Chapter 13

S-Wait... I'm confused. What was going on in our minds and who else is in the vicinity?
B-Well, pretty much everything that Simon said to you. And the Sultry Scott is being creepy and stalking me where ever I go. So he's about 25 yards from where we are... I thought you would catch on.
B-Unless you want Simon to really have said that to you... But I thought you might not like that.
S-Oh, that makes a lot more sense. I guess I was just really confused... I was pretty sure it was the Sultry Scott but then I was feeling confused so I figured I'd ask about that too...
S-"Oh, yes very fine indeed," Simon replied. The walked along for a while longer and then sat down on a bench near the path. Sarah stared at the sky because she didn't know what else to do. Then, in the clouds she saw something very strange--a sea turtle. Well, it was a cloud sea turtle, but still, what a peculiar animal to be in the clouds she thought. Before she could ponder it more, a streak of long manly hair and plaid blurred past in Betsy's direction. "Not again," Sarah moaned. She stood up and started off in the same direction. Someone had to save Betsy from him and it certainly wouldn't be frail old Euphemiana. Simon caught up to Sarah."What is going on? And who is that?" "Well you see," Sarah said over her shoulder because she was hurrying, "the Sultry Scot has fallen in love with my sister." "Oh, I see" replied Simon. By this time they had caught up with the Scot who was attempting to grab Betsy's hand. Before anyone could blink the Scot was on the ground with a bloodied nose and Sarah daintily rubbing her knuckles where they had come into contact with a certain someone.
B-"Oh beautiful execution Sarah!" exclaimed Betsy. "I must say that was an expertly placed punch," agreed Simon. Euphemaina just stood smiling blithely and pulled her large fur coat more firmly around her to keep the chill air out. Betsy looked down in pity, with a little bit of disgust, at the Scot but didn't feel to bad for him because her hand was just gaining back it's circulation. The group continued on it's merry way, and the new topic of discussion was how to protect Betsy from the Scot. "I can take care of myself!" said Betsy indignantly. "Dearest, I'm not sure that you can. I mean, you seem a little overwhelmed by all this attention so your defensive skills just aren't what they normally are," stated Sarah matter of factly. "Ok, fine. Simon, would you like to be our male presence around town to stem the flow of attacks on me?" inquired Betsy. "I would consider it an honor!" laughed Simon because apparently he thought this all was very amusing. It was just at this moment that Betsy noticed Poppy was MIA!!
S-"Poppy" cried Betsy, "my dearest friend is gone, now I am alone in the world." "I thought I was your dearest friend" Sarah remarked. "Well yes, but Poppy is my other dearest friend." Everyone spread out began searching the park, calling Poppy's name. She was no where in sight. Even Euphemiana was poking around in the bushes muttering her name. After about three quarters of an hour of searching nothing had come up. They decided the best plan of action would be to contact the Popo and since they were all at a beloved comrade's funeral Simon set of to town to get them in person. This was a matter of life and death! Sarah eventually Poppy's ribbon caught in a bush. Near by there were paw prints everywhere. "A sure sign a a struggle" sniffed Betsy, "she is surely eaten by the wolves by now. Poor dear." Just as these words escaped her lips a sweet, innocent howl pierced the air.

and

Chapter 12

B-So they rushed back to the hotel to change into their cute new dresses! After they deemed themselves presentable for an encounter with nobility they set off. It was another pleasant walk to the House on the Hill, Poppy sniffed happily and didn't seem to mind the bow tied around her neck too much. They got to the drive which was lined with lovely tree's, there were willows, and oaks, and maple's, and birch, and almost any other kind of tree that you could think of. They came around a little bend and then they saw the house! It was lovely, an old english manor house that looks just like this!

