Croonford
Detective Case 21: Multiple Cases
Lin's captured
scene is based on this photoshopped work by ReefUK on deviantart here.
Bethan's
capture scene is based on Aimee-Ffion Edward's scene in the horror TV series
Inside No 9 episode The
Harrowing.
The scene
where the other captive is found is based on this classic Lifetime's
Webcam Girls.
Author's note:
Rest in peace Kenneth
Tsang, the inspiration for Lin's father.
Lin Ling
finished her breakfast, cleared the dishes and headed out, waiting for the
school bus. She raised her eyes as her classmate, close friend and fellow
detective Michelle Summers still wasn't taking the regular school bus again.
After rescuing her from that eerie unknown location, Chelle had to undergo
constant medical test by doctors and police forensic personnel. They had
checked her blood many times, her nervous system, menstrual cycle, urine
samples all checks came out with the same conclusion - a healthy teenaged girl.
Lin was also extensively question about the shady men who suddenly picked her
up, gave her the unknown location where Chelle was held and the unknown
vaccine. In the haste in rescuing Chelle, she had left the note with the
geographical locations of that chamber behind as well as the syringe and
canister filled with the vaccine. None of the test could detect the mysterious
virus and authorities said they were looking into the explosions to gather more
evidence. Lin found that as a cover up.
"Hey, you
got special escort again," Lin noted the plain-clothed authorised firearms
officer (AFO) following her behind she entered the school grounds. "Yeah,
Nikki's idea. At least my mum agrees," Chelle waved at the officer. She
was referring to Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) Nicola Heath, their long-term
ally at the local police.
"So far
everything's been calm. No UFOs, no little green men." She laughed. Lin,
having taken a scientific view over the last mystery but having saw those weird
creatures emerging from the crypods, she was now a bit towards Chelle's view.
"And your
parents are still formally stopping you from any detective work?" Chelle
nodded glumly. As they talked, Jenn joined them and Chelle wondered about the
smart student's look. "Bethan was late for drama planning and practice
three times in a row. No, she's usual always punctual and always arriving on
time and occasionally earlier than myself. I think..."
Lin excused
herself as she spied Reinhard Tomas, the newest member of their team. Ask she
headed towards, he smiled broadly, no longer shocked by her beauty. "Hey,
ready for the new science club members?" After his 'yup', she added,
"We do need to present fresh ideas for the club if we really wish to be
co-Presidents in the senior years."
"You have
the brightest ideas," he replied.
"We both
do," she responded as the morning bell rang. "Beter button up or
you'll be cold and the discipline mistress will catch you." She smiled in
return although he didn't know if that was the right line to say.
The gang plus
Mark the rugby player with the weird surname Cadvish came together as usual
during their lunch break. "So, you're worried over Bethan's sudden lack punctuality?"
Lin started.
"She
didn't give a specific answer; just said she had some personal issues to deal
with. It may or may not be worth investigating." The five of them debated
but no conclusion was made. Chelle was disappointed more from the fact her
parents had halted her detective work. With lunch break over, Lin was about to
head to the library first until she heard a cry and spotted Julia Humes, her
classmate shaking her personal laptop.
"Julia?
Something bothering you?"
"Oh, hey
Lin. It's..." the bell rang. "Explain about it later," Julia
replied, but her facial features indicate she was worried.
After their
French class, Jenn pulled Bethan aside and questioned her again for her late
attendance.
"It's my
personal activities," Came the short answer. When asked to explain
further, Bethan simply replied that it was something like Jenn's detective gang
and she’ll reveal it soon. Jenn still had doubts about Bethan's new activities
but did not press the matter at that time.
"It's
Fandom," Julia started explaining to Lin as she exited her extra physics
class. She refilled her tumbler from the nearby water cooler then continued.
"I'm being harassed on the Michael Crichton novel Fandom. Users named
WaterKong1, Third_Indominus and Spinosaurus Magnis Wutanis claim that I'm
posting inaccurate information." She drew Lin to a side table and showed
the comments she received.
"Good
gosh," Lin exclaimed. "I'm glad I've I didn't edit Fandom when I
created my account and similarly with my Wikipedia account." Turning serious
she continued, "What do the local administrators say?"
