Part 5
Written by:
Laurie LeBlanc
"I wonder where we are supposed to go," Zack asked as he turned on his flashlight.
"Just walk straight down the hallway for now," Ivy suggested and then added, "Unless you
have a better suggestion, Carmen."
"None at all, detectives," Carmen replied.
The three then walked down the narrow hallway. The high ceiling rose thirty feet above
then. The wooden arches supporting the ceiling could barely be seen. There were wooden doors
every ten or so feet on each side of the hallway. The three could only guess what was behind
them.
After walking about fifty yards, the hallway came to a dead end. The shadows cast from
the wooden wall seemed to point at the small end table in front of it. On the table was a small,
blue jack-in-the-box with a red crank. Ivy picked it up and noticed the top of the box had a
message written on it in black marker. She read the message aloud, which said, "The surprise
inside should be shared by those that bare the initials on the cube."
"Hmm," Zack said after Ivy had finished. "Hey Ive, notice on the cube- there's a yellow
'C' on the front panel."
"Well, I suppose I would be the first one Marco would want to send such a message to,"
Carmen remarked.
"Yeah," Ivy agreed as she nodded. She then turned the box to the right and saw that
the right side panel bore a yellow letter 'I.'
"Oh man," Zack said nervously, "That's gotta be for you, Ivy."
"But how-" Ivy began.
"Simple," Carmen replied, "Lee must have told Marco about the two of you. He must have
figured Acme would send their best agents after him."
Zack gulped, "Does the next panel have a 'Z' on it?"
Ivy turned the box so that the back panel was now facing her. Sure enough, it had a 'Z'
on it.
"Oh great. Now we know that Marco knows we're after him!" Zack exclaimed.
"I'm sorry, Zack. Marco has his ways of finding things out. You know what this guy is
capable of," Carmen replied. She sighed and then added, "Turn the block to the other panel- the
one we didn't look at. There's got to be another initial."
Ivy did and exclaimed, "There sure is! And it's an 'S.'"
"An 'S' ?" Zack asked.
"Of course!" Carmen exclaimed.
"Who-" Zack began. Then suddenly the realization came to him, "Oh! That's gotta be
for Suhara!"
"Correct, Zack," Carmen replied. "Now, I suppose we had better see what's in that
box." Carmen took the box from Ivy. "I had better do this. Who knows what will pop up!" She
then began to turn the crank and the tinny tune of "Pop Goes the Weasel" played. When it reached
the point in the song where one sang, "Pop," the lid popped up and with it a small picture of
a college-aged Japanese girl. Carmen picked up the picture, examined it, and turned it over.
There on the back of the picture was a message scribbled in blue ink. Carmen read the message
aloud to the detectives. "It says, 'I'd ask the old man about her.'"
"I'm guessing he means Suhara," Zack replied.
"Ooh, nice work. After all, you guessed correctly that the 'S' on the box meant him.
Gee, why would another clue point to him?" Ivy asked sarcastically with a smirk.
Carmen glared at Ivy causing her smirk to fade from her face.
"So, let's go C-5 to his place then," Zack suggested.
Carmen nodded and Zack commanded, "Player, C-5 us to Suhara's house!"
The three arrived just outside Suhara's door. Ivy knocked on it, and a moment later,
Suhara answered it. "Hello," he greeted them. Then when he noticed Carmen, he said, "I'm
surprised to see you here."
"Well Suhara, we have a question for you," Zack replied, not noticing who the last
comment was directed towards.
"Come on in," Suhara offered. Zack and Ivy walked in, but Carmen hesitated for a
moment. Noticing her hesitation, Suhara said to her, "I meant you too."
"Suhara, I-" Carmen began.
"Come on in, and we'll talk about everything," Suhara interrupted.
Carmen then joined Zack and Ivy on the couch. Suhara sat on a chair opposite them. He
then began, "So, what brings you by for a visit?"
Ivy answered, "We had heard that a man by the name of Marco Kane had escaped and have
been working with Carmen to try to stop him. We got a clue from him that we need your help
with."
