A/N: Whoo! What a chapter! Now I know you growing fans out there would like me to update everyday, but I'm trying to keep the updates to about once a week. I'm already five chapters ahead, and I even made an outline so I know exactly where I want this story to go and won't get plagued by writers block! I really think you'll like this chapter too. And the next chapter will be my first flashback! No Jack though...not yet...
That being said, I have an annoucement to make. To celebrate my upcoming one year anniversary (and because I really want it) I am having a fan-art contest. No prizes just acclaim. The complete rules are on my profile page, but in short, here's what I want you fan-artists to do. Complete a piece of fan art for ANY of the stories I have written for this website. No smut please, any media as long as I can see it on the computer screen, email it to me with a private message by AUGUST 14th, 2006! The winners (which will probably be anyone who submits something) will be announced on AUGUST 25, 2006. I'm giving you two months to do this people so I hope you enter! Please visit my profile page for the complete rules and hey, I'd appreciate it if you drop me a private message telling me to keep an eye out for your fan-art. : ) So have fun with the contest. I'll try to update on other stories soon to let more people know about the contest.
peace, love and lipgloss,
Mlle.Fox
"Demetrius Guttiseppi…he served the Royal family as a palace guard for over twenty five years. What he was doing here instead of Renaldi palace escapes me. I heard he was about to take an early retirement." Joe said to the coroner who had lifted the white sheet of the now pale stiff corpse. Clarisse said mournfully as the coroner lowered the sheet,
"What a waste." They had arrived a little over an hour ago when they heard of the murder. The problem was the press beat them to Windrose by a half hour. Now Mia was outside doing damage control and Clarisse and Joe were organizing the palace staff to cooperate with Mr. Monk and the Genovian police. Joe kept his eye on Capt. Stottlemeyer. It had not escaped his notice that the American policeman was efficient and giving his expert advice when the Genovian superior officers could not. Joe's thoughts were interrupted when Mia barged in the front hall and groaned,
"GAAHHH! Finally got the vultures off me. Opps! Was the vulture joke in poor taste?" Clarisse gave her granddaughter a comforting smile,
"Well Darling a man is dead…however I think he would understand you did not intend to insult him by using one of your Americanisms." Mia nodded then looked wide eyed at the figure under the sheet,
"Is that…?"
"A palace guard by the name of Demetrius Guttiseppi, Majesty. Mr. Monk said he died in the line of duty." Joe said lifting the sheet to show Mia.
"EW!" Mia exclaimed grossed out by the idea of seeing a corpse.
"Now…that…Mia Dear…that I think Mr. Guttiseppi would take offence of." Clarisse told Mia dryly as Capt. Stottlemeyer came up to the group.
"Excuse me Your Majesty, Mr. Monk asks you meet him upstairs in the Private Gallery." he told them.
"Thank you Capt. Stottlemeyer." Clarisse said to him.
"The gallery? Isn't that the crime scene?" Mia asked.
"Yes it is Your Majesty." Joe said ushering her along.
"Isn't that where Mr. Guttiseppi died?" Mia asked her voice an octave higher.
"Right again." Clarisse said.
"Isn't the gallery right next to my bedroom?" Mia asked as they climbed the stairs.
"Yes it is Mia." Clarisse told her.
"OY!" Mia exclaimed.
"If you have ill feelings toward the place, Majesty, one can only guess Mr. Guttiseppi did not hold it in high regard." Joe said. The whole castle had been in a fury of cleaning to prepare for Mia's arrival. Now it was a fury of investigation as police and security combed the area, searching for any clue to help them solve the crime. They entered the main gallery where Monk and Natalie were examining the revealed secret passage in the far left hand corner of the room.
"Good heavens! What is that?" exclaimed Clarisse seeing the secret passage.
"You mean you didn't know a secret passage was there?" the Captain asked her.
"Why no! I use to play in this castle when I was a little girl and I remember a lot of good hiding places but I have never seen this before." Clarisse said walking over to the door and looking in.
"Where does it go?" asked Mia.
"Straight back outside to the beach. The killer is long gone." Monk told her.
"Kill-er? As in only one?" asked Mia."
"I only saw one climbing in the window." Monk said pointing to the open stained glass window.
"The guy came in board daylight? Someone's cocky!" Mia said as Capt. Stottlemeyer looked over the windows lining the right hand wall and their designs. There were five windows, all depicting life on the sea. One showed a band of pirates lead by their captain, and when the light hit it a certain way they looked like they turned into skeletons. Another was of a sea monster overtaking a ship, another of sailors fighting off mermaids and Sirens, and another one about a battle at sea with Chinese ships. The one in the middle was of one black ship with black sails. And something was very familiar about that ship. The Captain then noticed all the stained glass had something familiar in each of the corners.
"Monk…look at the windows…see something familiar?" he said to Monk. Adrian looked and saw in each of the windows,
"13, 46, 29, 53, 36! The numbers on the piece of paper!"
