Hickory Creek, Inc.

"How do you get us into these messes?" Linus groaned. Typically, my dear brother is thrilled when we travel. Today, that wasn't the case. We had missed lunch because I had forgotten to wake Linus up. To be fair, my latest Sherlock Holmes novel had been quite riveting.

Much like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's beloved character, my brother and I had solved our fair share of mysteries. We run a private detective agency within a grand establishment. Okay, okay, it's our parents' house, but we have business cards and everything.

On this particular Spring day, we were traveling by train to a neighboring city. Apparently, my brother's pen pal wanted to meet face-to-face. If it had been up to me, I'd still be home, happily watching Phych reruns. My parents weren't keen on sending their son alone to meet a stranger.

Why didn't they accompany him themselves, you ask? The answer I got was, "Because we said so." Anyway, we were supposed to stay overnight with my Aunt. She's a care-free sort, my Aunt Lynda. Always liked her. Where was I? Oh yes, Linus was raging.

"Bucky, you drive me crazy!" he was saying. "How am I supposed to talk to Jessica if my stomach keeps interrupting?" I had no suggestion for such a dilemma. Fortunately, the concession stand offered a solution. Linus crammed five cookies down his throat in world record time.

As he washed it down with cold milk, a scream shattered the pleasant atmosphere of the club car. Waving her hands like a lunatic, a portly woman barrelled past us. She all but knocked me over in her mad dash toward a man in a policeman's uniform.

"Officer!" she wailed. "Oh, it's terrible! My necklace is gone! Stolen!" The officer looked up from his Snicker's Bar and gave the lady a dubious look.

"Madame, are you sure you haven't misplaced it?" he inquired.

"No sir!" the woman cried. "Oh please, please, please, help me!" With a sigh, the officer tossed his half-eaten snack into the trash bin and followed the distressed passenger out of the club car. After they were gone, I turned to Cookie Monster...ahem...my brother.

"We have a mystery on our hands," I announced.

"Chill out, Scooby-doo," Linus said. "This is a no-work trip." I nodded my head as though I agreed with him. Since snack time was over, we made our way back to our seats. I had just kicked my feet back when an argument erupted several aisles behind me.

"Lady, you're crazy!" a gentleman was saying.

"I saw you put it in your pocket!" the woman retorted. "Officer, arrest him!"

"Sir, kindly empty your pockets," the policeman ordered. With a grunt, the other passenger removed everything. No pearls. Though, he did have a container of Tic-Tacs.

"You had them!" the woman yelled. "I know what I saw!" As the woman ranted, I studied the accused. He was wearing short sleeves and jean shorts. From what I could tell, there weren't many places on his person to conceal a pearl necklace.

"Madame, are you certain you saw him hide your necklace?" the policeman asked.

"Hard dare you question me?" the woman demanded. "I'll sue this company for such an insult! This man was walking by when I woke up from a nap! He had to have taken them!"

"Pardon me," I said, joining them. "Would you kindly show me your seat?" Irritated, the woman stormed over to her aisle. On a hunch, I dug my hand between the cushions. Slowly, I withdrew the pearls. I handed them to the woman, who turned beet red.

"I am so sorry," she said meekly. While the woman apologized to the man she had falsely accused, I made my way back to my seat. Linus glanced at me as I sat down. He shook his head.

"The people you meet on a train," he commented. I chuckled and leaned back in my seat. Another case was open and shut. Soon, we reached our stop. Linus led me to a nearby coffee house. Inside, he found his pen pal, Jessica, waiting in a booth. I took a table across the room.

For the next ten minutes, I drank coffee and perused my Sherlock Holmes novel. My reading was interrupted by a gasp from my brother. Looking up, I gaped when the portly woman from the train marched into the shop. She made a B-line for Jessica.

"There you are, dear," she exclaimed. "Sorry, I'm late."

"Hi, Mom," Jessica said. Linus turned pale as a string of pearls. With a snicker, I closed my book and gave the situation my full attention. This was a train wreck I simply had to watch.

THE END