The Drake Detective Agency - Poolside Peril Pt 2

    “MMMMLLLMMM WWWKKK PPP!”

    “CCCCNNN YYYMMM HHHRRR SSSS MMMLLLMMM!”

    Molly awoke from her enforced slumber to the sound of frantic yet muted voices. Her vision was blurred and her head heavy, the after effects of chloroform alright. Yet as her senses returned she managed to focus on the forms of Gina and Alex sitting on the floor ahead, staring at her with wide eyes. It took her a little longer to register the coils of white coloured rope wound tightly about their upper bodies, ankles and knees, with their hands held behind them with presumably more of the same cord. Both of them were making loud noises at her, but for some reason she noticed they weren’t moving their lips. She needed for her head to clear a little more to realise this was because they had been gagged with strips of clear tape, meaning she could see their lips welded together behind the material.

    It was only then Molly tried moving herself and discovered she couldn’t. She was in fact tied up in an identical manner to Alex and Gina, ropes pinning her ankles and legs together and wound about her torso and upper arms. She noticed after a few wriggles that her forearms were pressed together to form a box shape behind her back, the ropes keeping them that way affixed to those about her body like a constricting harness. This meant her hands were held well apart from each other, and a long way from any knots to pry. Molly then tried speaking only to find her lips wouldn’t open, presumably taped up with the same kind of material used on her friends, with a thick wad of sponge crammed into her mouth for good measure.

     Molly then heard more muffled exclamations from behind her, and groggily rolling over she came face to face with Caroline and Jemma, both of them still wearing their school uniforms and also bound and gagged just like her. Molly felt her heart sink, realising then that the whole Drake Detective Agency had been taken out of action. Caroline was staring straight at Molly, her eyes behind her glasses filled with concern for her friend. Jemma however looked terrified, the blonde haired girl having spent the entire day in captivity. But at that moment her eyes were fixed not on Molly, but on something just beyond her. “Mmmmlllllmmm, llllkkk vvvrr tttthhhrrr,” she murmured in a quiet, apprehensive voice.

     Molly realised what she was talking about when she examined her surroundings and realised the five of them were sitting on Puffin Island’s tallest diving platform, a precise ten metres above the shimmering, pristine pool below. But when she looked down at her ankles her heart gave a nervous leap into her stuffed mouth. Positioned only inches from the diving platform’s edge were five weights taken from the pool’s gym, each ten pounds in weight. Ropes had been tied to them and then affixed their ankle bonds, tethering each girl to a weight. Molly realised with a rising sense of dread that all it would take was a hefty kick against a weight and the girl it was tied to would be powerless to stop herself being dragged over the edge, falling ten metres into the water below, where they would sink to a depth of five metres. More than deep enough to condemn them to a watery grave.

    Upon realising this Molly began straining furiously against her bonds, alternating her shoulders and flexing her arms trying to break out of the constricting harness of rope. She didn’t have much success, the ropes remaining rigid and the knots well out of prying range. She growled through her gag as she jiggled her pinned knees, glad that her boots were protecting her ankles but the ropes uncomfortably pinching her upper legs through her tights. She tried moving her lips to dislodge her gag but so much tape had been slathered over them it was as if her mouth was coated in a transparent veil.

    Jemma and Caroline merely sat against the metal railing and watched her, both having spent hours earlier trying to get free themselves but to no avail. Alex was methodically testing her restraints searching for some weakness in them. Yet Gina was really going beserk, her nostrils flaring as she shook her entire body from head to toe; swearing behind her gag while doing everything in her power to break her, Alex and her friends out of this dire predicament.  

   It was at this point that a voice, using the swimming pools public announcement system, spoke to her, “Calm down there Miss Swann, you’ll do yourself some damage if you’re not careful.”

   The five girls looked all about them, searching for the source of the voice. They saw it soon enough, as up the ladder leading to the diving platform rose Mr White, still resplendent in his mask, bowler hat, cape and dark suit. Molly noticed that he had attached the speaker of a radio mike to his mask where his lips would be, which was allowing him to speak via the PA system. She narrowed her eyes angrily as the criminal stood and admired the sight of his latest batch of captives.