Julia scrolled
down to show her classmate. "They gave rather bland response and blocked
them only for a day and the..."
Lin's phone
buzzed and noting the message and said she'll catch up later. The science club
meeting she and Reinhard chaired later turned out to be rather short yet
fulfilling as many Year 7 and Year 8 students were recruited after seeing the
science demonstrations that Reinhard and Lin presented. The senior club
presidents thus unanimously agreed to make the pair club presidents when they
moved to Year 10.
Just as the
meeting ended however, Lin exclaimed she had a family emergency and ran off
with Reinhard unable to form any words of comfort. As he headed out, he spotted
one new Year 7 girl crying. Asking her what was the problem was and didn't get
a reply first. Still moving away, he heard a German accent stating her science
project went missing. Reinhard greeted her in fluent German and learnt that
she, Karin, couldn't find the project -- she remembered keeping in her locker
but it was missing and now her teacher was not taking that as an excuse.
"I'll help you find your project," Reinhard concluded though was not
sure he could.
The team, minus
Chelle planned to meet together at their meeting place but only Mark, Reinhard,
Lin and Jenn appeared. A flurry of WhatsApp messages between the other teenaged
detectives and the Malaysian-Hongkonger revealed that her dad was in A&E
due heart problems. She messaged that he was stable now and it wasn't
life-threatening. Reinhard finally managed to form words and wished her and her
family well. Thanks, you're a nice friend, she wrote back, causing
his heart to beat rapidly.
The group
shared what they faced and only Jenn's case a detective-centred one.
"Well, being harassed online and a missing school project may still
count," she responded. "Got any new gadgets for us?"
"Uhm,
haven't thought any," the newest member replied, though he wished Lin was
here because she had the ideas when asked.
"Oh well,
they usual ones will still work." The group turned to their homework but
as Jenn solved some advanced algebra questions, her thoughts wandered what
exactly her drama and debate club friend was up to.
"Hey, is
your dad alright? I heard the news," Julia asked Lin as they exited their
English class.
"Yeah,
still in hospital but the doctors say after some checks, they'll release him
tomorrow or the following day," came the reply. "You still getting
that harassment on Fandom?"
"Yes."
"Actually,
if you don't mind me asking, how did you get the surname Humes? I
thought..."
"It's ok
to ask. My dad changed his last name when he came over here to escape any
conflict. The original surname is...well he never told me." Lin accepted
that and looking at Julia's laptop, shaking her head. "The admins
basically support those three abusive accounts deleting my polite messages
regarding what I received. They've either deleted my messages, blaming the
server and worse now look," Lin saw the phrase 'mentally ill' and nearly
shouted. "Those twits, did you bring this up with the main Fandom staff?"
Julia nodded but didn't have high hopes they would be more helpful. The Fandom
staffer named with a simple profile name AnnaW replied. Her act was to globally
block WaterKong1 for a week and sent warnings to the Michael Crichton novel
Fandom admins and other to users.
"One week?
That's like just a slap of the wrist," Julia commented with a slight
groan.
"Let's see
what happens after."
The next day,
before the start of school, Reinhard spotted Karin, the Year 7 student and
immediately learnt she searched everywhere and still couldn't find her project.
"Could I perhaps take a look at your locker room?" That was a complex
question as first each year had their lockers separated from each other and
student from different years were not permitted to enter other Year's locker
area and all locker areas were monitored by CCTV. After convincing her that he
had no ill intentions, he followed, spotting a blind spot and entered it. This
precaution was further necessary as lockers were separated also by gender for privacy
reasons. "Here's mine," she pointed and he focused on the sides.
"There are some scratches on the sides, no it's not paint peeling or
rust." He used his hankie and tried to move the combination lock, finding
slightly loose. It’s not secure. Did you tell anyone about where you kept your
project?"
She shook her
head and he replied they should report it. As they exited, he noticed a male
student with a hoodie on - in violation of school rules inside - heading back
to the ladies’ side of the Year 7 locker. Reinhard immediately stayed back and
sure enough, the hooded student pulled out a small penknife and jabbed around
the edge of a random locker, then around the combination lock. The door was
forced open and the figure ruffled through the contents, pulling out a school
workbook.
"Hey, you
just broken into a locker and..." Reinhard's words were cut off as a
blazer was flung at him and the figure darted off. The newest teen detective
gave chase until both of them slipped on a just-mopped floor.
