"Alchemy of Love"
by Belle Book

Part Six

Back in the room --

	As Chase leaned forward and bent his 
head down to kiss her, Jaci leaned forward
herself, and they kissed as her eyes closed.
	Jaci's heart was beating very fast 
as she relaxed into Chase's embrace.  When
his arms tightened around her and he began
to deepen the kiss, her heart began to beat
wildly, and she began to tremble.  He must
have felt it, for she then felt him strok-
ing her back with a soft, tender touch.
	For a few precious moments, the two
kissed, then Jaci felt Chase lift his head.
She opened her eyes, and saw him smiling
tenderly down at her.
	That's when the communicator began
to beep!
	Immediately the two drew apart, and
Jaci saw Chase open his communicator, say-
ing, "Devineaux here."
	Globie's voice burst out, "Are you
two all right?  We couldn't get a signal on
you until just now!"
	"We're fine," Jaci said.  "But we're
locked in a room on the second floor, a cou-
ple of rooms away from the stairs."
	"Ivy and I will be there right away,"
said Globie as he broke the connection.
	Chase then turned off the communica-
tor, and turning, said, "You remember how
we first met?"
	Jaci smiled.  "Sure do, Chase," she
replied.  "I had just finished examining
your file when I heard a polite cough and
saw a shadow fall over me.  I had already
seen your picture by that point and knew
that you were very handsome.  So when I
looked up, I saw that you were handsomer 
than your picture.
	"After we discovered we were well-
suited to working together, I indicated my 
attraction, but you told me we should just
have a working relationship if we were to
become partners.  I was disappointed, but
I figured you had your reasons."
	"I'd heard a story of a psycolo-
gist who fell in love with a patient of
his the year before I met you," Chase ex-
plained.  "The scandal had ruined his ca-
reer, and what was worse, he was a psych-
ologist whom I'd known for years.  He was
a friend of my father's, you see.  When I
met you and realized we were mutually at-
tracted, I didn't want the same thing to
happen to us.  That's why I put up those
boundaries."
	"You never told me you were as at-
tracted to me as I was to you back then,"
Jaci said.
	"I was afraid to," Chase said.
	That's when they heard the sounds
of someone trying to break the door down!
	Turning, Jaci saw the door break
open, and Globie and Ivy enter the room.
	"Chase!  Jaci!  Glad to see you're
all right!" Ivy cried.
	"You'll also be glad to hear that
the stolen goods are in this room," said
Chase.  He pointed to the table.  "Glo-
bie, why don't you get the manuscript of
The Tale of Genji?  Jaci, you can get the
handwritten score of 'Tristan und Isolde',
while I get the First Folio."
	"And then, we'd better go and join
Zack and Jasmine, who are trying to decode
a clue Carmen left for us," said Globie as
he, Jaci, and Chase went to pick up the
stolen goods.

