Chapter 10 By the artist formally known as Borris Yeltson

Velma picked up the note and walked down the stairs to the hotel lobby. She tried figuring out what the hidden message was, but even for her superior intellect, was having some trouble. She needed help.
"Excuse me, Mr. Sunderland?" Velma asked as she stood at the hotel counter. James had been playing pong on an Atari on a television that had been hidden behind a painting for some reason. He stood up and turned around to face Velma.
"Please, Mr. Sunderland is my father. You can call me Mr. JAMES Sunderland." James said with a smug grin. Velma adjusted her glasses.
"Not gonna happen."
"Bah, anyways, James is fine. What do you need?"
"Well, I was reading this entertaining Dan Brown novel in my room..."
"Oh, his Crimson Ceremony series? I don't get the plot but it's well written."
"Yeah, anyways, this message fell out." Velma said handing James the note. He read it out loud.
"dear DADDY. im Having a fun time. aunty dahlia has shown mE alL sorts of fun rituals and Powerful spells. Missing you, chEryl." James scratched his chin in thought then a serious look came to his face.
"It's obvious really.." James said almost in a whisper.
"What's the hidden message?"
"It says...Dear, I'm all sorts of missing you. It's OBVIOUSLY...a message from my dead wife!" James said slamming both hands on the counter top.
"Are you sure? I could've sworn it said Daddy help me..."
"NONSENSE!" James shouted running towards the back of the counter area knocking on a door and opening it.
"Mr. Valtiel, I'm taking off early, I got another letter from my dead wife." James said to a man dressed in ritualistic white robes with what appeared to be bandages sewn together on his head.
"Xysdpalta." Valtiel replied waving his hand dismissively before turning a valve that was sitting on his desk.
"Who was that?" Velma asked as James came out from behind the counter.
"Oh, that's Mr. Valtiel, he's the Hotel manager. Odd fellow, but the pay is good." James said as they ran out of the hotel. The woman in the car outside removed her pullover revealing a dark red long-sleeved shirt, a miniskirt, and a pair of boots. She reached for where a katana had been only to discover a banana.
"Damn monkey!" She shouted as a horrific demon monkey hopped out the passenger seat window of her car and ran off into the fog. She sighed heavily.
"Time to improvise." She climbed out of the car and almost knocked Velma over, while James just stared in shock.
"It's..you...you look just like...just like..."
"Your dead wife, Mary?" The woman said with a sadistic smile. James shook his head.
"No, she was much cuter than you, taller too. And her hair didn't look like a dead lobster mixed in with a nightmare that was set on fire." James said scratching his chin. The woman pulled out a mirror and looked at her hair self consciously before narrowing her eyes and glaring at James.
"You idiot, it's me, MA-"
"Maria!" James said suddenly with some slight enthusiasm.
"..Excuse me?"
"Yeah, Maria! That's who you look like. She worked over at Heaven's Night."
"..Heaven's night...isn't that a stri-"
"Orphanage." James said cutting her off abruptly. Velma looked somewhat confused.
"A strip orphanage? That's got to be illegal."
"Uhh...no no no, not a strip orphanage, it was a...Strip...MALL Orphanage. That's how they made...money and... stuff. Yeah." James said laughing nervously. "Maria" gave James a stone cold glare.
"Hm. Enterprising." Velma said adjusting her glasses again, "Anyways, pleased to meet you Maria. I'm Velma and my friends and I are staying at the Hotel for the time being, due to the fog."
"I see." Maria said crossing her arms, "Oh yes, James, since we haven't seen each other in so long...I have a gift for you..." Maria said backing up to her car and reaching into the window while still staring at James.
"DIE, MURDERER!" She shouted stabbing James with the banana. The banana exploded on contact ruining James's shirt.
"Oh dammit, Mr. Valtiel's going to kill me!" James said despairingly. Maria blinked and grit her teeth, her left eye twitching.
"DAMN MONKEY!" She shouted throwing what was left of the banana into the fog. Velma raised an eyebrow.
"..Monkey?"
"Oh, on the way into town I saw this poor wounded animal on the side of the road so I picked it up to take it to the vet in town. It turns out it wasn't wounded, it was just an undead demon monkey."
"Oh, I hear they're advancing northwards from the South American rain forests." Velma said matter-of-factly. Maria blinked.
"Uh...yeah, gotta be it...anyways...what are you two doing?" Maria said as she tried to think up another plan to kill James.
"I found a letter from James's dead wife in a Dan Brown novel-"
"The Crimson Ceremony series?"
"Yeah, anyways, it seemed to have a code message in it, I couldn't figure it out so James deciphered it for me, and it seems it was from his dead wife."
"What? But I never left a note in a Dan Brown novel.." Maria said out loud thinking to herself, suddenly freezing when she thought about what she said. Velma adjusted her glasses, for what seemed to be the 10th time in the past 5 minutes.
"What did you just say?" Velma said crossing her arms.
"Uh...I can explain that you see-"
"The poor girl's delirious from the confusion obviously." James said hoisting Maria over his shoulder, who proceeded to start kicking and biting him.
"The mere thought of a deceased loved one must have made her feel a sense of longing and regret as well as depression, making her believe for a moment she was Mary."
"Uh, yeah, that's it." Maria said, her eyes darting back and forth nervously. Velma thought for a moment.
"The most convoluted answer...so it must be correct. Let's carry on. Maybe we can find some clues to her whereabouts. Come on James, Maria." Velma said as the three of them walked off into the fog as strange music began to fill the air, as Joe Romersa crawled out of a window and sat on a balcony above Maria's parked car, and began to sing.

Heeeee loves ravioli...and spaghetti sauce...
Couldn't eat all of it...as it was too hot...