Do you recognize it? If you don't I'm sort of ashamed of you... But only mildly.
S-"Oh my! What a lovely house." Sarah exclaimed and then thought to herself "Imagine, I could have been mistress of all this..." Wait. Wrong story. The girls finished walking up the drive and were greeted near the stairs by Simon. He scratched Poppy's ears and invited them in. The front hall of the house was about as big as Sarah and Betsy's whole house. The walls were dripping with gorgeous art. Sarah could spot a Pissaro and what appeared to be a Titian but she wasn't sure just from where she was standing.
B-"What beautiful art Simon!" exclaimed Sarah. "Oh, are you an art connoisseur?" asked Simon hopefully. "I know a little..." Sarah said modestly. They then talked about all of the pieces in the front hall. Betsy was content just to look at all of them. They continued to walk through the house and finally got to the East parlor, which was tastefully decorated in earthy browns, greens, and golds. But they weren't having tea here. They were just waiting for the table to be ready outside in the garden. As they were waiting Simon's mother, grandmother, and two sisters came in.
S-One of the sisters was small and mouse-y. Poor dear. She looked pleasant enough though. The other sister was another case. She had gorgeous auburn swept into a graceful bun and piercing green eyes. Simon's mother appeared to have a severe disposition--sharp angular features, hair scraped tightly away from her face--not very pleasant. The grandmother looked a little bit crazy. All in all, Simon was the most normal one in his family.
B-But both the girls were really quite pleasant once you got to know them. The beautiful one who had the tragic name of Lucip. But fortunately you can use the nickname of Lucy, the other daughter wasn't so fortunate. She got stuck with Querd. How do you shorten that? Mostly people just called her Que, and she got used to it over time. They had delicious tea with dainty little cucumber sandwiches and a lamb chop for dear Poppy! She was in heaven. The group talked of everything from muslin, to horses, to how best to prune an apricot tree. After tea everyone but Simon's mother went into the gardens which were the talk of the county. Betsy fell in step with Simon's grandmother since she didn't get much of a chance to talk to her during tea, and she thought that she looked very interesting.
S-"Very fine weather we're having" remarked the grandmother in a croaky old person voice. "Quite" replied Betsy, "its woefully dreadful to have so many murders take place in such fine weather." "Murderer!" exclaimed the grandmother glancing around, "What are you talking about young lassie?" "Didn't you hear? There have been several murders in recent days down in the village" Betsy said. "I don't get around much, with my rheumatism and all," the Grandmother remarked. "How old are you exactly?" inquired Betsy. "87 and 7/12ths next Tuesday" the grandmother proclaimed "and proud of it. Not many people get to be that age and keep a nimble mind like mine." "Oh how lovely," remarked Betsy. They pleasantly carried on for the rest of the walk. Betsy thought it was a lovely chat and that the grandmother--whose name was Euphemiana--was a model woman of respectability indeed.
B-Meanwhile Sarah was having a lovely conversation with Simon (his sisters had gone inside for some reason or another). " Very fine weather we're having," remarked Sarah in a croaky voice. "Oh, don't talk to me about the weather!" cried Simon. "Don't you know the anguish you have caused me these past 17 hours?! I love you with a passion that burns deep within my soul. Oh dearest Sarah, tell me that you love me too? Do not torment my soul any longer!!" Of course that was all going on within the minds of Betsy and Sarah (who were both thinking about basically the same thing, we just mashed it together for convenience reasons. Little did we know that these were the exact words that someone in the vicinity was thinking, but it wasn't Simon...)






