If you missed part two, click here.
Harlow knew she was closing in on Slim, but still had found no sign of Monty Moriarty. As in her Uncle's time, she knew that Moriarty would prove to be a most formidable foe and had escaped several times. She hoped that by capturing Slim and uncovering their plot she would her finally put Moriarty behind bars.
"Da Momma," she said,"why do you suppose they are flooding the market with counterfeits bills?"
I had no answer for her and we spent the next several hours throwing around ideas. The only thing we could think of was that perhaps they wanted to devalue something they were interested in buying.
"...but what?" Harlow asked, gazing blankly out the window.
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| She showed incredible dedication to solving this mystery. |
We sat in silence for a while, and then, her mind working in the same genius way her Uncle's had, Harlow looked at me and smiled.
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| Her grin was sheepish. |
"It's fruit, da Momma. Washington state is known for fruit. They must want to flood the market with counterfeit bills to force inflation high and make folks leave, and then they'll buy all the fields and corner the market on blackberries and blueberries!"
I was amazed at her logic. I queried how she had come up with this thought.
"Uncle Sam left a note regarding a vice Monty Moriarty has, an addiction to fruit that has been the driving force behind his past criminal activity."
It was brilliant. ...but we still did not know how to catch our suspects.
"I fear we may lose Moriarty again," she said. "Slim however, has been frequenting a burger joint several times a day." She handed me a photo. "This grainy surveillance photo shows him there just this morning."
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| This was definitely the criminal known as Slim! |
Despite the fuzzy appearance of the photo, I could tell it was indeed Slim. I asked what our next step would be.
"We will wait for him, da Momma," she paused briefly on our way to the car, "and arrest him when he arrives."
In a short time we arrived at the restaurant and it did not take long for Slim to appear. Harlow sprang from the car and yelled, "Slim, you are under arrest!"
We should have known he would not go quietly. With amazing speed he jumped at Harlow, and a spectacular battle ensued!
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| Harlow, watch out! |
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| He was definitely not going down easy! |
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| Had Harlow lost? |
I'll admit, I feared for Harlow, but she fought our suspect courageously. In no time at all she subdued him, and we felt secure in our knowledge that one of our suspects would soon be behind bars.
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| Shifty eyes.... |
It was only after that she paused to reflect on the day. "Da Momma," she said thoughtfully, "I fear Slim will not be long in jail before he finds a method to secure his freedom. This caper will only be over when Monty Moriarty is in jail."
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| Her face was very serious. |
Only later would I realize just how prophetic her words were.
Join us next Friday for Part 4 of our mystery series! ;)
