "Teddy Felder's parents, Martin and Lois, and uncle Randy discuss the monetary settlement offered by wrestling promoter Arnold Hammond at a press conference." She kept the magnifying glass over the person on the right. "Mr. Hammond, look at this man, Randy Felder. Does he look familiar to you?"
Mr. Hammond looked at the magnified image. The man was wearing a suit. He seemed imposing despite the fact he was wearing glasses. His hair was a little long and he was clean-shaven. "Nope. He doesn't look remotely familiar to me."
Sy Coe and the wrestlers leaned in for a look at the man Shirley was focusing on. "Nope. Doesn't look like anyone I know," the Masked Marauder said.
"I'd have to agree," Marvin Marvelous said.
"Ditto," "Breaker" Brody said.
"Can't say I know him," Sy Coe said.
"Try removing his glasses, shaving his head, and giving him a beard," Shirley recommended.
Bo and Blake leaned in for a closer look. After scanning the image of the man, Bo understood what Shirley meant. "Wait a sec. That's..."
Blake completed Bo's statement. "Bill Turner."
END OF PART FIVE