The Case of the Haunted House--Part Thirteen
by HA
Shirley was stunned when she heard Lucy's news. "What do you mean Bart's in trouble?" she asked. "What happened?"
"We don't know," Lucy answered. "We lost contact with them when they were trying to call in. We're going to find out what happened and I was wondering..."
"I'll be there," Shirley told Lucy firmly. Her friend was in trouble and she felt she could not stand by and leave him. "I'll get my bike and I'll ride over to the Harrison house."
"Don't worry about transportation," Lucy said. "We're on our way in Damian's van. We picked up Bo and Blake, too. Just stay there and we'll pick you up." With that, Lucy hung up.
After putting her cell phone in her pocket, Shirley grabbed her backpack and ran down the stairs. She noticed Watson lying near the foot of the stairs. "Looks like you're guarding the house tonight," she told the basset hound, who whimpered in reply. She took out a piece of paper and wrote "Went to Blake's to get something for a class. Hope to be back soon. Shirley." She taped the note on the wall next to the door, then went outside to wait for the others. A few minutes after she locked the front door, the black van came.
Shirley ran up to the side door as it opened. Bo was there to greet her. "Family not home?" Bo asked her as she took her seat.
"Embassy function," Shirley answered as she fastened her seat belt. "What about you?" she asked Bo as he closed the door.
"Parents are doing bingo again," Bo answered. "They always come home way late. It's the talking they do with other people. I left a note saying I needed to pick up something for class from Blake."
"I did the same thing," Shirley answered as the van moved.
"Why am I the excuse guy?" Blake said half-jokingly.
"What about you?" Bo asked Blake.
"Mom's at the museum waiting for a shipment of Japanese samurai armor. Rosa went out to--get this--play bingo," Blake explained, grinning.
"So whose house did you say you were going to?" Shirley asked.
"Yours, of course," Blake answered.
As the van drove to the Harrison house, Shirley looked at her fellow passengers. Bo and Blake were sitting with her. Katrina and Marcus were sitting in the back. Lucy was riding shotgun. Damian was, of course, the driver.
"So you lost contact with Bart?" Shirley asked Lucy.
"Sadly," Lucy answered. "We can't seem to get any response from any of them."
"You mean you've been in touch with them?" Bo asked.
"Of course," Marcus said from behind. "You think we're going to send people into a haunted house without a comlink?"
"A what?" Bo asked, not recognizing the term "comlink."
"A comlink," Lucy said. "It's a device we all have in order to keep in touch with each other." She turned to Shirley as best as she could with her seat belt on and stretched her arm to her. Shirley saw an object in Lucy's hand. Shirley managed to take the object from Lucy so that she could get a look at it. "That's how we've been keeping in touch with Bart and the others," Lucy told Shirley.
Shirley examined the comlink in her hand. It was slightly wider and larger than a pocket calculator and had a retractable antenna. It had keys arranged like a cell phone and it even had the same numbers, letters, and symbols. She saw that the letter "Z" was located over the number zero instead of "OPER," not to mention that there were a number of keys with mathematical symbols. A small quartz screen with a black dot above it were located near the top. Below the screen was a tiny sound receiver and on each side of the screen was a small speaker. There were eight buttons as well, with four on each side of the comlink: three that said "1st LETTER," "2nd LETTER," and "3rd LETTER"; one that said "TRANSMIT"; one that said "SCAN"; one that said "SWITCH"; one that said "SOUND/NO SOUND"; and one that said "ON/OFF." A rectangular button labeled "DISTORT" was located on the side of the comlink. At the bottom she saw the Strangers' Club symbol. When she touched it, it became the Knight Foundation logo and the keys were more like phone keys. In addition, the eight side buttons became blank knobs of plastic.
"Nice, huh?" Marcus said, seeing that Shirley was looking at the comlink. "It's a combination of a videophone, scanner/camera, and calculator. Made from the best of the Knight Foundation's latest technology."
"So this little dot is a miniature digital camera?" Shirley asked, pointing to it.
"Yep," Marcus said. "Something the Knight Foundation's been working on. We just perfected it before they did."