Carmen gave the picture to Suhara and a shocked expression come over his face. "He
can't!"
"Can't what?" Zack asked.
"I fear he's going to finish what he started!" Suhara exclaimed.
"You mean that's your niece in the-" Ivy began.
"Yes, it's my niece, Hotaru," Suhara said. Then he paused for a moment somewhat
puzzled. He looked at Ivy and asked, "How could you begin to venture a guess as to who this is?"
"Carmen told us about that night...and that twisted game...and poor-"
"You told them?" Suhara asked Carmen.
"I had to, Suhara. It's the only way they'd understand who they're after. I-I-"
Carmen began.
"So, you decided that because you've had experience with this...this..."
"Psycho?" Zack suggested.
"That fits," Suhara replied, "You've decided to work with Zack and Ivy to bring that
psycho to justice?"
Carmen nodded.
"You look as though you're ashamed to ask for my help, Carmen," Suhara said.
"I-I am in a way. After all, I was so cruel to you when I made you come after me in one
of my capers. Suhara, I really-"
"Actually Carmen, although you are now feeling a bit guilty about using me then, I do
realize you were right."
"I was?"
"Yes, I HAVE been living in self-pity for the longest time. You were right- it was
time for me to move on."
Carmen smiled and said, "So glad to hear that you're not upset."
Suhara nodded and replied, "It's time we move on. We should consider Marco's clue as a
sign that he's after Hotaru and had better go and protect her!"
"You know where she is, right?" Zack asked.
"Yes," Suhara replied. She's staying in her dorm room at the San Francisco State
University."
"Then we had better get there before Marco does!" Zack exclaimed.
"Or hope that he hasn't already!" Ivy added.
"What dorm is she in?" Zack asked.
"Mary Ward Hall," Suhara replied.
"Then Player, C-5 us there!" Ivy exclaimed.
The corridor entrance opened in a hallway of the dormitory. All four people stepped out
and looked around them. "Do you know what room she's in?" Ivy asked Suhara.
Suhara paused in thought. "I forgot the number, but I where it is."
"Well, that's good enough," Zack replied. "Are we on the right floor at least?"
Suhara looked around trying to remember. It had been awhile since he visited Hotaru's
dorm. Then, he spotted something that jogged his memory- a rainbow colored message board on a
door about fifty feet in front of them. "Oh! We are right near her room!" he exclaimed as
he walked towards that door. When they all reached it, they could see that on the message
board, there was a scribbled message that read, "Keely and Hotaru's Room."
"That helps," Zack commented.
Suhara knocked on the door and a voice cried out a moment later, "Come in!"
Suhara then turned the doorknob and entered the room. He saw a young lady with short
blonde hair wearing a sweatshirt and a pair of jeans. She was sitting on her bed. "Excuse me,"
Suhara asked.
The girl looked up and had a puzzled expression on her face. "Who are you?" she asked.
"I'm Suhara, Hotaru's uncle. Do you know where she is?"
Keely looked at the alarm clock across the room. The time read 2:45. "She's still in
class, but she'll be out at 3. Why don't you come in and wait for her?"
"Thank you," Suhara replied.
He began to walk in, but Zack grabbed his arm and said, "Hey Suhara, maybe you had better
talk to her. We could-"
"Could what?" Suhara asked. "No Zack, you, Ivy and Carmen should stay here. I think
Hotaru needs to talk to all of us." Then looking at Carmen he added, "Especially you."
Carmen bit her lip nervously. It had been so long since she had seen Hotaru. A thought
crossed her mind, "Does Hotaru blame me for her parents' murder?"
"But Suhara," Carmen protested, "I haven't seen her since that night and-"
"Hey, you guys gonna come in or not?" Keely asked.
"Oh, all right," Carmen agreed.
Suhara and the others walked in. Carmen, being the last one inside, closed the door and
sat on the bed occupied by the others. Keely looked at the other three with a puzzled
expression on her face.
"We're Acme agents," Zack explained. "I'm Zack, this is my sister Ivy and this..uh,"
He began as he motioned towards Carmen.
"Is a special agent for this particular case," Ivy finished. "Her name is Carmen."
