{"id":4563,"date":"2010-10-15T10:08:49","date_gmt":"2010-10-15T15:08:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/annetylerlord.com\/?p=4563"},"modified":"2010-10-15T10:08:49","modified_gmt":"2010-10-15T15:08:49","slug":"the-great-chocolate-conspiracy-episode-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/livingwithlivewires.com\/annetylerlord\/2010\/10\/15\/the-great-chocolate-conspiracy-episode-7\/","title":{"rendered":"The Great Chocolate Conspiracy: Episode 7"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Welcome to The Great Chocolate Conspiracy! Chocolate Digestive biscuits have disappeared from the shelves right across the eastern seaboard of the USA, and now the shortage has spread to London. Detective Chief Inspector Sam Adamson and his international team of investigators from the Metropolitan Police\u2019s Confectionery Crimes Unit (CCU) have been tasked to solve the mystery.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

This is the seventh installment of this multi-part flash fiction story that originated during a chat between the authors on Twitter. You can read how it all began <\/em>here<\/em><\/a> (links to all the installments will be added to the author list as they are posted).<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

The next installment will appear on Friday, October 22nd at Danielle La Paglia<\/a> <\/em>. You can keep up with developments in the meantime by following the#GtChocCo<\/strong> hashtag on Twitter.<\/em><\/p>\n

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is he saying?\u201d Marier strained towards the seats where Agent Bronyaur was slumped, fast asleep.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething like \u2018doompadee doo,\u2019 and… \u00a0he\u2019s singing?\u201d Juniper giggled.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not a bad egg! Let go of me!\u201d Bronyaur ripped the pink blankets off the seats. \u201cGet back you Oompa Loompas!\u201d<\/p>\n

Bronyaur stood up quickly, bumped his head on the overhead compartment, then slumped to the floor as a stewardess ran over.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you alright?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was thrown down the garbage shoot!\u201d Bronyaur yelled as he opened his eyes. He shook his head and realized he was still on the plane to Texas.<\/p>\n

La Paglia had turned and was leaning against the back of her seat watching the entire episode. \u201cHey there, Bonyaur. Bad dream?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAh\u2026 really bad.\u201d He looked up to see the perfectly coiffed La Paglia smirking at him. He wiped the drool and gobs of hot pink fuzz off his mouth.<\/p>\n

Marier and Juniper laughed out loud. They felt freed of their embarrassment regarding the recent thong incident.<\/p>\n

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<\/p>\n

The team was anxiously awaiting to hear about the latest incident of chocolate explosives at the sheriff’s\u00a0office.<\/p>\n

\u201cHi you all, I\u2019m the sheriff in these parts, and I would like to welcome you to Tumbleweed Junction,\u201d he said in a flat monotone voice with absolutely no Southern accent.<\/p>\n

Marier and Juniper looked at each other and frowned with suspicion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a note I would like you all to take a look at \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

OOMPA LOOMPA DOOMPADEE DOO
\n I’VE GOT A PERFECT\u00a0PUZZLE\u00a0FOR YOU<\/span>
\nOOMPA LOOMPA, DOOMPADAH DEE
\n IF YOU ARE WISE YOU’LL LISTEN ME<\/span>
\nWHAT DO YOU GET WHEN YOU GUZZLE DOWN SWEETS<\/span><\/p>\n

OOMPA LOOMPA DOOMPADEE DAH
\nIF YOU’RE NOT GREEDY YOU WILL GO FAR<\/span>
\n <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDoes this mean anything to you?\u201d said the sheriff to the team.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes, I\u2026\u201d The sheriff yanked Bronyaur by the arm and pulled him through a heavy door.<\/p>\n

\u201cCranky\u2026\u201d Adamson limped toward the door and tried to open it, but it was locked.<\/p>\n

Twenty minutes later, the sheriff returned and asked Adamson and Marier to join them. Hesitantly, they followed.<\/p>\n

\u201cGeez, I don\u2019t know whether to be mad because we’re left out, or grateful that we don’t have to go behind that door,\u201d La Paglia huffed.<\/p>\n

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<\/p>\n

Henderson herded everyone into a large freight elevator.<\/p>\n

Adamson looked at the elevator buttons. \u201cHow could there be 52 levels below ground?\u201d<\/p>\n

The Sheriff did not respond. He pushed a button and the elevator lurched quickly to sub-floor 5.<\/p>\n

\u201cGo down the hallway and through the door at the end, I’ll meet you there.\u201d The sherrif quickly disappeared behind a door nearby.<\/p>\n

As they walked passed several doors, it was silent.\u00a0The hallway grew strangely smaller as they approached the final door, which was three and a half feet high. \u00a0They squeezed through the door to find a normal sized meeting room. They sat down at the large conference table at the same moment the sheriff entered through a back door, now in a suit and tie.<\/p>\n

