I
had decided I would relax for once this week. My tickets for the
Bahamas were already booked and my luggage was all packed and ready to
go on tomorrow morning's flight. A few days rest would have done well
to my tired body. But life is life, my boss called me tonight
asking if I was fit for a new mission. After thoughts and seeing the
challenge I got decided ... to postpone my holidays.
The
news was terrible. An invaluable treasure was stolen from the Egyptian
Museum in Cairo. Believe it or not, the plans of the pyramids had
disappeared! I turned immediately on SkyRadio on 96.8Mhz to hear the
confirmation of this robbery and according to the reporters, a few
well-known suspects were already tracked down. Local security patrols
failed miserably in safeguarding this national treasure and left the
thieve escape without anyone noticing.A few moments later, Egyptian telly aired fuzzy pictures from CCTV that clearly showed the suspect running out of the building with the maps. As the journalists said and by looking more closely at the video, I could clearly define a female acting alone. Was I going to deal with Katherine Brunch, Merey LaRoc or maybe Ihor Ihorovich. All were good candidates! I wanted to know more and decided to take the next flight to Cairo to find out more.
In
a rush I managed to catch the 23h40 flight. Fortunately I didn't forget
my
company AMEX card. Imagine paying that fortune for just a 4 hours trip?
I could have easily spent this amount for a journey around the world in
80
days. During the flight, in between two sleeps, I educated myself on
the mission's details. I really appreciate my boss and I am used to it.
A
12-page confidential file was already prepared and given to me when I
arrived at the British Airways lounge at Heathrow.
From the window, I could preview the immensity of the city and I could even see in the distance Gizah. Cairo is a city of 25 million, the biggest of Africa and the Middle-East. It was not going to be an easy task to find that thief!
I decided to start my day with a typical Egyptian breakfast to think about how I would organise my day. The server brought me a baladi bread, taameya's, foul and delicious hallawa. The full city seemed still under shock about what happened the day before. I asked the server: "What do you think of all this?". He answered: "Sir, it's dramatic! If we don't find back the plans of the pyramids, we'll never know how they have been built!". That was evidence.
I went to the bank to check my account and while at my private bankers desk he informed me, totally amazed, that he just made the transaction of his life by changing almost a million Egyptian pounds into something like 250 millions Liras... to a hurried lady with a strong Meditteranean accent that left in emergency in a limousine for Mena House's Oberon Golf Club in Gizah, at the foot of the pyramids! I thanked him very much. This was a lucky start. I rushed out.
Less than an hour later I arrived in front of the club-house where indeed a limousine was already parked. "Where is your customer?" I asked. "She joined the golf club director. I understood she wanted to climb Mount Titano with him... in San Marino". I was surprised, this was just hard to believe. A few seconds later I heard a helicopter leaving a bit further away. Too late, she escaped in front of me! Why San Marino? Why all this money? Two calls later, I was on my way to my private jet to fly into Rimini, the closest airport to the small republic that is well-known for its fiscal paradise. Only I needed a better pair of shoes to climb to the top of the 739m height mountain.
My
chauffeur drove like crazy, used his horn abusively but was kind enough
to stop next to a shoe
store I had noticed on the side of the road and since I have Egyptian
feet (to the contrary of Greek) I had no troubles to find a beautiful
pair. I boarded my jet, a Beechcraft King Air 90, with the hope to
arrive first in San Marino. This was a fine and wonderful trip to rest
and relax a bit. My boss is
really a nice guy, I already told you... he had foreseen a charming
hostess to accompany me to Italy.
Flying
at night is not a problem for me. However, get back to work in the
early hours has never been my strong side. Quickly after having landed
in the small republic I immediately took the occasion to
complete the collection of Euro coins for my little nephew. He was
going to be a happy man, I tell you! Apart from this little break,
I was there for a much more serious matter... arrest the suspect.
My first idea was to go straight to that famous mountain and
see
from there. It was a beautiful day. I arrived in a very remote village
at
the foot of the mountain where I could not see anybody around. Only I
could see a
car with a Slovenian number plate parked next to a small creek. The
door was left open. I
looked inside and besides a dozen tennis magazines in the back seats
there was nothing much else to see. I saw a small path going up into
the forest and walked it up straight away, at a very fast pace. I
followed the yellow marks and quarter of an hour later I walked into a
big field of flowers. A shepherd was sitting on a rock a little bit
further away. I greeted him and asked:
'Buongiorno,
avete visto cualcuno passare questa mattina?'. Not surprised, he
answered: 'Si signore, una bionda, una bionda!
