P.I.E - A Limey Rivalry

Part 3 - A Blunder by Toast

Roaring across the road, like a jaguar, Toast's fabulous convertible sped down the main road. The partners had just left the city centre and were now driving through the suburbs. They still needed to travel a considerable way, since the address that they were going to was on the outskirts of Littlebutts.

Before then, Johnny Ghost had been too excited to sleep in. He immediately shot out of the bed (which could fold back into the couch), alerted Toast (mostly by yelling ecstatically) and getting ready to leave faster than Toast had ever expected him to. Ghost was always sluggish in the mornings.

Toast didn't mind the graceless wakeup call, though; he was still happy to see that Ghost had returned to his animated, chirpy self again. Although, a thought did cross Toast's mind before he went to sleep the night before: What if this case isn't as great as Ghost expects? What if it's a prank call, or an elaborate hoax? Perhaps it could simply be an animal stuck in the basement. Toast's stomach tightened at the thought of Ghost's disappointment. He imagined Ghost absolutely losing himself. Toast had been wishing throughout the whole day: Please, be a good case. Please, be a good case.

Ghost was shifting around in the passenger chair, looking over the equipment that Toast had gathered before they left.

"You definitely brought everything that we may need, right Johnny?" Ghost asked.

"Yes, sir," Toast responded, not taking his eyes off the road.

"The static meter?"

"Check."

"The EMF meters?"

"Check."

"The motion sensor digital camera? That's an important one."

"Sir, believe me, I left the closet close to bare when I packed. I got the first aid kit, the listening devices, and the walkie-talkies. I even brought the Ouija Board, on your insistence. –"

"Hey. Ghosts get bored too, y'know. That is in case they just want a play," Ghost interrupted Toast's listing.

Toast decided to wrap it up, "I can assure you, without a doubt, we have everything we need," Toast reassured Ghost.

"Okay," Ghost said and he laid back into his seat. He enjoyed the scenery for a view seconds before acting up again, "What about the flashlights?"

Toast remained silent, but held his breath and remained motionless as if he was hiding. Toast realised how stupid that idea was as soon as he started doing it, but kept doing it for some reason.

Ghost obviously noticed Toast's uncommunicativeness and turned to face him. His face, from what Toast could make out within his peripheral vision, was not amused.

"...Johnny," Ghost asked his partner, who was now pale from unease.

Toast remained absolutely still, though he did make a faint "Hmm?" that was meant to mean "Yes, what is it?"

Ghost asked, wearing a serious expression and glaring at Toast, "Did you forget the flashlights?"

Toast swallowed a lump within his throat and slowly turned his head to his interrogative colleague, while still observing the road ahead of them. Toast knew that there was no way he could lie about anything and have it believed now.

Eventually, he sighed, "I'm sorry, sir. They m-must have been left in the draws."

Toast remembered the last time they had done an investigation with the flashlights. It must have been around three weeks ago. Their cases were few and far between, after all. Although, Toast definitely recalled chucking the tools in question into one of the draws instead of the usual spot in the closet. Toast remembered the reason why he had done it too; he were seriously drunk, at the time.