Chapter 3: The Culprits

  I grabbed Alex's flashlight and ran through the doorway.  It led to what I guessed was the dining hall of the castle.  It was magnificent, with gold plates, tables, chairs, forks, spoons, knives, and goblets, but something was wrong.  Parts of the tables and chairs had been chipped away and some of the plates and goblets were missing.  I had just spotted someone taking a fork when another shot was fired.  A third shot was fired and imbedded itself in the wooden beam three inches from my head.

  I dropped the flashlight and ran for the door.  I was almost out when I saw that the fork stealer, Mr. and Ms. Sarquet all had guns and were shooting at each other.  There was a bang and the fork stealer went down.  BANG! BANG!  Both of the Sarquets began shooting at me!  One of the bullets hit the support beam above the door making the doorway collapse and the second bullet hit me in the thigh with a loud ping.  Then I realized that the ruby dagger was in my pocket and the bullet must have hit it!  I took out the dagger and the paper I wrapped it in had shrapnel stuck in it.  I unwrapped the dagger to find it unharmed.  Next I was forced into the stone wall by someone.  The dagger sank into the wall until only the hilt was visible. 

   Then a voice that sounded strangely like Alex's said "Cut the wall, or we'll be stuck here forever with the Sarquets!"  I did as Alex said and, with the dagger, cut easily through the wall and stepped inside.  I turned around to see Alex clambering through the hole behind me.  That voice I had heard was Alex's voice.  "What?  How did you live?" I stammered, but Alex hushed me up.  We started up the stairs behind the wall right about the same time as the castle started to collapse.

   We were running so fast that we were at the top of the steps in no time.  Alex and I dashed out of the house and saw half of the hill start to fall away, taking our car with it. How bad could our luck get?   Suddenly I noticed that Alex was dragging me to the Sarquets' red sports car.  He took The Castle Under the House book out of his inside coat pocket.  "They left their keys in here," he said as he unlocked their car and took the driver's seat and I took the passenger's seat.

   Alex put the car in drive and spun the car around and we headed down the hill.  We drove as the hill crumbled down behind us.  We drove straight for the police station and parked right in front.  Before we entered, Alex began to explain what had happened.  "You probably want an explanation.  The robber took the book and read part of it on the roof, then left it there so it didn't get wet when he jumped into the pool to escape.  Now, before he got on the roof he moved the book shelf into a position to blow torch the surprisingly thin 1/8" thick Crato Glass which the Sarquets invented that cannot be broken - but it has a melting point of 150 degrees F.  Now the man who moved the book shelf had to be strong and the man by the gold table who stole the fork was very strong judging by the size of his muscles and the heavy bag that he was carrying that was full of gold."

   "So Fork Stealer did it!," I exclaimed.  "Go on, continue Alex."  "Okay, Harrison. The Sarquets admitting to the murder of the previous owners of Fare Well was a shock...What have I left out?  Oh yes!  How I so bravely cheated death!  At the same time Mr. Sarquet fired the gun, I tripped on a stone and fell.  You took my flashlight and ran away like a maniac and then the Sarquets followed you.  I got up and ran after you, but you kept running, and I finally ran into you once you stopped near the wall and that's where I rejoined you,"  Alex concluded.

   "Yes.  Hey Alex, what part of The Castle Under the House do you think Fork Stealer read?,"  I asked.  "I believe he read the part about the passageway under the house," he said.  "Now Harrison, we will never know how the Sarquets got the book because when you cut through the wall you also cut through a major support beam that brought down the part of the house that the Sarquets and Fork Stealer were in, likely killing them.  The Sarquets took the answer of where they got the book to their graves."

   "Before I conclude this mystery, I must say that your ruby dagger is enchanted.  Yes, enchanted.  No ordinary dagger could cut through solid stone.  Your dagger must be magical.  There is no other explanation, Harrison.  The fork stealer tried to steal that knife from the Sarquets and used it to break into their library and that's where he found The Castle Under the House book.  He thought it was valuable and could possibly sell it.  He dropped the dagger, the item he came for, to move the book shelf in order to blow torch the glass.  After he made the hole he put the blow torch into his back pack with the book.  He then accidentally knocked over the book shelf, forcing him to jump off the shelf as it fell and through the skylight, unfortunately leaving behind the knife," Alex finished.

   We went inside the police station and I looked out the window to see the ruins of Glen Hill.  I noticed that people were now gathering by the remains and staring and pointing.  To think that I has caused Glen Hill and Fare Well Estate to collapse was crazy, but true.  I had never hurt anyone and now I was responsible for the deaths of two people, Mr. and Ms. Sarquet.  I will have to live with that guilt, but on the bright side, the case was solved successfully.