and

Chapter 11

B-The girls sat down at at a table for two so there was no way that the Scot could sit with them. But what he did was almost worse! He sat at a table a little ways away facing Betsy and just sat there staring at her. And every so often he licked his lips! Trying to ignore this fact Betsy ordered a plate of Haggis, which was one of her very favorite Scottish dishes. Ohh, the smell of sheep innards! Sarah ordered a mincemeat pie... boring! They ate their food and then thought it might be productive to ask around the bar about what people knew of the recent murders. So they moseyed on over and talked to people but didn't learn much, only that the Scot could follow Betsy very closely without actually touching her. Maybe he thought that when she was stomping on his toes "accidentally" that she was flirting with him. He really must have no common sense at all!
S-The girls decided the best plan of action would be to leave. The paid and swiftly walked through the door of the pub into the chilly outside air. The girls weren't prepared for the sudden onslaught of bitter wind so they ran as fast as the could to their room where Poppy was practically beside herself for being left out of all of the action. Poor lamb. Upon further investigation Sarah and Betsy discovered that the tulips were red and cream colored with very dark velvety centers and smelled lovely. The girls were so exhausted from the days adventures that the fell into bed and were oblivious to the world until Poppy licked their faces awake the next morning.
B-They were both a little grumpy but soon got over it. They got dressed and walked about town sightseeing and window shopping for a bit. Such quaint little shops they had! They decided that a little walk through the nearby woods was in order so Poppy could practice her sniffing, because after all she is a bloodhound! On this pleasant adventure they met all sorts of foes! Badgers, foxes, squirrels, butterflies! Oh they fun they had running and jumping over logs. But suddenly the atmosphere changed. It was right after they had jumped over a particularly large log when they spotted a very creepy looking abandoned house. It had a dead and sad feel to it, not the kind that makes you want to fix it up and make it beautiful! The kind the makes you want to run away and hide in a field of tulips. But the girls thought it might be some kind of clue. They started towards the house, Poppy sniffing the ground cautiously. They opened the creaky door...
S-The house was encrusted in cobwebs and layers of dust. They girls were about to close the door and run away when Betsy noticed some disturbance of the dust. What appeared to be footprints lead from the front door and around a dark corner. Poppy had already run in and was sniffing furiously. The girls explored the house further and didn't really find anything else of interest except for some old shears and a pie-tin with crumbs in it. The girls walked out of the house and noticed that the sun was getting rather high! They were going to be late for tea with Simon!



and

Chapter 10

B-They arrived at the Apothecary, where everything seemed to be the same as before. It smelled funny, the old man was there, and every nook and cranny was filled with some kind of something. They had a nice chat with him about murders that he'd encountered before on his wild adventures through the Highlands of Scotland. "It always seems to be the person you would least expect, it's hardly ever the person with the murderous air about them," remarked Old Man just as they were about to leave. The girls pondered this as they walked along the road towards the inn. But just then Betsy spotted something they had completely ignored before "Wait!" she shrieked. Sarah stopped dead in her tracks and turned to her left to see what Betsy was talking about. "No! How silly have we been?" The girls ran across the street, and then they stepped into the cutest little boutique that has lived on the face of the earth! There they bought a pair of adorable dresses that were just perfect for their tea tomorrow with Simon and his family. "Oh providence is smiling upon us today!"
S-The girls were so excited that they almost forgot they had a mystery to solve. So Betsy and Sarah decided the would devote the rest of the day to the case and take the next day off (keeping a wary eye of course). Sadly they didn't discover a thing. Although the did have another run in with the Sultry Scot. It's like he is following them or something... Sarah and Betsy finally decided to call it a day and headed back to the hotel. When they got into their room however the discovered something very surprising. Right there in the middle of the room was a...
B-...vase of tulips! "Oh my" said Sarah. "Who are they from?" "Is there a card," asked Betsy. "Dash!" exclaimed Sarah after searching the vase, "No such luck, we are stuck with the fate of not knowing whether they are for you or for me. Or if they delivered accidentally to our room. What a drag!" "Well, tulips do happen to be one of my favorite flowers... But I think we should share them so we don't cause some silly fight that would ruin our chances of solving the case!" said Betsy wisely. Sarah agreed, they were such good communicators, and did not caught up with silly trifles such as vases of tulips. So the girls got ready for bed, but then they remembered that they had not eaten dinner! So they grabbed the first clothes they saw and ran down the local pub. But on their way there they saw...
S-The Sultry Scot! He immediately spotted Betsy and as if a tractor beam was pulling him in. He was soon by Betsy's side remarking on what a lovely outfit she had on. Sarah looked at Betsy's outfit and laughed. She was wearing a turquoise flower print blouse, a violently red and orange plaid skirt, and her bunny slippers. Either the scot was blind or had some serious matching issues. Betsy was too busy trying to extricate her self from his grasp to notice such details. Sarah found a table, pulled Betsy along and managed to "accidentally" elbow the scot in the eye during the whole process.