"You two,
you both should know the school corridors are not for playing around,"
scolded Mr. James Henderson, the discipline master.
"And what
exactly where you," Mrs. Janic Hughes the discipline mistress appeared
pointing at Reinhard, "doing in another Year's locker area, especially the
opposite gender?"
I'm a dead guy,
Reinhard thought. Then he rattled off what he spotted. "Really, and what
excuse do you have?" The other student angrily shouted that it was
Reinhard who was stealing stuff.
Both boys were
escorted into the CCTV room and the tapes were played back, showing Reinhard
and Karin in that locker section. Just as Mrs. Hughes was about to call that
student when she burst into the room and corroborate Reinhard's story. The
tapes were playing until Hughes spied the other student damaging the locker.
"Hoodie off," that had to repeated twice and the penknife fell out.
"Alright
Mr. Tomas, you are cleared and back to your class. You," Mr. Hughes
pointed his finger at the culprit, "Return the young lady's project and you're
in serious trouble."
"That was
an excellent case solved," Lin patted her fellow detective’s back at break
time. The school had now rearranged the CCTV cameras so that would-be vandals
or thieves could be easily spotted and ordered stronger locker doors. The thief
and vandal, Lucas, was expelled from school and Reinhard received a thank you
letter from Karin's mother.
"It wasn't
much; just helping a junior student."
"Anything
counts. People will take credit and awards from you, never remove it from yourself."
In another
corner, Jenn thanked Bethan that her drama act was much better although she did
miss one small line. "Ready for our debate competition this afternoon?
We've got to take that Weaver guy and his team down." Bethan said yes but
Jenn still suspected her friend's mind was somewhere else.
"The
Fandom staff idiots unblocked that asshole WaterKong1before the seven-day block
was over and won't tell me why. Now the Kong guy is mocking me on his profile
and undoing my edits on the Andromeda Strain article and others," Julia
reported ton Lin.
"I've not
read The Andromeda Strain, Lin admitted. "What idiots indeed.
Let me try activating my own account and I'll write a response to other Fandom
staff on your behalf."
The debate
competition was over and the judges declared the Michael Vincent school team
the winner. Jenn was incensed, even though she was awarded best speaker.
"Bethan, you totally screwed up your speech and rebuttal! What's
wrong..."
A ginger-haired
student came by and started congratulating Jenn for her award. She was still
angry at her team's loss yet paused at the newcomer. "How do you manage to
debate throughout without looking at a single note?"
"I..."
Jenn excused
herself abruptly, noticing Bethan was exiting fast. "Bethan!"
"Jenn,
alright I own up. It's a drama training school that I discovered. The teacher,
Mr. Jason Layton has an extensive CV and I hope to gain experience from him. Oh
gosh, I'll be late, tell you more about it later. Sorry for the poor
debating." One part of Jenn made her accept this explanation while another
told her it sounded murky. Grabbing her bag, she aimed to follow her friend
except that Bethan had already entered a taxi that drove off. Jenn could have
classically hailed another taxi to follow but instead entered a bus that was on
the same route as the taxi.
"Hey,
look, another Fandom staff with username ReverieGuy overruled the decision and
globally banned the WaterKong1 user, the others who harassed you and the local
administrators were removed. He asks if you like take control of the Crichton
Fandom?"
"Oh, yes I
do! Thanks so much for all your help, Lin!" Julia shook her classmate's
hand and typed her reply. In any other situation, she would have hugged,
however, the school now forbade any such acts or signs of affections. It was a
silly rule but the majority of students obeyed.
Jenn had change
buses in order to follow the Taxi Bethan took. The latter had alighted and
entered some house with vines all over the wall. She was greeted by the Mr.
Layton and told to wait and the only other occupant was a taller girl named
Sierra who just moved to the UK with her divorced mother. "This place
sounds exciting," she remarked with an American accent, though Bethan now
didn't think so, given the weird artwork on the walls.
After school,
Lin headed, home to change clothes then to the local library with the aim of
finding a copy of The Andromeda Strain. Just as she was about to
enter, she had a thought, drew out her phone and scanned Wikipedia. I guessed
right, that Waterkong1 person also has a Wikipedia account. No wait, the other
Fandom accounts who harassed Julia also have Wikipedia accounts! Nothing much
on their edits then she clicked on Waterkong1's talk page.
