Tag Archives: game

She Wore a Red Dress ~ On the trail of a mastermind – #JulyWriting

29 Sunday Jul 2018

Posted by in July Writing, short story

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Join me every day at Noon EST for the continuing adventures of the bungling detective, N. Owl, in her quest to bring the mastermind, ~M, to justice!  If you’ve  missed any episodes, you can find them HERE!


Having gone through central booking, being fingerprinted, and tossed in a cell with all the other low life’s, I was finally called in front of the judge. I couldn’t wait to hear what the prosecutor would have to say about this crazy accusation. I had showed them my credentials, but since we were so covert, they looked at me like I was insane, and tossed me in jail, anyway.

I walked into the court room and stopped short. There she was, in a red dress, legs crossed and smiling in my direction. ~M! She had a wig on, but I knew it was her. She disguised herself as the prosecutor. Lord only knows what happened to the real one. I didn’t even want to think about it, knowing what had happened to Walt. I had no choice but to go with a public defender since I had no means of hiring another. Come to think of it, I didn’t even get my one phone call!! What an amazing set up. What a mastermind. After weeks of trying to put ~M away, she turned the tables on me. Seems my days as a free woman were numbered.

She presented her case to the judge, who kept a watchful eye on her legs. I couldn’t help thinking he wasn’t even paying attention to what she was saying. I didn’t stand a chance of getting the charges dropped. I needed a miracle, and fast. I shifted in my chair, and that drew the judge’s attention, if only for a brief moment. But long enough for someone to enter the back of the court room without being noticed. I noticed. It was Sarah C. I hadn’t seen her in years, only heard she had been in on the case earlier, with Walt. I waited, impatiently, to see what she was going to do.

By now, the judge was practically drooling all over himself. Seriously? My life was on the line here, hellloooo!!! Suddenly. Something whizzed by my head. And another. I ducked, not wanting to know what it was, only to avoid being killed, if it was a bullet. Then I saw. I had to laugh, but stifled myself. One by one, paper airplanes were flying about the court room. Now I remembered. Sarah C was notorious for distractions. Whenever someone needed one, they called her. Pretty soon, paper was flying all over the place. Some were even decorated. I think Sarah C has too much time on her hands.

This caused quite the commotion, people swatting at these planes, some getting nailed in the head. I imagine she had weighted the noses with something to make them fly better. Then I saw her from the corner of my eye, motion to me to run. She was giving me the chance to escape while everyone else was distracted! I made my way to the back of the court and high-tailed it out the doors. No one saw me leave, not even ~M, who seemed to be more worried about herself than anything else. The judge was hiding behind the bench. It was comical, like a Keystone Cops adventure.

Once I made it safely to the parking lot, Walt was there to pick me up. Seems he called in Sarah C to “bail” me out. We were even. We saved each other from the clutches of ~M. Now it was time to finally put her away for good.

 

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July Writing Prompt – She wore a red dress – Day 29/31

©2018 Dorinda Duclos All Rights Reserved
Photo via Pixabay CC0

Routinely Ravished ~ On the trail of a mastermind – #JulyWriting

28 Saturday Jul 2018

Posted by in July Writing, short story

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Join me every day at Noon EST for the continuing adventures of the bungling detective, N. Owl, in her quest to bring the mastermind, ~M, to justice!  If you’ve  missed any episodes, you can find them HERE!


~M was routinely ravished by her evil doings. She delighted in the fact that no one could ever figure out what she was up to. She could be right in front of you and you’d never know it. And she had her daughters up to no good, too. They took great pride in outsmarting any unsuspecting person who happened to cross their paths. They had learned well from dear mom.

The three of them together, ~M, Bri and Auti, were a force to be reckoned with. A trio of masterminds was surely more than a group of bumbling agents could even imagine to tackle. That’s what I was always afraid of. There were now seven of us, and no one had any clue as to where ~M could be. To make matters worse, Walt was missing.

I decided to take it upon myself to go looking for him. There was less of a chance of things being screwed up. Too many chiefs, you know the rest. Getting into my car, I started the engine, hearing a rather odd noise coming from the rear of the car. Thinking the rental was having an issue, I put the car back into park and listened to it idle. The noise wasn’t coming from the car itself. The longer I sat there, the louder it became. I realized, at that point, it was a moan, a human moan! Who? What? WALT!

“OMG, Walt? I hear you. Where are you?” I yelled out.

What I heard was a very muffled “Trun….” And then it was silent again. The trunk! I shut off the car, hit the trunk release, but it was jammed! I grabbed the keys, and tried to manually unlock the trunk. The key hole had been tampered with. I desperately looked around to see if there was something I could use to pry open the trunk. The crowbar was in the trunk. I always thought that kind of odd. What good would it do you if you needed to pry open something quickly? I mean, it’s kind of stupid not to keep it nearer to you, IN the car, right?

