Handcuffed

Practice, Practice, Practice, Patience

“Back to the daily grind,” Diana grumbled to Shirley while making their way to the classroom building.  “Why do vacations have to end so quickly?”

“Because they are only meant to recharge.  We need to have the strength to do the important things,” Shirley answered wisely.

“Isn’t vacation one of the important things in life?” Diana shot back.

“It is an important means.  It is only a tool to reach the goals in life.  And, if you can grumble about having too short of a vacation, then you don’t appreciate that people like me didn’t get the chance to get too far from this campus.  Stop complaining about what you missed, be happy with what you got.”

“You should ask The Dean to hire you as a teacher,” Diana giggled, “you sound like Ms. Barker.”

Shirley was opening her book when Diana tugged at her sleeve.  “Should I announce how I fooled the great Shirley Holmes,” she gloated?

“Whenever you feel like it,” Shirley murmured back faintly.

“Just teasing,” Diana gave her a smug smile.

It all began the night before when Diana arrived back and invited Shirley to join her in her room while she unpacked.  Diana started saying something about Disney and then stopped herself.  “Okay detective, where did I vacation,” she asked?

“Since you have a lovely tan, and you mentioned Disney, I would imagine it was either Miami or California.  Seeing a Miami newspaper coming out of your handbag tells me it was the southern part of Florida.”

“I win,” Diana said triumphantly, “I went west, but got my hands on this newspaper from Ms. Isadora, just to put you on the wrong track.

“You know how my mind works,” Shirley praised, feeling herself getting a bit red.  “I am going to have to be more careful around you in the future.”

“Did you make any new friends,” Shirley had asked?

“Nope, I just kept to myself and ran my own schedule.  All I did was party.  By the way,” Diana said reaching into her suitcase, “I bought you something.  I admit I wasn’t looking for it, but when I saw it I couldn’t resist.”

She pulled a cap from a folded plastic bag and placed it on Shirley’s head.  “Now you can look like the grandchild of Sherlock Holmes,” she said with a proud look.

Shirley walked over to the mirror and admired.  The deerstalker cap fit her perfectly and felt warm and cozy.

“Oh, thank you, Diana,” she cried out in delight, “this was truly unnecessary, but very thoughtful.”

“Do you mind if I borrow the Florida newspaper.  I am just curious about the kind of things happening outside our immediate news coverage area,” she explained.

“No problem,” Diana tossed it to her, “But I need it back tomorrow morning before you leave for breakfast.”

It was noisy from all the unpacking and exchange of information going on between the returning girls, but Shirley managed to block it out and read the article she had noticed when it was still in Diana’s room.

Prison Break!  By Ted Baldwin  

The first prison break of the New Year couldn’t have come sooner.  According to the Police Department, Mr. Hithro Analis escaped minutes after midnight, when calling the guards about a fictitious stomachache.  He flattened three guards, who said they felt terribly sluggish.  His getaway was well planned too.  Less then an hour before, a man calling himself a Good Samaritan, offered a few six packs of soda to the ever so helpful police, especially working on a late and exciting night.  He got away in that car.  A check was made on the license plate number caught on the security camera, showing it was reported stolen the day before.  The soda cans were spiked. 
Mr. Analis was being held for the attempted murder of Mrs. Laura Flash, widow of the late Johnny Flash who died in a recent racing crash.  As told by Doc Edwards, aka Birdy Edwards, the private investigator involved in the capture, Mrs. Flash lives in Indianapolis, where she began a relationship with Mr. Analis after the death of her husband.  He helped her when her car had trouble starting.  She thinks he “broke” her car when she wasn’t looking, in order to “fix” it and start a relationship as a hero.  She dumped him, her home was broken into and nothing was stolen.  The police felt someone was after her and advised her to leave town for a bit.  Once in Florida, she approached Doc and let him know she may have a suspect for the break-in.  Under his direction, they trapped him in the act of trying to kill her in Miami on December 29th.