Oh, I'm so
going to get that loser who knows nothing about Crichton's work, Waterkong1 wrote.
Yeah, get
her bro, you're in the UK, right? Third_Indominus
wrote. Rough her up.
Yeah,
Croonford right? Find the other who persuaded the staffer to get ya globally
blocked, Spinosaurus
Magnis Wutanis wrote.
The B&B
location was identified in initials and thus easily guessed so and after
sending messages to her friends and the police ally DCI Nikki Heath, Lin hailed
the nearest taxi.
The drama
instructor called Sierra further into the house, leaving Bethan still wondering
about the paintings which now scared her. Outside, Jenn wondered if she should
return home and her friend was really was in a drama school when there was an
audible noise from one of the windows then suddenly shutters were close for all
the buildings windows. That's quite strange for the now spring weather. She
rang the doorbell but no one answered and there was no eyepiece at all. That
was murky enough for her and also contacted the other detectives.
Lin couldn't
convince her way into the B&B despite her reasoning and plea. Dejected, she
didn't return until she spotted a nearby empty factory with lights on. It could
be something to look at except there didn't seem to any entrance and....
Jenn managed to
use the skeleton key and laser pen to unlock the backdoor, finding her in an
extremely dark interior. Diming the special torchlight Lin made for all the
detectives, she still wondered if she made the right move breaking into
someone's building until she heard a loud muffled cry. There were two
staircases nearby and she wildly chose the left, arriving in a narrow corridor.
There were at least three doors on the right and the muffled sounds came from
the second door. Again, she used her laser pen and skeleton key but the battery
ran out. She turned on the special watch which also has a laser cutter and even
with its lower power, the doorknob came loose and Jenn pushed with all her
might, nearly slamming the door against the wall.
The room was
freezing cold and quite dark. Bethan was sitting on an ornate and antique
chair, just in her white bra and knickers. There was an IV drip, thankfully not
connected to her nearby, with clear liquid in the bag. Her arms bent like the
chair's arms, her secured with white cable ties, one end not cut away. Her
ankles were bound together with yellow cable ties, also secured to a bar
between the two front legs. A crepe bandage was formed as a rather strong
cleave gag and she naturally yelped in delight seeing Jenn, then directed her
cries to another part of the room.
Further away,
Lin awoke with sore neck, immediately scolding herself not to watch out for
assailants. A quick look saw that her coat and jumper were both removed,
leaving her in her maroon tank top and skirt. She was bound to a wooden pole,
wrists secured with coarse rope, and similar lengths of rope wrapped below her
breasts. A simple wounded piece of cloth was forced between her lips and tied
behind her head to form a weak cleave gag.
Jenn held her
finger to her lips to tell Bethan to calm down while she advanced towards the
other noise. It initially appeared as an old frail man in a bed but on close
look, it was just a mannequin with a tape recorder playing wheezing and ghostly
sounds. With that switched off, she used the special penknife hidden along the
waistline of her skirt to cut away her friend's bonds. "Oh, Jenn,
Jenn..."she lowered her voice as Jenn again placed her finger to her lips.
"There's another girl, Sierra, he's got to hold her hostage here."
Lin was
naturally tugging at her bonds when a guy in white singlet and black trousers
appeared, smoking a cigarette. "Ah, you must be user ScienceWhizz? Well,
I'll a show you a science test." He moved behind her and blew a puff of
smoke then prepared to jam the cigarette in any part of her bare skin. Lin
anticipated this and was about to strike back when she heard a familiar voice
cry, "No!"
"I don't
know; she was called ahead and I was left waiting," Bethan informed Jenn
as she rubbed her sore wrists and bare skin from the chill. Jenn passed over
her coat and pondered her choices. Checking her phone, the signal was somehow
blocked. Should she get Bethan out or find the other girl? "Stay close to
me," she advised, wishing the others were around. The two quickly heard
more muffled sounds at another end of the corridor. The skeleton key easily
opened the door and Bethan gasped. Sierra was still clothed but her ankles were
bound with cable ties and in return secured to the railing of the bed she was
on. Her hoodie was forced down and held down by a longer length of zip tie. Her
arms were therefore held behind her and worse, there was a black ball in
between her mouth held by black leather straps that around her head.
