1/42
It is a Tuesday afternoon in late June. You are on your way down to your lab in your parents basement when the phone rings. You dash into the lab and pick it up.
"I need, I need..." says a weak voice. You hear a loud click, and the phone goes dead.
"I need, I need..." says a weak voice. You hear a loud click, and the phone goes dead.
12:00 AM - May 15, 2023
2/42
Drat! You weren't ready for that. You, the aspiring detective and psychic investigator, caught off guard. You slump down into your chair. That voice really sounded desperate.
12:02 AM - May 15, 2023
3/42
You boot up your computer and look around. The heat of the day has not penetrated your combination office and research laboratory, where you sit surrounded by the tools of your trade: infrared activated floodlights, high-speed movie cameras, and night scopes among them.
12:05 AM - May 15, 2023
4/42
Two large bookcases stretch from floor to ceiling, crammed with titles that would drive the timid from the room: Murder in Fun, Ghosts and Ghouls, and Corpses I Have Known, to name a few.
12:07 AM - May 15, 2023
5/42
The phone rings again, and this time you are ready. You pick up the receiver before the first ring dies out. At the same time, you activate the phone tracker and voice recorder programs running on your laptop and note the time: 2:42.
"Hello," you say.
"Help. I need your Hel-l-l-lp..."
"Hello," you say.
"Help. I need your Hel-l-l-lp..."
12:15 AM - May 15, 2023
6/42
"Who are you?" you ask. "What is your name?"
"I'm scared," the voice says. "They're after me."
"Get ahold of yourself," you say. "I can help if you give me your name and address."
"They've got me, they've got me..."
"I'm scared," the voice says. "They're after me."
"Get ahold of yourself," you say. "I can help if you give me your name and address."
"They've got me, they've got me..."
12:21 AM - May 15, 2023
7/42
Click. The phone goes dead again. This time, however, you were prepared. In the few seconds that you have been talking, your telephone tracing device, which operates in milliseconds, has already found the number of the other phone as well as the name and address of it's owner:
12:24 AM - May 15, 2023
9/42
You copy this information down in your smartphone. Something about this call is nagging at the back of your mind. Is it that this call reminds you of your "Spider Ghost" case? It, too, started with a mysterious phone call. Even though you were quite young, you solved that case single-handedly.
12:31 AM - May 15, 2023
10/42
The citation you received from the FBI now hangs, neatly framed, on your office wall. And the generous reward you received from the Ridgeway family when you saved them from certain death has financed your specialized detection equipment.
12:33 AM - May 15, 2023
11/42
One thing you learned from that case is that working by yourself can be risky business. Ricardo and Lisa, two of your friends in the neighborhood, have wanted to help you on a case. Well, this is their chance. When you call their cell phones, however, they are not picking up.
12:36 AM - May 15, 2023
12/42
You leave a message for them to call you back as soon as possible.
12:36 AM - May 15, 2023
13/42
You're eager to begin work on the case as soon as possible, but you know it might be dangerous to start off alone. Maybe you can do some internet searching before heading out on the case.
12:38 AM - May 15, 2023
14/42
Choose:
A - If you decide you should go immediately to the address obtained by the phone tracing machine.
B - If you decide to give Ricardo and Lisa a chance to call back
A - If you decide you should go immediately to the address obtained by the phone tracing machine.
B - If you decide to give Ricardo and Lisa a chance to call back
16 votes
—
12:40 AM - May 15, 2023
15/42
The Marsden residence turns out to be a large, modern house located in a fashionable suburb about a half-hour's drive from your house. You see it first through a tall iron fence running along the road. The house is set back behind a broad and well-tended lawn.
11:25 PM - May 21, 2023
16/42
You park your car down the road and walk back to the gatehouse that gives access to the estate. The gatehouse is strangely old-fashioned and ornate in contrast to the main house.
11:28 PM - May 21, 2023
17/42
The heavy iron gates, inside their framework of stone, stand slightly ajar, leaving just enough room for you to squeeze through if you want to. A bronze plaque is set into the stone on the outside of one of the walls. It reads:
11:31 PM - May 21, 2023
18/42
SITE OF HEDGE BROOK PRISON WHICH WAS BURNED TO THE GROUND DURING THE PRISON RIOT OF 1887. ONE UNDRED AND TWELVE PRISONERS DIED IN THE FIRE.
NOTHWIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
NOTHWIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
11:32 PM - May 21, 2023
19/42
You glance again at the house. The front of it is constructed largely of glass. A short distance to one side of the house is what looks like a large, strange metal sculpture rising out of a number of huge blackened hunks of shattered concrete.
11:35 PM - May 21, 2023
20/42
A shudder goes through you as you realize that these forms of twisted metal might actually be remnants of the old burnt-out prison.
Suddenly a man dashes out of the house.
"Help! Help! They're after me," the man cries.
Suddenly a man dashes out of the house.
"Help! Help! They're after me," the man cries.
11:38 PM - May 21, 2023
21/42
Halfway to the gate, he drops to the ground as if he had been hit by an invisible hammer. You dash through the gate and run toward the fallen figure. But something stops you in your tracks. Three snarling animals materialize in front of the house.
11:41 PM - May 21, 2023
22/42
What are they? you wonder. Can they be huge chimpanzees? They look mean and angry. For a moment, you are frozen on the spot.
