The Mysterious Case of Mister Greenwood (Part I)

BANG! BANG BANG BANG! BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG! BANG BANG BANG!

"Let me in, let me in!! What is going on?!?"

Dearest Miss Rosemary:

Forgive me for my letter and the following requests. The ferocious knocks have been shaking my office for days. I've been receiving complaints from my workers. I do not know what is causing these ear-piercing bangs, but I do need to warn you that something very suspicious is going on, in my current wing of this office building. If it is convenient for you, Miss Rosemary, I would very much appreciate your thorough examination of the walls and any residents living nearby who might be causing the racket. I truly thank you and am terribly ashamed of, perhaps, bothering you, since you have such a numerous amount of cases to deal with and you live so far from my office. I greatly thank you for all the past work you have done for me and I appreciate it dearly. However, if it is possible for you to come and visit my office once more, that would be impeccable. Again, thank you so much for all the work you have done as my top-secret agent and companion. I appreciate your approval of helping me with this case, and please kindly respond. Thank you so much.

Regards,

Mr. Greenwood

Jacqueline Rosemary quickly skimmed the letter while typing to Lawyer Rebecca Wilcher whom she was working with the latest murder case. A bzzz from her smartphone made her jump as she answered the desperate caller, Clara Law, who was yearning for Jacqueline and Rebecca to support her in the case of her son. The boy had vanished within the crowds while Clara was with her husband and son at the movie theater. Clutching the phone with her shoulder, she quickly replied, "Uh huh, yes, I understand, Miss Law. Let me take a look at my schedule where I can squeeze in a spot for your case-- it has been sort of a hectic week for Rebecca and I, so if you don't mind, I'll check my agenda and so will Rebecca. Thank you, Miss Law." She declined the call before Clara started whining about how her case is much more important than her others. Always think their's is the most important. Hmph. Don't they know of my murder cases? I'm a top-secret agent! Jacqueline rolled her eyes.

Whirling back to her letter from Mr. Greenwood, she e-mailed Rebecca one last time and immediately opened another e-mail tab. She speedily typed to Mr. Greenwood:

Hello. Thank you for your recent letter. I completely understand your case and will start heading to your location once my work is finished around here. But don't be so modest; remember that you can call me anytime, at emergency rates, and definitely alert me if things start getting suspicious.

Jacqueline Rosemary

Jacqueline then opened her e-mail tab to Rebecca again and typed a last minute alert:

Rebecca-- I'll return to this case as soon as I can. I have some suspicious activity reported down in Santa Cruz and I'll have to travel down there until the case is solved. I'll be working on our case there, but I'll have to spend most of my time at the office. I'll work a few hours on our case once I return to my hotel room. Thank you.

Jacqueline

Packing her bags, the secret agent fled as fast as lightning can travel, down to Santa Cruz, where Mr. Greenwood would be waiting, terrified, in his office, while the bangs never ceased once, to meet with Miss Jacqueline Rosemary, top-secret agent that worked only with the most significant and important cases, to solve that mystery of the bang, bang, bangs... Once and for all.

Slam! The door to Mr. Greenwood's office flew open and there stood Jacqueline Rosemary, ready for the case. "Oh, my! Jacqueline! You really came!" exclaimed Mr. Greenwood. "Of course." Jacqueline kept a serious expression. "Well, um, why don't you take a seat right there and I'll tell you all about the- um- case..." he stammered. "Very well," said Jacqueline as she pulled a chair from the desk and sat down. "So, um. Yes... Ever since last weekend, my workers have been remarking about the constant knocks on the walls and--" BANG! "Well. There you hear it. Um, I've never really wanted to... open that door and, um, look outside... whenever that happens... so..." Jacqueline nodded. "I see. We must check-- otherwise we're going to waste time here, figuring out whether the sound is coming from the outside or somewhere in these walls." She squinted and pointed to them. "These walls are hollow, and I don't understand why they are so thick. They can hold a mob of people inside," she explained when Mr. Greenwood gave a bemused expression as to why they had to check the walls. "Tell me, Greenwood, are the knocks very close? Can you hear them rather loudly? Can you tell if there is a space between the knocks, or rather directly?" Mr. Greenwood looked as if he needed a few moments to process those questions and then quickly nodded, as if he felt foolish and flushed. "Um, never mind that nod, um, yes... Um, I think they are pretty close to us... they feel pretty close to us... I don't know if there is a space... Pretty loud, though..." Jacqueline raised an eyebrow as if doubting if what he had said was 100% purely accurate. "Well, if what you had said was to be true, then the sounds are most likely coming from the space between the walls inside your office and the ones in the hallway," she finally answered.

Mr. Greenwood nodded. "Yes, that seems about right." Jacqueline scanned the room and muttered something. "Pardon?" inquired Mr. Greenwood. Jacqueline shook her head and replied, "Nothing. Just... thinking." She then exited the room and headed for her hotel. "I'll call it a night, here... See you tomorrow." Slam! Mr. Greenwood looked a bit disappointed. "Oh... see you. Um. Okay."

While walking to her hotel, she was more anxious than ever. There was something very dangerous and fishy about this case, and she thought that it would be the most difficult ever. Could it be...? Everyone was in peril, and she was not sure she would survive it.