"Don't worry, we're here to rescue you," Jenn waved, thinking the
restraints and gag reminded her of the netballers held hostage during a
previous Halloween. She started working on the bonds -- Sierra's hands were
also bound behind her back with cable ties but with the moaning Jenn worked her
fingers and took time to unbuckle the gag.
Reinhard aimed
the portable net and it wrapped around the smoking captor. It wasn't large
enough to cover the man's height but it did knock the cigarette away and the
guy fell. Lin by this time managed to loosen her wrist bonds and her fellow
detective help her loose. She kicked the fallen captor then asked if the police
were coming.
"DS
Ransom," Reinhard learnt not to mention her first name, "didn't
exactly get your question but patrols should be sent. What n..." The
captor struggled out of the net and brandish a knife.
Jenn had just
managed to unbuckle the straps and as Sierra coughed, the door opened and
blinding light shone along with a snarl. "Well nosey little girl breaks
into my place. Good addition to my..."
Despite the
glaring light, Jenn fired another gadget she had - the pen with the pepper
spray. "Girls, run!" They did so but the whole building was a maze
and the darkness further hindered their moves. Jenn and Bethan managed down but
the front door couldn't open. "There's no way out girls," The evil
man called and Jenn saw him holding Sierra by her neck and she was gagged
again. With a pistol pointed at them, Jenn knew she had to surrender when there
was a commotion and the front door broken open.
"Police!"
The familiar cry of DCI Nikki Heath came.
"Oh, back
away or her brains get blow away," Layton snarled, as Sierra whimpered.
The thug swung,
nearly striking Reinhard's feet. "Let's get out!" Lin cried, yanking
his hand. Unlike earlier, she spotted a door and thankfully it was unlocked.
They were far from safe as two more men dressed similarly approached them from
different corners. The pair managed to dodge them but quickly found themselves
in a set of leafless trees.
"Unusual
for spring," Reinhard muttered.
"What
other gadgets did you bring?" Lin pulled him down and scanned the area.
They were
trapped. He only had the male version of the penknife and the pen with the
pepper spray and ink. "It's good enough, we can fight our way out."
Just then, there were shouts and a whistles and grunts. "Ok, kids, you're
safe." Kids?! Lin raised her head to see a PC waving at them. Ignoring the
insult, the pair got up and saw a familiar face. "Didn't understand your
message, " Detective Sergeant (DS) Bluebell Ransom remarked, "but
knife crime sure is a chargeable offence."
"Where's
Nikki?" Lin wondered.
In the dark
building, Jenn and Bethan were now shielded far behind a female PC and watched
Nikki Heath negotiating with the hostage taker. All his demands were for the
police to get out and for the girls to return. Nikki would agree to that but
signalled for her accompanying officers to withdraw. As Jenn reluctantly
followed the PCs out, there was a soft thud, causing Layton to momentarily turn
around. This finally allowed Nikki to draw out her Taser X26 CEW, activating
the flashlight and fired.
"Subject
is down!" She declared, advancing quickly, grabbing Sierra and removing
her gag. "That was a risky act, Mark," she spotted the rugby player
and knew it was him who caused the noise. "But thanks."
As per normal,
the group, minus Chelle gathered in their headquarters. "Using an adult
gag on a minor?!" Mark exclaimed.
"That girl
Sierra is actually 18 going to 19-years of age," Jenn corrected. "But
yes, using that sort of gag is horrible." Jenn also recounted that Nikki
had to face much questioning from the Independent Office for Police Conduct
(IOPC) regarding her use of the taser and other recent activities, however, was
cleared from her actions.
"Sorry,
just went to check on Papa," Lin announced as she entered and told them he
was fine. "Also learnt that it was the B&B owner who called the police
to aid us," she explained to Reinhard.
"Well,
that's two cases solved," the other science whizz declared.
"Three,
don't ignore what you did," she reminded him. "We should update
Chelle."
Chelle in fact
was in her bedroom, wondering if the truth of her weird abduction would ever be
revealed.
Michelle,
Lin Ling, Jennifer, Mark and Reinhard will return in 'State Property'.