Sheets McGee was betting Captain Blackthorne wouldn't notice a missing trinket or two. Or three.

 

 

Their attempt to take the handcar would have met with great success had Sheets McGee removed his foot from the brake.

 

 

Dark Charity had not a moment of doubt, certain her guise as the Avon Lady would ensure her admittance to the house.

 

 

Clever Jeanette discovered the flaw in her plan almost immediately.

 

 

The mysterious gentleman was charming enough to make Dark Charity suspicious.

 

 

 

As Clever Jeanette warmed her hands at the stove, she spied what appeared to be the charred remains of the nefarious Dr. Whittlestone's notes.

While the effect was not as elegant as that of the Bronzing Ray, the result of the nefarious Dr. Whittlestone's earlier effort the Plaster Ray was just as unsettling.

 

 

Clever Jeanette soon came to regret telling Sheets McGee to tap on the underside of her bunk should he think of anything she ought to know.

 

 

Something in the cadence of the mysterious gentleman's gait garnered Dark Charity's closer attention.

 

 

It appears I have the upper hand, you scalawags, for your rope is no match for my pistol!

 

 

Sheets McGee and his chum decided it would be best to just grin and bear it.

 

 

Clever Jeanette realized that to reach the city in time, she would need to take the train.

 

 

The most difficult part of interrogating the horses was enduring their sarcasm.

 

 

The Case of the Missing Cookies was not the most difficult mystery Dark Charity and Clever Jeanette ever solved.

 

 

To the casual observer, Dark Charity appeared as nothing more than a commonplace bibliophile.