*************************************************************************

A couple of minutes later --

	Chase looked at the clue Carmen 
had left attached to the Lovers Tarot
card.
	Neither he nor Jaci were in the
least bit surprised to see that Carmen
had attached the clue to the Lovers Ta-
rot card.  After all, that was Carmen's
theme the whole time.
	On the note was a bunch of num-
bers between 1900 and 2000, the phrase
Vulpes velox, and the quote, "I've grown
accustomed to her face/ She almost makes
the day begin."
	"Vulpes velox is the scientific
name for the kit fox," said Zack.  "It
roams the grasslands and deserts of the
western parts of North America."
	Suddenly, Jaci gasped.  "What is
it?" Chase asked.
	"This!" Jaci cried, pointing to
the quote.  "'I've grown accustomed to
her face/ She almost makes the day be-
gin'.  It's from 'My Fair Lady'!"
	"Of course!" cried Ivy.  "I've
seen the movie a couple of times.  It
stars Rex Harrison as Professor Henry
Higgins and Audrey Hepburn as Eliza Do-
little."
	The Chief said, "It was written
by Lerner and Leowe from a stage play by
George Bernard Shaw named 'Pygmalion'.
The play is named after the myth about
a sculptor named Pygmalion who falls in
love with his creation, named Galatea.
He prays to the goddess Venus to bring
Galatea to life, and she does so."
	Chase then noticed something a-
bout the numbers.  "Who distributed the
play?"
	"Twentieth Century Fox, I think,"
said Jasmine.  "Why?"
	"The numbers," said Chase, point-
ing to the numbers on the note.  "Every
number could correspond to a year in the
20th century!"
	"So Carmen's after something re-
lated to 'My Fair Lady' at Twentieth Cen-
tury Fox?" said Zack.  "But why use the
scientific name for the kit fox?"
	"Because Twentieth Century Fox
has its headquarters in the Los Angeles
area, and the kit fox is the most common
fox in the area," said Jaci.  "Chief, is
there anything at the Twentieth Century
Fox studios related to 'My Fair Lady'?"
	"The original copy's there," the
Chief said.
	"That must be what she's after!"
cried Globie.
	The next moment, a door across
the room slammed open, revealing two dis-
heveled henchmen with wide, staring eyes.
It was Moe Skeeter and Lars Vegas.
	"The rats!" Moe cried.
	"The rats!" Lars echoed.
	"The horrible tap-dancing rats!"
they cried together.
	Chase looked first at Jaci, then
at the other detectives.  He saw the same
response, which if put into words, would
mean, "Okayyy, let's get out of here."
	"Sounds like Sara Bellum's work,"
said Jaci.
	"I agree," said Chase.  "But we
have other things to worry about.  Player,
C-5 us to the Twentieth Century Fox stu-
dio in California!"
	The C-5 corridor opened and all
six detectives disappeared in it as the
Chief said, "You're on your way from the
home of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Salem, Mass-
achusetts, to the home of Hollywood, Los
Angeles, California."

************************************************************************

The Twentieth Century Fox studio, about 5:30 pm PDT --

	Carmen smiled.  It had been easy
to get inside by pretending to be a tour-
ist who had lost something in an earlier
tour of the studio.
	And now she was heading for the
place where the executives kept the ori-
ginal copies of movies.  The copy of "My
Fair Lady" was there, and was the next
object she'd steal -- if the detectives
hadn't figured out her clue beforehand.
	Just outside the room, she got a
call on her communicator.  Sighing, Car-
men opened it, saying, "Carmen here."
	"Sorry to bother you, Boss, but
we have a problem," said Touriste Classe.
"Moe and Lars are babbling something a-
bout tap-dancing rats!"
	Carmen remembered Sara Bellum's
rats at that moment, and she asked, "Is
there anyone who knows what they're talk-
ing about?"
	"Well, Frank M. Poster just came
onto the dance floor, and he said this:
'They have offended the Mithtreth,'" Tour-
iste said.
	"I'll deal with Frank as soon as
I get back," said Carmen.  "And I'll al-
so have a chat with Sara.  In the mean-
time, is anybody with Moe and Lars at
the moment?"
	"Sara Bellum's behind this?" ask-
ed Touriste.  "I should've known.  Thanks
for telling me this."
	"You're welcome," said Carmen.
	"Well, Sy Cologee, the staff ther-
apist, came and took Moe and Lars some-
where.  As soon as you come back, he'll
give you a preliminary report on them."
	"All right," said Carmen.  "I'll
be back as soon as possible.  Carmen out."
	Carmen then went to work picking
the lock, thinking as she did so, 'Note
to self:  never invite Sara to the same
party as Moe and Lars'.
	Once the lock was picked, Carmen
went straight inside, concentrating only
on her mission.
	She went straight to where the
original copy of "My Fair Lady" would've
been -- when several flashlights turned
on at once!
	Turning, she first saw Miss Mar-
ple, then a short Sam Spade, then Indi-
ana Jones, then Tituba, and finally, be-
hind the area where "My Fair Lady" would
be, Batman and Catwoman.
	"Hello, detectives," she said.
"I see you figured out my clue and beat
me to the scene of the crime."
	Indiana Jones, who was probably
Globie, leapt forward, saying, "You'll
pay for locking Chase and Jaci up!"
	But Chase said, "Hold on, Glo-
bie!  Jaci and I know why she did so."
	Carmen turned to Chase and Jaci,
who had leapt over the box with all the
original copies, and stood in front of
it, facing her.
	"I wondered when you two would
figure out my little game," she said.
	"We should've recognized your
whole scheme much sooner," said Jaci.
"Stealing three items which dealt with
lovers or romantic adventures, ordering
Batman and Catwoman costumes, luring us
to a room which was done up like a roman-
tic rendezvous -- you were trying to get
Chase and I together!"
	"Very good," said Carmen, aware
of the gasps of the other detectives.
"Once I escaped from you the last time
you two chased me, I began to think a-
bout what happened on the rooftop after
that close call.  I soon concluded that
you two had probably come to love each
other, but the close call brought your
feelings to the surface.  I knew enough
about you two to realize that while you
would probably admit your love, Jaci,
Chase probably wouldn't.  Not without
some help on my part."
	"So that's why you approached me
in disguise in Madrid!" cried Chase.
	"Yes," said Carmen.  "I had al-
ready begun laying out my plans, includ-
ing getting the House of the Seven Gab-
les for the Costume Ball and ordering
the costumes, when I began to search for
you just to figure out if you had told
Jaci how you probably felt for her or
not.  Not surprisingly, you hadn't.  In
fact, you seemed to be avoiding realiz-
ing your love for her.  That's when I
began our little game."
	"Did that include sending Lars
to flirt with me?" asked Jaci.
	"Yes," said Carmen.  "I hoped
that I wouldn't have to lock the two of
you up for Chase to admit that he loved
you.  I hoped that if Lars aroused his
jealousy by flriting with you, it would
get Chase thinking about whether or not
he did love you.  Then by having the DJ
play the song 'Have You Ever Really Loved
a Woman?', I hoped he'd figure that he
did love you and then tell you so, Jaci.
It almost worked, but Moe and Lars ruin-
ed it by arguing and crashing into that
table.  Sometimes I wonder why I hired
those two."
	"Speaking of Moe and Lars, did
you hear what happened to them?" asked
Chase.
	"I sure did," said Carmen, mov-
ing toward the door, and slipping a hand
in her coat pocket to make certain her
smoke bomb was handy.  It was.  "They're
currently being examined by the resident
therapist at VILE.  I think I might al-
so have to send Sara to him."
	"I'd say you should," said Jaci.
"But don't send Sara to him whenever you
send Moe and Lars to him."
	"I will," Carmen promised.  "I
presume you got the stolen goods back?
They were just bait for my plan anyway."
	"We did," said Chase.
	"And now we have something just
for you," said Miss Marple (presumably
Ivy) as she moved toward Carmen.
	Carmen was certain Ivy was go-
ing to try to put the cuffs on her, so
it was time to go.
	"I don't think so, Ivy," she re-
plied, slipping a hand into her pocket
and slipping the smoke bomb into her
hand.
	She then threw the smoke bomb
down in front of all six detectives and
ran off, saying, "Until Next Crime, de-
tectives."