Then Ivy thought she should have made up a name for Carmen instead of giving out her real one.
Keely smiled, "I wouldn't think Acme would hire anyone named Carmen with Carmen Sandiego
on the loose." She then grinned and added, "Just kidding of course."
"I get that a lot," Carmen replied softly, sounding like she was trying to hide her
true voice.
There was an awkward silence for about a minute. Then Keely began, "Uh, Suhara, I was
wondering if I could ask you something."
"What?" Suhara asked.
"Well, Hotaru's been acting weird lately and I'm not sure why," Keely replied.
"Weird?" Suhara asked, "How so?"
"I dunno, we saw that some psycho guy is on the loose on the news the other night and
she's been so paranoid since."
"I know why," Suhara replied.
"Could you tell me?" Keely asked. "She won't tell me a thing and I just want to try and
help her out, you know?"
"I think we'd better wait until Hotaru comes in. If she wants you to know, she can
tell you," Suhara replied.
Moments later, Hotaru walked in the room. She was quite surprised by all the company
that was in her room. "Hey Keely," she greeted her roommate. Then she noticed her uncle and
ran to him, giving him a big hug. "Uncle Suhara!" she cried out, "I'm so glad you're here!"
Suhara smiled, "I'm glad you're all right!" he exclaimed. "I was so worried about you!"
Keely began to even look more puzzled. "Uh, do you want me to leave?" she asked.
Hotaru turned to her roommate. "Well, you see...I do have to talk to him about something
really important."
"Well, is it about why you've been acting weird since we saw the news the other night?"
Hotaru nodded. "Yes it is."
"Well, could you tell me? I want to be able to help you out here and-"
"Well," Hotaru interrupted, "It's kinda personal..."
"But, I've confessed personal things to you," Keely argued.
"This is different," Hotaru replied. "Maybe when...or...if...things get better, I'll
let you know."
"All right..." Keely replied, rather confused. "I'll head on over to the library for
awhile then."
"Thanks Keely," Hotaru replied. Keely grabbed her jacket and exited the room, closing
the door behind her.
"I thought you were in danger, so we came to see if you're ok," Suhara said.
"I'm fine right now," Hotaru replied, "So who is with..." She trailed off and then
caught a glance with Carmen, When she did, she exclaimed, "What the hell are YOU doing here?"
"It's ok," Suhara assured her, "Carmen is helping Acme out to try to catch Marco. These
two agents," he said motioning to the detectives, "are Zack and Ivy. They're two of the best
agents."
Hotaru nodded. "But still, why is SHE here? She's the one-" she cried out pointing her
finger at Carmen, "who could have rescued my parents!"
"But I-" Carmen began.
"Hotaru, you know she tried everything to get out of having to play that game. She-"
Suhara began.
"Yeah right!" Hotaru exclaimed. "It's HER fault! It's ALL HER FAULT!" she exclaimed
as she sprung up. She glared at Carmen with a menacing glance.
"Hotaru, please! Let me explain!" Carmen cried out.
"NO! Just shut up! Get out of here! Get out of here now!" Hotaru commanded, her face
red from screaming.
"All right," Carmen replied softly, "I'll go." She began to get up when suddenly, the
detectives' communicators went off. She then stopped because she wanted to hear the latest
bulletin.
"Wonder what the Chief wants," Zack asked. "Go ahead Chief!"
However, the face of the Chief did not appear on the screen, instead it was none other
than Sara Bellum!
"Sara???" Carmen and the detectives asked at once.
"Help me..." Sara said softly. "I didn't want ta do this- dat evil man made me!"
"Oh no," Carmen said as she went extremely pale. She then squeaked out, "He wasn't
wearing a black cloak, was he?"
Sara nodded. "Oh no!" she then cried out, "I hearr him coming back! I gotta get off
da line!"
With that, Sara quickly ended transmission.
Everyone was silent for a moment. Then Zack said in a voice barely above a whisper,
"Without Acme's computer, we're screwed."
"I hate to admit it Zack," Ivy began, "But you're right."
To be continued...
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