Oh sorry, I’m rambling. I do this when I’m upset, overwhelmed, angry, basically any emotion other than calm.

Signaling to the car valet, I asked if he had a crowbar. I explained that Walt was trapped in the trunk and there was no time to lose. He ran to the little hut they had for the valets, grabbed a crowbar and began working on opening the trunk, It wasn’t working. By that time, a crowd was gathering, including my crew. I shot them a look, basically telling them to find ~M, once and for all. She could not get away with this. Playing jokes was one thing, but almost taking a life is quite another.

The cops arrived, CSU in tow, and immediately got the latch opened. There was Walt, tied up, duct taped, and barely breathing. How long had he been in there? I started towards him, and found myself being pinned against the patrol car, and handcuffed. Trying to explain what had happened, and who I was, I was then read my rights and arrested for kidnapping and attempted murder. It was ~M. She called in an anonymous tip, and the cops assumed I was behind all of this.

I was not looking forward to jail. I don’t look good in stripes…

 

Stay tuned for more from this crime solving wordsmith…

 

July Writing Prompt – Routinely Ravished – Day 28/31

©2018 Dorinda Duclos All Rights Reserved
Photo via Pixabay CC0

Abstemious Intentions ~ On the trail of a mastermind – #JulyWriting

27 Friday Jul 2018

Posted by in July Writing, short story

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Join me every day at Noon EST for the continuing adventures of the bungling detective, N. Owl, in her quest to bring the mastermind, ~M, to justice!  If you’ve  missed any episodes, you can find them HERE!


One of the best parts about staying in a lovely hotel is always the Continental Breakfast. This place was no different, although they offered more than the usual fare of Danish and coffee. I made my way to the buffet, checking the hallway as I exited my room. You can’t be too careful, you know. ~M could be anywhere and I didn’t want to be caught in the elevator without backup. Coast clear, off I went.

I wasn’t surprised when I didn’t find the crew at breakfast. After the lemon debacle last night, I doubted they would even want breakfast. I had a chance to gather my thoughts and enjoy a nice cup of coffee without someone chattering in my ear. Of course, that didn’t last long at all. Mildred was the first one down. She looked green. I offered her a croissant, and I do believe she turned an even darker shade of green. Oh dear. This was not going to be a good day. I couldn’t wait to see the rest of them.

One by one, they filtered into the dining room. Cory and Fred went for dry toast, Michael grabbed a roll and some meats, and then thought twice, and joined the other two men with the dry toast. I couldn’t help but smile, watching them flop down, like they had been up all night, burning the midnight oil. I’m sure they had been up, but there was no oil involved. Penelope, as usual, was pouting, complaining to the others that they had ruined her night. She was the same shade of green as Mildred. I waited, as they got their toast, and the ladies had tea, before I laced into them about their behavior.

Walt. Where the heck was Walt? I asked the others, but they all had that confused look on their faces. No one knew where he was. I prayed he wasn’t up to his fiery deeds. I don’t think I could handle another one of those. I signaled for the bellhop, and asked if he would be so kind as to check on the gentleman in room ### (still not telling). He nodded and said he would be back soon. Upon returning, he informed me the room had not been slept in and there was no one inside. Walt’s belongings were there, but he wasn’t. This had me really worried. Could ~M have gotten to him without us knowing?

I couldn’t eat anymore, and by the looks of things, the others wanted nothing more than to get away from the food. My tirade would have to wait.  Now, not only did we have to find ~M, we also had to find Walt. I hoped we would before it was too late.

 

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July Writing Prompt – Abstemious intentions – Day 27/31

©2018 Dorinda Duclos All Rights Reserved
Photo via Pixabay CC0

Lemon Tarts shaped like Hearts ~ On the trail of a mastermind – #JulyWriting

26 Thursday Jul 2018

Posted by in July Writing, short story

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Join me every day at Noon EST for the continuing adventures of the bungling detective, N. Owl, in her quest to bring the mastermind, ~M, to justice!  If you’ve  missed any episodes, you can find them HERE!


Before getting off the elevator, in order to find some peace, I managed to get in that we should all meet for dinner at 7PM that evening. I remembered reading earlier, as I passed the hotel restaurant, they had a special dessert on the menu, lemon tarts. From the picture, they looked like they were in the shape of hearts. How cute. I was pretty sure I would have more than one. Before and after dinner. Always eat dessert first. As a friend once told me, if you do it this way, you can never be too full for the sweets. I’d pass on a salad any day.

