Croonford
Detective Case 12 : Scarborough Fair
Author's
note: This is Part 2 of a two-part story; therefore, it is around the same
number of words as the previous 'Case.'
Comments are
always welcomed here.
This story
is entirely fictional.
Lin Ling tried
to show a brave face as the gunman held his weapon – she identified it as a Sig
Sauer P226 — while the other held up ropes. She instantly wanted to resist but
the threat from the nearing gun made her give in for once. "Good little
nosy Chinese girl," the Canadian accent from the masked gunman was
distinct though Lin couldn't tell which English region. His accomplice tightly
bound both her wrists and elbows then lifted her legs up to bind her ankles.
"Cute, I didn't teen girls that young wear black knickers," the
gunman laughed at the unintentional upskirt. Cloth appeared in the accomplice's
hands and she was also blindfolded and gagged, then carried and dumped in a
theme box similar to the one she found Rachel in with a board covering her.
Thankfully, there was some air hole to breathe. Lin tried to squirm around and
realised she either dropped her laser pen or they snatched it. Never mind, I
have other gadgets that help me get free.
Jennifer
Thompson hurriedly ran through the train station's gates and hailed a taxi to
the arena, constantly pestering the driver to reach the speed limit. Not
bothering to take the change, she ran up the grass and saw the tents and
equipment were being removed and the area cleaned up. She spotted one of the
debating teachers and started rapidly describing Lin and asking if he noticed
any female student from nearby schools was reported missing. "Hey, hey
Miss star debater, welcome back. No one is missing unless in your mind."
Jenn protested but the teacher just walked away.
Shaking her
head, she dialled her taller friend directly but only received constant rings.
Where could that girl...the cafe! Jenn remembered the location and quickly
found herself at the counter speaking to a certain 'Nathan.' "No school
girls here in the past two hours. In fact, none here today."
"Are you
sure?" Jenn showed him a picture of the Malaysian-Hongkonger and asked if
there was another girl with her.
"No one I
said," the tattooed guy folded his arms. "We're closing to clean up.
Ann, show this girl out." Jenn was about to continue arguing but the
elderly cleaner held her arms. Just as they reached the door, she spotted
something. "Hey! That belongs to my friend!" The net was thrown at
her and she was locked out of the café, stuffing the item in her bag. They have
something to do with Lin's disappearance and definitely the other girl Lin was
meeting. But where could they be hiding them?
Croonford
Summers' Residence
The latest
WhatsApp message from Jenn 'I think Lin got herself in trouble, am heading
back down' literally shocked Michelle Summers out of her chair.
'Jenn,
what's your update? Did you find Lin?'
'...hold
on...' Came the studious student's reply. Jenn wasn't skilled at reading
lips but still managed to through the cafe's windows.
'Lin and another
student...have been kidnapped/taken hostage...on some truck...a fair or
carnival' Jenn quickly typed her reply and wondered what action to take
next. The cafe doors were locked and the staff were rolling down the shutters.
'Truck', 'fair', that carnival they spotted when they first arrived!
'It's a
carnival again!!!' She typed, looking around. How am I going to find the
vehicle?!
'Jenn, get
help, notify the authorities down there,' Chelle typed her reply. 'Mark,
can you get down there?'
The reply from
the newest detective and first male came in one and half minutes. 'Sorry
girls, still trapped with my rugby games and practice. Look I'll look into this
'carnival' for you'
'I'm heading
down xx’ Chelle typed.
'But you're
still grounded,' her lover typed but Chelle had switched off her phone.
At some
central police station in the Warwickshire region
Jenn, nearly
out of breath, managed to meet with some police and repeated again her missing
friend and the other girl. Unlike the Croonford police, this slightly curly
Detective Inspector Marc Blampied wasn't immediately amicable and questioned
Jenn's trouble, especially since she couldn't describe the other girl.
"I think
that the cafe," Jenn gave the name of the shop, "helped kidnap or
take hostage my friend and the other girl." The DI scribbled notes and
told her he would handle it and she could head back home. Despites Jenn's
protest he simply showed her out of his office. A blonde police sergeant (PS)
in uniform with the initials 'A. Mason' who gave her a smile and mouthed the
words 'he's like that.' Just as Jenn was about to exit, she heard the DI tell
that PS to focus on her screen and add a slight lewd remark.
Outside, Jenn
again paused to ponder. It was nearing late afternoon and her parents would be
angry again if she didn't return home on time. She retrieved her phone and
managed to get hold of DI Nikki Heath.
