Mr. Monk meets the Inventor
On the Road Again
"Turn left here," said Monk, reading a map of the city.
Sharona turned left at the next light.
"You missed the street," Monk objected. "I meant that side street, over there."
"Why did you wait 'til the last moment?" Sharona remarked.
They went around the block and were again on the road to Gyro Gearloose's barn.
"What's this guy have to do with the case?" asked Disher, perplexed.
"He invented Glomgold's boring machines," Monk explained.
"If they're boring," quipped Disher, "why bother asking about them."
Disher received an eye roll from Sharona, however, Monk took the question seriously.
"Digging machines," he explained. "The money bin isn't protected well from attack underneath. The money bin doesn't even have a basement. If you could find a way through the floor of the vault, you'd could possibly find a way to remove Mr. McDuck's fortune."
At Gyro's Barn
Gyro's shop was an old wooden shed, atop a hill at the very edge of the city. Various inventions of practical and impractical purposes laid around the hill.
Sharona sighed, no sooner had Monk left the Volvo, than he began straightening out Gyro's quasi-junkyard.
"Adrian," she begged.
"Just a . . . moment," Monk responded, righting a toppled automatic dressing machine.
They were stopped before they could argue about it, by the appearance of Gyro Gearloose, a lanky bespeckled bird with red hair.
"Hi," he said, distractedly, not even looking at his visitors. "You caught me just in time to see my newest and latest invention. The multi-purpose automatic electric robotic cleaner. MPAERC for short."
A strange iron contraption followed him out of the barn, sporting a dozen brooms, mops, wash clothes, and hedge clippers.
"All I do is push this button," explained Gyro, pushing a red button marked "The Works."
The machine wheeled around at lightning speed, polishing, pushing, cutting, and righting anything crooked, upside down, or sideways.
"IT works," announced Gyro, proudly.
"It's amazing," Sharona complimented, approvingly.
Monk was amazed. Delighted. Astounded. It was the invention of the century. The millennium.
"Where can I get one," asked Monk, momentarily forgetting the case of the missing cash.
"You can't," sighed Gyro. "Mr. McDuck doesn't want me to build any more robots because my first robot . . . Armstrong . . . nearly took over the world, and my giant construction robots were stolen by Ma Beagle and the Beagle Boys. But I don't see . . . ."
He was interrupted by Disher.
"Mmffrmfmmm," tried Disher.
The robot had attacked him, and was rubbing him as if he had fallen into a dumpster.
"Needs work," groaned Gyro.
He pushed the button again, to the great relief of Disher.
Disher spat the soap from his mouth.
The four of them went inside, and went through the usual procedure. Introducing themselves, shaking hands, and Sharona giving Monk a wipe to clean his hands.
Monk couldn't help himself. He had to straighten the furniture, and touch every single invention.
"We're working for Mr. McDuck," Sharona explained.
"What about?" asked Gyro.
"It's confidential," Monk explained, apologetically.
"What do you know about these boring machines?" asked Disher.
"My inventions are not boring," objected Gyro, surprised at the question.
"We mean the diamond mind boring machines," Sharona put in."
"Oh, them," said Gyro, relieved. "I built them for Flintheart Glomgold. They can dig ten miles deep underground, at a speed of 20 mph. They can bore through solid rock as easily as through sand. They'll revolutionize the diamond industry. Best of all, they're theft-proof. You have to activate the 15 digit code by remote control in order to allow them to start - and you can stop them the same way - instantly. With these machines, nothing can go wrong."
"Is it possible someone could use them in Duckburg, for a robbery?" asked Monk.
"No," smiled Gyro. "I only made seven, and they're in South Africa. I just heard they were still there."
Gyro showed them a Capetown newspaper from a two week old paper. There was a feature on his revolutionary new gadget, and how Glomgold was using it to great effect.
Monk eyed the paper very closely.
"Couldn't they have souped their engines up," proposed Disher. "And sped over here."
"That's possible," admitted Gyro. "But you'd know they were here. They kick up a cloud of dust a mile high, and get dirt over everything."
"Wipe, wipe," Monk demanded.
Sharona handed him the whole case.
"Couldn't," asked Monk, once he had recovered from the idea, "they have used an earlier prototype of your cleaning device. And by the way, once you find a seller and get it perfected, can I purchase one?"
"Sure," said Gyro, amiably, taking note of Monk's eagerness. "I'll even give you this one once I have it done. But this is the first prototype, I haven't made any others."
Monk tried again.
"Have you made any digging devices before this?'
"Not with anyone else knowing," remarked Gyro. "Mr. McDuck has nothing to fear.
"How's that?" asked Disher.
Gyro Gearloose had taken all three of them by surprise.
"There's nothing around . . . besides these boring machines . . . that can break through the bottom of the bin, now that it's been reinforced. And you can't get the machines within 40 miles of the bin, without Mr. McDuck knowing. Mr. McDuck's money is perfectly safe."
Sharona, Monk, and Disher said their goodbyes, and left the abnormally astute Gyro Gearloose.
"Where do we go now?" asked Sharona, as they boarded the Volvo.
"El Capitan?" tried Disher.
"He hasn't been heard since he left for South America," Monk answered.
"Yeah," admitted Disher. "Besides the geezer's only MO is to get the Treasure of the Golden Suns. He's been after it long enough."
"How long?" asked Sharona.
"Try 400 years," Disher answered.
"He's crazy," said Monk, dismissively.
"As defective as you," retorted Disher.
"Worse than Ambrose," Monk answered back. "He can't possibly . . . ."
"Forget it," groaned Sharona. "All that matters is he didn't do it. So who did?"
"I don't have the answer," Monk admitted. "I'm 85 percent sure the Beagle Boys and Glomgold are involved, and so is that Ma Beagle impersonator. Find her and you should find the money, and the key to the entire robbery."
"How'll we do that."
"We'll go over the files of the Duckburg police, and investigate everyone who ever tried to steal Mr. McDuck's money, or tried to disrupt McDuck or his business."
"Didn't the nephews already do that?" asked Disher.
"You and Disher do it," Sharona told him. "I have a date."
"What about the deadline?" asked Disher.
"One evening," Sharona insisted.
"With who?" asked Disher.
"The pilot," answered Monk.
"You got to be kidding."
"I'm not," said Sharona.