The Case of the Missing Challenges

At the Vocal Headquarters, a mystery was unfolding. The Stats had mysteriously stopped working, and the release of Challenges, which had once been a regular occurrence, had abruptly ceased. Vocal writers, eager to participate and win money, were growing increasingly frustrated. Their demands for the Challenges to be released went unanswered, adding to the tension at the headquarters.

The writers, their frustration mounting, were at a loss. They turned to Gina, their usual source of answers, only to find her uncharacteristically silent. It was then that Cathy Holmes, recalling Mother Combs' past successes, decided to seek her help. Sensing the urgency and the writers' desperation, Mother Combs agreed to take on the case, sparking a glimmer of hope among the writers.

Enter Mother Combs, a figure shrouded in mystery. She packed her essentials, including her trusty broom, and embarked on a journey to the Vocal Headquarters. In a blink, she was there, ready to unravel the mystery that had befallen the writers. Without wasting a moment, she strode into the building, her eyes fixed on her friend Gina.

Once inside, with Gina at her side, Mother Combs began searching high and low for the missing Challenges. She questioned the staff members to see what they knew, some more than once. Mother Combs talked to Justin to some extent. When she felt ready, she called the staff and the writers to let them know what she had found out.

First, she stood by Robbie and said, “Robbie last saw the Challenges on April twenty-ninth, when the first of May’s was to be displayed. They were inside an envelope waiting to be published.”

Second, she stood by Chris and said, “Chris last saw the Challenges on April thirtieth, but only briefly before they were swiped away from sight again. He says they were stuck back inside a desk drawer.”

Then she stood by Remy and said, “Remy thought he saw the Challenges for a moment on May first, but he can’t be too sure because the briefcase was slammed shut so fast.”

Without pausing in her speech, Mother Combs stood by Justin, Christy, and Gina, “Both Christy and Gina saw the Challenges on May second as they were being transferred from a briefcase to a safe. Justin claims not to have seen the Challenges and does not know where they are.”

“Everyone may wonder what the witness statements have in common; I am getting to that,” Mother Combs stated.

Then she continued, “All of the witnesses had one thing in common in their testimony, but Justin. Everyone else agrees that Justin was the last one with the Challenges, and he has them all today.”

“I surmise that Justin has the Challenges in a safe in his office and that he is hoarding them for some reason that is only known to him,” Mother Combs finished up.

With that statement, Justin turned and ran towards his office, hollering, “They are mine, I tell you. All mine!!” He opened his safe, grabbed a stack of papers from it, and took off running from the building, laughing like a loon and saying, “I gots the Challenges!! They are all mine! You can not have them!!”

Flabbergasted, everyone watched Justin run, wondering what had gotten into him. Murmuring between themselves, they wondered how they were going to get the Challenges back from Justin so that the writers could get back to the business of writing and the staff could get back to judging.

Gina told Christy, “I told you we should have made copies of the Challenges in case something ever happened.”

Shaking their heads, everyone agreed.

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Because Cathy said I should, so I did.