Dr Dave's Casebook

[CaptainWacky]

I had not seen my friend the great consulting detective Dr Dave in a very long time. I had been married some six months and the life I know lived was no longer compatible with Dr Dave's. I was mostly content with my sweet-natured young wife. She was a fine cook, and comely to look upon. But part of me yearned for the life of adventure I had live when rooming with Dr Dave. So it was that one Sunday morning I went to visit him. My wife was at church, but I knew my friend Dr Dave would never step foot inside such a place.

His landlady, dear old Miss Manners, showed me up to the room I had once lodged in. I was surprise to find Dr Dave waiting at the door.

"Wackson!" he ejaculated. "I saw you approach from the street. Come in, my dear fellow, come in!"

I removed my hat and entered. I found the flat in a state of disarray, which did not surprise me. I had always tried to clean up when I had lived there, but Dr Dave always found a way to creat mess, be it with his experiments or researching some case.

"How have you been?" I asked my old friend.

"Fine, fine," he said, dismissively. He was looking out the window again. "Your timing could not be better! I am expecting a caller who I have reason to believe will have a rather interesting tale!"

"Really," I said, sadly noting that Dr Dave had asked nothing of my life. But that was always the way when he was absorbed in a case.

"A young lady and her brother, she telephoned me a few hours ago. It is a case of quite singular qualities, Wackson, quite singular indeed! But with this sun glaring in my eyes, I cannot see her coming. I am also experiencing something of a headache, thrice damn it!" He turned from the window, unable to continue looking.

"A headache, eh," I said. "Perhaps you took some bad cocaine."

"TISH AND POSH," said Dr Dave, a dark look coming across his noble face. For a moment I was scared. "There is no such thing as bad cocaine!"

"I'm sure you only purchase the very best," I said, evenly. I did not approve of my friend's habit, but had to admit he had never been harmed by his cocaine usage before.

"No, it can't be that," he said. "It must be...hmm. Say, Wackson, did you hear of the scientist who disappeared?" I was thrown by this sudden change of subject.

"I believe so," said I. I picked up a nearby newspaper. It had a photograph of the scientist on the front. "A most excellent red hat on his head," I remarked.

"Yes, I noticed it too," said Dr Dave. "The man works in robotics, if you can credit it!"

"Do you have a theory as to his disappearance?" I asked.

"Only seventeen," said Dr Dave, sadly.

"I'm sorry, my friend," I said gravely. There was a knocking on the door.

"Ah, the visitors, at last!" said Dr Dave, a wide smile coming suddenly across his handsome face. "Show them in, Miss Manners, show them in!"

I turned to see a large man in a hat enter. Then I gasped, for behind him stood no doubt the prettiest young lady I had ever seen in my life. And I'm including my wife in that.

TO BE CONTINUED IN SERIAL FORMAT EXCLUSIVELY HERE IN THE MINE FIELD MAGAZINE

 

[Dr Dave]

CAPITOL WACKSON!

 

[Fuddlemiff]

Most enjoyable! I'll jolly well look forward to further installments presently!

 

[curiousa2z]

was that a hint?

am I really just bumping this thread?

 

[CaptainWacky]

"Have a seat!" said Dr Dave to the lovely young thing. "Have two!" he added wryly to the fat man, who did not seem to get the joke.

But before the two could begin their tale, we were interrupted by a most rude and calamitous noise from outside.

"SLEKTWAG, RAGE, POISON, ASSASSINS, BOOHATS!" came the cry. The young lady blushed at such languaged and I wished to shield her from it. I closed the shutters.

"Good lad, Wackson," nodded Dr Dave. "That was just the lunatic who has taken to standing on the street. Poor man, his mind appears to be quite addled. He is, I fear, all the way a mentalist."

"They should be rounded up and shot!" said the fat man. "All of them, to a man! Wastes of space! I spit on them!"

"Please, not on my floor," said Dr Dave firmly.

"They need our compassion and help, not our bullets!" said I. "Yes, there are some who cannot be saved and should be put to their death in a dignified manner, but only as a last resort!"

"Pah!" said the fat man. "Liberal nonsense! I knew this was a bad idea! Come on, Mollie, we're leaving!" He took the young lady's hand and prepared to leave.

"You came to me for help," said Dr Dave, calmly.