    “One of these days I’m going to write a book,” the arch criminal gloated. “It’s going to be called, 101 ways to kidnap a girl detective. You see, snoops like Jemma you can trick. Snoops like Caroline and Alex you can surprise. Snoops like Gina you can threaten their loved ones. But I think my favourite group is the one Molly belongs to; the, ‘dangle a shiny mystery in front of their pretty faces and watch them dance’ group.”

    “LLLLTTT SSSS GGGGMMM YYYMMM FFRRRKKKKK!” Molly cried out through her gag, stamping her conjoined, booted feet against the hard surface of the diving platform. She wasn’t going to give in to this madman. She needed to stay strong for her friends, and whatever he had planned for them like hell was she going to make it easy.

   Mr White seemed to ignore her outburst. Instead he wandered among the group of bound, wriggling teen sleuths and remarked almost casually, “Just for the record girls this is nothing personal. Up to now your hijinks and mine haven’t overlapped, so I’ve left you be. But unfortunately for you I need you for my latest plan. Specifically, I need you trussed up like five Christmas geese. I trust that’s not too much of an inconvenience.”

    The response he got came in the form of five muffled tirades, containing some very garbled swear words, from the taped mouths of his captives. Sounding very amused Mr White retorted, “Thought not. Just sit tight munchkins, your role in this plan will be revealed very shortly.”

   That was all he said for now, and he walked past their jiggling forms and stepped onto the edge of the diving platform. He held his hands behind his back and stared out over the empty swimming pools, as if waiting for someone at a bus stop. The room was filled with the sound of struggling snoops, rustling clothes and muffled squeaks and snorts, but Mr White was, for once, strangely silent, and Molly found this unnerving.

   Then they all heard the sound of a door swinging open then slamming loudly. Mr White snapped to attention as four people entered the swimming pool, a mismatched group of varying shapes and sizes. A tall man wearing a green wrestling mask and a long overcoat, an even taller and bulkier man in another wrestling mask with an even longer overcoat, a short, stocky man wearing a kilt, denim jacket and khaki trousers, and a red headed women in a white mask with a padded leather jacket, white trousers and knee high boots.

   Molly and her friends began to make frantic cries through their gags and renewed their desperate struggles. They recognised these four new arrivals all too well. They were Ogre, Troll, Bandersnatch and Banshee; four minions of the Kreep who had made their lives a misery on repeated occasions.

    Mr White seemed a lot happier to see them. He outstretched his arms in welcome and said enthusiastically via the PA system, “Good evening my fellow deviants of the criminal underworld. Thank you very much for taking time out of your hectic schedule to respond to my invitation.”

   The four goons quickly spotted the white masked man stood atop the diving platform, but they seemed unsure of what to make of him. It was Bandersnatch who spoke first, saying with an indignant scoff, “You mean we broke cover to come meet someone out of the local pantomime?”

   “You dolt,” Banshee snapped, “That’s the bloke from the Carrington area that the papers are raving about, who murdered the ex-leader of the Nortons.”

   “Oh come now, you’re making me blush,” Mr White remarked happily. “I brought you all a little gift as a token of my appreciation for coming. I so wanted your boss to be present when I handed them over, but life is full of little disappointments, isn’t that right Molly?”

    “SSSSCCCRRRWWW YYYMMMM!”

    Ogre then noticed the five familiar bound and gagged girls sat around Mr White, and his face stretching into a smile he said, “So you’ve become acquainted with Drake and her meddlesome band as well. Catch them snooping around one of your warehouses?”

    “The girls are here as my guests, as are you. Must say that rounding them up was great fun, no wonder you do it so often. Interesting technique you used on them and Philip’s gang a while back, hanging them on the walls in those sacks. ^Though I’m more a fan of old fashioned rope work, it’s the personal touch which makes all the difference.”

    “I’m going to assume we weren’t brought here to trade compliments,” red headed Banshee said icily. “We have the police scouring the area for us, so we don’t have all day. What have we been brought here for?”

