Sarah & Mr Stratos:
Detectives.
Detectives.
"i was sitting in my office with a stick of lollipop, i know those things are bad for your health but when you first get addicted it's hard to quit. Mr Stratos my partner is going trough the paperworks as usual while i'm waiting for a case to solve. it has been a little to quiet around the neighborhood lately, and you just know that something is wrong"
"Sarah, who are you talking to?" a voice said behind the door.
"i'm just playing detective dad" Sarah said back. her dad popped his head trough the door and looked at her "oh, well you just keep doing that. nice hat by the way" he said.
"Thanks"
Sarah was wearing a yellow t-shirt with a brown sleeveless jacket on top and matching brown miniskirt. her brown hair was hanging down to her shoulders and she had a fedora hat on top of her head, on her feet she was wearing boots.
next to her homework desk Mr Stratos was sitting.
okey, so just in case you are a newcomer who haven't read the previous Sarah and Mr Stratos stories or if you who have a worse memory than a goldfish, here is a short flashback:
Sarah is a 7 year old girl with a huge imagination that revolves around Mr Stratos who is actually her teddy bear, but when she looks at him he is an huge arctic bear with sunglasses and a Hawaiian shirt.
she lives in an apartment with her father who is an police officer. all the stories so far have taken place during the summer vacation.
Flashback over.
"so what are the detectives doing then?"
"not much dad, we still don't have any case to solve"
"alright, i'm going to visit CD's uncle in the apartment below so you know where i am"
"okey dad".
CD was the new kid who just recently moved in with his uncle. CD's uncle and Sarah's father had gotten really well along lately as it appeared they had a similar taste in music and as both of them played a musical instrument.
"to bad CD had that doctor appointment today, or else the two of you could have played detectives together"
"don't worry, Mr Stratos is a good help" Sarah said as she took out the lollipop she had in her mouth.
"'i'm sure he is" Sarah's father said as he grabbed his Fender Stratocaster. he stopped and looked around a little "did i drop it?"
"drop what?" Sarah asked curiously.
"my lucky guitar pick." he scratched his head "oh well, i don't need it to play the guitar, but still, i wonder where it went"
"what did it look like?"
"uh, it was white and it had John Petrucci's signature on it. i got it at a Dream Theater concert many years ago"
"this sounds like a job for detective Sarah and her assistant Doctor Stratos" Sarah said and got up from her bed where she was sitting and put her lollipop back in her mouth.
"Doctor? since when was he a... never mind. but if you can find it i would be really happy"
Sarah grabbed Mr Stratos and started to look for clues.
"so what do you think Doc?" she asked the teddy bear when they got into her fathers room. Sarah's dad looked back at them as he went out trough the front door and laughed to himself "kids and they're games".
meanwhile the teddy bear came to life and answered Sarah's question "well, there is no sign of anyone breaking in. trough this room and the window is closed so nobody could have gotten in here unless they used the door"
"so we should check the rest of the apartment for clues as well?"
"yes, i think that would be the best before we come to any conclusion"
detective Sarah walked out to the living room and said "okey, then i will look for clues around here while you search underneath the bed"
she looked everywhere but couldn't find anything useful except for an old coin under the sofa.
"Doctor Stratos, take notes on the ipad so we now how many clues we got"
"i don't have it?" Mr Stratos replied
"what do you mean you don't have it"
"maybe your dad brought it with him over at Mr Hiney's place"
"i didn't see him bring it along" Sarah said scratching her chin "whoever stole the guitar pick also took my fathers tablet"
they both sat down in the living room and started to think, where was the connection between the two stolen items.
Mr Stratos looked at the front door and said "the thief could not have gotten trough any window, but what if it is someone we know that has the key to the front door"
Sarah jumped up "Mr Stratos, you are genius."
"hey, i was supposed to be a Doctor now. remember?"