"We'lll go to the police, to Inspector Tomtrek of the Yard!" said the Fat Man.

"A worthy officer, but I think you know he can't help you like I can."

"Pah! I doubt your much vaunted skills! Stuff and nonsense! What can you tell from me, for example, just from looking at me?"

"Well, other than your love of choclate...let's start with your hat. From it I can tell that you were once married but no more. That you have been clumsy in the past, and that your ex-wife has done damage to your hat."

"How could you possibly know that!" said the main, taken aback. "That's incredible!"

"Elementary," said Dr Dave, smiling confidently. "Your hat has been repaired multiple times. Even the cleanest repair leaves some mark. Some scar. I know your wife used to repair it, because the earliest repairs have been done with a thread exactly the same colour. But the latest have been done with a thread NOT QUITE the same colour. That's how I know she left you."

"But the man in the shop said it was the same!"

"And to your eyes it would have appeared to, but not to my keen eyes and indeed not the eyes of a woman! For that is how I knew you must have been married: only a woman can find thread that matches exactly the colour of a hat! As from your clumsiness, well, that is obvious by the many repairs done to your hat. And your wife damaging it? By the most recently scar, the one with the different colour thread, I can see the identation of a woman's nails! A simple matter to deduce."

"Well, I was wrong about you, my good sir! This is my sister Mollie. She has quite the tale to tell."

"It concerns my fiancé," said she, in the sweetest voice I had ever heard, "and the matter of his disapperance!"

For my sins, I must confess that my heart sank when she mentioned a fiancé but rose again when she added he had disappeared.

 

[Dr Dave]

Jolly Good Stuff!

 

[CaptainWacky]

"Please begin your tale," said Dr Dave kindly, as he lit his listening pipe.

"We had been engaged for a one month," said Mollie. "I thought everything was fine between us. He always treated me kindly, and we had even held hands several times. He had just started a new job and then...he was gone. I was quite vexed!"

"An interesting choice of words," said Dr Dave. "You do seem annoyed, yes, but perhaps not distraught. Tell me, did you love this man?" I detected some blushing on Mollie's sweet face.

"I was very lucky to be engaged to him," she said. "A very...fine fellow."

"You did not love him and he did not love you," said Dr Dave, matter of factly.

"How could you know!"

"It is as plain as the nose on your face is not," said Dr Dave. This, of course, being his way of saying she had a very pretty nose. I could see Mollie understood this, but her dullard of a brother did not.

"Never mind my sister's average looks," he said brutishly. "It's not important if they were sodding in love or not, just find the bastard!"

"Oh I believe it could be of he UTMOST IMPORTANCE," said Dr Dave. "Tell me, how did you arrange this marriage?" He was addressing the brother.

"Okay, I arranged it, it's no secret!" said the fiend. "I paid the man some sixty pounds to take her off my hands!"

"A fortune!" I said, unable to hold my tongue. "But why on Earth would you have to pay someone to marry your delightful sister?" Mollie's eyes met mine as I said this. I thought of slipping off my wedding ring, but she had probably seen it by now.

"Pah!" said the fat rotter. "She's too fussy! Says she wants to marry for love! We can't wait around for that! Our family was rich once, and we will climb the social ladder again! True, he was not well off himself, but he was a cousin of the well respected Shatner family of Canada."

"Indeed," said Dr Dave, keenly. "Now, what happened before his disapperance."

"Well," said Mollie, "as I said he'd just taken a new job and...that was it."

"This new job, where was it?" asked Dr Dave.

"I have the address," said Mollie, handing my friend a paper. "I never visited it myself."

"I did," said her oaf of a sibling. "He had asked for full payment of the sixty pounds and I met him there. Oh, what a fool I was, I should not have paid until after the wedding, but I was so desperate to get Mollie out of the house! I could not tell in what manner of business he was employed, but I did meet his boss. An unusual man."

"How so?" asked Dr Dave.

"Well, he kept his face mostly covered...most of his skin, in fact. Unusual eyes. And a strange accent. Why, I almost thought that..."

"GO ON," instructed Dr Dave. I could tell his excitement was rising. He was getting somewhere.

"That he as perhaps a NON-WHITE!" said the brother. "Imagine it, one of them owning a business here in London town! I never thought I should see the day, and hoped I would not!"