and

Chapter 9

S-After a bit more chatting Simon invited Sarah to tea at his house the following afternoon. Sarah also asked if Betsy and Poppy could come along too. Simon then bowed and said goodbye until the following day and sauntered down the lane. Sarah wasn't quite sure how she felt about this most recent development in the plot but rushed off to see what Betsy and the Scot had gotten up to. Hopefully not a lot. She left them with a chaperone after all!
B-Sarah arrived in the nick of time! The Scot was trying to hold Betsy's hand while earnestly telling her about how his heart was being ripped apart not knowing whether she shared his passion! Poppy was doing her best to separate them but she was only a little dog after all, and could only do so much. Betsy was trying to resist the urge to punch him in the jaw because she knew that she was supposed to get information out of him, but the thought was tempting. But as all of these things were happening, along comes Sarah practically skipping down the road. The Scot doesn't drop poor Betsy's hand but she manages to wriggle free, with the help of Poppy biting his ankles. Sarah stops as she sees what was going on. "What are you doing!?" cried Sarah. "That is my sister, thank you very much and it doesn't look like she gave consent for you to hold her hand!" Even though she knew Betsy was supposed to get him to like her she just couldn't help herself! That's her baby sister for heavens sake!
S-Sarah was beginning to suspect the Scot was up to more than he appeared. He had a villainous look about him. He is a stone mason after all. Aren't all masons villainous? His intentions toward Betsy certainly weren't honorable. All of that hand holding for goodness sakes. People might start to get the wrong idea. After they had completely extricated Betsy from his grasp they hurried down the road. Sarah shared her exciting news that they had be invited to tea by a very respectable nobleman. Betsy then had to remind Sarah that they had a murder to solve and that they didn't have time to go gallivanting around the countryside. "Oh stop your ninnying, honestly, we need a bit of fun," Sarah retorted.
B-"It does sound rather fun, I must admit" said Betsy. Since they were going to take the afternoon off, they decided that they should make some headway on the case before then. They thought of all the people who were involved... It was a little more difficult because they didn't know the townspeople very well. They talked to the deceased Popo's wife but she didn't know anything. She couldn't think of any enemies (that weren't in jail) so she wasn't much help at all. They were rather discouraged after that, so they went to visit the nice Apothecary man to see if he had anything helpful. While they were going up the steps they passed a nice old lady who said a cheery "Halloo!" and trotted off along the lane.
S-"Who the heck was that?" Sarah laughed, "There are way too many old people in this town." The girls walked down the rest of the road towards the apothecary. Just as the approached it they saw something strange off to the side of the road. It was a powder pink tea cosy lying all by its lonesome in the dirt. That's strange. The girls picked it up and put Poppy in it because she was looking chilly and moved on towards the apothecary.