Certamente inglese. Mi ha detto che sarà a Londra
sta sera
per studiare il suono del Big Ben! Gli ho risposto che non era la buona
direzione. Ah Ah!'. I could have thought it before, my suspect was
certainly Annie Dazzle! A renowned blond English lady that was famous
for the most horrendous crimes around the world and that had special
interests in luxury and tennis. It was not for nothing that she
travelled in limousines. I turned on my Spectravideo
SVI laptop MSX to confirm my suspicion. A click on 'Compute' and I knew
I had it right. My boss opened an international arrest warrant against
her. Not wanting to loose any precious time, I went back to my
jet and left for London City Airport. My visit to San Marino
was
very short but productive. 
If
I had a parachute, I would have asked the pilot to drop me above river
Thames, but I am not James Bond, you know. Don't misunderstand me, my
cup-of-tea is more like the dolce vittà and far niente, but
when
business catches me up I am really capable of everything. Not even Bond
would say the contrary. I called him and he picked up the
phone:
- Bond, James Bond.
- Hi James, this is SuperCobra. You've probably heard I managed to have an international arrest warrant this morning against Annie Dazzle. I was wondering if you were also on the 'affaire'?
- You know, you are cleverer than you look...
- Better than looking cleverer than you are! So, do you have any news to share?
- Prepare you trip to Peru. We have spotted Annie in a Change close to Leicester Square where she asked for Soles. We followed her in a Latin American grocery where she bought some rum. The owner told us she wanted to study Spanish colonialism. The stupid then managed to escape. The crowd was so dense that we lost track her in the tube at Covent Garden. I don't know what she prepares but I believe you have to act fast.
- Thanks so much Bond, with a bit of luck I'll capture her in Lima!
- Watch out Cobra, she's dangerous. Please pass by at Q's, he has new gadgets for you and a new watch, your twentieth I believe.
- Time goes really fast, you're as always a gentleman.
- My pleasure Cobra, bring us safely the maps of the pyramids back!
My
boss is really lovely, he knows the full world and has always good
ideas. I'm a small detective but I have my connections. It's not
nothing to know James Bond. That guy has 60 years of experience in the
Secret Intelligent Services and he is still unbeatable. What a man! He
gets all my honours.
So
I took a black cab for Brompton Road. Work is one thing, I entirely
agree. Leisure is another thing, and I enjoy that and I'll never make
concessions about it. I also like Harrods and nobody ever has stopped
me from going there for some shopping. "Omnia Ubique Omnibus", doesn't
that ring a bell to you? My purchases done and I was on my way for yet
another monstrously long flight and I could only dream of being
tele-transported to Lima. I felt really tired and felt asleep while
drinking a delicious mocha in a
Prêt-à-Manger outlet...
how I then managed to get into Heathrow was a mystery and
don't
ask me how I managed to get on the plane!
I
didn't know much about Peru, not even the national airlines name. I was
there to arrest Annie Dazzle, nothing more, nothing less. Just I had to
be careful not to let her go her way and escape once more. This time I
chose to stay determined and to set aside my little touristic breaks,
though I secretly hoped I could visit the country as one should do.
One of my dreams has always been to go to lake Titicaca, the largest
and highest lake of Latin America located in the middle of the Andes at
over 3800m altitude! This is must truly be an amazing place to visit,
also knowing that you can navigate on it. Nevertheless I had to put
this dream aside. 
Upon
my arrival I could hardly resist watching the people around me
walking in their traditional clothes. The shops were marvelous to
watch with plenty bright colours. Quickly work took it over. Peruvians
are very kind people and through their hospitality I quickly learned
that Annie was again playing cat and mice with me. Before I even
finished drinking my infusion, I knew she was already flying into
Istanbul. She was probably one of the biggest liars I had ever dealt
with. None of what she said or claimed was sincere. Studying the Big
Ben, bullshit. Learning about Spanish Colonialism, let me laugh. One
thing she didn't know is that I would not leave her alone. Though she
was an enduring person, I had no intention to let her win. I hurried up
to get in time in the Turkish city to finally arrest her...