Adamson and Marier looked at each other with raised eyebrows.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am actually Bureau Chief Mark Henderson, the head of all U.S. Government Research and Development. We are in charge of the investigation regarding the chocolate disappearances and explosives. This is your real briefing. We had to get you out of D.C. and into a safe location.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adamson moaned and shifted.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, sorry\u2026\u201d Henderson snapped his fingers and three people entered the room with trays full of chocolate, coffee, and the elusive chocolate digestive biscuits.\u00a0 They all grabbed at the treats like ravenous beasts.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t worry, we make our own supply,\u201d Henderson smiled for the first time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t know why, but the three of you have been chosen to be recipients of secret communication regarding these events.”<\/p>\n

“Adamson and Marier, you were given secret messages eight months ago when you heard the song, \u201cWe Built This City,\u201d by,<\/p>\n

Jefferson<\/strong>– we think this refers to Jefferson Monument in D.C.,
\nAirplane<\/strong>-your plane trip to Texas, and
\nStarShip<\/strong>– We don\u2019t know what part that plays yet.\u00a0 And, we are still working on the messages in the lyrics.”<\/p>\n

\u201cAdamson, you were sent a poem. It seems there may be a personal connection to these crimes and the Crumblies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd Bronyaur, you had that dream about \u00a0the Chocolate Factory. We think there are numerous secret messages encoded in your dream, or, the enemy has a twisted sense of humor.”<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything I’m about to tell you is Top Secret.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adamson, Marier and Bronyaur did not look up, the chocolate and coffee still dominated their attention.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have identified the following departments as possibly involved with these crimes.\u201d The lights dimmed and Henderson pointed to the projected presentation on the wall.<\/p>\n

U.S. Confectioners Department<\/strong>, Secret Recipes division
\nCounter Terrorism & Terrorism Departments<\/strong>, Biological Weapons division
\nSuper Powers Department<\/strong>, Mind Control and Teleportation divisions
\nIntelligence Communication Department<\/strong>, Encoding division for Music, Poems, Movies and Dreams
\nBrewed Advantage Department<\/strong>, Foreign Coffee Research division
\nAlien Relations Department<\/strong>, World Domination division.\u201d<\/p>\n

Everyone suddenly stopped eating chocolate and drinking coffee.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou mean that\u2026\u201d Adamson began.<\/p>\n

Henderson continued. \u201cWe have developed secret biological weapons that are similar to those being used in these crimes. They include,\u00a0ChocoBoom <\/strong>\u2013 exploding cocoa powder and\u00a0ChocoPoof <\/strong>\u2013 disappearing cocoa powder.\u00a0And, it sounds like someone is developing something equivalent to our CafePoof<\/strong>, which isn\u2019t perfected yet, still too many side effects.\u00a0These three biological weapons, when in the wrong hands, could bring down the entire world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Henderson turned on the lights with his remote. \u201cWe need you to look through this book of suspects from our secret projects.”<\/p>\n

Adamson grabbed the book and Marier and Bronyaur hovered around him to look through the profiles. Among the numerous faces, were, Stephen Spielberg, William Shatner, Simon Cowell, Oprah Winfrey, Martha Stewart, Camilla Parker Bowles, Elton John, Johnny Depp, Jimmy Carter and Sarah Palin.<\/p>\n

\u201cReally? All these people work for secret U.S. government projects?\u201d Adamson snorted.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust keep looking, see if you have any association with the suspects.\u201d Henderson scowled.<\/p>\n

What is that?\u2026aliens?\u201d Adamson pointed at inhuman creatures.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe won\u2019t worry about them right now,\u201d Henderson ripped out several pages.<\/p>\n

Then, they turned to the last page of the suspect book, and Adamson, Marier and Bronyaur gasp simultaneously\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to The Great Chocolate Conspiracy! Chocolate Digestive biscuits have disappeared from the shelves right across the eastern seaboard of the USA, and now the shortage has spread to London. Detective Chief Inspector Sam Adamson and his international team of investigators from the Metropolitan Police\u2019s Confectionery Crimes Unit (CCU) have been tasked to solve the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,20,48],"tags":[74,94,105,106,112,143,154,160],"class_list":["post-4563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction","category-fridayflash","category-short-story","tag-blog-tour-2","tag-crime","tag-fridayflash","tag-fun","tag-humor","tag-pop-culture","tag-short-story","tag-the-great-chocolate-conspiracy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/livingwithlivewires.com\/annetylerlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/livingwithlivewires.com\/annetylerlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/livingwithlivewires.com\/annetylerlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livingwithlivewires.com\/annetylerlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livingwithlivewires.com\/annetylerlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/livingwithlivewires.com\/annetylerlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4563\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/livingwithlivewires.com\/annetylerlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livingwithlivewires.com\/annetylerlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livingwithlivewires.com\/annetylerlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}