"Cool," Bo said approvingly.
"Nice touch," Blake said.
"An interesting device," Shirley said, returning the comlink to Lucy.
"So why did you call us?" Bo asked, wondering why he got called at night.
"I thought you'd want to help us out with your friend," Lucy explained. "Also, as you can see, we're a little undermanned tonight," she added, pointing to Katrina and Marcus. "Most of us went on a field trip to investigate a poltergeist in Calgary, and the rest haven't come back from their cases yet."
"So where's Arthur?" Shirley asked.
"He's helping my parents out with something," Lucy replied. "He would've been with us if he wasn't busy."
"What's he helping with?" Blake asked.
"Upgrading the security system for the Knight Foundation mainframe," Lucy answered.
"Oh," Blake said, not exactly surprised.
"Besides, this is my case, remember?" Lucy said. "I haven't lost anyone before, and I'm not aiming to start now."
The van finally arrived at the Harrison house. Damian parked it on the side of the road, and everyone got off.
"Well, there it is," Lucy said, facing the Harrison house. "Somewhere in there, our friends are in trouble."
Damian lowered his red-tinted goggles so that they covered his eyes. He seemed even scarier than before. "I will stay out here just in case something goes wrong," he said.
"Okay, Damian. The rest of you, follow me," Lucy said, taking charge.
"Are you sure you want to leave him behind?" Bo asked, jabbing his thumb at Damian. "I think we'll be needing him inside the house."
"Afraid you might run into a ghost, Bo?" Blake asked, grinning.
"No," Bo denied. "Besides, someone could've gotten them. Someone who's flesh and blood."
"Well, don't worry. Ghost or no ghost, we're prepared," Lucy reassured them.
Leaving Damian behind, the others walked to the house. They stood at the small set of stairs leading to the porch and the front door. Shirley took out her flashlight and turned it on so that everyone could see better. Marcus took out a device that looked like a portable TV with a V-shaped antenna.
"What is that?" Shirley asked, pointing to Marcus' device.
"To put it simply, a ghost detector," Marcus answered. "It picks up any spectral presence and it's far superior than anything the Redington Paranormal Society ever came up with."
"You had to ask, didn't you?" Bo whispered to Shirley.
The ghost detector made a beeping noise as Marcus waved it around. "Well, I'm detecting a minute amount of spectral energy..."
Before Marcus could finish, the device froze, then it started to fizzle and smoke and sparks started coming from its sides. The heat built up to an intolerable level. "Ouch!" Marcus exclaimed as he dropped the ghost detector, which proceeded to smoke more and shoot out more sparks. Soon the ghost detector was nothing more that a piece of worthless junk. After watching the device die out, Marcus turned to the others. "Not a good sign," he said, shaking his head and holding his slightly burned hand.
"What happened?" Blake asked.
"Somehow, something in the house sent a large amount of power through the ghost detector," Marcus explained. "It fried it totally."
"That's it. We're going in," Bo said, determined. He walked up the stairs and headed for the front door. Shirley shined her flashlight on the door.
Bo was about to take another step towards the door when Shirley shouted "No!" By then, Bo had his foot up. Shirley's shout made Bo go off-balance and he was about to fall towards the door.
"I got him," Lucy said, pulling her scarf off quickly from behind her neck. Before Shirley or Blake could ask what she was doing, Lucy whipped the scarf into Bo's direction and it stretched outward at an unbelievable length. Shirley and Blake watched in amazement as the scarf wrapped itself around Bo and pulled him away from the door and off the porch. Bo landed on the ground hard in front of the others butt-first.
Lucy's scarf returned to its normal length and she rehung it around her neck. She saw the amazed looks on Shirley and Blake. "Now you know what the scarf's for," she said, flashing a smile at them.
Everyone rushed up to Bo, who got up and was now rubbing his butt. "Are you okay?" Shirley asked her best friend.
"Besides the fact that my butt hurts, I'm just dandy," Bo answered, facing Shirley. "What was that all about?"
"Look carefully at the foot of the door," Shirley said, shining her flashlight there.