I was able to relax a bit before having to deal with them all again, so I drew a bath, popped in some bubbles and allowed myself to float away to nowhere. Before long, my alarm went off, and begrudgingly, I lifted myself out of the tub, grabbed a towel and made my way into the main room. I had about an hour before heading down, so I sat at the small desk and jotted down notes about what had happened so far. We had less than a week left, and we may have been a smidge closer to revealing ~M’s scheme, but not close enough for me.

I closed my room door, made sure it was locked, and made my way to the elevator, hoping I would miss the others. No such luck. They all seemed to appear at once. So we piled in and off to dinner we went. Once seated, we studied the menu and decided on our appetizers. Hey, an agent’s gotta eat to keep up with the bad guys, right? I ordered a lemon tart. Again with the faces. What is it with this group? I explained, and they all thought it was a wonderful idea. So instead of appetizers, we had dessert! Now it was the waiter who was giving me strange looks. I had to laugh.

Seven lemon tarts, yes, shaped like hearts, were brought to the table. I wanted to savor mine, so I took my sweet time nibbling away at the tangy dessert. The others ate like they hadn’t in days, and before I knew it, were ordering more tarts. Michael ordered two dozen for the table. So much for dinner. I can honestly say, after one tart, I was good for a nice steak, but not these birds. They were grabbing at the tarts. It almost looked like a food fight, with globs of lemon flying everywhere. I let them go. I had no desire to participate in this free for all. I waved for the waiter and ordered my steak. He asked about the rest, I shrugged and sent him on his way.

When they had finished their dessert, none, I mean, none, wanted to even look at food. Michael and Penelope were moaning and holding their stomachs. Mildred, Cory and Fred were asking for a glass of seltzer to calm theirs and Walt… Walt? Now where did that man go off to? I could only hope it was the men’s room. I, on the other hand, had just finished a splendid sirloin, perfectly cooked and smothered in a divine mushroom sauce. Looking around, I shook my head, got the check, and escorted them back to their rooms to recuperate. As for Walt, I still didn’t know where he was, and that worried me.

Flopping on my bed, I think I was asleep before my head hit the pillow. Tomorrow would prove to be a hectic day. Time was running out. I had to get to ~M once and for all.

 

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July Writing Prompt – Lemon tarts shaped like hearts – Day 26/31

©2018 Dorinda Duclos All Rights Reserved
Photo via Pixabay CC0

Perpetual Pandemonium ~ On the trail of a mastermind – #JulyWriting

25 Wednesday Jul 2018

Posted by in July Writing, short story

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Join me every day at Noon EST for the continuing adventures of the bungling detective, N. Owl, in her quest to bring the mastermind, ~M, to justice!  If you’ve  missed any episodes, you can find them HERE!


Finally getting back to the hotel, I now had to figure out how to get Michael into the lobby. I spotted Walt and Cory and called to them for help. They meandered over, and seeing Michael in the front seat, gave me an awkward look. I sighed, then explained who he was and how he tired himself running after my car, blah, blah, blah, and would they PLEASE help me instead of jumping to conclusions! Both faces flushed and they proceeded to drag the agent from the car, both holding him up on their shoulders.

Michael stirred enough to acknowledge the desk clerk, with Walt interjecting it had been a rough night for the boys. Whatever. While waiting for the elevator, Fred rolled in and came over to see what all the fuss was. Learning we had a new agent on the team did not sit well with him at all. I knew how he felt. At that moment, Mildred and Penelope entered the lobby and squeals came out of Pouty’s mouth. Hearing them jolted Michael from his comatose state and he grinned a mile wide. I’m guessing they know each other.

Before I could say anything, the two of them were jabbering back and forth. What they were saying, I have no idea. Between the Aussie accent and the Queen’s English, it was total pandemonium.  I was a goner. I’m lucky I understand half the American’s I deal with. There was lingo flying everywhere. The most I got out of it was they were on a mission together, not long ago, one that ended poorly, I might add, and were thrilled to be partnered again. Yippee for me.

Putting that bit of info aside, I lead them all onto the elevator, pressed the button for our floor (you didn’t think I would tell you what floor, did you? What if ~M is reading this?), and watched as the doors closed. I was now stuck in a box with six loonies. I’d rather be stuck with Darth Vader, maybe, no, not really. Dear Lord, I needed a drink, but no time for that. I had to keep my head on straight. Ear plugs would have been nice, though. Elevators have a knack for echoing loud noises.

 

Stay tuned for more from this crime solving wordsmith…

 

July Writing Prompt – Perpetual Pandemonium – Day 25/31

©2018 Dorinda Duclos All Rights Reserved
Photo via Pixabay CC0