SWNOVELXO Chapter 15: Chapter 3
Shirley sat on a bench near The Statue of Liberty and thought the case through. Shirley said, "The giant chess pieces represented the game of chess. And the note left behind said that they were playing to win. And that we'll never beat him. And the first attack dropped a sandbag on Lilly's head. It's like when you drop a cage in the mouse trap game, which sets off many things with a marble, just like the first attack. So, the first attack was based on the mouse trap game. And the note left on the box said, "Player 1 has lost all his lives." It sounds like video games. So, if my math is correct, someone will play another game somewhere and leave another threat for me or whoever else is the victim. If only I could figure out where they would strike next." Shirley looked at a map of New York City, crossed off the places the gamer had already hit, and connected the dots by marking off how to get from one place to the other. Shirley then looked at her notes and tried to add up her clues. Shirley said, "First a Mouse Trap game and then a Chess game. It looks like the best place to go for answers is the nearest game shop."
Shirley went into a phone booth with a phone book and looked up the addresses of all the game shops in New York. Shirley wrote down all the places on her notepad and went to the closest one near her. On her way to the nearest game shop, Shirley stopped her car and saw a giant tower of blocks stacked up. Shirley said, "Maybe I'll find some clues at the top of the tower." Shirley started to climb up the tower, but somebody threw a boomerang at the stack of blocks while Shirley was climbing. When Shirley made it to the top, she didn't find any clues. Then, the boomerang hit away one of the blocks at the bottom, and the tower started to fall. The person who threw the boomerang said, "Jenga! That tower is falling over; Shirley loses."
Shirley jumped off the tower and tried to jump to the roof of a deserted mansion, but she missed. Then she slid off the top and grabbed onto the mansion's gutters. Shirley was going to fall any minute, so she yelled for help. Shirley screamed, "Help!" Sherry ran up under Shirley and reached her arms out. Sherry said, "Shirley, let go." Shirley said, "Are you crazy?" Sherry said, "Let go, and I promise I'll catch you." Shirley nodded yes, let go of the mansion's gutters, dropped, and landed on Sherry's back. Shirley looked where she landed and got up off of Sherry. Then Shirley reached her hand out and helped Sherry up. Shirley said, "Sorry I fell on you." Sherry said, "That's ok."
Sherry went back to the crime scene and started to look for clues. Sherry held her magnifying glass up to the blocks but found no clues. Then she looked at one of the blocks and found a note attached to one of them. Sherry took the message of the block, read it, and saw that it was another threat. Sherry said, "This Is Your Last Warning, Shirley/Sherry. Stop Investigating, or It's Game Over For Everyone." Sherry clutched the note in her fist and thought the attack through. Sherry said, "Come to think of it, this attack was like another game called Jenga." Shirley said, "Time to head to the game store." Sherry said, "Not you, me." Shirley said, "But I'm working on this case too." Sherry said, "Is that so?" Sherry pushed Shirley into the mud. Sherry said, "Well, who do you think they'll hire now? I'm the better detective, not you. You might as well leave New York City and go home."
Shirley ran away from the theater and to her hotel room, crying. When Shirley returned to her hotel room, she sat upside down on her bed. Then she got up, laid on her bed pillows, and started to cry into them. Shirley said, "It's not fair. I've beaten The Campaign Prank Squad and stopped Mr. Fletch from winning a football game with dancing animals. Why does Sherry want me out of the way so badly?" Shirley got up off her bed and looked out the window. Shirley said, "Even though Sherry is out there, New York City is counting on me to save it. But how can I do that with Sherry on the case, too? Wait, I still haven't investigated the game shop yet; maybe I should go there."
Shirley started to think the case through and went to the nearest game store. When she got to the store, she saw that Sherry had beaten her there. Shirley heard Sherry questioning the girl at the check-out counter. Shirley said, "Hi, Sherry." Sherry looked behind her and saw Shirley. Sherry said, "Shirley Holmes. What are you doing here?" Shirley said, "Solving a mystery." Sherry said, "Oh, you mean the mystery I'm solving." Shirley said, "Or that we're both solving. I came here for answers." Sherry said, "Well, so did I. But take your turn, I insist." Shirley approached the girl at the counter and started to question her. Shirley said, "Do you have any record of who purchased a Jenga, chess, or mouse trap game recently?" The girl at the counter checked her computer. The girl at the counter said, "That's weird. The name of the person who bought those games got erased from the computer. There's no telling who it was. I'm so sorry." Shirley said, "That's ok. Bye."
Shirley left the store and tripped over something. Shirley looked behind her and saw that she tripped over a package. Shirley looked at the top of the box and read the label. Shirley said," 'To Shirley Holmes. From.' From who?" Shirley opened the package and saw a new detective coat inside. Shirley put the detective coat on and started to walk across town, looking for clues. While she was walking, every cat in the city began to follow her. Shirley looked behind her and saw a bunch of cats behind her. Shirley stopped walking, and then all the cats jumped on her and bit her detective coat. Shirley said, "What's up with these cats?" One of the cats tore the lining of Shirley's detective coat, and tuna and catnip fell out. Shirley said, "Tuna and catnip. They're in the lining of my coat." Shirley took off her coat and threw it. Then, all the cats tore the jacket to pieces and ate all the tuna and catnip.