Everyone looked at the illuminated spot. Blake spotted something thin and long stretched across the foot of the door. "A tripwire," he concluded.
"I'll find out what it would've triggered," Shirley said. She walked up the stairs, then looked above the door and shined her flashlight there. She saw what appeared to be an arrangement of metal Chinese dragons on the ceiling with their mouths open and facing down, then returned to her friends.
"Well?" Bo asked, rubbing his backside a little.
"I need a rock large enough to hit that tripwire," Shirley requested.
Everyone started searching for a rock that met Shirley's requirement. Katrina found a rock that did just that and showed it to Shirley. "Now what?" she asked.
Shirley looked around. "Who's got a good throwing arm?"
"I can do it," Katrina answered with a nod.
Shirley shined the flashlight where the tripwire was. "Can you hit that?"
"We'll see," Katrina answered. She walked up to the foot of the stairs and saw the tripwire thanks to Shirley's flashlight. Everyone gathered around her. Without a sound, she flung the rock at the tripwire.
Bo saw that the throw was going to be a little off its mark. "I'll go get another rock," he said. What happened next surprised him, not to mention Shirley and Blake.
The rock was going to fly over the tripwire, but just as it was going to, it fell straight down. It landed on the tripwire and it bounced off. Everyone backed up quickly when the dragons fired lasers from their mouths. The combined lasers made up a red curtain of death. After the dragons had stopped firing, Shirley climbed the steps a little and found burn marks where the lasers had hit.
"Close one," Bo said, not enjoying the thought that if he had made it to the door, he would have become instant barbecue.
Lucy heard her comlink beep and she quickly took it out of her pocket. Damian's face appeared on the screen. "I saw a bright light appear at the front. What happened?" he asked.
"Some sort of laser trap," Lucy answered. "It's been rigged at the front door so we can't go in that way."
"I am going to join you," Damian said, ready to move.
"No. We'll be fine. Just stay where you are and keep a lookout for anyone," Lucy ordered. "I don't want any unexpected company."
"As you wish," Damian said, and his face vanished from the comlink's screen.
Putting her comlink away, Lucy turned to Katrina, who was looking at the front door. "Can you...?"
Katrina shook her head. "I can't. Something's blocking me. Some sore of interference."
"Can't do what?" Blake asked.
"Well, we can't go in that way," Marcus said before Lucy or Katrina could answer Blake.
"At least we know we're dealing with someone who's still alive," Blake said.
"That's supposed to make me feel better?" Bo remarked.
Katrina closed her eyes. Shirley thought over the situation. "They're not making it any easier for us," she said.
"'They'?" Lucy asked.
Blake eyed the house, then answered for Shirley. "ENIGMA."
Lucy turned to Katrina. "Anything?"
Katrina opened her eyes. "I can't tell," she answered softly. "I can't feel anything. Something is interfering."
Bo stared at Katrina. "What is she talking about?"
"We don't know if they're alive or..." Marcus stopped himself. He did not want to complete the sentence.
"There's only one way to find out," Shirley said, determined. "Is there a back way in?" she asked Lucy.
Lucy nodded. "Yeah. The back door leads to the kitchen."
"That's the way we're going in," Shirley said, starting for the back.
Soon, everyone was at the back of the house. Shirley looked at the back door. "I'm going in first."
Shirley was about to take another step forward when Bo grabbed her by the shoulder. "Are you nuts? There could be another booby trap here," he said with concern. He pointed out a strange box with flashing lights all over it that was attached to the door.
Shirley shook off Bo's hand and continued forward. "There isn't any," she stated before walking up to the door. Everyone watched as Shirley tested the doorknob, then she opened the door. She turned around and saw that the others were staring at her in surprise that she was alive. "Well, let's go in," she told them.
Soon, they found themselves in the kitchen. Shirley moved her flashlight around the room. She saw cobwebs on the ceiling and everything needed a good dusting more or less.
"How did you know about the back door being safe?" Lucy asked Shirley.
"The riddle," Shirley answered. "The initials 'A.N.' were the back of Clarissa Harrison, so to speak. I figured that the back way was the only way he would let us in."
