Idles awoke the next morning. "Arghh! Ribena! The hallucinations have never been this bad before. And hallucinating about the evil Chu of all people. This case is really getting to me." She dressed quickly and made her way to Miss honeyÕs bar. " If there is one thing for certain the answers to this case lie there." She thought Meanwhile, in another part of town, Sunny started to fret. Was it possible that idles wasn't the super sleuth everyone thought? The possibility didn't bare thinking about . Besides Miss Gardiner had seemed fairly convinced that the case would be solved and harmony would be once again restored to Miss Honey's Bar. And besides how could the case fail now Idles had enlisted the help of the v-bird Nevertheless Sunny was troubled and her uneasy brain couldnÕt rest. She started to think once more about Honey's disappearance. That had sure been one big coincidence. Right in the middle of this whole dirty business a letter had been received saying that she was off to France. Looking back Sunny couldn't see why nobody had spotted this sooner. This was no ordinary holiday. Honey had been forced to leave the country and Sunny intended to find out why. "Right thatÕs it" Sunny grabbed her coat and went into the kitchen returning with her dog. "We are going to Miss HoneyÕs bar." The journey nearly reached a premature end as a large seagull narrowly missed hitting SunnyÕs Head. The bird exploded before hitting the pavement. Leaving behind a faint yet distinctive smell of baking soda. Sunny shook her head."Things are getting mighty strange around here" It took sometime for sunnyÕs eyes to acclimatise to the hazy smoke. This indie schmindie case had certainly caused an upset in these parts. Idles stepped from the behind the smoke, casually knocked back her glass of ribena and spoke. "This case is getting to me. I thought we had put an end to trouble in this neck of the woods when I finally solved the mystery of the missing East Coast tour dates. But all of this happening so soon afterwards I am beginning to think there is something more sinister a foot. Sunny turned to Idles. "Look you know how things work around here as well as anybody. What is that Chu up to this time?" Idles stared slowly ahead before replying. You know I donÕt think heÕs the one behind this time. He might be an evil genius but I really donÕt think this is his scene". Sunny eyed Idles suspiciously. Was there something she wasnÕt telling her? Sunny decided it was best not to confront Idles. That gunshot scar sure looked real enough. Instead changing the subject she nodded towards a large group of people in he corner of Miss Honey's Bar. "Who are they?" "They are the lurkers sunny. Idles solemnly began to explain: "They pop their heads up now again and provide fresh ideas and help create the normal pleasant ambiance of the bar. But on the whole they sit quietly watching what is going on." "Surely they might have some idea whatÕs behind the Schmindie case?" asked sunny "I have no doubt they would but it is getting them to talk thatÕs the problem. These scmindie guys seem to have some sort of hold over them ."ThatÕs terrible" gasped sunny whose despair was ever deepening. " I think we are in big trouble this time Idles". Sunny showed the letter Honey had sent. Idles frowned slightly before speaking. "Sunny I think you are right. I received the very same letter not long ago. I wasnÕt sure what it meant at the time but what with this Rio tip off, the missing archives and the schmindie case in general I canÕt help feeling they are all linked. That dame in the overcoat might have been some use to the case but I think we are missing something. Idles and Sunny turned at and looked at a silhouetted figure stood in the doorway. It was the V-Bird, laden with an old Dansette, a selection of Heavenly and Sarah records and a double-necked Gibson. And a small hamster.V-bird "are you going to keep appearing like this?" sighed Idles "I have news!" She was waving a crumpled piece of paper in one hand and a pair of red knickers in the other. The letter read: Let me show you the scene, The indie cool queen To be continuedÉ _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister@missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo@missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "peculiarly deranged fanbase" +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "frighteningly named Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +-+ "sick posse of f**ked in the head psycho-fans" - NME June 2001 +-+ +-+ Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+