“Hello!” I heard. “I’ll be down in a minute!” I heard someone noisily come down some stairs, and I saw Tricia appear. “Oh, hi Adam! Laura wanted me to come and redecorate the house, along with watching some movers bring in their new furniture.”

“Noah sent me to move his stuff from our apartment. You don’t mind if I unload it here, and then leave, do you? I have to go down and ask the sergeant about the second robbery.”

“No, not at all.” So I unloaded, then went to the police department. I went inside and went to the front desk.

“Hello, may I speak to the Sergeant?” I asked.

“One moment please.“ The receptionist, Heather, said. I waited.

”He’s waiting for you, go right in.“ I went into his office.

”Well! There you are! We’ve been looking all over for you. It seems that the returned Palette has been stolen.“

”So I’ve heard.“

”We need you to track down the culprit. We think it may be Matt again.“

”But he has the perfect alibi, me!“

”I don’t care, you find out who it is.“

”Can I have some money, you see, I need it very badly.“

”Here’s your money for the first part of the case. You’ll get the rest when you finish it.“

”Gee, thanks sarge!“

”Now get to work!!“ I left his office and went to the Museum. I entered and looked around the case where the Palette usually sat. Nothing. No fingerprints, no broken glass, no nothing! I went out to the car and went to the house where Tricia and I had just been held captive. I knocked on the door.

”Is anybody home?!“ I called. No answer. I went around back to find the gardener. He was watering some tulips in the garden. ”Hello, sir? Is the mister or the mistress of the house due back soon.“

”T’ain’t never due back. They done got up and left. They done asked me to sell the house. It goes up on market tomorrow.“

”Any idea where they might have gone?“

”California, I think. Said they had important business with a Mr. and Mrs. Alkinburgh.“

”Thanks. And by the way. . .“

”Yes.“

”How much is this house going for?“

”Oh, I’d say around fifty thousand. They told me to sell it to the first person who was interested.“

”What if I gave you a down payment.“

”Depends on how much.“

”Say, two thousand.“

”I’d say you’ve got yourself a house!“

”Great!“

”But I can’t let you in it until I have at least half of the money.“

”Then, here’s the down payment and I’ll have the rest for you later, meanwhile, keep up the good work.“ I paid him my salary from the sarge, all of it. I drove back to the office and entered. Upon entering I went into the inner office, where I hung my coat and sat down at my desk. The desk was clean, seeing that I had just started my practice a few days ago. There was a message on my desk that told me that I was to pick Tricia up for supper at McDuncans at six. I looked at the clock and saw that it was about four.

Tricia Downing here with another great deal for you, especially at this time of year…

I don’t know about you, but this time of year, when it’s darker earlier and the weather is getting colder I start to think about decorating my house with lights.  And this season is no different!

Each year my family has done something different with lights– either multi-colored, different motions, icicles, and lights on the bushes– and new technology has made it so that we can even save money on this year’s display!

That’s right, you can use LED holiday lights for all your house and tree lighting needs and be energy efficient as well as beautiful!  LED lights are 90% more efficient than traditional incandescent lightbulbs and they last 50,000 hours or more– plenty for even the longest of cold winter nights.

Did you know that if 20% of U.S. homes switched to LED Christmas lights it would save enough energy to power 200 homes for an entire year–that’s a lot considering the lights are only used for about 30 days on average.

And you don’t need to worry about them looking boring!  They come in all the colors and styles that you expect– so you won’t be giving up any of the decorating goodness.  And when you get your electric bill it will be like you got one more gift at Christmas time!

So, what are you waiting for?  Get some LED holiday lights and show them with pride– and save some money as well!

The time approached when Noah was to be married. Because of my absence from the apartment for three days, I did not know where it was to be held. I scrutinized the area to find any way of telling where the wedding was to be held. A bright piece of paper on the table caught my attention. It read: Adam, wedding is at the Y.M.C.A.. See you there at 1:45. Noah.

The Y? Why? I thought. Taking his word for it, I helped Tricia into the car, and we went to the Y. When we arrived we saw a limousine outside the doors, with the sign bearing ‘Just married’ on the trunk. I walked into the Y.M.C.A. and was met by Noah who was pacing in front of the door. “What took you so long?” He asked, impatiently.

“What took us so long? Noah, it’s only 1:44!” I responded. Tricia and I continued walking up the stairs.

“Well, I must go find the rest of the bride’s maids.” Tricia said, when she left.

“Come with me,” Noah said. We went down into the boys locker room. There the rest of the ushers were standing. We briefly went over what we were to do, and we went upstairs. There were chairs placed on the gym floor, and they formed a aisle that proceeded from the one basketball hoop, to the other. Pastor Dunham was underneath one of the hoops. The wedding started and everyone took their places. The bride came in with a basketball in hand. The groom also had a basketball. This has gotta be Noah’s idea, I thought.

We proceeded through the wedding until it was time to exchange the rings. Pastor said, “Have you a ring?” They exchanged rings. “Have you a basketball?” They exchanged basketballs. Her’s was a pink ball, and his’ a blue one. “By the power invested in me by the state of Oregon, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may make dunk the balls.” He said. Instead of kissing they shot for a basket! Both made it, and Noah was given permission to kiss his bride, which he did. Boy did he ever. He was still kissing her after everyone went down for the Reception. It looked like one of those ‘Big Blue’ commercials! Anyway, the reception was held, and Noah and Laura took off for California, where they’re honeymooned.

Tricia and I went back to our respective apartments. Noah had purchased the house that Laura’s parents left, so I had the apartment all to myself. I was blessed, or cursed (depending how you look at it), with the opportunity to move all of his stuff to his new house. I changed my clothes and began picking up all of his stuff and putting it in bags. I went downstairs and opened the trunk of the car to put his belongings inside. I started the moving process and was almost complete when Tricia came out of the hallway of the building and started walking to her car. She was wearing a short-sleeve shirt, with shorts, scrunched up socks and sneakers. She was also carrying a big bag and wearing sunglasses. I don’t think she saw me.

I finished loading, and drove to Noah’s house. It was a two story house painted two shades of blue. Once there, I went to the front door, took the key Noah gave me out of my pocket, and attempted to open the door. As soon as I put the key in the lock the door swung open. I walked inside carrying two suitcases and yelled, “HELLO!! IS ANYBODY HERE?!”