"whatever, let's just think about who else that got a key" Sarah walked around the room thinking "only grandma as far i know"
"how about the janitor, he stores the keys to all the apartments in the basement"
"yes, maybe someone stole the keys from him, let's grab some stuff and have a look in the basement"
Sarah went into her room and grabbed a magnifying glass and putted it in her backpack along with some other items.
Mr stratos looked over at Sarah's bed "uh Sarah, you know that candy you have hidden under your bed?"
"yeah, what about it?"
"it's gone"
Sarah stopped packing her backpack and looked under the bed "OH MY GOD! the thief took my candy too" she was in shock, who could this mean person possible be.
"that's it, now it's personal" she said angry as she opened her toy chest where she stored her rope collection.
"i will find the thief and capture him, then i will use these ropes to hang him upside down from the roof and throw bread at him so the pigeons gathers around him and poops all over him!"
"shall we go to the basement then?"
Sarah walked to front door "i will go to the basement and see if i can find any clues, meanwhile you will stay here and look for more clues in case something else has been stolen. also to guard the place in case he comes back"
"if you say so" Mr Stratos said.
Sarah went down to the basement where the janitor stored a lot of tools and stuff that he would need for his work around the many apartments. he did not seem to be around here now though.
the first thing you would find when you got down stairs was two doors. one of them was the janitors office where he stored the spare keys to all the apartments, but this door was locked and only the janitor himself had the keys to get in there. the other door was a huge storage room that everyone who lived in any of the apartments would have a spare key to. Sarah had brought her fathers key to the storage room and opened it to see if she could find anything around here.
the storage room was HUGE, a lot of pipes going everywhere containing water for the entire building, there was a ladder, boxes and many other things Sarah didn't know what was. everyone who lived here could store anything they wanted around here, but it was rare to find anyone else here.
Sarah walked as long in as she could and around a corner.
"maybe i should check for clues" she said and took the magnifying glass out of her backpack.
she studied around for clues with no success until she noticed something behind a box. she walked around to see what it was and noticed someone that had short black hair and huge green eyes, wearing a tuxedo and had a gun.
clearly inspired by the old Italian mafia you see in the movies.
"who are you?" she said.
suddenly the guy stared at her and screamed "SURPRISE!"
the guy pointed the gun toward Sarah "now stick em up where i can see them"
Sarah did like the guy said "don't shoot!"
"oh i won't as long you behave, now take that backpack off and take 5 steps back".
Sarah didn't see any other choice but to do like she was told. the guy looked in to the backpack and found all the ropes she had carried.
"so what are these for exactly?"
"i was going to capture the thief, who i assume is you"
"people call me many things, now i will have to be leaving, but i can't let a little brat like you be in my way"
the guy took the ropes out and pointed toward a support pole that was in the basement "sit up against there will yah"
"are you gonna tie me up?" Sarah said
"well, i can't let you tell on me so i have to make sure you stay here until i'm finished with my business"
Sarah sat down on the floor with her back up against the support pole.
the guy took one piece of rope and tied it around Sarah's boots so her ankles got tied together 6 times, then he took another rope and tied it around her knees another 4 times.
he now had a long rope that he tied around Sarah's stomach and arms so her back got pinned up against the pole and her arms pinned to her body. the rope went around her 7 times.
the next rope would be used the same way just around Sarah's chest instead so her upper arms got tied to her sides from her elbows and upward. this rope went around her body and arms and the pole 12 times.
finally he used a rope to tie 6 times around her wrist in front of her.
"who are you?" Sarah said.
"if you absolutely have to know, i am a mafia. they call me the Don"
"are you the one who has stolen all our stuff?"
the Don shook his shoulders and said "maybe i did, maybe i didn't"
"look Don, i don't know what you want but you better untie me right now or else you will get in some serious trouble"
"oh really, and who is going to give me trouble? you are all tied up."
