The Journal Thief {read desc}

Chapter 2 - The First Clue.

Everything was going well. The chipmunks and chipettes each wrote daily in their journals, and made sure each journal had only been touched by the owner's hands.

But one day..

"My journals missing!" exclaimed Alvin.

"What?!" said a shocked Theadore. "Have you checked properly?!"

"Yes!!"

"What's going on?" Simon asked wearily.

"What's going on?! Oh, nothing much, just my personal journal is gone!!"

"Gone?! Are you sure you haven't misplaced it?!"

"Yes, I'm sure!!"

".. Theodore, is yours still in your hiding spot?"

"I'll go check.." answered Theodore.

Alvin and Simon both waited a tensed minute, each staring at each other.

"It's not here!!" called a frantic Theodore.

"What?! I'll see if mine is still where I left it.." muttered Simon.

He went over to his safe and speed dialled the pass code.

The door opened, revealing a dark safe, a dark and empty safe..

"What?! Let's check on the chipet-"

Before Simon could finish, three paranoid chipettes zoomed into their bedroom in their night clothes.

"Our journals are stolen!! H-"

"So are ours!!"

"WHAT?!"

***

"Guys, this isn't a coincidence. I think someone stole our journals.." said Simon thoughtfully.

"Me too, but who would do this? And why??"

"That's what I intend to discover."

"We've got your work together to find them!" Alvin butted in. "Who's in?"

"Me!"
"Me too."
"Me three!"
"Count me in."
"Definitely!"

"This is like a Sherlock Holmes story!" said Jeanette excitedly. "The game's afoot!"

" 'The game's a foot'? Why a foot?" Alvin hissed to nobody in particular.

"So, when could they have been stolen?"

"Well," started Simon. "The most likely time must have been in the middle of the night.  Was anyone awake after 12am?"

"I was." said Alvin. "I was watching Alien Cat Invasion."

"So when did you come to bed?"

"Around 12:05, I think-"

"Was anyone else awake?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"Wait.." Jeanette instructed. "What's that on your bed, Theodore?"

Everyone looked over to Theodore's bed. There, was a somewhat positioned piece of paper lay.

Theodore went over to pick it up.

"There's strange.. Dots and dashes all over this?"

"Dots and dashes?" asked Simon. "Let me see."

".. These aren't dots and dashes. This is.. Morse code??"

"Morse code?" Brittany butted in. "What's that?"

"Well, it's a code of dots and dashes that translates to words. Let's see.."

Theodore held up the paper for Simon to translate.

"Dark and dour. Dark and dour..?"

"What could be dark and dour?" wondered Eleanor.

"The partial percentage of our mood when we found our journals were stolen?" Alvin answered.

"Journals.." muttered Jeanette. "Journals.."

"Wait!! Simon, you had your journal in a safe, right?" Brittany asked.

".. Yeah, why?"

"Did you decorate the inside?"

"Seriously Brittany? Now's not the time to think about fashion!" said Alvin, appalled.

"No, I didn't, though I have thought about installing a light." answered Simon, ignoring Alvin.

"Well," said Brittany, who was also ignoring Alvin. "The inside must be dark.. Really dark. Not just dark. Dour too."

Everyone was silent for a moment.

Theodore crunched a crisp, easily breaking the silence.

"Shall we check?" Jeanette suggested.

Simon went over to his safe and quickly typed in the pass code. Inside the dark safe was.. A paint brush?