Part 1 • Part 2 • Part 3 • Part 4
Part 5
Whiz lay in her bed on Kent Street in Urbanna agonizing over if she should try once again to try to stop Snark from stealing the Mitchell Map, which she knew he planned to do that very night.
Everything had gone out of control including her relationship with her own mother, Merrypen. She thought of her earlier conversation with her mother when she had stopped by her office and asked what she was writing.
Merrypen was a writer who wrote occasional stories for the local weekly newspaper. She claimed she received happiness in life not from marriage, raising children and being a housewife (which was something her own mother had told her long ago would bring happiness and fulfillment to a woman,) but simply sitting in her office with a dog under her desk and a cup of tea spinning her tales. She supposed during periods of self-doubt, which every writer bears, that she did so because reality was so grim, the human condition so sad, that only weaving stories could ease the pain.
Whiz had earlier walked into her mother’s office and sat down. A sleepy cocker spaniel, “Cuddles,” who was on his last legs, stirred from under her desk and sidled over for a few pets. Poor old Cuddles. It was to be his 13th birthday next week and every step appeared to generate pain in the dear old boy.
“Are you still writing, Mother,” Whiz had asked. “You were writing when I left this morning and I can’t believe you are still at it.”
“Oh, I’m so excited about your brilliant idea for the perfect crime! It’s to be my very first. Whiz could see her mother’s euphoria. She was probably thinking romantically of the work of Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple and her mysteries set in English small towns.
“Oh, for goodness sakes, Mother, you can’t be serious! My idea was just a joke! It was not to be taken seriously!”
“Well, I did, my dear. The more I thought about your perfect crime the more I realized what a great plot it would make!”
Whiz had stared at her mother with mouth agape. She felt her heart pounding like a drum in her chest. What trouble she had caused with her silly joke! But how could Snark and now even her own mother have taken such business seriously?
She really must stop Snark from pulling off the heist now that her mother had the plot and was writing about it! Why he could never get away with it now!
She had argued with her mother to no avail. “It was brilliant, Whiz, especially having the perpetrator roll up the map and insert it into his sailboat mast and then sail away never to be seen or heard from again! I must say, dearest, you have the mind of a clever criminal!”
“But, Mother, how will your criminal sell the map? As soon as it’s stolen, it will be hot all over the Internet! It would be useless to the person who steals it! No one would touch the map!”
“Aha! That’s what you think! The criminal escapes on his boat to the Cayman Islands, sets up a confidential bank account, contacts the insurance company with a demand for ransom for the return of the map, the money is deposited in his secret account, the map returned, and everyone is happy. And I sell zillions of copies of my new book!”
A terrifying thought came over Whiz. “Mother, you haven’t mentioned this crazy plot to anyone else, have you?”
Merrypen looked up from her computer and over to her daughter. “Well, that’s an odd question but, yes, come to think of it. I did mention it to Doc Robo last night at our dinner club party.
“I can’t believe this!” Whiz had shouted jumping up from her chair. “Why in the world would you have done that?”
“Well, why does it matter, Whiz? He asked me what I was writing of late and I told him I was writing my first crime story and I was setting it in Urbanna!”
“Oh no! cried Whiz. “How can you have done that?”
“What does it matter what I tell Doc Robo? It’s just a plot to a mystery! Why are you so upset?”
“Isn’t Doc Robo the head of the Mitchell Map interpretation? He must have been horrified to hear such a plot! That map was printed in 1755! It was the first map made of America! It is valuable! Maybe as valuable as the Declaration of Independence!
“The people of Urbanna helped buy that map when it was discovered in an antique store. It was purchased for $7,500 and appraised for $550,000 in 2011! It’s been professionally restored now and who knows the value of it now? It must have upset Dr. Robo to think someone might swipe it!”
“Well, dear, I think you are overreacting. Dr. Robo was fascinated with the plot and not just because it will make a great book but because, if published, it could put the little town of Urbanna in the spotlight along with teaching readers about the Mitchell Map! You’re interested in history, Whiz! You should support getting the word out to more people!”
Whiz had groaned hearing all this from her mother, a low moan that sounded as if someone was in excruciating pain. “Did it ever occur to you, Mother, that such a book could give people that do not enjoy your moral code or reverence for history the idea on how to steal our precious map?”
“Oh, nonsense! No one would take it seriously! The idea would be crazy! Anyone that would try it would be caught and sent to prison for many years. Only a fool would try such a heist! The book will see to it that those who commit crimes will be caught and punished if that’s what you’re worried about!”
Whiz could no longer speak. She had felt sick to her stomach and a crushing headache was just beginning to take root in her head. “Well, good luck with your perfect plot, Mother. I’m going to bed!” She had kissed her mother, patted the dog and gone upstairs to her bedroom.
Now she was alone with dark thoughts. This terrible muddle was all her fault. She had come up with some inane plot for a perfect crime and told two people about it — her ex-boyfriend and her mother, never dreaming they both would take her idea seriously! Now, even Dr. Robo had heard about it! Would her perfect plot story be in headlines in the newspaper this week?
I must get to Snark! I must find some way to make him listen! She looked at her watch. It was almost midnight! The time he planned to strike!
→ Part 6
Note to readers: The actions and characters that appear in this story are fictional. The story is written for entertainment and to promote knowledge of our town and local history.