    “For an offer you can’t refuse Miss Banshee…I can call you Miss Banshee can’t I? Anyway I have to admit that I have been closely following your activities for some time now. When I learnt of what occurred the night your boss took a…tumble into the sea, I couldn’t bear the thought of all you delightfully talented misfits on the run or filling prison cells. So quite simply gang, I want you to join me!”

    Everyone but Mr White needed a moment to properly process what he was suggesting. The goons looked surprised, while Molly and the girls looked horrified. Bandersnatch ultimately was the first to respond when he said, “What, you want to join forces?”

    “Oh no, Mr Bandersnatch. I want to recruit you,” Mr White announced. “You’ll find me a reasonable employer. You will gain access to resources and tools beyond your dreams, have a whole network of criminality at your disposal, and twenty five paid days holiday a year. All I ask in return is a twenty five percent cut of your plunder and your unwavering loyalty. Oh, and perhaps most importantly given your current circumstances, I will provide you with the best protection against the long arm of the law available.”

     Ogre, seemingly unconvinced by this offer, folded his arms and asked, “And what if we decide to stay independent?”

   Mr White paced up and down the edge of the diving platform as he answered, “Well aside from making me very upset, which is never advisable, I’m afraid to say that it’ll condemn the Drake Detective Agency to a one way trip to Davey Jones’ Locker.”

    Molly and the girls looked at Mr White in alarm as he paced around the five precariously positioned weights, before they started wriggling for freedom again with everything they had, wanting to be anywhere but in Mr White’s vicinity. What twisted game was he playing? If Kreep’s minions refused this offer they would be the ones who suffered? How was that fair? The minions seemed equally confused by this turn of events. Banshee even began to softly laugh to herself, before yelling, “Drake and her band of chums are the reason we’re in this mess. What makes you think that we’d want to save their lives?”

    “Well wanting to save their lives is a bit of a stretch I’ll admit,” Mr White elaborated. “But consider these two factors. One, you’re already wanted by the police for the kidnap of these five young ladies. It’s not going to look very good for you should they turn up dead at the bottom of a swimming pool tomorrow morning with ropes connecting weights to their ankles. I doubt you’ll want five counts of murder added onto your already impressive list of charges?”

    “And secondly, do you really want to be denied your revenge against these girls? Them meeting their untimely demise at my hand would be like…you hunting a prized stag for days on end only for me to be the one who pulls the trigger and hang it’s stuffed head on my wall. I know for a fact your boss would view the situation in a similar light. Would you deny yourselves, and him I guess, the revenge you all so rightly deserve?”

      Molly froze, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. She had no idea what the minions would decide. At first it looked like Banshee was going to tell him to shove it but Ogre put his hand on her shoulder and pulled her into a huddle to discuss the matter further. Molly then found herself looking into the fear filled eyes of Jemma, Caroline, Alex and Gina. Once again they had been dragged into terrible danger on her account, and Molly knew it was her responsibility to get them safely home. But with these damned, immovable ropes keeping them all captive, she had no idea what to do.

   But then, looking at Mr White as he paced along the edge of the diving platform, Molly had an idea. He was getting reckless, lost in his own ingenuity and oblivious to what she and the other girls were doing. This gave her an opportunity to take back control of the situation, but she’d have to be careful. Making sure he didn’t notice her Molly began slowly scooting forward, ignoring the aches caused by her bonds while planting her feet against the platform and dragging her body along the ground as fast and as silently as she could. Neither her nor her confused friends daring to make a sound she shuffled ever closer to the suited figure patrolling the edge, even as he continued to gloat using the PA system.

   “Please take your time to communicate with your…conscience. But know that joining me is a move none of you will regret. All are welcome into my happy family, and together we will take complete control of this country’s underworld and…”

    Mr White’s speech of triumph was cut short when he was kicked in the legs from behind by Molly.

    He teetered on the edge momentarily, her surprise attack sending him completely off balance. Molly saw this, and thinking to herself, “Have a nice dip twat,” she pulled back her conjoined legs and kicked him again. This time it was enough to send the form of Mr White tumbling over the edge of the platform. They all heard a panicked scream emanating from the falling criminal, before his body hit the water with a loud, sickening crack.