"'He'?" Blake said.
"Whoever ENIGMA sent here on this assignment," Shirley answered.
Lucy closed the door, took out her comlink, and turned it on. She dialed in a number, then started talking. "Damian. It's me, Lucy. Can you read me?" All she got was static from the speakers and snow on the screen. Turning it off and putting it away, Lucy looked at Shirley. "I'm afraid we're on our own if we encounter any trouble."
"Look." Katrina pointed to someone slumped over a table.
Marcus got in for a closer look. Shirley pointed her flashlight to help him out. "It's Hiroshi," he reported. He shook him, but he did not respond.
Shirley got closer and studied Hiroshi carefully. "He's unconscious, but I don't see any signs of a blow to his head."
Bo saw the unopened Tupperware container next to Hiroshi's head. He sniffed the container. "Smells like egg rolls," he concluded.
"Looks like we can eliminate knockout drugs," Blake said. "He didn't touch his food."
Katrina walked up to the unconscious boy, then touched his head. "He's alive," she declared softly.
Bo checked Hiroshi's pulse on his neck. "She's right."
"Then wake him up, if you can," Lucy told Katrina.
"I can." Katrina placed her pale hand on Hiroshi's head and closed her eyes. Within a few seconds, a moan could be heard from Hiroshi. When Katrina removed her hand and opened her eyes, Hiroshi was conscious and he got up.
"Hey, what just happened here?" Bo asked to no one in particular.
"Hey, what took you guys?" Hiroshi asked, looking around.
"What happened to you?" Blake asked him.
"Well, I came in here to have a snack," Hiroshi began. "Next thing you know, I'm out like a light."
"Where's Bart and Susan?" Shirley asked.
"The last time I checked, they were going upstairs," Hiroshi answered. "Bart said he saw the ghost there. He tried to take a picture, but the ghost vanished just as the flash went off. He and Susan went upstairs after her. They told me to wait downstairs and go up when they called for me. I took that as my cue for snack time, so..."
Marcus shook his head. "Typical."
"Hey, it's not my fault your folks are great cooks, Marcus," Hiroshi told his friend, managing a little grin.
"We'd better go to the parlor," Shirley said, leading the way with her flashlight.
Everyone followed Shirley through the kitchen and into the parlor. The parlor was a large space with furniture covered with white sheets now turned gray due to age and cobwebs. The stairs were present as was the hallway of the second floor. A chandelier hung over the room.
"Nice place," Bo quipped. "Maybe someone should've cleaned it up in case they had company."
"Oh, but I prefer everything the way it is," someone said in a sinister voice. "It's the perfect atmosphere for this house, don't you think?"
"Hiroshi, cut it out with the creepy voices," Lucy said.
"Uh, Lucy, I didn't say that," Hiroshi said, sounding nervous.
"He didn't," Blake confirmed. "He didn't open his mouth."
"Well, he is a ventriloquist," Bo said.
"True, but that sounded too perfect for someone to be throwing his voice," Shirley pointed out.
"How correct, Miss Holmes," the voice said, chuckling evilly. "No wonder Mr. E perceives you as a threat to us."
Everyone looked around in order to find the mysterious speaker. Shirley waved her flashlight around. "Who's there?" the young detective demanded. She finally saw a figure on the other end of the room. It was walking towards the center of the parlor.
Shirley was about to shine her flashlight on the figure when he spoke again. "Oh, turn off your flashlight," he said to her. "This house has electric lights, but they were disconnected since the previous owners kept moving out."
The figure raised his hand. Shirley saw something in it that resembled a large spade. Suddenly, the chandelier lit up, illuminating the dark room. Everyone looked up, surprised.
"How...?" Lucy began to say, looking around now that she could see better.
"I've decided to reconnect the electrical wires for obvious reasons," the figure said, covering his face with the spade-shaped object. Shirley saw that it was a Chinese non-folding fan. "Welcome to the Harrison house, Shirley Holmes," he addressed the junior sleuth. "I knew you'd come."