and

Chapter 8

B-A strange smell met their noses as the passed over the threshold. Sort of like bad eggs, mixed with grape jelly and just a hint of overripe butternut squash maybe? As they looked through the haze, which filled the whole store, they spotted a counter at the other end of the room. As they journeyed towards said counter, they passed by quite an assortment of pots and jars filled with an astonishing array of various animal organs, herbs, fungi, liquids, powders, etc. They slowly stepped up to the counter....
S-Through the haze a man started to emerge--a really old shrively man that looks sort of like the one in that pixar short--the chess one. He looked up an smiled a shrively toothless smile. " 'ow can I 'elp you you lasses?" he asked in a whistle-y voice. "Um... well you see" began Betsy, "someone died."
B-"Well now," wheezed the old man, "why are you comin' to me? Or was is one of me concoctions that did the poor soul in?" "We were just making inquires to whether you had the potion in your stocks," said Sarah, "the Deadly Nightgrip Liquid." "Oh! Was is now! Well that's very strange indeed, I do keep a small stock of that. Let me go get it." And with that the old man shuffled off into the backroom and came back a short time later with a small half empty vile of a purplish liquid. The girls were almost positive that is was the DNL but to be sure the needed a small button mushroom and a blade of crabgrass picked on a night when the moon does not shine.
S-Luckily Betsy brought that for her lunch that day. She would go hungry, but it was in the name of justice, so she didn't mind too much. As soon as the drop of DNL touched the mushroom Sarah nudged the tip of the crabgrass into the liquid. A flash of tangerine and a faint aroma of wildflowers filled the air. "Thats DNL alright." The girls stayed around and chatted with the old man because he had such charming stories about his adventurous youthful years in the wilds of Scotland surviving only on honey and locust.
B-The girls left the apothecary in good spirits. As they moseyed on down the road figuring out what their next move was going to be they ran into a certain sultry someone. Betsy tried to play her part by flirting but he was just so brooding that she didn't know what to say! He wasn't giving her much to go off of so she gave up... Sarah on the other hand wasn't awkward at all. So she exchanged civilities while Betsy tried not to meet Sultry Scot's eyes.
S-Sarah soon became impatient with the Scot's brooding ways and abruptly announced that she was late for a previous engagement and left Betsy and the Sultry Scot in hopes that a little alone time would force a confession or something. Don't worry. Poppy was there to chaperone. A few miles down the road Sarah was waltzing along gazing wistfully at the sky when she bumped into something. She was knocked to the ground and hazily gazed up at her attacker. It was a dashing nobleman who was offering her his hand. She gazed at him a moment longer and then got up herself ignoring his hand. "My apologies Miss...?" "You should be sorry, bumping into young girls like that," said Sarah, avoiding the question, "You should pay more attention next time." "Well," he replied "I am Simon Khan and its a pleasure to meet you too."
B-Now that Sarah had gotten up and brushed off her rump she got a better look at Mr. Simon Khan and saw that he was very very attractive. Even more so than Sultry Scot who got rather boring after a while. Well, after about 10 seconds. Sarah was pleased that Betsy was stuck with him, Betsy always got the short end of the stick which Sarah was fine with (I cry on the inside as I write this Sarah dearest). "Who are you in this little town?" queried Sarah. "I am the Duke of the surrounding land." "Oh really? That sounds terribly important. Where do you live?" "Oh just on the top of the highest hill in the lovely manor house." "Who lives there with you? Surely you don't live all alone!" remarked Sarah because she had seen the house on the top of the highest hill and it was far to big for just one person. "Oh my mother and father my two sister's and my lovely, sweet grand-mama." "That sounds quite nice." And they continued on in this manner while walking pleasantly down the street. Meanwhile, poor Betsy is stuck with Mr. Scott and it's getting a little awkward. Even Poppy's presence can't tone down the passion he has for Betsy. He's getting uncomfortably close and Betsy has tried all she know's how to get him to back off without physically hurting him. Her patience is wearing thin!




and

Chapter 7

S-His chest shuddered with his last breath and a faint phrase that sounded something like "Darn that stinking priest" (except he said something a little more vulgar...) lingered on his blue tinted lips. Something that looked a little but like glee flashed across the Sultry Scots piercing eyes. But it might have just been shock. The girls couldn't quite tell. Everyone was quickly ushered out of the station before the crime scene could be further contaminated. Unfortunately, before the girls and Poppy made it out she decided it would be the perfect time to relieve herself, right there, in the Popo Station.
B-Which contaminated the crime scene in a little bit of a different way than is usual. But it made it so the girls could stay a little longer (No one else was going to clean that filth up!) The coroner came and took the body to the morgue. There he tested the body to be sure it really was the Deadly Nightgrip Liquid, which it was. Nobody had any idea of how someone could have given it to him. It has to be dabbed into a small incision but none could be found. Curious, very curious.
S-It could have been a VERY small incision. One not really perceptible to the naked eye. The person who administered it would have to have been sneaky and also at least marginally clever. Not clever enough to stump us though! The girls set off to investigate other aspects of the town. They were very interested in speaking with the resident apothecary to see if he carried the Deadly Nightgrip Liquid. On the way there though they ran into the Sultry Scot weeping in desperation upon the cobbled road! (His dearest sister is dead! What do you expect?)
B-Betsy thinks it is a good idea to see his take on who killed his sister. So the girls stop, along with Poppy, and ask him some questions. Sarah tried to keep him on the subject but he kept on remarking on how shiny Betsy's hair was in the sun (she hadn't washed it in 3 days) or how red her lips were. So they didn't glean much much information from Sultry Scot, except that Betsy's hair looked good even after three day's of not washing it. They continued their search around town for any sort of clue, next stop.... The Apothecary!
S-As the girls walk up the bedraggled lane towards The Apothecary the discuss their suspects. So far no one is really standing out. This could mean that the murderer vaguely knows what he is doing or has just gotten really lucky. Probably the latter from the looks of the villagers. Poppy is sniffing happily along when she suddenly points to the left. A couple of twigs cracked and the sounds of shuffling leaves emanates from the leafy emerald foliage. The girls move into action. Sarah moves to the left of the sound and Betsy to they right, they let Poppy go and she sails into the bushes after the mysterious noise.
B-The girls wait with bated breath as Poppy searched the shrubbery for their spy. They close in on where Poppy is when suddenly... Out pops a squirrel! Betsy is so shocked that she falls smack on her behind! What a disappointment. The girls gather up Poppy and continue on their way to the Apothecary
S-As the approached the crest of the next knoll, a dusty, crooked building popped into sight. The girls approached it with a bit of apprehension because it had a very foreboding feeling about it. Poppy's jovial tail started to droop. A green smoke-like could drifted sluggishly out of the chimney. "This must be the Apothecary?" Sarah whispered, hoping it wasn't. "Appears so," Betsy replied. The girls tip-toed up the creaky steps and turned the iron handle.