"Marc the
arsehole," came her reply. "We were competitors at the academy, dated
until there was nothing in common and had a messy break up. He's also slacker
in detective work, prefers only to try to date girls in uniform." That was
exactly what I saw, Jenn, thought then Nikki said she may try to send help but
couldn't guarantee. Thanking her, Jenn suddenly noticed a younger girl on a bicycle
that was an ancient model.
"Hey, do
you know how old that model is?" She smiled.
"My Pa and
Ma won't give money for the newer one," came the reply.
"Oh no.
Say, do know you of any carnival that was in this area?"
"Yeah,
started coming by recently. Old but funny magic acts the usual. Bought these
sweets," she held up an open packet. "Why?" Jenn just asked her
which way the carnival trucks or vans headed and the names.
"Thought I
left some valuable with one stall. Why not I give you enough to buy that old
model and you buy yourself a better one?"
"Ya
will?" Thankfully, the girl sold her bicycle and Jenn gave up nearly half
of her monthly pocket money. This better be worth it, she thought.
The truck was
moving as Lin was trapped in a box smaller than her 168cm and growing height.
Painfully yet successfully, she twisted her bound arms and managed to draw out
her foundation kit penknife. So far, the school teachers haven’t caught the
girls with it; make up was out of bounds per school rules. Not gadgets that
help when you' captured. After five minutes, her wrist bonds came off. Managing
to bend her legs as best she could, she also managed to cut away her ankle
bonds. Her elbows were still tied and as she squirmed and pushed, the top
board, then the box cover came off. Simultaneously, the sides of the box fell
apart. The wonders of a magic box, she thought happily, but the fallen boards
had little edges for her to rub the ropes against. Nor could she see in the dim
light of the truck interior anything to cut the ropes around her elbows.
"Mmmph,"
she then heard the muffled cries. "Rachel, hang on," she called and
shifted herself on her bare knees towards the other box. Turning around, she
managed to lift the two covers. The other science student was still bound,
gagged and blindfolded and groaning through the gag, "Sssh," Lin
remarked then twisted. After having been bound and gagged in many positions,
she managed to turn around and cut away the girl's elbow and wrist bonds in the
same time she did her own. Rachel gave an elated yelp and undid her own ankle
bonds then final her gag and blindfold.
"Oh, thank
you thank..." Lin placed a finger on her own lips and Rachel lowered her
tone thanking her again. "Where did you get that weird penknife from? Did
you invent it?"
"Yes, long
story. Wait, why were you captured? And you..." Lin smelt the same
slightly foul odour but didn't want to say the term.
"I used to
have a weak bladder, though I got it in control two years ago then suddenly got
it in the cafe," Rachel replied. She then explained they wanted her
father, who migrated from Kenya, to give up his chemistry documents to them in
exchange for her release.
"We got to
get away. Hey, help cut away the ropes around my elbows." That free, Lin
tried to guide her out but that wasn't easy in the dim light. Suddenly, the
truck slowed down and a door opened, the light nearly blinded both students.
"Naught
girls," the lead kidnapper called. Lin quickly drew out her ink or pepper
spray pen and squirted it, but missed, only hitting the arm of the accomplice.
"Haha," the lead kidnapper laughed. "Throw that here," Lin
was about to shoot again but the captor fired his own weapon first, the bullet
striking the ceiling. "Now!" With the threat, Lin gave up her gadget
and both girls were told to lie down, hands on their heads.
"Bind that
Chinese one first, " he instructed his accomplice. "No, get her
uniform off so she won't have any more nonsense stuff to get free." The
second man hesitated but Lin yelped as her school blazer and then blouse came
off, exposing her school-standard skin-tone bra. Her skirt was unclipped, fully
exposing her black knickers. Cable ties quickly were wound twice around here
wrists, cutting through her skin.
Her knees then
ankles received the same treatment. The pièce de résistance was
a further cable tie securing her ankle bonds to her wrist bonds in a hogtie,
causing her to cry again. "Shut her up," came the command but Lin
refused to open her mouth. With the Sig Sauer pressed against her neck, a cloth
was jammed inside her mouth and two rounds of black packing tape around her jaw
and head, trapping some of her hair in the process. The lead kidnapper yanked
Lin's bra straps down to her mid-arms, further restraining her and humiliating
the usual tough student. The semi-naked teen was carried and laid in another
box and dreaded hearing the sound of locks. She could only just breathe through
this thicker gag and barely struggle as she heard Rachel being trussed up again
and re-gagged.