END OF PART THIRTEEN
by HA
Shirley was stunned when she heard Lucy's news. "What do you mean Bart's in trouble?" she asked. "What happened?"
"We don't know," Lucy answered. "We lost contact with them when they were trying to call in. We're going to find out what happened and I was wondering..."
"I'll be there," Shirley told Lucy firmly. Her friend was in trouble and she felt she could not stand by and leave him. "I'll get my bike and I'll ride over to the Harrison house."
"Don't worry about transportation," Lucy said. "We're on our way in Damian's van. We picked up Bo and Blake, too. Just stay there and we'll pick you up." With that, Lucy hung up.
After putting her cell phone in her pocket, Shirley grabbed her backpack and ran down the stairs. She noticed Watson lying near the foot of the stairs. "Looks like you're guarding the house tonight," she told the basset hound, who whimpered in reply. She took out a piece of paper and wrote "Went to Blake's to get something for a class. Hope to be back soon. Shirley." She taped the note on the wall next to the door, then went outside to wait for the others. A few minutes after she locked the front door, the black van came.
Shirley ran up to the side door as it opened. Bo was there to greet her. "Family not home?" Bo asked her as she took her seat.
"Embassy function," Shirley answered as she fastened her seat belt. "What about you?" she asked Bo as he closed the door.
"Parents are doing bingo again," Bo answered. "They always come home way late. It's the talking they do with other people. I left a note saying I needed to pick up something for class from Blake."
"I did the same thing," Shirley answered as the van moved.
"Why am I the excuse guy?" Blake said half-jokingly.
"What about you?" Bo asked Blake.
"Mom's at the museum waiting for a shipment of Japanese samurai armor. Rosa went out to--get this--play bingo," Blake explained, grinning.
"So whose house did you say you were going to?" Shirley asked.
"Yours, of course," Blake answered.
As the van drove to the Harrison house, Shirley looked at her fellow passengers. Bo and Blake were sitting with her. Katrina and Marcus were sitting in the back. Lucy was riding shotgun. Damian was, of course, the driver.
"So you lost contact with Bart?" Shirley asked Lucy.
"Sadly," Lucy answered. "We can't seem to get any response from any of them."
"You mean you've been in touch with them?" Bo asked.
"Of course," Marcus said from behind. "You think we're going to send people into a haunted house without a comlink?"
"A what?" Bo asked, not recognizing the term "comlink."
"A comlink," Lucy said. "It's a device we all have in order to keep in touch with each other." She turned to Shirley as best as she could with her seat belt on and stretched her arm to her. Shirley saw an object in Lucy's hand. Shirley managed to take the object from Lucy so that she could get a look at it. "That's how we've been keeping in touch with Bart and the others," Lucy told Shirley.
Shirley examined the comlink in her hand. It was slightly wider and larger than a pocket calculator and had a retractable antenna. It had keys arranged like a cell phone and it even had the same numbers, letters, and symbols. She saw that the letter "Z" was located over the number zero instead of "OPER," not to mention that there were a number of keys with mathematical symbols. A small quartz screen with a black dot above it were located near the top. Below the screen was a tiny sound receiver and on each side of the screen was a small speaker. There were eight buttons as well, with four on each side of the comlink: three that said "1st LETTER," "2nd LETTER," and "3rd LETTER"; one that said "TRANSMIT"; one that said "SCAN"; one that said "SWITCH"; one that said "SOUND/NO SOUND"; and one that said "ON/OFF." A rectangular button labeled "DISTORT" was located on the side of the comlink. At the bottom she saw the Strangers' Club symbol. When she touched it, it became the Knight Foundation logo and the keys were more like phone keys. In addition, the eight side buttons became blank knobs of plastic.
"Nice, huh?" Marcus said, seeing that Shirley was looking at the comlink. "It's a combination of a videophone, scanner/camera, and calculator. Made from the best of the Knight Foundation's latest technology."
"So this little dot is a miniature digital camera?" Shirley asked, pointing to it.
"Yep," Marcus said. "Something the Knight Foundation's been working on. We just perfected it before they did."