   Kreep’s minions looked to the disturbed water, first thinking that it had been one of the girls who’d gone in. But when they saw the costumed man reach for the surface, winded from the impact and spluttering for air they leapt into action. “Grab him Troll!” Ogre commanded. The hulking goon was all too eager to oblige, and thundered over to where Mr White was trying to pull himself out of the water. Troll reached down, grabbing the man by the lapels of his jacket and hoisted him up like a sodden ragdoll, the man’s feet not even touching the floor.

   Quickly Mr White was surrounded by the gang. Ogre looked particularly pleased by this turn of events, licking his lips in anticipation as he placed his fingers on the edge of Mr White’s mask. “Fancy this everyone. Looks like we’re going to be the ones to finally reveal the identity of Mr…McKenzie!?!?”

      Molly and the girls, watching from their enforced perch, stared wide eyed as the costume was peeled away to reveal that indeed behind the mask was none other than Marvin McKenzie. Kreep’s gang were equally confused, staring at the Glaswegian as they struggled to comprehend what was going on. Bandersnatch eventually mumbled, “Blimey, to think McKenzie was Mr White all along.”

   But then over the PA system a familiar voice sneered, “As if McKenzie is smart enough to be me.”

   Then Molly realised what had occurred. While she had been asleep the two men had conducted a switch. The real Mr White had never joined them up on the diving platform. He had forced McKenzie to dress and pretend to be him as the real villain used the PA system to give his orders. Banshee had realised this as well, and with a piercing shriek she cried, “Where are you hiding then? Too scared to come out and play with us for real?”

    “Oh I’m tucked up safe and well a long way away,” Mr White cackled. “Why get your hands dirty when you can get a lackey to do the job for you.”

   Ogre did not seem pleased by this revelation, and staring into McKenzie’s eyes he snarled, “You honestly think you could get away with selling us out?”

    “You don’t…understand,” McKenzie spluttered. “Mr White has taken control of…my accounts. He’s more powerful…then you realise. Taking him on would…would be pointless.”

    Ogre continued to stare with an unpleasant expression on his face, before he gave Troll a signal after which the hulking goon drove his elbow against the head of McKenzie, knocking him clean out, before he was dropped to the floor.

    “Ooooh that’s got to hurt,” Mr White chortled. “Shame to see a new associate fall into the hands of the police, but given that the swimming pools silent alarm was accidentally on purpose re-activated just now, I doubt I’ll have time to extradite him.”

    Right on cue Bandersnatch received a message on his mobile phone, and when he saw it he nearly choked on the air he was breathing. “It’s from Wraith! He says the Filth have mobilised and are on their way!”

    “Looks like you’d best be toddling off then,” Mr White remarked casually. “But don’t be strangers. Remember that my offer still stands, and there’ll always be a space for you in my organisation.”

    “And that applies to all of you!”

    The four minions looked to each other in alarm. They knew they had little time to escape before the net was drawn around them. Ogre quickly hurried the gang back, directing them down the corridor they had first entered. But he couldn’t resist looking up at the gang of girls who had once again eluded him, and said, “That’s another life you’ve expended Molly Drake, but watch your back, because it won’t be long now until you hit game over.” And with that he ran back into the changing area and out of sight.

    Only then did Molly relax. Her moment of inspired insanity had potentially saved hers and her friend’s lives. She looked onto the eyes of Caroline, Gina, Alex and Jemma, and she could sense that they were just as relieved as she was. Knowing that the police were on their way, she slowly scooted back over to Caroline and rested her head on her friend’s shoulder, happy that once again another ordeal was soon to be over.

    But the voice speaking over the PA system couldn’t help but send a parting shot in their direction. “Been a pleasure making your acquaintance ladies, and can’t say that it hasn’t been an interesting evening. Have a safe journey home…oh, and when you’re telling Philips all about this, tell her I said hey!” And with that Mr White signed off, plunging the swimming pool into a sweet, comforting silence.



    “After that, we only had to wait about fifteen minutes or so before the police found and released us,” Molly explained to the image being streamed onto her computer. “But despite them locking down the area they couldn’t find either Mr White or any of Kreep’s minions.”