Jenn was
cycling for twenty-five minutes and still didn't catch sight of any carnival
trucks. The vehicle drivers she hailed weren't helpful until she received a
WhatsApp group message giving her more precise directions where the trucks
could be headed. 'Thks' she replied, turning and was delighted
that Mark was spot on — in front of her were trucks with the words 'Scarborough
Fair' stencilled on the side. She pedalled faster and waved at the driver of
the nearest truck but he ignored her waves and the trucks were speeding faster
than she could cycle. Could this be the correct lot of trucks where Lin was
hiding? Jenn nearly lost the convoy until she spotted a side lane of a very
small hillock. She cycled up and looked down. The series of trucks looked
normal until she spotted a hole in the top of one. Either that's a hole from
normal wear and tear or something worth looking at, she got off and luckily
there were traffic lights, slowing the vehicles down. One, two, three...she
jumped and landed on the top of that specific truck.
Ow...she cried
but the pain thankfully didn't last long. It was a vinyl tarp and with
her own laser pen she started cutting away through the tarp. The gap wasn't
that big when the vehicle jerked and she fell down through the small gap. Jenn
landed crying out loud, noting the gap above was much larger. Ow...this was a
silent groan but a quick check of herself revealed no sprains and only a
bruised left arm. Jenn was rubbing it when she heard some noise and spotted a
sack which was squirming. Shifted closer the muffled sound increased and she
called out "Lin? Is that you?"
Wincing in
pain, she neared the sack and undid the rope on the top, revealing a black girl
blindfolded and gagged with cloth. Just as she was about to undo the cloth she
heard, "Oh, another nosy girl. Looks like Nat's warning was right."
Jenn surrendered and the masked man threw her school bag to the corner,
splitting the top slightly open. Soon enough, Jenn was tightly tape bound and
gagged. No, not again.
"Any more
heroines?" The man scoffed. Just then, another figure dropped down from
the gap above. The masked man fired another shot but received a squirt of ink
directly on his eye slit. "Yeow!" he cried not just from the squirt
but from the ferocious kick he received, throwing his gun away. Jenn immediately
recognised that it was Chelle, clad in dark clothes and yelped thankfully
through her tape gag. A fight naturally continued, with Chelle appearing to
gain the upper hand, pushing the captor to a corner and kicking him down.
However, she received a painful kick in return, throwing her to the corner.
"I had
enough of you little girls," the man growled, his weapon miraculously
appearing in his right hand. "Now..." before he could complete his
line or fire, something was thrown at him, tearing the gun from his hand again
and keeping him on the ground.
"Now you
receive my turn," Chelle declared, quickly moving and ensuring he was
unconscious. She was about to head over to free Jenn when there were familiar
police sirens then the truck jerked to a halt. A door opened and Jenn
recognised the familiar female sergeant she saw at the police station. Quickly
she was freed but as her gag was peeled off, she yelled that her friend Lin had
to be somewhere. With Chelle activated the ID app on her mobile phone, the police
officers found the box and Lin was freed, just in time as she nearly choked on
her stuff gag. Another siren was heard and they heard, "Sergeant Mason,
what the hell did you do?"
"The job
you should have done, sir," she spat out the last word, ensuring all four
girls received paramedic treatment and covered Lin with a spare police shirt.
Epilogue:
"You
intentionally broke my grounding order and endangered yourself," Mrs
Summers sternly addressed her oldest daughter who still had bandages and
ointment as a result of her fight. "I have the very idea to..."
"Maggie,"
Mr Arthur Summers who returned home upon hearing the incident, "perhaps we
two should discuss this first." Their private discussion didn't last long
and Chelle was no long punished, on condition she keep her parents,
particularly her mother, on any dangerous detective work. Arthur in fact recounted
how Chelle secretly followed Jenn to almost rescue her using Lin’s competition
item to trap the kidnapper and the supporting comments from Jenn's parents who
didn't punish their daughter.
Both she and
Lin also received medical treatment, with Lin's mouth tested from any infection
from the stuff gag. Lin's parents scolded her but only gave her a stern
warning. The other student, Rachel Adjewa, indeed received a modified diuretic
from the cafe manager Nathan West who was in league with the kidnappers, Victor
Hector, a Canadian and his accomplice, Larry Sawyer. PS Alison Mason, who left
her desk and helped rescue the girls, quit her position to train as a police
detective. Lin, Jenn and Chelle received a small monetary award from Rachel's
dad, allowing them to improve their detective headquarters. Mark, the only male
teen detective remained in the shadows and he and Chelle still decided to be a
couple, secretly.
Michelle,
Lin Ling, Jennifer and Mark will return in 'Doggy Business.'
End