Mystery of the Golden Chalice

Elizabeth pointed to the article that she was reading.

"Take a look at this. This article is about Manda Ditch. Man, this is really shocking. Apparently, she has lied on many occasions including to some very important people in government. She 'claims' that she lied to protect the children but I consider that to be complete nonsense. I mean, it's ok not to tell people everything but lying to them is a complete no-no. Sheesh, this woman has no shame."

Elizabeth had an annoyed look on her face and continued to read the article in disdain.

"Yeah, I can't believe that witch is manipulating the children" Kinn sighed.

He then sit down and wait for the train to Vernicas.

"Hmm, I didn't know that Vernicas is this far from Caracas" Kinn wondered.

Elizabeth looked out the window and it did look like it was taking time to arrive to Vernicas.

"Hmm you're right. Well, hopefully we should arrive there soon enough."

"I hope so too" Kinn replied, he sat there looking at the window sighing.

Elizabeth heard the sigh, for it did not escape her one bit. She turned to Kinn and with concern in her eyes, she asked,

"Hey, is anything the matter?"

"Uh...Um, not really. Just I had this headache all of a sudden" Kinn replied.

"It must be from this long train ride we're having" he added while putting his hand on his forehead.

Elizabeth nodded and replied, "Ah ok. Well, it looks like it'll take us a while to get to Vernicas so let's enjoy the ride. It's not like the suspect can get off while the train is moving."

She looked outside and saw a funny sight. In the open grounds, there were a few people burning a scarecrow which funnily enough resembled Manda Ditch. Elizabeth could hear the screams from the people shouting,

"Burn the witch! Burn her!"

"Wow, I'm surprised... She's that 'famous' up at the country borders" said Kinn, after he noticed the crowd.

After a several minutes passed, the city Vernicas finally in sight.

"Hey look over there, it's Vernicas!"

Elizabeth saw the city of Vernicas within their sight as well.

"Yup, it looks like we'll be there soon enough."

Then there was an announcement. The conductor said, "We'll be arriving in Vernicas in 10 minutes. Please stay in your seats and fasten your seat belts until we get there."

"Hmm, I think we should wear the seat belts" Kinn said while grabbing on to the belts.

"Well, we weren't wearing it since we were aboard" he then laughed.

Elizabeth giggled, having noticed that she hadn't worn her seat belt, either.

"Well, we do have a good excuse. We were away from our seats most of the time looking for the suspect."

"Yes, you are right!" Kinn replied.

Wearing his seat belts, they were already at Vernicas.

"Kinda too late for the seat belts, huh?" Kinn sneered.

Elizabeth giggled even more and replied, "Yup, looks like it. Oh well."

Just then, there was an announcement by the train conductor. "We have arrived at Vernicas and have come to a full stop. Please take your belongings and exit the train in an orderly fashion."

Elizabeth turned back to Kinn and said, "Looks like that's our cue."

"Yeah, let's go" Kinn replied.

As he walks out to the platform he noticed the guard talking to the crowds and asked them to stop for awhile.

"Looks like they've listened to us, come on!" Kinn urged Shofield to come with him.

Elizabeth nodded and followed Kinn on his heels. Indeed, there was a crowd ahead and Elizabeth hoped that meant that the suspect would be there.

"I bet he's somewhere around but I couldn't see him" Kinn replied.

"Oh, I almost forgot... he isn't wearing the same clothes since he gave it to that decoy we caught earlier" he added.

Elizabeth replied, "Ahh that's right. But I didn't get a good look at his facial features so I have no idea what he'll look like. I suppose we could just look at the crowd and if anyone looks suspicious, we can take him for questioning to the police station in Vernicas. I don't have police jurisdiction here but the police there can handle questioning him since this case is major news and all."

"I see... no matter what, we must find him right here" Kinn replied.

He started searching through the crowds looking for that man but none of them looks like it.

"Do you think we missed him? Some of the crowd seem to have left and slip through the guards" he added.

Elizabeth scanned through the crowd but couldn't find anyone who even remotely resembled the suspect that they were chasing. She nodded and replied,

"That probably is the case. I guess we should get out of here and head towards the police station and let them know that the suspect is in the city."

"Right!" Kinn agreed.

He decided to take the nearest exit of the train station together with Shofield.

"Come Miss Shofield, we must pursue the suspect quickly!", he said.

Elizabeth followed close behind Kinn as the two of them ran out of the train city and into the city itself. She replied,

"We should try to get a taxi to get the police station. It'll be much faster than running there, of course."

"Alright, I'll try to stop an incoming taxi!" Kinn replied.

He immediately raised his hand as soon as they reached the taxi stop to halt a cab.

"TAXI!" he shouted.

Elizabeth waited with Kinn at the taxi stop and soon a cab pulled up next to them. The driver stuck his head out the windown and said,

"You two need a lift somewhere?"

Elizabeth nodded and replied, "Yes. We need to go to the police station right away."

The driver replied, "Hop in then. I'll get you folks there quickly."

Kinn hopped into the taxi and once again when he sat on the passenger seat he noticed a piece of newspaper article lying on it saying:


Manda Ditch had planned a mindless assault against all young minds and planning to contaminate them with her evil influence. It is not known of its exact date of attack but the police investigation will try their best in predicting Manda's next move

"Once again there's a report on Manda today" Kinn said as he sighed.

"I can't believe there are so many interference on our current chalice case, we must finish it so we can quickly catch up with Manda's issue" he added.

Elizabeth noticed the newspaper article as well and she, too, sighed. She nodded and replied,

"You're right. We must find the chalice quickly and arrest the thief. Then we can move on to this Ditch case. Man, I can't believe that she's going to corrupt young innocent minds with her evil influence. I have a niece and she must be protected from this criminal moron."