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And now, chapter 16...
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Epilogue
Zelda and Chappie went back to the teashop, pausing only to deliver all the mail that was, surprisingly, still in the bag that was, even more surprisingly, still attached to the bike. After some trial and error, they got the acorn camera working, and Janey was in possession of the recipe again. Very unsurprisingly, she was overjoyed about this.
Superficially, the tea shop still looked the same, but closer examination soon revealed all the security measures the yeti had put in place. It had also been well and truly squirrel proofed. And the hiding place for the recipe was truly inspired.
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Meanwhile, back at the ICC Mr Kipling and Mr Nutkin examine the room with the safe in. It very quickly became very clear that there was no way they would get the copy of the recipe back. They scour the room trying to find evidence of how this was done - the cctv footage only seemed to catch a pair of old socks, one with unusual markings, lying in the corner. Socks, it appeared, which were now no longer there.
Mr Nutkin stopped abruptly. Just under the safe he could see a stem of sorts. He tugged at it, and out slid a small pinwheel.
“Does this mean anything?” he asked
“A pinwheel! Blast!” exclaimed Mr Kipling (actually, Mr Kipling said a lot worse than that, but I’m aiming for a TV series out of this, and I’d like a pre-watershed slot.)
They raced outside, past the receptionist, just in time to realise that either the pair who had seen Mr Kipling had long gone, or they were hiding. A little dejectedly, they headed back in.
“Oh!” said the receptionist brightly as they walked back in “that looks like the pinwheel the madwoman had pinned to her shoulder along with a sock!”
Mr Nutkin and Mr Kipling looked at each other. Mr Kipling looked at the receptionist.
“Who makes the best tea around here?”
“We usually get the PNS courier bloke to make tea when he turns up. Makes it better than anyone, although it sometimes tastes a little nutty.”
Mr Kipling seemed oblivious to the glare both he and the receptionist were receiving from Mr Nutkin. Mr Nutkin then gave up glaring for a moment, and made a call on his mobile.
“Has he been today?”
The receptionist nodded.
“Very well. You!” he collared a passing visitor “A pot of tea for two in my office sharpish. And make sure it’s drinkable”
And he headed back into his office with Mr Nutkin.
As soon as the door shut, Mr Nutkin began pacing. Mr Kipling did also. Any onlooker would soon have realised that if choreographed pacing were ever to make it to the olympics, these two should be excluded at all costs.
“I have some info” Mr Nutkin said, “and I have a plan for revenge. That Zelda woman uses her computer to make things for a living. You’ve got an IT department, I assume?”
Mr Kipling nodded
“Good. They can do the sabotage of her computer then. Not enough to completely stop it, but enough to be a major annoyance. As for me, we’ll shrink and mat those socks once and for all.”
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