The Missing Valuable

- Larry Edderson Mystery Series

Chapter 1
It's 10 am in the morning and I still haven't got breakfast. "Mom! I need breakfast!" I call out. She
doesn't answer. So I go search for mom and find her talking on the phone.
"Larry, there's someone who's asking for you." She says turning her head to my direction. Well,
here we go again. It looks like another mystery case.
By the way, my name's Larry Edderson, and I'm an infamous thirteen-year-old young detective.

Without wasting a moment, I quickly go pick up the phone.

"Hello, Larry Edderson speaking" I begin.
" Hi, Larry. I'm Mrs Elliot. I just need you to solve a simple little case."
"A simple case? Well, okay, I'll be able to do it. Just give me your address, miss".
And that's how the conversation goes. Everything seems fine, and judging by Mrs Elliot's casual
tone, the situation doesn't seem too serious. But what did she mean by 'A simple case'?

I found out what this case was when I went to Mrs Elliot's home. Her place was more of a
mansion than a house. She seems very rich. Was something very valuable stolen?

Chapter 2
"Welcome, Larry. Please take a seat." Mrs Elliot greeted me as I entered. "Let me tell you about
what you're supposed to do."
"What am I supposed to do, miss?"
"As I said, it's a very simple case. That's why we didn't call any professional detective for this
little job." She replied. The comment was a bit offensive, but I didn't really mind.
"All you have to do is just find a small little hand mirror that's been lost for a few days. I'm sure
you'll be able to find it, you're an amateur detective after all. Right, Larry?"
Oh God. Now, this lady is really getting on my nerves. Why is she criticizing me for being a teen
detective? I'll get my revenge for this soon. If she keeps on doing this, I won't solve her case at
all!

"You'll get fifty dollars if you find the mirror. And please find it as soon as possible. I want it." 50
dollars!? That's a lot of money! Why is she offering so much money for this? There must be a
reason behind her actions. But I can't understand why.
Anyways, I accepted her request. I don't want to miss out on something like this. Fifty dollars is
the greatest amount I got for any case.
"Okay, Mrs Elliot. I'll find it as soon as I can." I confirm. She smiles.
I spent the entire night thinking about this case, trying to figure out why she's giving so much for
a mirror. It looks like she wanted it so much. Maybe this little mirror is more valuable than it
seems. I'll have to dig deeper; I think Mrs Elliot is hiding something from me.

Chapter 3
I came back the next day to investigate at Mrs Elliot's home. I looked around the house and was
introduced to the members. There are quite a few people that live here.
There's Mrs Elliot and her husband, Mr Elliot, who's the head of the family; Mrs Elliot's two
younger brothers, aged 27 and 29; their wives, and Mary, the maidservant. Additionally, there
are several other people who have rented rooms in the mansion. Anyone could've stolen the
mirror!

Well, this task ended up being very daunting. So many rooms, so many people, where do I
start? It won't be that hard to find the mirror if it's lost. But what if someone stole it? Why would
anyone want to steal it? This is getting awfully complicated.
Maybe I did a mistake trying to solve this case. Mrs Elliot should've hired a better detective than
a novice like me. But didn't she told me that the case was simple, and that was the purpose of
calling me? That isn't the only reason, is it?

However, before I can doubt anyone right now, it's better interrogating all the residents here.
That was my plan, but for some reason, Mrs Elliot warned me otherwise. She told me that no
one should know about the disappearance of the mirror.

"But how would I investigate, if I can't interrogate anyone!" I complained. Mrs Elliot was
restricting me too much; I needed to be straightforward here.
Mrs Elliot gave me a fierce glare. "You're quite a daring kid, aren't you?" She grumbled.
"Listen, Mrs Elliot, if you don't be truthful, I won't be able to find that thing of yours. So hurry up
and spill the beans."
With that petty threat, Mrs Elliot reluctantly spat out the truth.

Chapter 4
It turns out that at the day the mirror was stolen, other than the usual residents, Mrs Elliot's
uncle, Robert, was also present. I don't understand why she was trying to hide this, but this man
seems very suspicious.
"Take me to your Uncle's place, immediately." I ordered. I'm pretty sure this guy stole the mirror.

