After a wide scale inferno at Brendam Docks, overturning Cranky, Carly and Big Mickey, and capsizing a tramper full of munitions, Thomas was taken to the Steamworks to have his buffers replaced. When he arrived, he was turned round on the turntable to be checked over…he could see the Fat Controller standing there, shaking slightly after hearing such frightening news. Then Thomas's eyes suddenly fell upon Ryan's battered and crippled form. He was still unconscious from his fall into Calles Cavern, but luckily, he was still mendable and would eventually return to service.
"Good Heavens, Thomas," gasped Victor. "To say you were brave could not be more of an understatement. You surely saved everyone at the docks through what you did."
"Thank you, Victor," Thomas groaned from the scar on his eye. Then he suddenly heard Emily's whistle as she came rushing in in a desperate state after she had heard the news that morning.
"Thomas! Thomas, where are you?!" she cried as she stopped right by the turntable.
"I'm right here, Emily," said Thomas. Emily looked and gaped as she looked at the damage he was dealt. After looking at the black burns on his sides and his sooty face, she shuddered when she saw the scar.
"Oh…dear God, Thomas!" she gasped. "You're alive! Thank goodness, my star!" She then took a deep breath, then let off a hiss of steam in relief.
"Well, Emily," said Victor. "It's nothing short of a miracle that Thomas escaped alive with such little damage in the end."
"I'm ever-so thankful for Edward finding and bringing you back, Thomas," said the Fat Controller. "Now…please excuse me…" And he walked out of the Steamworks.
"But Thomas…" Emily said…then she squealed with utmost joy. "I'm so happy you're alive! Had I lost the love of my life just after losing Lawrence…I couldn't possibly live on alone!"
"Well, I'm right here, alive and well, Emily…except for my repairs," said Thomas. "I couldn't leave my friends in danger. I know my decision was impulsive, reckless and deadly…but I never would have needed to take that risk…if it weren't for General Malcolm's incredibly dangerous and betraying decision to transport both fuel and munitions from that ship at the same time! If he just let us work as we could, that NEVER would have happened!"
"Well, where is that General?!" Emily huffed. "I don't care if he's a general; I'm going to steam him up! Pardon the expression."
"I appreciate your feelings for me, Emily, but that is really not necessary," said Thomas. "The court has ordered him on probation and to be reconditioned. If he doesn't cooperate…they will demote him…maybe even fire him from the military."
"Oh. Never mind," said Emily. At that moment, Victor rolled up beside Thomas.
"A little bad news, Thomas," he said. "There are no spare buffers at the moment. Until a new set is made and sent here, you'll have to wait here."
"Hmm. Alright," said Thomas. Soon, workmen arrived to start what work they could do on Thomas, while Emily stayed a little while with him. Some of them worked to clean the soot off, some checked his burns, and two special workmen tended to the scar over his eye, touching it carefully with a cloth soaked in water.
"Does it hurt, Thomas?" asked Emily.
"Not very much, Emily," said Thomas. "It'll heal in good time. But I still can't help but wonder…what caused that inferno to begin with? They just suddenly caught fire with no warning...what if Emma's words are true?"
"Do you mean our conspiracy theory we all had together?" asked Emily.
"Yes…it must be what she said to me. This was certainly a deadly event…"
Emily agreed with Thomas, but then had to leave to help the other engines to clear away the debris from Brendam Docks. But soon, she'd fall upon a most unexpected event…and an answer to why she lost Lawrence so suddenly.
The Fat Controller, meanwhile had stopped by his doctor's office and was talking to Dr. Frederick. His mind was in a terrible state after nearly losing Thomas and all three of his Brendam cranes. Dr. Frederick, of course, had been on board the Express when Seymour Murphy murdered Lawrence Rider and confirmed his cause of death with Phelps and Gallagher.
"I just HAD to see you, Dr. Frederick!" he gasped. "This is all just too much for me to take!"
"I see," said Dr. Frederick.
"First Sailor John broke out of prison, then the Kathryn Heist ensued, Mr. Duncan lost a worker to an explosion at the Arlesburgh Ballast chute, and so many people dying from morphine injections! It's all so sudden and so tragic!"
"I understand," said Dr. Frederick, beginning to look left and right ever-so slightly.
