The Notes

To France

"Fun?" 

Elizabeth admitted that she enjoyed the case till then. "I'm going to come to France, Anna. I need to do some sleuthing."

Anna laughed and said, "You're welcome anytime. My father can help you on this case. He is a lawyer, and he is working on his own case now."

"His own case? What case?" questioned Elizabeth. 

Anna replied, "Well, it's a bit complicated, and I'm not supposed to give anything out. It is quite confidential."

Elizabeth smiled. "I shall come to France on the eighteenth. I shall be staying until I solve the case...I guess...but I don't think your father will have time to help me out on this case. I shall try my hands on it." Anna said, "Well, as I said, you're welcome anytime! I shall be expecting you on the eighteenth then. Mom's gone on her usual business tours to Switzerland. So she won't be seeing you, I'm sorry. Goodbye, Elizabeth."

"Hoping to see you soon, Anna!" Elizabeth put the phone down. She couldn't believe that she was going to go to France! She started packing and informed her parents about it. 

The flight was rather long, but splendid. Later at France, Elizabeth reunited with her dear cousin. They hadn't seen each other for years. They exchanged hugs and then Anna took Elizabeth home. 

"France is lovely," Elizabeth said. Anna agreed. France was indeed a beautiful place. There were rows of gorgeous houses and there were many people on the large streets. 

"Bienvenue, Elizabeth. Welcome to France!" Anna said, beaming with joy. "Father would be rather pleased to see you, and help you on your first case." 

Elizabeth laughed and said, "Anna, I've told you a million times. It isn't officially a 'case'. I just need to get to the bottom of this weird mystery and solve the....okay...I guess you can call it a 'case', a case which must be solved before that stranger goes crashing into every car!" The cousins laughed. Soon, they reached Anna's house. 

"You have a gorgeous place, Anna. Where's Uncle Henry?" 

"Oh, he's in his study. He said he needs peace and quiet to finish the case. I don't think you shall be seeing him soon." 

Just then, a tall gentleman with a curled mustache and dark brown hair came out of the study room. "Elizabeth! How are you? Long time no see!" he smiled at her. "Uncle Henry! Nice to meet you after such a long time too! How's everything going?" 

Anna said, "Dad, I haven't told a word about the 'thing'." Henry looked up and said, "Ah, it's alright. Let the news out, but only to her. I know you're terrible at keeping secrets." Then, he looked at Elizabeth and said, "I heard that you are working on your first case. Well congratulations, junior detective." 
"Actually, I'm not really a detective...I just need to know who crashed into my car the other night."

"Well," said Henry. "Make yourself comfortable here. We shall take you to the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Notre Dame, oh! There are so many amazing places for you to see!"

Later that day, Anna and her father told Elizabeth about the confidential case. 

"A rich businessman owns a mansion here in France. He has been receiving weird threaten notes recently. I have promised to keep this case confidential. I hope you do too." he said, solemnly.

Elizabeth promised to keep mum about this case. She asked Henry if there were any other details about the case.

"What kind of threaten notes?" asked Elizabeth. Henry replied, "Here, take a look." He handed her some piece of paper.