The Mysterious Coffee Saboteur

Hotel Investigation

The buffet hall was a massive place. Mountains of tropical food were placed on silver plates, the chandelier gleamed and sparkled, the walls were in a fine shade of turquoise, and there is boss nova music playing. Needless to say, the kids are enchanted by the setting as Scrooge, Launchpad and Beakley led the way.

Scrooge led the others with him to the bartender, a tall, lanky pheasant about the age of 30. When the bartender saw Scrooge and his crew, he shook hands warmly with everyone.

' Great to see such fine tourists in Rio!' the bartender beamed, ' My name is Francesco Mondragon, I am from Peru!'

' I wish we had Panchito with us now, ' Scrooge muttered to himself.

' We are here for a simple investigation, ' Beakley said seriously.

' Investigation?' Francesco gasped ' What investigation?'

' Where were you during the disaster press conference?' Louie asked directly.

' I was busy dealing with angry customers, ' Francesco said ' When the Brazilian government said that there will be a coffee lockdown for a full day, there was no coffee bean to even serve, as SHUSH has been investigating this for hours. So I told the angry customers that the coffee machine will be up and running a few days. '

' It seems like the guests here still come to eat even without coffee, ' Huey observed.

' Caramba, ' Francesco face palmed ' Placating demanding customers is no easy feat, especially with the coffee crisis.'

' Why is coffee so celebrated in Brazil? ' Webby said.

' Well, patinhos, because Brazilian coffee beans are known for their sweetness, ' Francesco explained. ' You see, unlike the French and Italian, we prefer our coffee simple but fresh. We have foamed coffee, espresso and all that jazz, but frappucino? Well, not so popular in Brazil.'

' I see, ' Launchpad said slowly. ' And then how would explain the food poisoning happening at the hotel, Mr Mondragon?'

' I was serving the midnight sonata coffee last night, ' Francesco admitted ' And, well, it was delicious. Everyone loved it. Even I drank one cup too. Next day I pooped black poo-'

' Black poo?!?!' the kids grimaced

' A sign of indigestion, that is what it is, ' Beakley explained.

' That is horrible!' Scrooge gasped..

' It is, Senhor McDuck. Not only that, I got calls from Senhora Morales, one of the receptionists, that she constantly had calls.of people having food poisoning. '

' Does the midnight coffee taste like lavender flowers or something like that?' Louie asked, barely remembering what his mom said about the taste of the coffee.

' Si!' Francesco beamed ' How do you know?'

' Our mom, Della Duck, told us this morning ' Dewey beamed proudly.

' The famous adventurer and pilot, Scrooge's favorite niece, is your mother?' Francesco exclaimed..

' Yep, that's her!' Scrooge and the triplets beamed proudly.

' Oh wonderful!' Francesco shouted. ' Do have some free lingonberry juice. It's on the house! It isnt everyday that we have House McDuck gracing this hotel!'

' Umm, no thanks, ' Beakley politely refused.

The kids and Launchpad all drank it.

' This is amazing!' Webby exclaimed after she took a big sip. ' Granny, try this!'

' I just dont want another indigestion, ' Beakley sighed.

' At least it doesnt taste like lavender ' Louie smirked.

' I pick this over coffee any day!' Dewey exclaimed

' Same!' Huey agreed as he took another sip.

Scrooge turned to Francesco and asked ' Did you know that it was ingested with some sort of chemical? Donald and Della just texted me all about it just now. '

' Actually, nao, ' Francesco sighed ' But then there are some rumors about the shadow man lurking in the Vaz cocoa Bean factories -'

' Here we go again, ' Beakley sighed.

' And he seemed to have access to the security system. Apparently one of Raimundo's friends told me yesterday. ' Francesco added.

' How are Brazilians so good with gossip?' Launchpad asked.

' Probably hereditary ' Francesco shrugged ' I'm Peruvian, so it took me some time catch with all the gossip in Rio. '

' Do you think that Francesco is a little...off?' Huey asked, as everyone is now sitting at the comfortable couches at the reception era.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

' Excellent observation, Huey, ' Scrooge patted Huey's head. ' A normal bartender would actually sense.sometthing was off about a coffee and correct it. '

' What does the midnight sonata coffee taste like without the chemicals Della described, anyway?' Beakley asked.

' I just got a text from Della saying that she had Rosinha getting a chemical free sample from her dad to experiment with tonight, ' Launchapd explained.

' And I got a text.from Uncle Donald saying that they were chasing a thief that had all the chemicals, really, ' Dewey announced.

Everyone gasped audibly. Could the thief be the one the 3 caballeros, their girlfriends, Della and Raimundo were chasing?

' Why dont we ask the receptionist over there?' Webby suggested, pointing at a female owl in a receptionist uniform.

The kids all went over and Dewey asked. ' Umm, are you Senhora Morales, the one that the bartender Francesco told us about?'

The owl smiled and said ' Why, sim! What did Francesco say?'

' He said that you called him to notify about the food poisoning, ' Webby added.

' Oh yes, I certainly did, ' Senhora Morales sighed audibly. ' I just got them ever since I came.to this desk at around 7am, and the calls just wont stop! Lots of them have diarrhoea, vomiting or black poo. '

' That's gross,' Louie grimaced

' Sim, it is, ' Senhora Morales answered.

' What were you doing during the press conference?' Huey asked.

' Dealing with complaint letters, ' Senhora Morales answered ' It is so exhausting, being a receptionist. You see, patinhos, if the coffee bean industry has problems, all other industry in Brazil had problems. '

' Wow, ' Webby said ' That's basically like the weapon industry back in America, and the fashion industry in France!'

Now the kids are getting the hang of it now.

Suddenly the phone rang. ' Oh, I just had an important phone call, ' as Senhora Morales got up to leave, she said ' So, so nice to meet such lovely children like you, see ya!'

As soon as the receptionist was out of sight, the kids ran back to Scrooge, Launchpad and Mrs Beakley, who had just finished interviewing several customers. As soon as Scrooge finished his phone call with Rocha Vaz, the kids began sharing what they had found out to the 3 grown ups.