"i got a bear who knows i'm here, and you just wait until he gets here, then you will be sorry that you took my fathers stuff and my candy"
"what? i didn't take any of those things."
"don't lie to me, if you didn't then who did?"
meanwhile up in Sarah's apartment Mr Stratos was looking at some TV show.
"maybe i should see what's taking Sarah so long..." he said as he ate a piece of the candy that had been stolen earlier.
"but it has to be you, who else could it be?"
the Don placed his gun in his belt and said "look, Nancy Drew... or whoever you pretend that you are... i have no idea what you are talking about alright, now if you excuse me i got some business to take care off"
he walked away around the corner and left Sarah tied up to the pole.
it was time for her to attempt an escape as she struggled trough her bonds, but to no use. Sarah was wondering what Mr Stratos was up to, hopefully he would come downstairs and look for her soon.
the clock was ticking and Sarah had lost all hope for getting herself free as the Don returned "now that my business has been taken care of i guess i should leave, the question is only if i should leave you here or take you with me a hostage".
"why don't you just go back to trash can that you came from?" Sarah said frustrated.
"oh, now i'm scared. the tied up little girl is telling me to buzz off, what are you gonna do make that bear of yours beat me up? HAHAHAH!" the Don laughed as shadow approached behind him
"you shouldn't make fun of him you know"
"or else what, will he eat me?"
"why don't you just ask him yourself, he is right behind you"
the Don turned around and saw the big arctic bear giving him an ugly look.
"uh-oh"
"hey Sarah, is this the thief?"
"i don't know, but i still think you should teach him a lesson"
Mr Stratos raised his arm up and said "okey"
"mommy" the Don said scared as Mr Stratos punched his fist straight down into his skull, followed by an uppercut so the Don flied directly into the water pipes.
Mr Stratos started to untie Sarah "are you alright?"
"yeah, i'm used to getting tied up by you already so it was not really a problem or anything"
as soon Sarah was free she stuffed the ropes back into her backpack again.
"what about this guy?" Mr Stratos said while he pointed at the Don.
"carry him with you, we should interrogate him at the office and then hand him over to my dad so he put him in jail.
When Sarah got back up to the apartment she saw her dad who had already gotten back "hey, there you are. where have you been?"
"in the basement storage, looking for clues" she said as she held Mr Stratos in one arm and a doll in the other.
"clues? oh right you are a detective. i found the guitar pick, i had left it over at Mr Hiney's apartment when i was jamming with him yesterday"
Sarah looked confused "but, what about your ipad?"
"i took it with me, Hiney is kinda against apple products as he is one of those android fans but still i wanted to try and record some our stuff into garageband"
so Sarah's dad had it all the time, just like Mr Stratos suggested "don't give me that look" Sarah said to Mr Stratos.
"hey, i see you found my old gangster doll" Sarah's father said and pointed at the Don, who actually was a doll.
"yeah, it was in one of our boxes in the storage room" Sarah said "but, if we didn't have any thief's in here who took my candy?"
"you mean the Candy that stands on the coffee table?"
Sarah looked at the candy, it was here all along? but how did it get there? she grabbed it and walked toward her bed room when suddenly her father said
"and another thing, when you leave the apartment you have to remember to turn off the TV. it was still on when i got in"
Sarah started to get the pieces together and closed the door.
"YOU!" she said to Mr Stratos.
"who, me?" he said with an innocent voice and a big grin.
"you took the candy! you pretended that it had been stolen when i was looking for the other things we assumed had been stolen. and when i was tied up in the basement you was just watching TV instead of looking for the clues like i had asked you to! YOU BIG FURRY PIECE OF..."
"well you said yourself that you are used to being tied up anyway, so it was okey" Mr Stratos interrupted
"that was NOT MY POINT! and the fact that you ate half of my candy too! I SHOULD HUNT YOU DOWN LIKE THE ANIMAL YOU ARE"
"careful, i'm endangered you know"
"and about to be extinct!"
End...