Chapter 19: Case Closed

Back at the underground subway station, the rest of the Clan, now with their father, waited anxiously for their eldest brother and eldest sister's return. Much to their great relief, they soon saw Henry and Suzie riding back on their handcar.

"Hooray!" the eight kids cheered. "Hooray for Henry!"

"Are you two all right?" Charlie asked his eldest son and daughter.

As Chu-Chu leapt into Suzie's arms to lick her face, Henry replied, "Fine, Pop, and that's more than I can say for Tony Vito. Believe me, I don't think he'll be coming after us again."

Knowing what his son meant, Charlie placed a hand on his shoulder. "You needn't blame yourself, Henry," the caring father assured. "Tony Vito himself was responsible for making his own fate. The important thing is that everyone is safe and that this case has finally been closed."

"Yep," Flip grinned, "this case is officially wrapped up. Right, Scooter?"

"Right, Chief," the loyal little brother agreed.

The protective father had more to say, "And I also hope you all now finally realize how perilous detective work can really be."

"Yeah," Anne nodded. "It's…awesome!"

"I'll say!" Stanley agreed.

"I can't wait 'til the next caper!" said Flip.

"Me too!" Scooter agreed.

"Same here!" said Alan.

"Indubitably," Tom nodded.

As the ten kids chattered on about how much they enjoyed their first adventure, their father again sighed, "Aiya."

An hour later, the police had surrounded the Marigold Mountain Inn. Outside, the hypnotized Chinese were free from their mind control and ready to return home, the masked henchmen, as well as the minions working in all of the hotels and inns of Independence, were all arrested, and the treacherous Amelia was wrapped in a straitjacket, on her way to a juvenile detention center.

"A female culprit," Tom thought to himself as he watched Amelia be taken away. "Must be one of those occasional flukes. I highly doubt this'll happen again."

Anne, who only heard half of what her younger brother said, asked, "Doubt what will happen again?"

Not wanting to earn his sister's wrath again, Tom stammered, "Huh? Oh, uh…uh…n-nothing."

"Oh, Chan!" a voice said. "There you are!"

The Chan family turned and found the mustached Sergeant Barnwell coming towards them.

"I'm glad you and your family are safe," he waved.

"Pop!" Flip sputtered. "Don't you know who that is?"

"Indeed, Flip," the calm father answered. "This is Sergeant Barnwell."

"Why aren't you surprised?" asked the eldest Chan son. "Isn't he the cop who used to work for Vito?"

"Not quite, Henry," Charlie corrected. "That deceiving officer was named Sergeant Ralph Barnwell. This fine fellow here is his younger brother, Sergeant Victor Barnwell."

"His brother?" the Chan Clan said, greatly surprised.

"But then why was he always following us?" asked Mimi.

Her father further explained, "Being that I was uncertain how long I'd be gone, I asked another policeman from Independence to watch over all of you before I left."

"And I was more than happy to do so," Victor Barnwell added. "It was the least I could do to atone for my treacherous brother's actions."

"Gee, Sergeant," Anne apologized, "we're sorry."

"Yeah," said Nancy. "We shouldn't have jumped to conclusions like that."

"Yeah," Flip agreed, "but don't worry. We'll never do that again. You can count on it."

Charlie Chan couldn't help but roll his eyes after hearing this. "Why do I doubt that?" he muttered to himself.