**************************************************************************

A couple of moments later --

	The smoke cleared, revealing --
an open door.  But no Carmen.
	Ivy was furious.  Carmen was at-
tempting to get away again!
	"After her!" she cried and all
six detectives ran toward the exit.
	Once they were in the corridor,
Zack asked, "Now what?"
	"I think Carmen will try to get
to the outside," said Jaci.  "Once out-
side, she'll probably try to get away
via her jet-copter."
	"All right," said Ivy.  "Let's
try outside first.  If she's not there,
we'll try inside."
	So they ran toward the outside,
and there was Carmen, standing only a
few feet away from the exit.
	"We've got you now, Carmen!" I-
vy cried triumphantly.
	That's when Carmen's jet-copter
arrived!  It dropped down a dais.
	Globie leapt toward Carmen, de-
termined to grab her before she could
escape.  Chase was right beside Globie,
with Ivy right behind, then Jaci, Jas-
mine, and finally Zack.
	But Carmen leapt onto the dais,
and it lifted into the air.  When they
reached it, it was already a couple of
feet into the air!
	But Globie leapt toward it, de-
termined to grab hold of Carmen's leg.
However, Chase managed to grab Globie
and prevent him from reaching Carmen's
dais as it lifted even higher into the
air.
	"She's getting away!" yelled
Globie furiously.
	"And if you'd grabbed hold of
her leg, you might well have fallen
and gotten seriously injured!" cried
Chase.  "You've got to think before
you leap!"
	"You sound a lot like Jaci,"
grumbled Globie.
	"Chase is a bit more reckless
than I am, but we do share a similar
philosophy," said Jaci.
	Ivy said, "Look on the bright
side, Globie.  "We have the stolen ob-
jects, and we still have to return our
costumes before we go back to Acme HQ."
	So the detectives prepared to
C-5 back to Salem.