"But only recently, three more burdens are upon me!" The Fat Controller continued, panting from his fear. "Lawrence was killed on board the express, Ryan nearly lost his life down Calles Cavern…and only yesterday, Brendam Docks was almost completely destroyed!"
"Yes. This is serious business," pondered Dr. Frederick. He rose from his desk and began walking back and forth in his office, behind where the Fat Controller was sitting.
"I am highly convinced that Sailor John is the root of it all!" the Fat Controller accused. "Every single ONE of these issues must have involved him in some way! And he surely must have gathered some followers to help him out!"
As the Fat Controller spoke, Dr. Frederick looked and felt more and more nervous. The accusations were eerily accurate to his mind. It made him remember Sailor John's orders earlier that morning after he killed his two lackeys. Then he saw his chance. On his shelf was a crystal ball. He silently took it from the shelf and stood over the Fat Controller's chair.
"I have no idea who to trust or what to believe at this point…" the Fat Controller sighed heavily. "With all these disasters happening, anyone could be working for him…I could be in danger and I never noticed it before!"
"You have nothing to fear, Bertram," said Dr. Frederick. He sounded very calm and controlled. "Nothing…at all." Then, as silent as air, he tossed the crystal ball right into the air…and it fell heavily, right on top of the Fat Controller, knocking him out! As he collapsed to the floor, Dr. Frederick looked down, feeling great regret and shame overwhelming him. He nearly cried at what he just did. But he had orders from Sailor John to fulfill. He shakily walked back his desk and placed a call to Murphy.
"Sir Topham Hatt has been taken care of, Mr. Murphy…he is ready to be taken away…" he said.
For the next two hours, the engines on the main line began to notice that the Fat Controller was nowhere to be seen.
"Where is the Fat Controller?" Edward asked at Wellsworth Station.
"No one's seen him lately," said Percy. "What can we do without him?"
"We'll just have to stick to our orders for today," said Edward. "I do hope nothing's happened to him. If anything has…I don't know what we'd do." The other engines felt the same and tried to keep on with their current work…but they also carried mild concerns if something else happened based on their conspiracy theory from before. Of course, there were others who could look after the railway if the Fat Controller wasn't around, but there was no clear answer yet…
One hour after that, at Topham Hall, Lady Hatt was beginning to panic over where her husband was. No one had heard or seen anything about him for the past three hours since he left to visit the doctor.
"Perhaps he's busy trying to forget his worries, madam," said the butler.
"Even my husband wouldn't be away this long, even if he was worried!" panicked Lady Hatt. "What if Sailor John or any of his men picked him off?! I must call the SPD!"
With that, she ran to the telephone and called the SPD.
"Sudrian Police Department, what's the emergency?" answered the chief.
"Chief? It's Lady Hatt. My husband's been missing for three hours! Will you please send Detectives Phelps and Gallagher to come here and investigate his whereabouts?"
"Of course, Lady Hatt," said the chief. "I'll send them at once."
"Thank you, chief!" gasped Lady Hatt. But no sooner did she hang up, when a knock came to the door. When she answered it, there was Seymour Murphy.
"Seymour? What are you doing here?" she asked.
"I'm so sorry, Lady Hatt," said Murphy. "I've heard of Bertram's disappearance and came as fast as I could to check on you and the butler."
"I see…but what do you know about my husband's current position?" begged Lady Hatt.
"He paid your doctor a visit after visiting Thomas at the Steamworks…but no one has heard of him since then…it was not what I was expecting to hear at all, dear me…"
The butler could hear Murphy and grew suspicious. Murphy seemed abnormally calm about the situation. So, when no one was looking, he switched on the Hatt's tape recorder to collect the conversation.
"Seymour…is it true that Sir Topham is missing?" asked Lady Hatt. "I say we call the doctor and ask him if he knows anything! I've already called the SPD for Phelps and Gallagher to help me!"
Murphy paused at those words. He remembered talking with Phelps after Lawrence's death and he knew how capable Phelps was of solving crime. As such, he tried to change Lady Hatt's mind.
"Hmm…I don't think the SPD would be necessary, dear," he said. Lady Hatt was about to rebuff these words…when suddenly, two of Murphy's men shattered the window from behind Lady Hatt and attacked her and the butler.
"What the-HELP! STOP IT!" wailed Lady Hatt. One of the men seized Lady Hatt and bound her in ropes. Then to her fright and horror, the other man shot the butler dead. "NO! GOD, NO!"
