Chapter 30: Just a Bit More
The next night, Pardi invited Collingswaggle over again.
‘I have asked over three dozen representatives,’ said Collingswaggle as he walked into Pardi’s apartment. ‘Almost all of them are deeply concerned about the events in Adoy. They strongly believe we need to put an end to this Government’s continuous push for increased “rights”.’
‘Would they support a vote of “no confidence”,’ asked Pardi.
‘At the moment, it’s about 50/50,’ replied Collingswaggle.
‘Bear in mind, the incidents in Adoy still have to play out,’ said Pardi.
‘True, if the children aren’t found soon. I imagine support for a “no confidence” vote will exceed 50%,’ replied Collingswaggle.
‘If I had asked them this question a few days ago, it would have had zero support.’
‘So, great progress then,’ remarked Pardi.
‘Yes. However, I don’t want to push for a debate and a vote until I’m really confident we have the numbers,’ stated Collingswaggle firmly. ‘A failed attempt would put us back where we started.’
‘That’s a reasonable conclusion,’ said Pardi.
After chatting and enjoying Collingswaggle’s company for several hours, Pardi received a message from Jarlint. ‘The place is swarming with enforcers. It looks like all the Inquisitives are being arrested,’ it read.
Pardi quickly turned on the television. He flicked through the news channels, but there was no information.
‘What’s wrong? Are you looking for something?’ asked Collingswaggle.
‘Yeah, something big is going down in Adoy, and it appears nobody is reporting it,’ replied Pardi angrily.
‘Maybe your source is mistaken,’ said Collingswaggle.
‘No,’ said Pardi.
‘I’ll call the Head Enforcer of the region,’ said Collingswaggle.
Collingswaggle called the Head Enforcer. They chatted for a few minutes before ending the call.
‘Well, what’s happening?’ asked Pardi.
‘He’s looking into it. He’s not in the region right now, but he is heading back immediately,’ said Collingswaggle.
‘Seriously, his region is falling apart, and he’s not even there,’ said Pardi angrily. Pardi paused for a few seconds. ‘I changed my mind. This might be a good thing,’ he said.
‘How so?’ inquired Collingswaggle.
‘If he isn’t running the show, it must be his commander. His commander is female,’ said Pardi with a smile on his face.
‘I understand your point, but it might not be wise to push the female incompetence angle too hard,’ said Collingswaggle.
‘We don’t need to. It’ll just fall into place,’ replied Pardi as he smiled.
At the Carvaress building in Adoy, Jarlint watched as the enforcers left the area. ‘Looks like our job is done,’ said Jarlint as he turned to the other two employees.
‘The children were in that building?’ asked Joselin.
‘Yes, they were,’ said Jarlint.
‘The enforcers took the children with them as well,’ said Joselin.
‘I suppose they did,’ said Jarlint with a smile on his face.
‘Then what about the twins?’ asked Jimmoy.
‘What about them?’ responded Jarlint.
‘Shouldn’t we get them since the enforcers now have the real girls?’ asked Jimmoy.
‘We leave on the first train tomorrow morning,’ said Jarlint.
‘Don’t worry about them,’ said Joselin as she began packing her bag. ‘I’m sure they’ll be fine.’
The next morning, Pardi is lying in bed. Collingswaggle walked into the bedroom carrying a tray with pancakes and fresh fruit on it. ‘I have some news from Adoy,’ said Collingswaggle in a serious tone. ‘It looks like you were right. It was a busy night. They arrested all the Inquisitives.’
‘Good, good, good,’ responded Pardi.
‘They also released all of them in the early hours of the morning,’ said Collingswaggle.
‘Hmm, okay,’ said Pardi as he began to eat his pancakes.
‘You don’t seem too bothered,’ replied Collingswaggle.
‘It’s just another example of more incompetence,’ said Pardi. ‘I have a feeling they will be arrested again very soon.’
That night, Pardi had just returned home after flying his helicopter around the city. He turned on the television to see the headline, ‘Another dramatic day in Adoy. The girls are found, and the main suspect is killed.’ The report included information about the three other suspects being held in custody.
‘Amazing, this is the story that just keeps giving,’ Pardi said to himself. Pardi felt proud of Orcille’s achievements but still felt a little prison time was necessary for him to clear his head. He was now hoping the twins could keep the parents fooled long enough for this plan to succeed fully. He was still a little concerned about Collingswaggle’s hesitancy to push for the debate and the vote for “no confidence”.
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