Upon
my arrival I could hardly resist watching the people around me
walking in their traditional clothes. The shops were marvelous to
watch with plenty bright colours. Quickly work took it over. Peruvians
are very kind people and through their hospitality I quickly learned
that Annie was again playing cat and mice with me. Before I even
finished drinking my infusion, I knew she was already flying into
Istanbul. She was probably one of the biggest liars I had ever dealt
with. None of what she said or claimed was sincere. Studying the Big
Ben, bullshit. Learning about Spanish Colonialism, let me laugh. One
thing she didn't know is that I would not leave her alone. Though she
was an enduring person, I had no intention to let her win. I hurried up
to get in time in the Turkish city to finally arrest her... 
24
hours later, I landed in
Atatürk airport. I had a good rest and was full of energy,
especially after having seen 'The Fugitive' during the flight, an
astonishing movie where the killer always manages to escape police, a
bit in the same manner as Annie Dazzle. I was really in a fantastic
mood, though I knew this was maybe not my final destination. First I
went to Kapalı
Çarşı, one of the largest covered bazaars in the world. A
real
labyrinth with over 66 small roads, 2500 stores and many many craftwork
shops. It was the perfect place to hide but also a real Ali Baba cavern
where you can find everything you want. To help me, my boss had
foreseen an interpret and a few local secret agents to accompany me.
Thanks god because my Turkish is not yet that good. All the hints that
we collected pointed us to think that she would go to Colombo in Sri
Lanka because she wanted to catch a Sea Snake and learn more about
Veddag artifacts. She even tried to find a Tamil dictionary in a
library! 
I
received a SMS while I was on my way to the airport: "Annie Dazzle
registered on a flight to Kigali. She's trying to scramble the tracks.
Don't go to Colombo". Discreetly I boarded the same plane as
her. Rwandese police where informed and ready to put the
shackles when she would land. My mission ended in the middle of the
jungle, not really I place I would have chosen for my vacations. But
since I had an almost unused pairs of walking shoes, I decided to spend
a few days in the jungle to meet gorillas. An unforgettable experience.
As I felt asleep under the stars I thought it would probably be a good
idea to go home... my boss
was certainly already trying to reach me for a new adventure. And my
holidays? Do you think he ever thinks of them?
And
Annie Dazzle in all this? She was of course captured and the pyramid
maps where found in her luggage. She was emprisoned and extradited to
Egypt where she was forced to general labour works in light to
safeguard the Egyptian cultural inheritance. Three years later, she
managed to escape again...
The End.
The End.
A word on the game:
I
had the idea to review this game since a very long time but didn't know
how I would write it. I hope you enjoyed reading it despite my lack of
experience in this kind of writing. Besides this fiction and totally
unrealistic scenario as well as total-crazy travel around the world
within hours leaving little time to do a serious detective's job, Where
in the World is Carmen San Diego is a classic game.
It's adaptation to MSX by SLotman is well done though the game is a bit
slow. Missions are quite simple if you have minimal cultural and
geographical knowledge and I hope they become more difficult as you
advance in the game. Also, I was totally surprised to arrest Annie
Dazzle in Kigali when all witnesses in Istanbul pointed I had to fly
into Colombo... a pity because this should not have been the case. If
you have a closer look at the screenshots above, you'll also notice on
one of them a blue screen with 'Your
Computer made an Illegal Operation... Press any key to continue' that
occurred when I tried to compute for the arrest warrant. Surprising.
Bug
or intentional?
Conclusion:
It took 4 years time from the moment the game was announced first and when it finally came out in April 2007. For just 5$ (approx. 3 Euros), you have the opportunity to acquire a new homebrew game for a very small price. It's not free but don't forget that by buying it you'll also reward the work of passionate people about MSX. I wish you a lot of amusement and a lot of success in your future detective career.
Official site: Carmen SanDiego MSX
Conclusion:
It took 4 years time from the moment the game was announced first and when it finally came out in April 2007. For just 5$ (approx. 3 Euros), you have the opportunity to acquire a new homebrew game for a very small price. It's not free but don't forget that by buying it you'll also reward the work of passionate people about MSX. I wish you a lot of amusement and a lot of success in your future detective career.
Official site: Carmen SanDiego MSX