***********************************************************************

Acme HQ, an hour later --

	Jasmine could finally relax now.
	They had returned to Salem, re-
turned their costumes, then split into
three groups.  Zack and Ivy had return-
ed the First Folio to Huntington, Chase
and Jaci had returned the handwritten
score of "Tristan und Isolde" to Bay-
reuth, and she and Globie had returned
the manuscript of The Tale of Genji to
Kyoto.
	And now they were in Acme Head-
quarters, where the Chief had listened
to the whole story.
	"So, Carmen was attempting to
play matchmaker, huh?" asked the Chief.
	"Yes," said Chase.  "I should
have seen the clues much sooner than I
did."
	"We all should've seen the clues
much sooner than we did," Ivy told him
soothingly.  "But Carmen's clever."
	"She's right," said Jaci.  "At
least we didn't run into any dangerous
situations like we did last month."
	"True," said the Chief, shiver-
ing at the memory.  "Anyway, now that
you're all done, you have a month off
for vacation as payment for a job well-
done!  Where are you going?"
	Globie said, "Well, Lance Arm-
strong will be in New York tomorrow,
so Zack, are you still willing to go
and see him with me?"
	"Sure!" cried Zack.
	"And then I can take you to
see all of Mark McGwire's games," Glo-
bie added.
	"Well, I'll be going to Jamai-
ca to see my family and have a good
time," said Jasmine.
	"I'm going to practice my ka-
rate, and when I'm not doing that, I
will probably do some hiking in the
coastal mountains," said Ivy.
	"Jaci, are you a good swim-
mer?" Chase asked.
	"Yes," said Jaci.
	"How about if we go scuba di-
ving at the Great Barrier Reef?" ask-
ed Chase.  "And we could share some
romantic time together as well."
	"I'd love it!  Thanks!" cried
Jaci.
	"Have a good time!" said the
Chief as all the detectives prepared
for vacation.

************************************************************************

VILE HQ, the following day --

	"So, what's your diagnosis of
Moe and Lars?" Carmen asked.
	After returning from Californ-
ia, she helped prepare the House of the
Seven Gables for the tour the follow-
ing day.  Then they left and returned
to VILE HQ, where Carmen got some well-
deserved sleep before tackling the twin
problems of Moe and Lars, and of Sara
and Frank.
	"They're suffering from an a-
cute but temporary mental derangement
caused by exposure to cheesy music and
tap-dancing rats," said Sy.  "Coherent
speech should return in a week, and in
time, they should recover fully, except
for a case of musophobia or murophobia,
which is actually the fear of mice, but
since mice are related to rats, I think
the phobia will apply to rats as well.
Also, they will probably be afraid to
go down to Sara Bellum's lab from now
on."
	"I'm going to have to have a
good chat with Sara and Frank," said
Carmen, sighing.  "I'll probably have
to send Sara to you for treatment la-
ter.  At least the worst effects are 
temporary."
	"Yes," said Sy as Carmen left
the office.
	Before Carmen went to talk to
the two miscreants, she went to her
computer and hacked into Acme to talk
to the Chief.
	"Carmen!" cried the Chief.
	"Just wanted to find out how
the two lovebirds are doing," said Car-
men.
	"If you mean Chase and Jaci, I
gave all the detectives vacation time
and they chose to go scuba diving off
the Great Barrier Reef and share some
romantic time together as well," said
the Chief.
	Carmen figured as much.  She
knew Chase and Jaci were perfect for
each other.  All she needed to do was
help their budding romance along.
	"Glad to hear it," Carmen said.
"I'll be leaving now.  And no, please
don't ask me to return just yet.  I'm
not ready to address that problem just
yet."
	"All right," said the Chief, ve-
ry reluctantly.  "Just remember that if
you ever decide to return, I'm willing
to welcome you back."
	Carmen suspected as much.  "I
remember," she said.  "Right now I have
to do some talking with Frank M. Poster
and Sara Bellum, and arrange an appoint-
ment for Sara with the staff therapist.
Until Next Crime."
	And with that, Carmen broke the
connection, thinking, 'All's well that
ends well'.

The end