and

Chapter 6

S-Right in the midst is the sultry scot! His smoldering eyes are wild and his muscular, work-worn hands are clenched. Out of his mouth are flying a million words of anguish in his almost unintelligible scottish brogue. Poppy is distracted by all of the new scents and sets off a sniffin'. The Popo are frantically trying to organize an investigation. Surprisingly enough they don't have a whole lot of experience in the field. Luckily they have us. Sarah discretely slipped a note into the Captain's hand. The Scot stops mid-sentence when he notices Betsy, but shakes his head as if to clear it, and resumes his tirade.
B-He goes on and on about how grieved he is of his sisters death! Stoic tears stream down his cheeks! Betsy watches on with pity, but she doesn't feel to deeply for him. Her dear husband, the love of her existence, died in WWI and she has never been quite the same since. Ever since then her only love has been for animals (because they are so wonderful) and her detective work. After the grievous news came she threw her whole life into her work. That's how she became one of the best of the best!
S-*edit* He wasn't you husband... but you were engaged.
B-Got it! That's so much more dramatic.
S-Maybe he should die from mustard gas. We could do flashbacks or something.
B-Also, I think we should be invited to tea at a creepy old manor house.
S-Suddenly the Chief Popo deciphered Sarah's cryptic note and frantically started running around with his sausage arms waving wildly with faint squawking noising floating out of his ham of a throat. With in 3.2 seconds he was seizing on the floor. Perfect. Thats what he gets for eating a high cholesterol diet. Or maybe... this is resembling a certain kind of poison that is all too familiar to the girls.
B-The Deadly Nightgrip Liquid!!!!! Made from inner most part of a weasel elbow!! They recognized the symptoms at once. There was one last thing they had to check before they could know for sure. His feet.... Now the Chief Popo was very sensitive about his feet, he had 3 extra toes and they were just all around gross. He had horrible toe fungus too. But since this was a matter of life of death the girls didn't take into account his say in the matter. They ripped of his shoes at once and lo and behold! His feet had turned a neon shade of green with puple and pink splotches. There was no mistaking the Deadly Nightgrip Liquid now, the poor Chief Popo only had moments of life left.