"Cool," Bo said approvingly.
"Nice touch," Blake said.
"An interesting device," Shirley said, returning the comlink to Lucy.
"So why did you call us?" Bo asked, wondering why he got called at night.
"I thought you'd want to help us out with your friend," Lucy explained. "Also, as you can see, we're a little undermanned tonight," she added, pointing to Katrina and Marcus. "Most of us went on a field trip to investigate a poltergeist in Calgary, and the rest haven't come back from their cases yet."
"So where's Arthur?" Shirley asked.
"He's helping my parents out with something," Lucy replied. "He would've been with us if he wasn't busy."
"What's he helping with?" Blake asked.
"Upgrading the security system for the Knight Foundation mainframe," Lucy answered.
"Oh," Blake said, not exactly surprised.
"Besides, this is my case, remember?" Lucy said. "I haven't lost anyone before, and I'm not aiming to start now."
The van finally arrived at the Harrison house. Damian parked it on the side of the road, and everyone got off.
"Well, there it is," Lucy said, facing the Harrison house. "Somewhere in there, our friends are in trouble."
Damian lowered his red-tinted goggles so that they covered his eyes. He seemed even scarier than before. "I will stay out here just in case something goes wrong," he said.
"Okay, Damian. The rest of you, follow me," Lucy said, taking charge.
"Are you sure you want to leave him behind?" Bo asked, jabbing his thumb at Damian. "I think we'll be needing him inside the house."
"Afraid you might run into a ghost, Bo?" Blake asked, grinning.
"No," Bo denied. "Besides, someone could've gotten them. Someone who's flesh and blood."
"Well, don't worry. Ghost or no ghost, we're prepared," Lucy reassured them.
Leaving Damian behind, the others walked to the house. They stood at the small set of stairs leading to the porch and the front door. Shirley took out her flashlight and turned it on so that everyone could see better. Marcus took out a device that looked like a portable TV with a V-shaped antenna.
"What is that?" Shirley asked, pointing to Marcus' device.
"To put it simply, a ghost detector," Marcus answered. "It picks up any spectral presence and it's far superior than anything the Redington Paranormal Society ever came up with."
"You had to ask, didn't you?" Bo whispered to Shirley.
The ghost detector made a beeping noise as Marcus waved it around. "Well, I'm detecting a minute amount of spectral energy..."
Before Marcus could finish, the device froze, then it started to fizzle and smoke and sparks started coming from its sides. The heat built up to an intolerable level. "Ouch!" Marcus exclaimed as he dropped the ghost detector, which proceeded to smoke more and shoot out more sparks. Soon the ghost detector was nothing more that a piece of worthless junk. After watching the device die out, Marcus turned to the others. "Not a good sign," he said, shaking his head and holding his slightly burned hand.
"What happened?" Blake asked.
"Somehow, something in the house sent a large amount of power through the ghost detector," Marcus explained. "It fried it totally."
"That's it. We're going in," Bo said, determined. He walked up the stairs and headed for the front door. Shirley shined her flashlight on the door.
Bo was about to take another step towards the door when Shirley shouted "No!" By then, Bo had his foot up. Shirley's shout made Bo go off-balance and he was about to fall towards the door.
"I got him," Lucy said, pulling her scarf off quickly from behind her neck. Before Shirley or Blake could ask what she was doing, Lucy whipped the scarf into Bo's direction and it stretched outward at an unbelievable length. Shirley and Blake watched in amazement as the scarf wrapped itself around Bo and pulled him away from the door and off the porch. Bo landed on the ground hard in front of the others butt-first.
Lucy's scarf returned to its normal length and she rehung it around her neck. She saw the amazed looks on Shirley and Blake. "Now you know what the scarf's for," she said, flashing a smile at them.
Everyone rushed up to Bo, who got up and was now rubbing his butt. "Are you okay?" Shirley asked her best friend.
"Besides the fact that my butt hurts, I'm just dandy," Bo answered, facing Shirley. "What was that all about?"
"Look carefully at the foot of the door," Shirley said, shining her flashlight there.