Roberts house was very close to Mrs Elliot's residence, it took us not more than a few minutes
to reach there by car. The place was old, and most probably belonged to the Elliot household.
We knocked and a man with a rather unpleasant face answered the door. His expression turned
more awful when he took a look at me.

"Please don't arrest me! I didn't do anything wrong, I swear! He cried. Robert was obviously
frightened to see a detective at his doorsteps. We tried to make him steady.
Soon, we were in Robert's room, struggling to begin a conversation. Eventually, I had to break
the ice - "I suspect that you know about the case of the missing mirror, yes?"
"Yes, I do…" He responded after a moment of silence.
"I don't want you to get startled, but it seems that you have that stolen mirror, am I right?"
"I admit that I have it," he confessed, "but it was for the sake of my niece!"
"For the sake of Mrs Elliot? Could you please elaborate on this?"

Robert explained: "You see, this mirror was passed on from generations to generations in the
Elliot family. It was like a family heirloom. But I recently found out, that this little mirror actually
hints to a hidden treasure. My brother was in search of this fortune but died unexpectedly a few
months ago, and this mirror was passed on to Mrs Elliot. It seems like she thought of this as an
important antique, but did not realise it's worth."

"I did." Mrs Elliot intervened. "My father told me about this before his death. That's why I was
thinking of hiring a detective to help find the treasure, but then you stole the mirror."
I was shocked to hear all of this new information. This case seems to be more intriguing than I
thought. It isn't just a case of theft is it now?

Chapter 5
"So you want me to find the treasure now?" I asked.
"Yes Larry, please." Mrs Elliot requested.
"But I did what I was told, I found the mirror, didn't I?" I asserted.
"Yes you did, and I thank you for that, but I really need your assistance. I beg to you once again,
Larry." Mrs Elliot pleaded.
It was somewhat fun to see Mrs Elliot begging me to help her with the case, after all, she was
the one who belittled me as a detective just a few chapters ago. Didn't I tell you I'd get my
revenge for her criticizing me?
"I'll give you a part of the money so please help me, Larry!" She begged for the final time. Now
we're talking! I had to accept her offer this time, even though I didn't want to seem so money-
hungry.

I started by examining the mirror very carefully. It appeared to be like an ordinary hand mirror,
even though it hid an extraordinary secret. Anyone could've mistaken it for a store-bought
mirror, hadn't there been a mark engraved '~ ELLIOT ~' on the handle. It was for this mark that
you could say the mirror belonged to the Elliots, as a family heirloom. Other than that, the mirror
didn't have that many distinctions, it was as plain as it could it be, with a few curly designs here
and there.

There was nothing very eye-catching about the item. It felt like I was going nowhere observing
with this. I just couldn't understand how this little hand mirror would lead me to find the treasure.
As a sign of giving up, I aimlessly passed the mirror to Mrs Elliot. But before it could reach her
hands, the mirror slipped and fell onto the ground, the glass shattering into a million pieces.
Oh no! What have I done? I just broke a valuable mirror which belonged to Mrs Elliot! I glanced
at her nervously; what would be her reaction to this mess? Mrs Elliot seemed transfixed at
something on the ground and I followed her gaze.
Lying amongst the thousands of glass fragments was a thin sheet of paper with something
written on it. I reckon that no one in the Elliot household dared to break the mirror since it was a
family heirloom, and therefore could not find this clue.

Breaking mirrors is said to bring bad luck, but it seems that for us, this will give us a fortune!

Chapter 6
In the paper was written -
"Hidden deep inside, where I lay dead
There lies the treasure, under my head."

Hmm, very interesting. It's like a treasure hunt! It seems that the treasure is under the ground,
below a dead person's skull? I mean, it's simple enough, but who was this dead man?

"So Mrs Elliot, do you happen to know about -" Before I could finish my sentence, something
was suddenly thrown out of the window of the room. Luckily, it missed me and fell onto the floor.
The thing was a rock, who could've wanted to throw something like that at me?

I rushed out of the house, trying to catch the culprit. But the person was gone by then. Dammit! I
returned back to Mrs Elliot and saw her holding a crumpled piece of paper. I presumed that this
paper was thrown along with the rock. Taking it from her, I read it out loud - "BEWARE - You
shall not find the treasure".

