The Deal

This story is another part of the MWCD: Mystery With Clara Dawn series. A new mystery awaits Clara! 

"Great! I am so glad that this farm house is finally sold off." Said Mrs. Turner, as soon as she signed the deal with Mr. Crusely. 

"Yeah, yeah. I am glad too." He said with a sly smile. "So when can I- uh- finally shift here?" 

Mrs. Turner looked at him weirdly. The deal was JUST signed, why was Crusely in such a hurry, just to shift to the farm house? 

"I'll let you know." Came her reply. "Please give me your mobile number. It's easier to cooperate, you know." 

The man gave her a number, then told it to cancel. Then he gave another one. 

"If you don't mind, may I ask why you cancelled the first number?" Mrs. Turner. 

"Eh- Well....um....yeah. It was wrong." He replied, smiling sheepishly. 

Clara came out from the farm house, seeing the man. She greeted him cheerfully, but the man just scowled. 

Clara had come to visit her friend Lucy. She was the daughter of Mrs. Turner. 

The man just stood there, staring at Clara. "So, the deal is done, now." Mrs. Turner reminded, trying to motion Crusely to leave. 

"Yeah, I know. So, I guess I'll leave now." He finally said. 

"Thank you." 

Mrs. Turner went to the kitchen, and Clara went to Lucy's room. She sat on a chair, thinking deeply about something. 

"Clara! Maria just sent me this photos. Take a look!" Lucy told. 

Clara wasn't listening. 

"Clara!" 

Lucy shook her friend. "What's up with you?" She asked. "Nothing, just thinking something." Came the reply. 

"A mystery?" 

"Maybe." 

"Tell me about it!" Shouted Lucy. 

"Why are you selling this farm-house?" Clara questioned. "Well, mom thought that it was too much responsibility. You know, we already have many ancestral homes. We had to make the deal." Told Lucy. 

"Frankly speaking, I just don't think the man to whom you sold the property is right. He seems weird. Not very friendly." Clara shared her observations. 

"Maybe he's not much of an extrovert." Lucy said. 

Clara was not satisfied. 

She went down to the kitchen. "Mrs. Turner, can you tell me something about Mr. Crusely?" 

"Why, you seem surprised about the deal!" She gasped. "He works in an import and export company. And, I guess he's the senior manager. We made the deal for 70 Lakhs." 

"70 Lakhs!" Clara repeated. 

"Clara, I think you're into something. I am with you! Any more investigation needed?" Lucy asked. 

Clara nodded. 

"Which company does he work for?" Clara asked Mrs. Turner. 

"ArrowWorks." Came the reply. 

"Let's go there." Clara decided. Lucy accompanied her. 

AT THE OFFICE:

"Hello, does Mr. Crusely work here?" Clara asked the receptionist. 

"Please tell me the full name." Came the request. 

"Mr. Mason Crusely." Lucy said. 

"No, sorry, nobody named Mason works here. Although, we have another employee named James Crusely." Came the reply.  

"Yes. We would like to meet him." Clara said. "But why? We are looking for Mason Crusely, not this James Crusely!" Lucy asked, perplexed. 

James Crusely looked quite similar to Mason. "Do you know, by chance, where Mason Crusely works?" Lucy asked politely. "So if our last names are same......you think I'll know about any random person?" Came a harsh reply. 

"No, we wanted some help." Clara quickly said. 

"I don't know who Mason is." Said James, looking the other way. 

They thanked him and came back home. 

Meanwhile, James phoned someone........

AT THE FARM HOUSE:

"Oh, you are finally back." Exclaimed Mrs. Turner. Clara and Lucy smiled. "Mr. Crusely had called. He was asking for a date to shift here." She continued. 

Clara's brown eyes flashed with excitement. "What did you say?" 

"I told him to come next week." 

"Oh no." 

"Why, what's the matter?" 

"We are actually very doubtful of Crusely. He doesn't seem right." Lucy replied.  

Next up, Clara got a call. "Unknown Number!" Clara exclaimed. 

"Hello?"

"Clara Dawn?"

"Yes."

"I just got some information about Mason. He has a meeting at Surrey Street. I suggest you to spy on him. " 

"Who is this speaking?"

"James"

"Thank you for the help."

"So, you're going there?" Lucy asked. 

She didn't reply. She just called Mason. "Hi. Would you mind come at our place, please." She asked. "Um- I am at work." Came the reply. 

"Oh, at Surrey street? Or at ArrowWorks?" Clara asked sarcastically. 

"Excuse me? How dare you interfere in my job?" He shouted furiously. 

 "You're wrong. It's you. I dare you to come here now!" Clara said sharply.

A moment later, a car screeched to a halt. Crusely stormed inside. "Ms. Dawn?" He shouted. 

Lucy and her mother couldn't understand a thing. 

What was Clara doing? 

"James Crusely. Your brother. He phoned, saying that you had an important meeting. It was a trap, wasn't it?" Clara asked.  

Mason looked angry.

Infact, Clara had even called the police! 

Crusely was arrested, when the young girl showed all the proof.

"Clara, can you please tells what's going on?" Lucy begged. 

Clara giggled. "Sure,"

Then she narrated the tale of how she had investigated a lot.....

THE FLASHBACK, WHEN CLARA WAS INVESTIGATING:-

AFTER VISITING ARROWWORKS OFFICE:- 

Clara and Lucy left just after their talk with James. Lucy went ahead, while Clara bent down to tie her shoe laces, which had come off. James called someone, and fortunately, Clara had heard the conversation.

"Brother Mason. The girl....yeah...she came with her friend. They questioned me about you. Yes...yes...maybe you should be more careful....." He spoke. 

Clara felt lucky, that she had overheard the conversation. She stayed a little while more, thinking that she might get any other useful information. She did. 

"Yeah, and if we don't make the deal, our business of smuggling will go flop. We can't let the police catch us." James said. 

Clara was now sure: The day she had first met Mason, he was desperate to buy the farm house only for his smuggling business! 

Clara left. She didn't tell Lucy, or anyone else. She didn't want anything unexpected to happen!

PRESENT DAY:-

"So, I researched on the web. I searched about the criminal records of James and Mason. I learnt that they had a gang. I even spoke to the police, to seek their help." Clara told. 

"Mrs. Turner, you told us that ArrowWorks is an import and export company right?" Clara asked. She nodded. "So, that obviously meant that James was making those smuggling deals through ArrowWorks." She continued her theory. 

"That day, I received a call from James. He lied that Mason was in some meeting, and he also suggested that I spy on him. Due to their conversation in the office, I understood that it was a trick. So, I phoned Mason. Then, I used some words, which triggered his anger, and he eventually came here." Clara said. 

"Clara, you're a genius!" Lucy said. 

"Thank you, dear, for all the help! We were lucky that the farm house was not sold to those rascals!" Mrs. Turner told Clara. 

The police ensured that they would soon investigate further, and stop the other smugglers as well. 

So, that's how Clara had caught the criminals, with the help of the police, and not to forget: Lucy and Mrs. Turner! She had also solved the mystery.