Everyone looked at the illuminated spot. Blake spotted something thin and long stretched across the foot of the door. "A tripwire," he concluded.
"I'll find out what it would've triggered," Shirley said. She walked up the stairs, then looked above the door and shined her flashlight there. She saw what appeared to be an arrangement of metal Chinese dragons on the ceiling with their mouths open and facing down, then returned to her friends.
"Well?" Bo asked, rubbing his backside a little.
"I need a rock large enough to hit that tripwire," Shirley requested.
Everyone started searching for a rock that met Shirley's requirement. Katrina found a rock that did just that and showed it to Shirley. "Now what?" she asked.
Shirley looked around. "Who's got a good throwing arm?"
"I can do it," Katrina answered with a nod.
Shirley shined the flashlight where the tripwire was. "Can you hit that?"
"We'll see," Katrina answered. She walked up to the foot of the stairs and saw the tripwire thanks to Shirley's flashlight. Everyone gathered around her. Without a sound, she flung the rock at the tripwire.
Bo saw that the throw was going to be a little off its mark. "I'll go get another rock," he said. What happened next surprised him, not to mention Shirley and Blake.
The rock was going to fly over the tripwire, but just as it was going to, it fell straight down. It landed on the tripwire and it bounced off. Everyone backed up quickly when the dragons fired lasers from their mouths. The combined lasers made up a red curtain of death. After the dragons had stopped firing, Shirley climbed the steps a little and found burn marks where the lasers had hit.
"Close one," Bo said, not enjoying the thought that if he had made it to the door, he would have become instant barbecue.
Lucy heard her comlink beep and she quickly took it out of her pocket. Damian's face appeared on the screen. "I saw a bright light appear at the front. What happened?" he asked.
"Some sort of laser trap," Lucy answered. "It's been rigged at the front door so we can't go in that way."
"I am going to join you," Damian said, ready to move.
"No. We'll be fine. Just stay where you are and keep a lookout for anyone," Lucy ordered. "I don't want any unexpected company."
"As you wish," Damian said, and his face vanished from the comlink's screen.
Putting her comlink away, Lucy turned to Katrina, who was looking at the front door. "Can you...?"
Katrina shook her head. "I can't. Something's blocking me. Some sore of interference."
"Can't do what?" Blake asked.
"Well, we can't go in that way," Marcus said before Lucy or Katrina could answer Blake.
"At least we know we're dealing with someone who's still alive," Blake said.
"That's supposed to make me feel better?" Bo remarked.
Katrina closed her eyes. Shirley thought over the situation. "They're not making it any easier for us," she said.
"'They'?" Lucy asked.
Blake eyed the house, then answered for Shirley. "ENIGMA."
Lucy turned to Katrina. "Anything?"
Katrina opened her eyes. "I can't tell," she answered softly. "I can't feel anything. Something is interfering."
Bo stared at Katrina. "What is she talking about?"
"We don't know if they're alive or..." Marcus stopped himself. He did not want to complete the sentence.
"There's only one way to find out," Shirley said, determined. "Is there a back way in?" she asked Lucy.
Lucy nodded. "Yeah. The back door leads to the kitchen."
"That's the way we're going in," Shirley said, starting for the back.
Soon, everyone was at the back of the house. Shirley looked at the back door. "I'm going in first."
Shirley was about to take another step forward when Bo grabbed her by the shoulder. "Are you nuts? There could be another booby trap here," he said with concern. He pointed out a strange box with flashing lights all over it that was attached to the door.
Shirley shook off Bo's hand and continued forward. "There isn't any," she stated before walking up to the door. Everyone watched as Shirley tested the doorknob, then she opened the door. She turned around and saw that the others were staring at her in surprise that she was alive. "Well, let's go in," she told them.
Soon, they found themselves in the kitchen. Shirley moved her flashlight around the room. She saw cobwebs on the ceiling and everything needed a good dusting more or less.
"How did you know about the back door being safe?" Lucy asked Shirley.
"The riddle," Shirley answered. "The initials 'A.N.' were the back of Clarissa Harrison, so to speak. I figured that the back way was the only way he would let us in."