and

Chapter 5

S-The girls were just moseying along and Poppy started going ballistic. "Hm... I think this is a clue" Sarah remarked, "Lets investigate."
B- So the girls follow where Poppy leads them. Down towards the river bank, about a 2 miles from where the crime scene was. Little Poppy gets to the river bank and starts whining and trying to swim to the other side. (I've just decided that she's a blood-hound because then she can help us look for clues!) But since little Poppy was such a tiny puppy she just couldn't do it.
S-Luckily there were stepping stones just up the river that she quickly hopped across (she got her ears a tad bit wet though) and ran back down the other side of the river. She started sniffing and scratching at a muddy heap. The girls hopped across the stream and went to investigate. A corpse! "AGH! Get away from that dearest Poppy!" It seems that there has been more than one murder committed on these shores.
B-The girls immediately start looking for clues. The victim was in her mid-twenties and appeared to have been dead for 3-4 hours. The murder weapon (a lance) was about 20 yards away hastily stuffed into a hollow tree. The girls have seen most of what they want to see before involving the local Popo so the proceed to the police station with much haste. Taking dearest Poppy along, of course. She has proven to be of much worth to their efforts.
S-Things that we can deduce about the killer so far: 1. He is either really stupid or someone happened upon him soon after the murder because a 10 foot lance stuffed in a tree is really obvious. 2. He is either really obsessed with ancient Scottish/English weapons or has easy access to a huge collection of them. 3. He has some serious issues. 4. He likes to kill people by rivers, or at least dump their bodies by them.
B-I think we're off to a pretty good start! I'm going to say that he's pretty darn stupid and that he has some pretty high up connections. Whether is be family or employer or some other thing. I think this because of the murder weapons and that he thinks he can get away with such messy murders. Obviously he has the idea that someone important will back him up. So the girls are entering the Popo station with their trusty hound-dog Poppy (she is now an official member of the Stephensonia Detective Agency, we inducted her on the walk to the Popo station) The station is all a buzz because of the murder and it's only going to get crazier after they hear the bad tidings which we bring!





and

Chapter 4

B-So we decided to go check out the river because it looks so cute and happy, but not a very happy sight awaits us! We find the whole village in a circle around something and the Popo trying to get everyone to get back! We decide to investigate!!
S-Of course we do. Because we are Stephensonia's greatest detectives and it is our moral duty to investigate whenever there is something in need of investigation. One minor road block however. The Sultry Scot has caught a glimpse of you.
B-Oh no! Run Betsy run! (I've decided that we're sort of narrators but we're still in the story... that is all) But she does not hear our warning! After all, there is a murder to investigate and no amount of smitten Sultry Scot's can stop her!! (or me, this is so confusing)
S-Luckily the sultry scot was still too distraught over the gruesome death of his sister to bound across the river and sweep Betsy up in his arms. We'll have to save that for another time. Plus Betsy is in the entirely wrong attire for that sort of thing. Anyways. We commence with our investigation even though we aren't technically allowed to yet. They don't even know that we are the best detectives in all of Stephensonia! "Hark! What is that noise?" Sarah cried out! "It sounds like a puppy in distress!" The girls quickly scoured the area and found a tiny baby puppy concealed in a crevice.
B-"What is such a sweet and tiny puppy doing here?" wondered Betsy aloud. Little did they know that this was the first of many clues they were to find!! PS What attire and I am in? I think any sort is appropriate for an occasion like that... And how are we going to be "technically" allowed to investigate?
S-The girls promptly adopted the poor wee pup and named her Poppy. She was wiggly and very friendly except for when they walked past the towns people near the river still shocked over the tragedy. PS. In order to "technically investigate" we first have to talk to the Popo of course! We can't just waltz around the village with out the authorities knowing! But we can't tell anyone else or else our perfect guise will be ruined.
B-So they go back into town (because they can't do anything before they talk to the Popo and they want to do that with as much secrecy as possible, which means not in front of the whole town) and find a place to stay for the next few weeks. While they are waiting for most of the hulabaloo to die down they go on a walk with their sweet Poppy.