"Back to business now," Murphy grinned as he telephoned his home, where Sailor John was waiting for an update.
"Johnny, Lady Hatt has been captured now…and the doc has dealt with Sir Topham," he said. "I'll await your further orders."
"No! NO!" wailed Lady Hatt.
Murphy hung up and turned to his men. "Alright, boys. Take her away. Let the butler rot here for Phelps to find. After all...dead men tell no tales." With that, the three men scurried out, taking Lady Hatt with them…but none of them saw that the entire fiasco had been recorded, thanks to the butler's now vital decision.
Twenty minutes after Murphy and his men ran off, Phelps and Gallagher arrived at Topham Hall, only to become alarmed when they saw the door open…then the shattered window. They kicked the door open and held their guns out, ready to fire…but nothing happened. They explored the mansion carefully, looking for Lady Hatt and any evidence they could use. But then they found more shock when they saw the butler's body, issuing blood from his shot.
"Well, Shay…" murmured Phelps. "Whoever killed the butler must have been the one who broke in."
"Too right, Dan," said Gallagher. "Wait…what's that there?" He pointed to the recorder on the table where the butler turned it on. Both detectives saw it was still on recording mode. Phelps immediately thought it could have picked up the sound of what happened. He hit the "Stop," button to end the recording, then rewound the tape.
"This could be a long shot, Dan," said Gallagher, somewhat skeptically.
"I know, but we've no other leads, and this might be our only one," replied Phelps. Then he hit the "Play," button.
"Seymour…is it true that Sir Topham is missing?" asked Lady Hatt. "I say we call the doctor and ask him if he knows anything! I've already called the SPD for Phelps and Gallagher to help me!"
A pause ensued for a few moments…then Murphy's voice was heard.
"Hmm…I don't think the SPD would be necessary, dear," he said.
Suddenly, a shattering sound was heard, then Lady Hatt's voice yelled in alarm.
"What the-HELP! STOP IT!" wailed Lady Hatt. After some scuffling, a gunshot and thud were heard, followed by another wail from Lady Hatt. "NO! GOD, NO!"
"Back to business now," Murphy's voice said. "Johnny, Lady Hatt has been captured now…and the doc has dealt with Sir Topham. I'll await your further orders."
"No! NO!" wailed Lady Hatt.
"Alright, boys. Take her away. Let the butler rot here for Phelps to find. After all...dead men tell no tales." Footsteps were heard last…and then silence. Up until Phelps and Gallagher were heard barging in.
Gallagher stopped the recorder at that moment and walked over to the wall. "Seymour Murphy…Seymour Murphy…" he whispered. "That's definitely his voice!"
"I KNEW that traitor was up to something," Phelps growled to himself.
"Dan, look over here!" called Gallagher. He was pointing to the Hatt's notice board. Phelps came over and took a look…and there was Seymour Murphy's home address, right there for them to see and write down. And somewhere else on the board, the doctor's clinic, located on Knapford High Street.
"Shay, call a coroner to take the body away for further investigating," ordered Phelps.
"But Dan…we don't know where Murphy took the Hatt's. There's no clue, even in the recording of a location!"
"Great Scott, you're right, Shay!" Phelps exclaimed. "We must approach the doctor first, right away!" With that, both men ran out and drove to the nearest telephone booth, where Gallagher called for a coroner to come to Topham Hall. After that, they rushed off to find Dr. Frederick's clinic…
Murphy, meanwhile dropped back at his house to briefly update Sailor John on the matter.
"Both Hatt's are cut off and in our grasp, John," he said. "The engines have no leader now! What do we and the diesels do next?"
Sailor John remained quiet for a few moments as he comprehended his good news. The Fat Controller and his wife were captured with no trace. He was so close to what he wanted now. It was just a matter of time before events would really begin to change.
"Stupendous!" Sailor John laughed delightfully, clapping a little. "Now-now…it's time…to hunt the angel!"
And now with the Fat Controller out of commission, the engines are all ripe for the picking. With no controller, how will the engines cope on their own? You may have to wait a chapter of two, because as the final quote suggests, the next chapter features Emily being hunted down, by two certain diesel twins...you can stop bloody asking for them unnamed Guest, and you know exactly who you are! While Phelps and Gallagher will receive a huge dump of information. Until next time, leave your reviews and stay tuned for the next chapter, cause things are really about to get good!