Chaos At Christmas – Episode 38
Chaos At Christmas by Ewan Smith
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- 1. Chaos At Christmas – Episode 38
Innumerable children were racing about in a game which seemed to involve climbing over as many pieces of furniture as possible while shrieking at the tops of their voices. Meanwhile, above them all, a drone was quietly circling the chandelier in the centre of the ceiling.
“Excitement can be rather over-rated in my view,” Erik retorted.
Ferelith laughed. “It is Christmas Day.” At once, Erik’s tie started flashing and ‘Jingle Bells’ began to play. His eyes narrowed and Ferelith hurriedly grabbed Geraint’s arm and they made their exit.
They stood for a moment outside the entrance of the hotel. There was a chill in the air but it was a glorious day. “So what’s the next step?” Geraint asked.
Ferelith shook her head. “I’m not sure. I should keep Dad up to date with the state of the investigation. It would be brilliant if we could work out what went on last night before the GroupChat security man arrives tomorrow. It’s horrible having a cloud of suspicion hanging over the hotel. But everything is so mixed up at the moment.”
She brought out the GroupChat phone she had found in her bag and looked at it in puzzlement. She had left the line open, though with the microphone switched off so that if there was someone listening at the other end then there would be nothing for them to hear. She wasn’t sure what the phone had to tell them but it was their only real clue.
“Do you have any idea when it might have been put into your bag?” Geraint asked.
Ferelith shook her head. “Not really. I looked through the bag to find my lippy before I left Dad’s flat this morning; it wasn’t there then.”
“So it must have happened in the last couple of hours?”
“The trouble is that I’ve been talking to dozens of people. It would have been easy for someone to slip the phone into my bag when I wasn’t looking.”
They were standing at the top of the steps. Suddenly, the hotel’s doors burst open and two boys rushed out, almost crashing into Geraint and Ferelith.
“Steady now,” Geraint laughed.
“Sorry!” one of the boys retorted. He grabbed his friend by the arm. “Hurry! They’re by the pool. I saw them.” The two of them raced off.
Geraint looked after them with a smile. “Oh for the days when I had that much energy.” But then he noticed the expression of Ferelith’s face. She was gazing after the boys with a puzzled look. “What’s the matter?”
“That game they’re playing; it’s a sort of Hide-And-Seek.”
Geraint nodded. “The younger guests have been playing it for days. Charging all over the place after each other.”
“But it’s not an ordinary Hide-And-Seek. The grounds are too big for that. They’ve been using their phones to work out where other people are.” She gazed at Geraint. “Their GroupChat phones.”
Geraint’s eyes widened as he realised what she was saying.
Do you think…
Ferelith nodded determinedly. “I think!”
Lionel appeared through the doors of the hotel at that moment. His face lit up as he saw her. “Ferelith, the very person. I’ve been so busy with everything happening today that I haven’t had time to catch up with you. How’s it going? Have you managed to make any progress with the investigation?”
Ferelith and Geraint looked at each other. “It’s just possible that we have, Dad.” She brought her father up to date with what had been happening.
He looked at her in confusion. “Someone dropped a GroupChat phone into your bag so that they could hear what you were up to?”
Ferelith nodded. “That’s what it looks like. It must have happened after people realised that Geraint and I were investigating the phones’ disappearance. And there’s another thing; we think that some of the younger guests at the hotel may be involved.” She told him about the two boys. “Lots of the children have been playing that game for days. And it involves the GroupChat phones.”
Lionel’s mouth fell open. “You think that they may still have access to them?”
“I do.”
A touch of hope appeared through the worried expression on his face. “That would certainly be a better outcome than members of staff taking the phones. Or outsiders. So what’s your next step?”
Ferelith looked at Geraint. “I’ve had an idea about that. If it comes off, it might tell us who was responsible for hiding the phone in my bag.”
Lionel nodded and glanced at his watch. “I need to go. But it sounds as if you know what you’re doing. Let me know how you get on.” He turned and disappeared back into the hotel.
“What’s this idea of yours?” Geraint asked curiously.
Ferelith brought out the phone. “We’re assuming that whoever put this into my bag wanted to keep up to date with the state of our investigation. So even though the microphone is switched off at the moment, they may still be listening in.”
Geraint nodded. “That makes sense.”
“We’re going to make use of that,” she said and she began to explain.
A minute or two later, the two of them made themselves comfortable on one of the benches in the sensory garden. Ferelith looked at Geraint.
Do you understand what you have to say?
Geraint nodded. “I’m ready.”
“Here goes then.” Ferelith unmuted the GroupChat phone and held it between them. She signalled to Geraint with a nod. “So you know who took the phones?” he said to her eagerly.
“Not yet,” Ferelith replied. “But we’re about to find out. Whoever it was, they left a crucial piece of evidence in the sensory gardens. It’s there now. But I think we should tell my father first.”
“I agree.”
“Once we find him, we’ll take him to the sensory garden and show him. He’ll be so relieved; he’s desperate to know who was responsible.”
“He’s not the only one. Let’s go!”
Ferelith muted the microphone again. She puffed out her cheeks with a sigh. “If anyone was listening in to that then they’re going to be a bit confused about what they heard. But it should get them jumping into action. Now all we have to do is wait.”
“Fingers crossed that the plan works,” Geraint said. A silence fell between them. He looked at her. “What should we do in the meantime?” They both had the same idea at the same moment.
We’re so perfect for each other,
Ferelith thought as their lips met.
A minute or so later, she hurriedly detached herself from the arms of the most gorgeous man in the world. She could hear running footsteps. She looked at Geraint. “Whoever appears through the …”
At that moment, Holly and Bree burst through the willow arch. They came to sudden, shocked stop. “Ferelith! Geraint!”
“Hello, girls,” Ferelith said. She raised an eyebrow. “Exactly what have you two been up to?”
It wasn’t just us,
Bree cried but Holly grabbed her arm.
“No comment, Bree! That’s all we should say.” She gazed at Ferelith, her eyes dark with suspicion. “We want a lawyer.”
Ferelith’s eyes widened. “A lawyer?”
Holly raised herself to her full height. “And we demand to see the ambassador!”