and

chapter 3

S-The sultry scot stumbles across his sister's mangled body and lets out a warrior's cry! He whipped out his Diggeridoo to alert his fellow scots of the tragedy. "Oh this day has gone much agley!"
B-How do we fit into the picture? Are we the people who figure it out? Or are we just watching this unfold like a movie?
S-We're the amazing detectives of course! We haven't been called in yet. I think the sultry scot should fall madly in love with you. It would be so dramatic because you are still pining after your lover who died in the war.
B-Oooohh! I like it. Okay where were we... Oh yes, the Popo are examining the crime scene when along comes sultry scot and then he blows his Diggeridoo. So the rest of the family comes running when they hear his Diggeridoo (each one has a different sound) wondering what all the fuss is about, but Diggeridoo's are only blown in emergencies so of course they go to check it out. Meanwhile.... We're just getting off the plane on our annual trip to Scotland.
S-When the family comes and witnesses the sultry scot's sister's mangled body and commence to do their mourning wail! The sound is so terrible that the rest of the village comes to see what all the commotion is about. Great. Now the crime scene is contaminated.
B-Yes, that does make it a little harder. But we are the great sluths of Stephensonia! We can figure out any crime. The Popo are absolutely stumped about who in their quiet little town of Kilwinning could commit such a heinous crime, they were such a peaceful community.
S-Its a good thing we're on our way to that very same once peaceful community on our annual tour of Scotland. The poor Popo and the sultry scot will have to wait a few hours longer for our arrival however.
B-Because we're going to see Nessie! But we heard about a quaint little town about 3 hours from there so we wanted to check it out. Lo and behold when we arrive we find a gruesome murder just waiting to be solved! Oh how wonderful! Where's the body?
B-JK We're taking our private jet down. I've decided the car ride would be more like 12 hours and I don't really want to drive for that long. We have a murder to investigate!
B-JK again. I've decided that since I have no clue how far it actually is we're going to drive through the beautiful Scottish country side! We don't even know about the murder yet.
S-Where would we get that kind of money? PlusWe're already almost there and we don't even know that the murder has happened yet. We are on a grand tour of Scotland remember?
B-I'm a little confused... If you didn't remember we're the rulers of our own kingdom and rulers always have private jets, they buy them with tax money! Of course I remember we're on our grand tour, we started at Loch Ness! And then we were going to the quaint town of Kilwinning.
S-Oh yes. I forgot. Anyways, by this time we've gotten to the quaint little town of Kilwinning and have discovered that all of the people seem to be missing. A mystery indeed!





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chapter 2

B-Scotland would be much better! I think if we did it in Thailand I would be reminded of that Poirot and we need to be original. So who's going to die? And do we know who the killer is yet?
S-I totally agree.  I think maybe... the sultry scot's...sister should die. No, we don't know who the killer is yet! We don't even know how she died. We have to write the story to find out.
B-Oh this is so exciting! Should we examine the crime scene now? I think it should be in a creepy corridor in the sultry scot's castle. Maybe in a hidden passage way! Behind a tapestry.
S-The sultry scot doesn't have a castle. He is a mason.
B-Well why didn't you say so? Like a stone mason?
S-Yes. Lets see. His sister was murdered down by yonder creek in the wee hours of the mornin'.
B-It was a misty mornin' and a young farmboy off to do his chores found her body lyin' there, still as stone! (you do the murder weapon)
S-A few yards off he stumbled upon and old Halberd that was a-drenched in gistnin' ruby red blood.
B-He ran off to tell the local constable what he had come across and then went about his daily business.
S-Little did the poor laddy know that he had witnessed a key clue to the crime and he didn't even know it. Our villain was after him next!
B-Run laddy, run! Are the Popo going to find the poor girls family and tell them the grievous news? It would be very dramatic.
S-PAUSE! What is a Popo?
B-They boys told me to say that. Apparently it's slang for police, and I just thought it was amusing. That is all. So the Popo need to figure out who the victim is, but then while the sultry scot is walking by the crime scene on his way home he spots his dear sister!



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the beginning of a grand adventure: chapter 1

B-MISS MARPLE IS GONE!!! And Lewis doesn't start until the 30th!!!! I was almost crying! No, I was crying! I don't know what I'm going to do with myself, where is my weekly dose of mystery going to come from???
S-Wait! Are you serious? This is the terrible! What are we to do with our lives? How will we survive with out our little Jane-y?
B-Waaaaaaaaaa! At least Lewis is coming sot of soon.... But not soon enough! We could just make up our own murder mysteries. Are we creative enough?
S-Of course we are! Lets see. How shall it start? I vote we're in Egypt.
S-Nope, correction, India! Or Thailand. Yes, Thailand will work
nicely.
B-Alrighty! Are there any rivers near Thailand? We could be on a boat like in Poirot! Or do we need to be completely original?
S-Nope I changed again... lets see. I think it should be in... SCOTLAND! And you can have a roguish, kilt wearing love interest with a sultry disposition.




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