The man on the lawn can't move and needs your help. But what good to him will you be if you're mauled by the angry chimps?
The man on the lawn can't move and needs your help. But what good to him will you be if you're mauled by the angry chimps?
11:43 PM - May 21, 2023
(Edited)
23/42
Choose:
A - If you decide that the chimpanzees are not as dangerous as they look and rush to give aid to the man
B - If you make a hasty retreat to your car
A - If you decide that the chimpanzees are not as dangerous as they look and rush to give aid to the man
B - If you make a hasty retreat to your car
9 votes
—
11:46 PM - May 21, 2023
24/42
You decide that it is better to get back to your car--fast! You always drive with a first aid kit and some basic defensive equipment, such as your "pen" that holds two cubic centimeters of a powerful Knockout-gas.
07:30 AM - May 29, 2023
25/42
You have the ignition key out of your pocket even before you reach the car. As you quickly open the door on the driver's side and jump in, you realize that something is wrong.
07:34 AM - May 29, 2023
26/42
You are about to jump out when you feel it--a cold metal circle, like the end of a gun barrel, pressed to the back of your neck.
07:37 AM - May 29, 2023
27/42
A raspy voice commands, "Just do what I tell you or you'll be looking for a new head. Now get this car moving and follow directions. Drive down to the corner and turn right."
07:37 AM - May 29, 2023
28/42
You have no choice but to do as he says. You turn right at the corner. Then, as directed by the voice, you drive another 200 feet and turn again, this time onto an unfamiliar dirt road that leads into a heavily wooded area.
07:40 AM - May 29, 2023
29/42
"Stop Here," the voice orders. There is now a beeping sound in the back seat. You realize that the gun is away from your neck. The figure in the back seat is apparently fiddling with some sort of electronic device.
07:42 AM - May 29, 2023
30/42
While his attention is away from you for a few moments, you slip your hand quickly and silently up under the dashboard of the car.
Your knockout-gas gun, disguised as a pen, is still there.
Your knockout-gas gun, disguised as a pen, is still there.
07:44 AM - May 29, 2023
31/42
Choose:
A - If you decide that now is the time to use your knockout-gas gun
B - If you decide that this is too dangerous to try
A - If you decide that now is the time to use your knockout-gas gun
B - If you decide that this is too dangerous to try
8 votes
—
07:46 AM - May 29, 2023
32/42
In a split second, you turn in your seat and fire the gun at the figure in the back. As you fire, you see the "man" in the back seat for the first time. You hardly know who has the more startled expression--you or the talking chimpanzee--as he loses consciousness.
10:28 PM - Jun 06, 2023
33/42
You back up the car and drive directly to the police station.
"I have an unconscious chimpanzee in the back seat of my car," you explain to the offices at the desk.
"Then I suggest that you drive straight to the zoo," replies the officer.
"I have an unconscious chimpanzee in the back seat of my car," you explain to the offices at the desk.
"Then I suggest that you drive straight to the zoo," replies the officer.
10:32 PM - Jun 06, 2023
34/42
"But this is a talking chimpanzee," you protest, "and he tried to kidnap me with a gun."
The office and his assistant look at each other as if to say, "We've got a live one here." However, they come out to the car with you.
The office and his assistant look at each other as if to say, "We've got a live one here." However, they come out to the car with you.
10:34 PM - Jun 06, 2023
35/42
"This is a chimpanzee , all right," says the officer. "Certainly is a big one. Not doing much talking at the moment, though."
You search around in the back seat next to the unconscious chimpanzee. You find a small control box of some sort, but you can't find the gun.
You search around in the back seat next to the unconscious chimpanzee. You find a small control box of some sort, but you can't find the gun.
10:37 PM - Jun 06, 2023
36/42
What you do find is a flat metal ring. That is how he did it! After all, that's all you really felt against your neck.
The chimpanzee is still unconscious when the zoo workers come and take him off in a big cage.
The chimpanzee is still unconscious when the zoo workers come and take him off in a big cage.
10:40 PM - Jun 06, 2023
37/42
As soon as you tell the officer about the man on the lawn, he and his partner take you back to the house in a patrol car. "He was right there," you insist, pointing at the blank green space. "But now he's gone."
10:42 PM - Jun 06, 2023
38/42
"We can search the woods," the officer suggests, but you're too late. The body is nowhere to be found.
"The house is empty as well," the officer's partner says, emerging from the front door.
"The house is empty as well," the officer's partner says, emerging from the front door.
12:14 AM - Jun 07, 2023
39/42
"Though there's definitely evidence some kind of animal has recently been inside. And the phone's working, which is weird--the phone company has no record of anyone living here."
12:15 AM - Jun 07, 2023
40/42
The following week, you go out to the zoo to have another look at the chimpanzee. You can tell the he recognizes you from the angry expression on his face when he sees you.
12:18 AM - Jun 07, 2023
41/42
Somehow you feel sorry for him, since you know he can talk and now has no one to talk to--that is, unless he wants to give himself away.
12:19 AM - Jun 07, 2023
42/42
You wonder where the rest of the chimpanzees have gone. No doubt they have a new hideout somewhere. You also wonder if the have claimed any new victims, like that poor man on the lawn.
The End
The End
12:21 AM - Jun 07, 2023
(Edited)
