I LOVE YOUR STORYS TP!!!! You are soooooo good! ;D ;D
Wow, Thank You!
Ooh, here's a little-known fact: Marley was named after a yellow labrador I knew in Indiana...
Finally, here's Chapter 5! Things get interesting here!;D
Ch. 5The next day, Marley and Quigley waited around, not doing anything in particular. Quigley helped her with her mail route, then they sat and waited for evening to come.
At 7:45, every resident of Redbrook quickly hurried to the Town Square. Marley and Quigley followed at the back of the line, but stepped to the side while everyone else continued. They didn't seem to notice two of their party leaving them, but this didn't matter.
The two of them walked together to Graven's house, then they went around the corner to the basement door.
Marley pulled out her key and began to unlock the door. They were mostly silent, until Quigley said, in an uncomfortable voice:
"Um, Marley?"
"What?"
"Uh...Isn't this breaking and entering?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because I have a key."
"That doesn't seem like a very good excuse."
"It's good enough for me."
And before Quigley could say another word, Marley had opened the door and ducked inside. Quigley waited, and kept watch around the corner, just in case.
When Marley found herself in the basement, she immediately went for the desk. There she saw the computer, and beside it, the stack of files.
Marley reached for the first file, and opened it. It detailed a man named Rob Steinson, another resident of Redbrook.
Then Marley took the next file on top of the stack and opened it. It was for John Robinson, the village grocery store owner.
Marley held the two files in her hands, then switched them, placing the second one on top of the first. Now, the only difference was that the top two files had switched places.
Proud of her seemingly pointless work, Marley turned to leave. But the computer caught her eye.
"Hmm...."
She had to see. Pressing the ON button for the monitor and the computer itself, Marley waited as it warmed up, then frowned at what she saw.
A little blank text box stood on the screen before her. Next to the box read, "Password?"
Marley thought for a moment, then had an idea.
"Quigley?" she called.
"Yeah?"
"Could you please come down here for a minute?"
"Sure."
As Quigley came down and walked over to her, Marley said:
"You're the techno-guy. Is there some way around this?"
Quigley looked at the computer, then said:
"Probably not."
"Well, why do you think Graven would have a computer, anyway?"
"He's an important person, isn't he? He controls the very financial state of this town." He paused for a moment, for his last comment had suddenly sunk in. And by the look on Marley's face, it had for her, too.
"But anyway," Quigley added quickly. "It's perfectly understandable why Graven would want to password-protect his computer."
They sat there, silent, in the basement for a moment, trying to think of what to do. Then Marley noticed something hanging on the wall.
"Wow, it's a Master's Degree," she said. "Interesting."
Meanwhile, back at the Town Square, all of the residents of Redbrook were chatting excitedly, while drinking punch and eating the delicious meal set before them.
Albert Graven was speaking to a very fat little man about his occupation.
"So," said the fat man. "You've got a degree?"
"Certainly," said Graven. "I have my diploma hanging on the wall in my house."
He paused, then said, "Would you like to see it?"
"Oh, yes, of course!" said the man, looking joyful.
"All right then," said Graven. "You wait here, and I'll go get it to show you. This won't take a second. I'll be right back."
