"Boss, there's no sign of Acme at the Oregon Art Institute," a nameless
henchman reported.

Carmen looked at her employee with a worried glance. "Something must have
gone wrong. It's not like them to be so late."
*
******************************************************************************

*******
"What do you mean 'it must be stuck'?" Ivy asked. She banged on the door.

"That's not going to help," replied Mortimer cooly.

Ivy pressed the alarm button. "Aren't you even afraid? What if the cable
breaks and we crash to the basement?"

"That would take care of investigating for today. But it's not going to
happen,"said Mortimer.

"How do you figure?"

Mortimer answered in a level voice, "The elevator works by a system of
counterweights, which are operated by a lifting motor. There is a large brake
on top. If there's a problem, the brake holds everything steady."

"What if there's a power outage?" asked Ivy.

"The elevator has its own generator. The generator and the lifting motor are
on Direct Current, or DC. The brake is on AC, or alternating current." He
bent over and removed a panel. "Hmmm, looks like faulty wiring-a short
circuit. If I can just rewire this circuit, the elevator may be able to
operate normally again."

"GET ME DOWN FROM HERE!" Ivy screamed.

Mortimer groaned. "Do you have to yell at me all the time?"

"So what? You're intruding on my case!"

"Intruding?" Mortimer repeated without looking up from his work. "I'm simply
trying to help you save your brother's neck."

Ivy began to pace the elevator floor angrily. "I don't need your help, much
less want it."

"My, aren't we irritable?" Mortimer commented, just loud enough for his
annoyed colleague to hear.

"If irritable is what will get you off my case, then irritable be I!" Ivy
leaned against the wall. "Will you hurry up?"

"I'm going as fast as I can," Mortimer flippantly retorted. As he said it,
there were some clicks and whirls. Soon the elevator was on the ground floor.

The hotel management tried to apologize, but Ivy walked past them. Mortimer
shrugged and followed. He managed to catch up on the street.

"Now where do we go from here?" Ivy asked, furiously kicking a dust pile on
the sidewalk.

Big mistake. The dust flew in the air. Mortimer began to cough. Then he
became short of breath. He reached into his pocket and pulled out an inhaler.
He took a few breaths on it, and soon his breathing was back to normal.

Ivy watched him. "Asthma, huh?"

Mortimer looked across the street. "There's Carmen."

"It's New York, Mortimer. Of course there'd be performances of the opera,
Carmen."

"No! There's Carmen Sandiego!"

Ivy stared. Walking toward them was Carmen.

Carmen joined the two detectives. "Good morning, Ivy. Well, Mortimer, though
it seems like time has gone on, here we are still carrying on, reaching out
for another,"

"Carmen, if you're asking me to reconsider your offer, I'm sorry. But I'll
never be what you see in me."

"That's only what you think," Carmen answered. Her voice softened. "Your
modesty stretches as far as Lee's egotism. Selling yourself short can only
hinder your potential. But if I could help deal with what you see as real..."

"Um, Carmen?" Ivy interrupted. "How did you know we were here?"

"The Chief told me. And I have an idea on where Lee could be."

To be continued....