'A Cunning Conundrum: Part 1 - A Secret Spy!'
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What a lovely, splendid night it all had been. One not to be forgotten by
Tommy (AKA 'Shure-Lock') Ohms, having just bid his date 'Good Night'...
She was the lovely lady owner and proprietor of Mighty Murgatroyd's Bar.
Though they both lived very busy lives, they met whenever they had time.
#
As soon as Tommy let himself in to his apartment front door, quite late,
he did hear a slight sound coming from behind his locked laboratory door.
"Curious... What could that be? Not any experiment running loose? No."
was the quietly spoken words of The Electrical Detective, to himself now.
Slowly and with nary a sound, Tommy opens the lab door. And then, Lo!
A mechanical man, what later would be called a 'robot', was inspecting
and examining the various instruments and equipment inside the Lab.
Before the automaton had seen Shure-Lock (Tommy), Master Ohms
had reached for a recent invention of his: a tracking-tag gun. A small
gun that shoots a tiny tracking device onto just about anything, in
order to later track where it goes off to. Tommy quickly shot a tag
to the back of the mystery intruder... The tag took hold, as the metal
man (robot) then turned to see 'It' was no longer alone. The robot soon
sprinted toward the nearest window, jumping and flying thru the glass!
#
Tommy turned on his tracker machine: to see where the robot went.
Quite soon Mrs. Judson came through the still open Lab entry door.
"Sir, I heard a loud noise... A shattering of glass. Are you alright?"
Tommy turned to face his maid and cook with a reassuring look.
"I am OK, Mrs. Judson... But it seems I have a new mystery close
at hand. A strange intruder, that just left the Lab in quite a hurry!
Puts me in a real quandary, not having the foggiest notion of how
that mechanical monstrosity could have gotten inside of the Lab.
I am used to solving mysteries, but this one is much too close. Aye!"
### ~~~ ###
The next day... A Thursday afternoon in fact:
"Why, this is an odd bodkin of a mystery, Tommy. And to happen
right here inside your Laboratory... I wonder how this intruder got in?"
This, from Shure-Lock Ohms trusted companion in crime-solving:
the only son of Doctor Watson... Johnny Watson... AKA 'Junior'.
Tommy grins, before giving an answer. "The robot was a gift. Well,
not actually a gift... But it came inside a box that I'd been expecting.
As I was out late all day and evening yesterday, Mrs. Judson had
simply used her key to the Lab, to have the porter place the box
inside. She was about to do some dusting in the Lab, at the time."
#
Johnny sips his cup of Earl Grey tea... The rare instance of having
a spot of tea there inside the Laboratory, at Shure-Lock's urging...
He wanted to keep combing the entire Lab for any new clues. Aye!
"What was this package that you say you were expecting, Tommy?"
asked younger Johnny, having finished his cup and sweet biscuit.
Shure-Lock now took out his pipe and lit it up. It helped him focus.
"Well, Johnny... Another inventor, new to me, had cabled me last
week... Asking if I would be willing to examine one of his newest
creations... He had stated in the cable that it was a heavy motor.
One that would run indefinitely... Perpetual Motion. The oldest of
dreams, after flight of course. But it seems it was not what he
told me that was actually inside of the crate, but that 'robot'!
But no worries my boy. I shot a small tracker device to the
back of that Mechanical Man, and soon learned where this
craft inventor's lair is... To within about ten meters or so."
### ~~~ ###
Three days more... Very early on a Sunday morning!
Quite early indeed: or half-past 3 AM to be precise.
"See the entry door, nearly hidden among the vines?"
whispered Shure-Lock to his friend Johnny Watson.
"Aye... I do. What a dark place for an inventor to be?"
And it was dark, not just because it was night-time, but
this was near the Limehouse docks, often frequented by
the local riffraff: two-legged rats doing all kinds of crime.
#
Quietly the pair snuck up to the back-alley door, and
then 'Tommy' Ohms peeked in thru the small window
of the door. There was one light visible... A single candle.
"I think we can chance it, my friend... To have a look-see!"
spoke the Electrical Detective. Shure-Lock was about to
use his lock-picking invention, but the door swung open
to the lightest of touch. The Lab at first look did seem
to have been abandoned... And in quite a hurry too. The
mechanical man from last Wednesday was nowhere to be
seen. And neither was its inventor: Dr. Jonathan Bantham.
#
"Tommy, take a look at these papers I found on the floor..."
said an excited Johnny to his older mentor and good friend.
A moment later, adding: "By gosh, he's written you a note!"
Shure-Lock gave the blueprints and scribbled notes a quick
but very close perusal. It seemed that Bantham had a 2nd Lab,
located out by the High Moors of the Silver Lakes region up north.
"Johnny, think can you take a short leave and accompany me upon
the Iliad Railway North-bound train this Sunday night? This here
is very important. Something like we never have encountered
before. Something of huge import: something for all the future."
Johnny looked at Shure-lock, gulped a bit of air, before replying:
"Why, I dare say you can't keep me from coming. Aye, I will go!"
"Good man! This might prove to be one of our greatest cases yet!"
Tommy then pulled out his very unique pipe, lit it, then rolled up
the papers and stuffed them into a big pocket of his brown overcoat.
"This is Capital, my young chum... For a new mystery-game is afoot!"
(To Be Continued...)