"WOULD YOU SAY," said Dr Dave, leaning forward intently, "that it was possible, JUST POSSIBLE MIND, that his boss was...of an ORIENTAL BEARING?"

"Well, it's certainly possible," said the brother.

"THE CHINAMAN!" said Dr Dave, rising. The Chinaman was the most notorious criminal of our time and the sworn enemy of Dr Dave. "The game is most definitely afoot, Wackson!"

 

[Dr Dave]

AH HA, THAT DASTARDLY CHINAMAN!

 

[CaptainWacky]

"Just one more thing," said Dr Dave, as all four of us were about to leave his flat. He had been keen to set out to the address supplied as qucikly as possible after sniffing out the Chinaman's involvement. After grabbing his trusty umbrealla we were ready to depart.

"Yes?" said Mollie, looking at Dr Dave with her beautiful eyes. Her beauty almost made me weep.

"Were there any distinguishing phyiscal features of your man, that would have been impossible to mistake?"

"Well..." started Mollie, but her pig brother interrupted.

"He had wonky eyes!" he said. "One green, one blue! He was lucky he was from a well thought of family, I'll tell you! Come on, Mollie, leave the men to their work." He took his sister by the arm and almost dragged her down the stairs. As we headed out onto the street I tried to steal one last look at Mollie. But she did not turn back at all, as her brother guided her away.

I also noticed the mentalist who had been shouting outside the window heading away in the opposite direction. I pointed him out to Dr Dave.

"Yes, I noted him as well," said Dr Dave, thoughtfully.

"A tragic figure," said I. "But what can be done for him."

"Do you have your old service revolver with you?" asked Dr Dave. I was taken aback.

"Surely you cannot mean a bullet for him, as that obese bore suggested!?" I asked in shock.

"No, my friend," said Dr Dave, smiling. "We are heading for a confrontation with the Chinaman. To go unarmed would be the heigth of foolishness."

"But what weapon do you have?" I asked, confused.

"Why my trusty umbrella of course!" said Dr Dave. "It can do a lot of damage in the right hands."

"Of that I have no doubt!" said I, as we headed down the street. There was a bench in the middle, with a large man chained to it. A curious sight.

"Why, isn't that the Loktar?" I asked, recognising the notorious London pie thief.

"Indeed," said Dr Dave. He tipped his hat to the Loktar as we passed. "How are you doing today, lad?" he asked.

"Please, let me go, Dr Dave!" said the Loktar. The poor fellow looked half mad. "I promise I won't smuggle no more pies, I promise I do!"

"You can go when you've learned your lesson," said Dr Dave.

"NOOO, PLEASE, FREE ME!" cried the creature as we walked on.

"Don't you think he's suffered enough?" I asked my friend.

"Did you not observe the bonds, Wackson?" asked Dr Dave, with a wry smile. "Why, he is not properly chained at all. The chains are unlocked, he could go at any time. I told him to go when he thinks he' learned something. Psychologically, he believes himself to be genuinely chained! Only his own sense of guilt keeps him there. He will mysteriously find the chains unlocked when finally he has learned to stop smuggling pies."

"Fiendish!" said I. "I'm glad you're not my enemy, Dr Dave!"

"May that day never come!" said my friend, as we both laughed gaily.

 

[Dr Dave]

JOLLY GOOD, CHIP CHIP!

 

[Fuddlemiff]

Is the Chinaman Lucy Liu?

 

[Dr Dave]

Well the Chinaman in my universe is not.

 

[curiousa2z]

this thread made me crave Chinese food!
But I digress. Please continue.

 

[CaptainWacky]

We arrived presently at the address supplied, supposedly the place of employment of Mollie's fiancé. It was a small building, and we found the door locked. Dr Dave tapped it with his umbrella, but we were not surprised when nobody answered.

"Could it all have been a prank?" I asked, peering in a dusty window. "I see nothing of note inside. It doesn't look like anyone works there at all!"

"No, fat man was sincere, for his sins," said Dr Dave.

"And Mollie?" I asked.

"She believed what she was saying," said Dr Dave. "I sense some dark business afoot here. We must proceed with the utmost caution."

"But how are we to proceed?" I asked. Surely Dr Dave was suggesting nothing so inelegant as smashing the window to gain access? But my friend merely smiled, and pointed at the lock with his umbrella. To my astonishment, a small wire extending from its end.