"The numbers must have something to do with this room!" Mia exclaimed.
"But what?" asked Natalie.
"Save the Pirate Queen…these windows all tell stories about sailing and adventure on the sea…a black ship with the black sails…that was part of the coat of arms. There are two people buried in the cemetery by the name of Turner…they had the coat of arms on their graves and their inscriptions both proclaimed loud and proud that they were…pirates…" Monk said as the pieces began to come together.
"Mr. Monk I know there's a point floating around in there. Any chance it's gonna come to the surface?" Mia asked. Monk turned to her and said,
"Your Majesty…I think this mystery…all has to do with your ancestor's association with pirates."
"Pirates? That is ridiculous! The Renaldis were never pirates, it was not dignified!" Clarisse protested.
"But Your Majesty…look at all the evidence! The ships, the art, the shield, and Guttiseppi's last words…"Save the Pirate Queen…Minnie." Monk told her.
"Minnie?" asked Mia.
"Mignonette…" whispered Clarisse in understanding. Monk nodded and said,
"Guttiseppi had the coat of arms in the form of a pin. I think he must have belonged to some kind of…secret organization meant to protect the truth about Mignonette's past. He knew the secret…and he got killed for it."
"Which means the murderer knows the secret too…" Capt. Stottlemeyer said.
"But maybe…maybe the murderer is looking for proof of the secret." Randy suggested.
"I think so too…That's why he broke into your offices, Your Majesty. He needed the blueprints to Windrose so he could figure out where the proof would most likely be…in this room…" Monk said.
"Wow…this is getting more Nancy Drew by the second." Mia observed.
"But why should the murderer be concerned with a Renaldi possibly being a pirate? Other royals have certainly been worst." Clarisse asked.
"True…but…I don't know what the motive could be…but if we find out the secret…I think we will." Monk said. Then he focused on the portrait of Mignonette and approached it as the others all watched him curiously. He took out a handkerchief and began to run his covered hand all over the edges of the frame.
"Mr. Monk? What are you doing?" asked Joe.
"Mignonette is in the middle of this secret…maybe the answer lies with her painting." Monk said getting on his knee to run his hand along the bottom of the painting that touched the floor. As he stood again to come up the left hand side of the frame, a small click could be heard. Everyone watched in awe as Monk pulled and the portrait swung on a hidden hinge revealing an oak door with a crude lock on the front made of five dials all with various numbers, five inlaid sparkling diamonds circling them.
"Another hidden door! What's next? A penguin dancing with a chimney sweep?" Clarisse asked sarcastically.
"Grandma! Let Mr. Monk think!" Mia told her grandmother. Suddenly, Monk pulled out his copy of the shield and numbers and looked at the lock as Natalie asked him,
"Mr. Monk? What is it?" asked Natalie.
"Natalie…13, 46, 29, 53, 36…it is a lock combination! This lock combination! Try it!" Monk told her handing her the paper.
"Why do I have to try it?" asked Natalie.
"Well I don't know who touched it last." explained Monk as if it were obvious. Natalie rolled her eyes and sighed, approaching the door.
"Okay…here we go…13…right…46…left…29…right…53…left…and…36 right!" Natalie said turning the dials on the lock. A loud click was heard and Joe stepped forward saying,
"Allow me…Capt. Stottlemeyer? Lt. Disher? Your assistance please?" The three came forward and pushed, the door creaking open, cobwebs and dust flying. They all peered inside and the light from the gallery revealed a dusty old bedroom. The décor was nautical, masculine and various shades of blue, a four poster canopy bed with ratted muslin hanging down. Trunks, barrels, crates were stacked high amongst the cobwebs and covered paintings and furniture littered the room like white ghosts of long ago.
"Wow…Hellooo Nancy Drew!" Mia exclaimed stepping into the room.
"Careful Dear…" Joe said to Clarisse helping her over the threshold.
"What is this place?" asked Natalie looking around. Randy went over to what looked like and door and pulled it open. More light entered the room as the other room was revealed to be…
"My bedroom!" Mia exclaimed wide eyed.
"That door must have been there for hundreds of years and nobody knew it." Stottlemeyer observed noting the side of the Mia's bedroom looked exactly like the wall. In fact, another portrait of Mignonette, only smaller, hung on the wall.
"Well…somebody must have lived here once…" Natalie said as Monk pulled open an armoire.
"Men's clothes…this was a man's bedroom." he said. Clarisse pulled off a cloth on one of the paintings only to find herself looking into a pair of intense brown eyes.
"Perhaps it was him!" Clarisse said as Adrian came over to examine the painting. The man had a golden brown tan, long, thick black hair woven in dreadlocks and beads, a thin mustache and a beard ending in two small plaits, a red bandanna wrapped around his forehead and he wore Asian silks cut in a Western style. His face was angular with high cheekbones and impossibly handsome.