"'He'?" Blake said.
"Whoever ENIGMA sent here on this assignment," Shirley answered.
Lucy closed the door, took out her comlink, and turned it on. She dialed in a number, then started talking. "Damian. It's me, Lucy. Can you read me?" All she got was static from the speakers and snow on the screen. Turning it off and putting it away, Lucy looked at Shirley. "I'm afraid we're on our own if we encounter any trouble."
"Look." Katrina pointed to someone slumped over a table.
Marcus got in for a closer look. Shirley pointed her flashlight to help him out. "It's Hiroshi," he reported. He shook him, but he did not respond.
Shirley got closer and studied Hiroshi carefully. "He's unconscious, but I don't see any signs of a blow to his head."
Bo saw the unopened Tupperware container next to Hiroshi's head. He sniffed the container. "Smells like egg rolls," he concluded.
"Looks like we can eliminate knockout drugs," Blake said. "He didn't touch his food."
Katrina walked up to the unconscious boy, then touched his head. "He's alive," she declared softly.
Bo checked Hiroshi's pulse on his neck. "She's right."
"Then wake him up, if you can," Lucy told Katrina.
"I can." Katrina placed her pale hand on Hiroshi's head and closed her eyes. Within a few seconds, a moan could be heard from Hiroshi. When Katrina removed her hand and opened her eyes, Hiroshi was conscious and he got up.
"Hey, what just happened here?" Bo asked to no one in particular.
"Hey, what took you guys?" Hiroshi asked, looking around.
"What happened to you?" Blake asked him.
"Well, I came in here to have a snack," Hiroshi began. "Next thing you know, I'm out like a light."
"Where's Bart and Susan?" Shirley asked.
"The last time I checked, they were going upstairs," Hiroshi answered. "Bart said he saw the ghost there. He tried to take a picture, but the ghost vanished just as the flash went off. He and Susan went upstairs after her. They told me to wait downstairs and go up when they called for me. I took that as my cue for snack time, so..."
Marcus shook his head. "Typical."
"Hey, it's not my fault your folks are great cooks, Marcus," Hiroshi told his friend, managing a little grin.
"We'd better go to the parlor," Shirley said, leading the way with her flashlight.
Everyone followed Shirley through the kitchen and into the parlor. The parlor was a large space with furniture covered with white sheets now turned gray due to age and cobwebs. The stairs were present as was the hallway of the second floor. A chandelier hung over the room.
"Nice place," Bo quipped. "Maybe someone should've cleaned it up in case they had company."
"Oh, but I prefer everything the way it is," someone said in a sinister voice. "It's the perfect atmosphere for this house, don't you think?"
"Hiroshi, cut it out with the creepy voices," Lucy said.
"Uh, Lucy, I didn't say that," Hiroshi said, sounding nervous.
"He didn't," Blake confirmed. "He didn't open his mouth."
"Well, he is a ventriloquist," Bo said.
"True, but that sounded too perfect for someone to be throwing his voice," Shirley pointed out.
"How correct, Miss Holmes," the voice said, chuckling evilly. "No wonder Mr. E perceives you as a threat to us."
Everyone looked around in order to find the mysterious speaker. Shirley waved her flashlight around. "Who's there?" the young detective demanded. She finally saw a figure on the other end of the room. It was walking towards the center of the parlor.
Shirley was about to shine her flashlight on the figure when he spoke again. "Oh, turn off your flashlight," he said to her. "This house has electric lights, but they were disconnected since the previous owners kept moving out."
The figure raised his hand. Shirley saw something in it that resembled a large spade. Suddenly, the chandelier lit up, illuminating the dark room. Everyone looked up, surprised.
"How...?" Lucy began to say, looking around now that she could see better.
"I've decided to reconnect the electrical wires for obvious reasons," the figure said, covering his face with the spade-shaped object. Shirley saw that it was a Chinese non-folding fan. "Welcome to the Harrison house, Shirley Holmes," he addressed the junior sleuth. "I knew you'd come."
END OF PART THIRTEEN