"A lock-picking device!" I ejaculated. Dr Dave slid it inside the lock.

"Yes, but keep your voice down, there's a good fellow," he said. "To any observer it will merely appear as if I am pointing the lock out to you with the tip of my umbrella, as friends often do when faced with a particularly beautiful locking mechanism."

"Yes, I have done so myself," I remembered.

"But all it needs is a little twist," said Dr Dave, turning his umbrealla. The lock clicked open. "And we are in!"

"You never cease to amaze me, my friend," I said in awe. We entered the building. There was indeed nothing inside, just any empty bookcase and a lonely desk. Dr Dave payed them little attention. Instead he tapped the ground with his umbrella.

"Do you hear that?" he asked. I heard a hollow sound. There was space beneath the floor!

"An underground passageway of some kind!?" I asked.

"I am experienced in such things," said my friend. "I believe it to be something much larger..." He pulled up a section of carpeting, revealing a trapdoor. It was locked, but my friend again used his umbrella to open it.

"I thought the Chinaman would use more secure locks than this," I observed.

"I learned my lock-picking skills from Tricky Dan himself," said Dr Dave, somewhat sharply. "These locks are more than fairl secured."

"I did not mean to question you!" said I, hurt. But Dr Dave waved it off.

"Come," he said, opening the trapdoor. "And keep a hand on your revolver at all times." He crawled through and I followed. We found ourselves travelling down a staircase...and into a grand underground chamber. Its size was so great that for a moment I thought I had entered a dream.

"This...this chamber is under most of the street above!" I said, as we continued down the many stairs. "To build such a thing..."

"I would expect nothing less from the Chinman," said Dr Dave. "He has been planning a criminal event of singular magnitude for longer than I've known of his existence. I think we're at the bottom now, I feel a lightswitch...let's see what he's got in here." Dr Dave flicked the switch. I gasped at what I saw.

An infernal machine stood before us, larger than any I had ever laid my eyes on. Even Dr Dave looked astonished.

"But what is it for?!" I asked. Then we heard the sound of gears turning.

"I have a feeling we are about to find out," said Dr Dave.

"Hmm," said I. "There appears to be some kind of red fabric lodged in the machinery over there, quite odd indeed...those gears are barely moving at all and..."

"Wackson," interrupted Dr Dave, impatiently. "Look rather to that opening directly in front of us." He pointed with his umbrella. Several man-sized figures stepped out. They were dressed in black.

"People?!" said. "Why...are they ninjas?!"

"Not people," said Dr Dave, readying his umbrella. "Robots. Robot ninjas."

And so the battle begun.

 

[CaptainWacky]

They were coming at us fast, bounding forward on spring-powered legs I shot one in its robot head as it landed in front of me. I fired at another, but it bounced away and I hit nothing. Dr Dave was stabbing with his umbrella in all directions. One ninja robot managed to wrap his nunchucks around the end of my friend's umbrella, but he managed to pull free and I shot the villain in the chest. Yet more ninjas came.

"There's too many, we must away!" said I. "To the stairs!"

"That won't be possible, Wackson," said Dr Dave, without looking at me. He was busy stabbing a ninja in the neck. I turned and saw that the stairs had somehow retracted up to the top of the chamber, leaving us trapped.

"We are doomed!" said I, seeing more ninjas pour out of the deadly machine.

"There may be a way yet," said Dr Dave, after kicking one ninja back into another. He pointed to the top of the machine with his umbrella. "There appears to be a vent up there. If we climbed up the very machine itself, it might lead us to freedom."

I looked at the machine as he said this, seeing the deadly gears still turning. I did not see much hope for escape, but it was the only way. "We'll escape or die together!" I said, bravely. I could think of no better way to go.

"Come then, quickly!" said Dr Dave, lunging forward and stabbing a ninja through the chest with his umbrella. I saw another drawing near him with a sword and blew its head off with my revolved. "Good lad!" said Dr Dave.

I fired again and again as we made our way forward. The ninjas seemed more drawn to Dr Dave than I. Even though I was armed with a gun and he were a mere umbrella he had killed easily twice the number I had. We got to the machine and both began climbing. Ninjas swarmed up after us. I fired down, but missed several. Dr Dave stopped on a platform below me. "What are you doing!?" I asked in shock, as at least six ninja jumped onto the platform with him. But then my friend struck a chain holding the platform up with his umbrella, and the platform swung freely. Dr Dave leapt up as the ninjas fell to the ground. He barely managed to hold onto the side of the machine.