"Wow…what a fox!" Mia exclaimed appreciatively.
"Perhaps he was a fox in the intellectual content as well." Joe said.
"Mr. Monk, do you think this man could have been a pirate?" asked Clarisse.
"Well he certainly looks like a pirate would look…"Monk said.
"Hey! Maybe the legend about Mignonette's lover is true!" Randy exclaimed.
"Oh no…not that old ghost story about the merchant sea captain!" Clarisse groaned.
"Excuse me Your Majesty but don't they say that behind every legend is a small ounce of truth?" Randy asked.
"But they guy looks more like a pirate than a merchant sailor." Stottlemeyer said.
"But what about…"
Mia stayed out of the argument and looked around the room. She scolded herself for not knowing more about her family's history. She felt she had no place to take place in the argument. Sometimes she hated being young and inexperienced! She doubted herself a lot. How was she going to be queen of a country for the rest of her life when she wasn't one hundred percent sure she knew what she was doing? Suddenly, her eyes stopped on a black mahogany writing desk. The desk seemed to call to her as she stepped closer. It was covered in sea charts and maps and years of dust. But what really caught her attention, was the thick leather book with gold leaf embossed in multiple filigree and design, an ornate letter G the centerpiece. The book had a lock on it, the key by its side. The key was old, and it looked to be made of solid gold. Apparently, the chain attached to it indicated someone wore it around their neck once. Mia looked over at the small portrait of Mignonette hanging on the hidden door leading to her bedroom. The portrait featured Mignonette in a dark blue gown, and only from the waist up, but hanging from her neck was a golden key.
Mia picked up the key and the book with shaking hands. She inserted the key into the lock and it fit perfectly, opening the lock with a small click. She slowly opened the book and looked at the first page,
'To Whom It May Concern,
I leave this diary as a record of my life, starting from the death of my beloved father, King Gerald the Second, (God bless King Gerald). This diary marks the beginning of my reign as Queen Mignonette Amelia Renaldi, Twenty-fourth ruler of the Kingdom of Genovia. I pray the finder of this diary is one of mine relations, for only blood can be trusted with such a secret. To whoever shall find this testament, take heed. What thou art about to read art mine private thoughts, my feelings, my emotions but more importantly my adventures with one extraordinary, wonderful and infuriating man. The one and only Capt. Jack Sparrow, captain of the pirate ship The Black Pearl. Do not judge mine actions, gentle Reader, for if thou shalt learn one lesson from my story, it is this,
A pirate can also be a good man
Ye be warned.
Respectfully Yours,
Her Royal Majesty, Mignonette Amelia Renaldi
July 28th, 1738'
"Mia? Darling, what do you have there?" Clarisse asked noticing her granddaughter.
"Mignonette's dairy…Mr. Monk…I think this is the secret we have all been looking for." Mia answered.
To say the least, everyone was shocked at Mia's revelation. Monk had crossed over immediately to look over her shoulder at the old diary, soon followed by everyone else. Mia then ordered everyone to meet her downstairs in the library, where she would read aloud from it there. She exited the room first, the diary clutched to her chest. Clarisse sighed knowing this must be upsetting for the girl. First the robberies, now a murder all over some colossal secret having to do with one of her relatives.
Everyone met her downstairs as she ordered, seeing Mia just get off the telephone.
"Mr. Monk I just ordered a team of archeologists from Genovia University to come examine the room…and I ordered the Royal Guard to come watch it twenty four-seven." she said quietly.
"That was very wise Mia." Clarisse told her.
"Thanks…if everyone can sit down…I guess we can start reading this thing to learn the secret as soon as possible. It's funny…Grandma look …it looks just like my diary." Mia told her.
"Yes…it was probably made by the same royal book binders that your father got your diary from. Well…the same company at least." Clarisse said sitting down. Mia came around the desk and held up the book to Clarisse,
"Grandma? Would you read it? You're her relative too." Mia asked. Clarisse simply nodded and took the book from her. Mia went to sit down on the couch by Natalie and Adrian. Joe stood by Clarisse's chair, Stottlemeyer stood, leaning against the wall, and Randy sat in a chair opposite the Queen Mother.
"Wow…this is so weird…it's like something led us to finding that room and that book." Natalie whispered to Monk.
"Yeah…the murderer." Monk said staying focused on the case at hand. Clarisse slipped on her glasses and began to read,
"Let's start at the very beginning…'March 3rd, in the year of our Lord 1678…Father died last week. The streets are filled with mourners crying, "God Save King Gerald…God Bless Queen Mignonette!" All my heart hears is 'My Papa is dead." Last night, I heard Genevieve crying out for him in her sleep and I rushed straight to her bedchambers…"
The room seemed to fad away into mist as the years almost rolled back in time, taking the eager listeners to that night so long ago at the Renaldi palace in Pyrus…