Was this some kind of warning? It had to be. But who would want to stop me from finding the
treasure; did they already know about it? Things are becoming real troublesome, but for now, I'll
have to retrieve the hidden treasure as quick as I can.

Robert told me that one of their ancestors left all of his wealth somewhere before his death, and
the mirror was given as a family heirloom, also as a hint to the hidden treasure. I deduced that
the treasure was under that ancestor's grave, so I instantly directed Mrs Elliot and Robert to
lead me there.

By the time we arrived at the shrine, it became quite dark outside. I spent the whole day trying
to solve this case. The area was a fairly big memorial - this person must have been very
influential. The problem was, where do I find the exact place the head was buried? Do I have to
dig the whole thing up? No, that would be property damage.

I then heard Mrs Elliot screaming, "Watch out, Larry!" I turned back to see a figure about to
attack me. I promptly dodged it. The person was now starting to run away after his failed
attempt. We started chasing. The culprit was about to escape but ended up falling down.
I caught up and pulled over the man's hoodie which was covering his face. The person was
none other than John, one of Mrs Elliot's younger brothers.
"John! How could you?" Mrs Elliot gasped.
"I'm so sorry, sis!" John apologized, "My wife had overheard your conversation with father about
the mirror's secret. Since I just lost my job, I really needed money, that's why..."
Mrs Elliot kindly forgave him. "You didn't have to do things like that! I would have gladly shared
you part of the money!" She reassured.

In the end, we were all exhausted and decided to continue this the next day. I returned home,
had dinner, and duly went to bed. It was so relaxing to finally be able to sleep after a long day of
work! I just feel like sleeping as if I'm dead - wait a minute - I just think I realized the meaning of
the clue!

Chapter 7
I woke up early this morning, feeling quite refreshed, and very excited too. I think this case will
finally be solved today!
I was getting ready to head to Mrs Elliot's mansion when my mother called out, "You've woken
up quite early today, Larry! Now it's time to get prepared for school!"
Oh, I nearly forgot! Today's a Monday, isn't it? I was absorbed in this case, that I forgot about
school!

So that means I'll have to delay my appointment. That's sad, I was so excited to finish this
mystery! Oh well, I had to call Mrs Elliot and tell her I'll come later this evening. I tried asking my
mother for a leave, but she didn't want me to skip school just for a case.

When I turned up after school at Mrs Elliot's, I was welcomed with an unexpected surprise.
There was a large locked chest lying in the middle of Mrs Elliot's room! I was quite startled at the
sight of it.

Mrs Elliot explained, "Larry! We found this old chest after digging up the whole grave! You were
right about the treasure hidden there, but…" She paused abruptly.
"But what?" I prompted.
"But the chest requires a key"
'A key?' I thought to myself. So now we need a key to unlock the treasure chest? But where do I
get a key? An idea then came up to my mind - I realized exactly where this key is!

I went straight to Robert's place with Mrs Elliot. Robert led me to the room where that ancestor
slept. I finally found out what the hint meant. It actually implied to two things, one was that the
first part of the treasure was found where he rests dead, under his head; while the other part
indicated that the next part of the treasure was where he used to rest, before he died. That
means that the key was bound to be in his pillow!
Fortunately, his pillow wasn't thrown away and was with his belongings. I search through the
pile until I found what I was looking for. Without I thought, I tore the pillow open and eventually
obtained the key to the chest!
So this case was finally solved? No, not until we open the treasure itself! We went back home
with the key and was ultimately able to open the chest! Inside the chest was a lot of riches - and
when I say a lot, I really mean it!

I was stunned when I saw all of that money! If I took a part of it, then I would surely become rich
in no time. But I couldn't let my greediness take the better of me. I'm only here for the case, I
told myself.
So when Mrs Elliot offered me the money, I had to refuse it. "I only need my 50 Dollars, I'm just
here for that you know?" I said.
"Okay, you'll get your fifty, but Larry, please let us serve you with a nice meal." Mrs Elliot
proposed. I couldn't refuse to that offer, I was hungry after all of that case-solving!

Thus ended the somewhat complicated case of 'The Missing Valuable'. I was able to meet a lot
of interesting people and got an opportunity to hunt for a real-life treasure!

The End