"A hand, Wackson," he asked, firmly but politely as was his manner. I pulled him up. I shot down at another ninja that was climbing up.

"Go on, Dr Dave, I'll hold them off!" I said.

"I think you'll find you are out of bullets," said Dr Dave. I checked and found that I was!

"You kept count, even in that chaos!?" I asked. My friend had a singular ability to amaze me.

"Of course," said he, puzzled. "Why wouldn't I have? Now go, to the vent, there's a stout fellow!" I clambered up the machine. Below me I could hear the sounds of Dr Dave and the ninjas continuing to engage in combat. Eventually I reached the vent. It was barely large enough for me to squeeze through. I looked back and saw Dr Dave being held down by five robot ninjas. I gasped, but suddenly they dropped to the floor as he opened his umbrella! I pulled my way into the vent and he followed.

"How did you do that!?" I asked, in awe.

"Electro-magnetic pulse inside my umbrella," explained Dr Dave. "But it only works once so I had to save it for the moment of darkest need. They nearly did for me, Wackson, they very nearly ended the life of Detective Dr Dave!"

"Let's get out of here before they regroup," said I. We climbed out of the vent and found ourselves behind a dumpters on a dirty street. There did not appear to be any ninjas following. I wanted to get back to Baker Street as soon as possible, but Dr Dave grabbed my arm. There was an almost crazed look on his face.

"This is much bigger than we thought, Wackson!" he said, excited and horrified with equal measure. "No longer are we merely searching for a misisng person! We have stumbled across a threat to all of London and, perhaps, to the entire world!" I could not disagree with this.

 

[curiousa2z]

I keep reading that as Dr Dave's Cookbook.

 

[Dr Dave]

Chapter 55

Ninja stew...

 

[CaptainWacky]

We headed back to Baker Street to recover from the battle and so that Dr Dave could send a wire to Inspector Tomtrek of the Yard.

"He won't believe it, Ninja Robots!" said I. "How can such a thing be possible? The Chinaman must have had help."

"Indeed," said Dr Dave. "Inspector Tomtrek is a fine fellow, but he'll want to see this for himself. I will warn him, in no uncertain terms, to bring the full force of the London police with him. Otherwise it will mean his death!"

We did not say much more as we hurried home. We saw the Mentalist from before we back, standing below Dr Dave's window, almost as if he was waiting for us. I was struck by his appearance.

"Curious eyes," said I, as they were. "Glazed over, almost unreal."

"Yes, I thought you would have noticed earlier," said Dr Dave, a slight note of disappointment in his voice. "I should want to talk to that chap, but not in public. Quick, I see one of my boys."

We veered away from the mentalist and down an alleyway. There a little street arab was standing. The young chap was filthy and weary looking, but smiled brightly when he saw his friend Dr Dave approach. Dr Dave often used the homeless to gather information for him.

"Dr Dave!" said the lad. "What do you need today? More pickpocketing?"

"Haha, that was strictly a one time deal," said Dr Dave. Turning to I he added, "a gentleman named Fuddlemiff had his handkerchief stolen by an undesirable named SilentBtViolent. This young fellow got it back."

"Ah, of course," said I. "Pickpocketing is certainly warranted if it means the return of a man's handkerchief!" Mine own was very precious to me.

"Indeed," said Dr Dave. He turned back to the oprhan. "No, you have obeserved the mentalist who has been standing outside my window as of late? I need you to go to him and tell him that Dr Dave knows his secret and is willing to negotiate. Say we shall meet him at the nearest tobacco shop. There's a shiny gold coin in it for you!"

"Easiest day's work I've ever done!" said the child. He winked and ran off.

"There's a good lad!" said Dr Dave. "It pleases me to aid his kind in fighting off starvation for another day!" We headed back to Baker Street. I was puzzled by the whole incident but didn't want to sound stupid in front of Dr Dave.

"So we're going to meet the mentalist in the tobacco shop...why not just tell him ourselves?"

"Because we are no doubt being watched," said Dr Dave. "We can't let ourselves be seen meeting with this man. It is crucial!"

