The Whitechapel Case [abandoned]

Part 2: The Connections (Chapter 1)

The Whitechapel Case
Fox-Trot-9

PG-13
Horror/Suspense/Mystery (How-Catch-'Em)
Disclaimer: I don't own Ghost Hunt or Death Note.

Part 2: The Connections
Chapter 1

Day 2—Daybreak on April 10th. Nothing unusual going on—except for Noll, that is. When he opened his eyes at the sound of birds chirping outside, he found himself lying on the sofa in the private study, not remembering when or how he got there. He sat up and looked around. Nothing unusual here. Then he remembered last night in the kitchen, where he saw the letter magnets on the refrigerator. He got up, went into the kitchen expecting to see those magnets of Gene's name on the refrigerator and saw...nothing. The magnets were back in their column. Noll looked at them. He could have sworn he saw them moving around last night, that they phonetically spelled Gene's name. Could he have dreamed all that weird stuff last night? No, he couldn't have. Gene must have moved them back.

Noll thought of kicking himself, because he forgot to set up a camera to catch these magnets in motion; but he thought otherwise. No use punishing yourself on an empty stomach. He got out the Lucky Charms box and opened it. Mmmmm, nothing better than some good-old Lucky Charms to fill an empty belly in the morning. Then he remembered he needed a bowl and looked for it, which turned out to be quite an expedition. He hadn't been in the Davis House for almost eight months, and the bowl he needed seemed to have been moved by a prankster—or by his parents. God knows why they kept moving their kitchen utensils around. He looked in the upper cabinets—nope. In the lower cabinets—ah, there it was, on the second shelf where the big and small bowls were. Then he needed a spoon, which he got from the drawers, this time on the far end of the kitchen. Then, he needed milk—obviously in the refrigerator. And there it was, unopened and full of the good white stuff. Then, he figured he needed a glass to pour the milk in, which he found in the upper cabinets. He knew that those would always be in the upper cabinets, no matter how many times his parents moved the kitchenware.

He poured himself a healthy amount of the good stuff and drank it. Gah! That was the most sour-tasting milk he had ever come across, since Gene blackmailed him to drink the horrible stuff on losing a bet. He checked the expiration date—April 30th! Three weeks from now! Either this batch of milk was mislabeled, or it wasn't pasteurized; so he fished around for a marker in the private study and wrote SOUR in capital letters on the milk container. Then he looked at his incomplete breakfast on the table. He thought of eating it dry, but he checked to see what else he could use as a substitute for milk. Water—too bland. Orange juice—nope. Prune juice—hell no! Then he saw a bottle of champagne in the refrigerator and thought about it—maybe. He heard of the rich folks having this poured onto their meals, from steaks to cereals, so he gave it a shot at his Lucky Charms. He uncorked the bottle and poured the sparkling brew on the cereal and heard the bubbling, crackling noise of exotic tastiness. Then he corked the bottle and put it back where it was.

Then he looked at the concoction. Alcohol in the morning, just like the Englishmen of old. Hopefully, his parents would understand. He dug out a spoonful of the exotic concoction and ate it. Mmmmm, no wonder the rich folks sometimes preferred their cereal with champagne. Then he got another idea, a better one. Why not have Mai serve ice-chilled tea, so he could pour it over a bowl of Lucky Charms? That would definitely surprise Mai; she'd probably say, 'How could you eat that? Are you crazy?' Boy, he'd love to see the shock on her face; it would be priceless, that's for damn sure. That is, if he returned to Japan. That left him deep in thought.

Just then, Luella came in and saw Noll, then the milk on the kitchen counter. "Noll, why is that not in the refrigerator?"

"It's spoiled."