    I nodded as Molly finished her story. She had contacted me via Skype to tell me personally what had happened to her and her friends at the hands of my arch nemesis. Feeling dazed and stunned by what she had told me, I ran a hand through my brown hair and asked, “But, you’re all OK right?”

   “We’re just fine thanks Sara,” Caroline replied with a smile. “A little bruised and shook up but nothing we haven’t handled before.”

    Gina, who was standing over Caroline and Molly from where they were sat at her kitchen table, looked frustrated as she remarked, “Can’t believe we let that masked divot get the drop on us. And to think he had me fooled when he did that switch with McKenzie.”

    “That’s how he works,” Rachel sighed in a resigned tone, my raven haired best friend sitting beside me. “He deceives and manipulates people, using threats and blackmail to get them to do his dirty work. Don’t feel bad about falling into his trap. Hell we’ve fallen into them plenty of times.”

   I suddenly felt a wave of guilt run through my body, remembering a recent adventure of my own. “A little while back we stumbled across evidence that Mr White was recruiting criminals to his cause. One of the names I found on the database was that of the Kreep. I should have realised he’d might come after you as a result. I’m…I’m really sorry Molly.”

    “Don’t be sorry Sara, none of this was your fault,” Caroline told me firmly. “Even if we’d known that, none of us could have predicted he’d come after us. At the end of it Mr White didn’t get what he wanted, and we’re all safe. That’s all that matters in the end.”

    I smiled at her through the computer stream and said, “Well I’m glad to see you’re alright, and I’ll pass everything you said on to my dad. The more evidence we have about Mr White and his plans the faster we can catch and stop him for good.”

    “In that case glad we were able to help,” Molly told me, before she suddenly looked very serious and added, “And Sara, he mentioned you constantly. Just throwaway lines and stuff, but still…be careful.”

   “I will, and great to speak to you, even given the circumstances,” I told Molly. “Talk again soon?”

   “I have no doubt that we will,” Molly replied. With that we said our goodbyes and we ended the Skype conversation, and my image disappeared from Molly’s computer screen.

    No more than a few seconds later Alex and Jemma burst into the room, but were disappointed when they saw the conversation had already ended. “Aww we missed them,” Alex sighed. Nudging Jemma in the ribs she said, “We’d have made it if it we hadn’t had to go back for you Hello Kitty Rucksack.”

   “Well you should have overtaken that tractor when you had the chance,” Jemma protested.

   “Calm down you two, you didn’t miss much,” Gina sniggered. “Sara and Rachel were just as much in the dark regarding Mr White’s future plans as we are. But they’re glad we’re all safe and send you two their best.”

    Jemma sighed wistfully, still amazingly upbeat even though she had spent almost an entire day in Mr White’s clutches. “Well, if he does show his masked face around here again, we’ll be ready for him, won’t we girls?”

   “Damn right we will!” Molly smiled. As their topic of conversation moved to Jemma wondering what skirt she should wear out on the town this coming Saturday, Molly looked to Caroline and recognised how spaced out she was looking. Nudging her best friend with her elbow she said, “Look, I’m really sorry about our argument Caroline. I know you were just looking out for me, and I really appreciate having someone like you care so much about me.”

    Caroline managed to force a smile, and saying, “That’s very sweet of you Molly, but that’s not…It just doesn’t make any sense. Only a matter of weeks ago those goons were willing to blow us all to kingdom come. Now all of a sudden they hesitate when Mr White presented them with a golden opportunity to get their revenge?”

    “You heard what Mr White said. Killing us would have done them more harm than good,” Molly pointed out.

   “I know that,” Caroline answered. “It’s just…Mr White targeted us specifically. He knew putting us in danger would force them to break their cover, and would elicit that reaction from them. I just want to know why he did it, and this is the bit which really confuses me, why did it nearly work?”

    Molly didn’t have the answers. But she was distracted from these questions when Gina pulled out Jemma’s pair of pink high heels with a look of utmost disgust. As she found herself happily laughing along with the other members of her detective agency, she decided that was a mystery to be solved at a later date.