"But how are we going to get to the tobacco shop without being seen?" I asked, as we headed up the stairs to Dr Dave's apartment. Dear old Miss Manners waved to us as we passed.

"Why, that's simple," said Dr Dave as we stepped inside. He tapped the wall with his umbrella. Suddenly a section of it fell open, revealing a secret passageway!

"We dear Dr Dave!" I ejaculated. "You mean to tell me you've had a secret tunnel leading to the tobacco shop here in your flat all this time!?"

"Well I do go through an heroic volume of tobacco every day!" laughed Dr Dave. I chortled myself at that!

 

[CaptainWacky]

We crawled through the tunnel. It was really quite comfortable and roomy.

"You constructed all this yourself?" I asked my fried.

"Oh, it's nothing, just something I've been doing in my spare time for the last few years," said Dr Dave, in his typical calm way. "You may observe we're entering a smaller, older, more tight tunnel now."

"Yes indeed!" said I. "It is lucky I have not eaten any of my wife's ham lately, else I would be stuck for sure!"

"This was actually an old tobacco smuggling tunnel made by pirates," explained Dr Dave. "When I learned of its existence I thought it would be useful to build an adjoining tunnel."

We reached a trapdoor. Dr Dave knocked on it four times and it was opened from above. We found ourselves in a back room of the tobacco shop.

"Dr Dave!" said the friendly tobacconist, Mister Headvoid. I had met him before, as we often stopped a the tobacco shop on our way out to an adventure. "And you've brought your chum! You'll be wanting some smoking tobacco? The finest we have?" He looked hopeful.

"The finest indeed!" said Dr Dave, taking out his travelling pipe. I did the same. "And could you show the mentalist back here?"

"Indeed, he just arrived, an undesirable fellow but I know you wouldn't meet him for no reason!" said Headvoid.

"This mentalist, who is he?" I asked my friend. He just smiled.

"Patience, Wackson!" he said.

"There's an army of robot ninjas ready to take over the city!" I pleaded.

"That's no reason to dispense with the joy of suspense!" said Dr Dave. Headvoid returning with a supply of tobacco and the mentalist. Dr Dave handing him his payment.

"Very generous indeed!" said Headvoid. "Stop by any time!"

"What do you want from me!" said the mentalist, angry. "That urchin said you know me, but I've never had dealings with you before!"

"Oh, drop the act," said Dr Dave. "I'd almost figured it out the first time I heard your voice. When I saw your eyes I was sure."

"What about my eyes!" he said. They were brown and glazed over. Quite unremarkable.

"What about them...INDEED!" said Dr Dave. Then he struck. He blew smoke from his travelling pipe right into the poor fellow's eyes.

"Me peepers!" said he. In pain, he pulled his brown contact lenses out...revealing that he had one green eye and one blue

"Wonky eyes!" said I, instantly grasping the meaning. "It's Mollie's betrothed, by jove!"

"Yes," said Dr Dave. "This is indeed Mister Lou Carpentar, the man who was set to marry Mollie...and now an agent of the Chinaman."

"Don't say that name!" hissed Lou Carpentar. "He has eyes everywhere!"

"I don't understand," I said. "Why were you standing outside Dr Dave's home? Why are you disguised."

"I'm telling you nothing!" said Lou Carpentar. "And you can't make me!"

"No, but money can," said Dr Dave. "Mollie's brother was paying you sixty pounds to marry her...I suspect the Chinaman was paying you even more...I'm prepared to make an even HIGHER offer than even he."

"Dr Dave!" said I. "You will be bankrupt!" My friend gave me a look and I realised I should not have spoke. But he recovered quickly.

"I have considerable monies you are not aware of, Wackson," said he. "And I am prepared to offer you...SIXTY TWO POUNDS!"

"But how did you know the Chinaman was paying me sixty one!?" asked a confused Lou Carpentar.

"Simple deduction!" said Dr Dave. "A Chinaman would never pay more than he need!"

"Okay, you've bought me," said Lou Carpentar. "I suppose to start I should say that I am not REALLY a relative of the Shatner family of Canada...I'm actually only related to Chris Pine!"

I nearly vomitted with rage. Or perhaps it was all the smoke in this small room.

 

[Dr Dave]

"Simple deduction!" said Dr Dave. "A Chinaman would never pay more than he need!"

lolz

'I nearly vomitted with rage."

lolz also

Excellent story!