THE TWIN DILEMMA- CHAPTER 1

The 'Sea Queen' Cruise Ship began to move. Brandon Smith, Bob Bartley and Lilly Jones were three friends and they were enjoying the trip. "Wow! This cruise is so huge and charming! There's even a big swimming pool!" Bob said. The others laughed. They decided to explore some of the places on the ship. 

"Look! The clouds are looking so beautiful!" Bob and Lilly said, admiring the scenery. 

Brandon sighed dreamily. Then, suddenly, a girl bumped into the three friends. "Oh my god! You guys don't have any manners? How dare you trouble me?!" The girl said rudely. Lilly was highly disgusted by the girl's behaviour.

"Excuse me, miss! You're the one who bumped into us. And anyways, you shouldn't have spoken to us rudely. Being kind is not a crime!" Brandon informed.

The girl again replied imprudently, "Oh, don't teach me manners!" Lilly wanted to shout at her, but Brandon gently held her away from the discourteous girl. "Lilly, just leave it. Let us not waste our time." Brandon said. Bob agreed, and said, "Yeah! Karma will take care of everything!" 

Lilly agreed. But, she thought something was fishy. "Boys, I saw something in that girl's bag." She said. "You saw something? What?" Asked Brandon. "There was a knife I think....." she guessed.

 "Maybe she works as a part-time vegetable cutter?" Bob asked.

 "Bob, don't joke! The matter could possibly be serious. And, did you notice something? The girl's right eye was green as an emerald. But, the left one was as black as a dark night without a moon!" She said.

 "What? That's not possible! How can a person have eyes of the different colours?" Brandon asked. 

"It could be very much possible. We just have to investigate!" Bob said, after finally understanding the situation. 

"Lilly, are you having the same thoughts as me?" Brandon asked. 

"You mean you think that there's a case of a murder?" Lilly asked. 

Brandon nodded slowly. "Okay, what should we do to investigate the situation? We don't even know who the girl is!" Bob said. "Well, it's not necessary that there's a murder....but let's investigate still..." Brandon spoke.

"Yeah. First, we'll pretend normally. Also, we need to keep an eye on the girl. Are you two understanding?" Lilly said. 

Brandon and Bob nodded their heads reluctantly.

The three friends walked away. Then, they decided to eat something, and then start investigating. "Okay, I'm ordering a cold-coffee. Is that okay for you?" Bob asked Lilly and Brandon. They nodded. Then suddenly, the rude girl again appeared in front of the three friends. She asked them, "Hello, hello! My name is Rina, and I wanted to ask you something. My cabin number is 16C, can you tell me where it is? I've been searching for it since the past 3 hours!"

Lilly, Brandon and Bob just stared at her. They couldn't believe their ears! First, the girl was rude, but now, she was acting really polite! "Uh, it's on the 7th floor, Miss Rina." Brandon said. She thanked them, and then she scurried away. "Lilly, so if I'm not wrong, you said that the rude girl's right eye was green, and the left one was black. Right?" Bob asked.

Lilly nodded her head. "But, the girl who just passed by, had the right eye in black colour, and left in green. What I mean is that it's the opposite!" Bob said, shocked.

Brandon widened his eyes, and said, "Now something is really fishy!" "We need to start investigating now!" Lilly said.

They decided to walk around Rina's cabin. "Let's not forget that we need to pretend normally!" Lilly said, informing. The two boys nodded.

They walked around, then, they found a cabin, and it had the number, "16C". So, they tried to investigate that room. Luckily, the room was vacant. "Bob, you and me will go inside, and Brandon, you stay here. And if someone comes, tell us!" Lilly said. Brandon waited outside, checking the surroundings, while Bob and Lilly scrutinized the room. 

Lilly and Bob both saw two suitcases and two handbags as well. There was a dressing table, too. Some makeup and accessories were also kept. They were also two in number. In fact, they saw that there were two bracelets which had the same colour, and the same design as well. 

"Everything is double!" Bob said, staring.

"Hmm....so two bracelets, two suitcases, two handbags....hmmm, everything is two. So, it could be that Rina has a twin!" Lilly said. "A twin?! Are you sure?" Bob asked.

"Yes, but we can investigate more!" Lilly replied.

They opened the handbag. Inside it, Lilly found some bottles of chloroform, a knife, a rope, some accessories, and other stuff. She showed the things to Bob. Bob was in shock. Then, Brandon whispered from the door, "Psst! Lilly! Bob! Someone is coming here! Just come out!"

Lilly quickly closed the handbag and kept everything in place. Then, she and Bob both came out of the room. "Who was coming here?" Bob asked.

It was just the waiter, going to serve food to someone.

Next, they went in the restaurant. They sat on a chair. The three sleuths noticed the girl. "Is it Rina?" Lilly asked. Bob said, "Well, I don't know!"

"Let's pretend that we accidentally bumped into her. Then let's see how she reacts. Also, let's see if her eye colours are different." Brandon said.

He walked towards the girl. Then he intentionally bumped into her. She said, screaming, "You again? Can you just stop bumping into me?!"

Brandon apologized.

The girl held her phone tightly, and then she spoke to someone, saying, "Hello? Yes, it's me, Florina! What about the deal? Are you interested?"

By that conversation, Brandon understood that her name was Florina.

Then, he went back towards Lilly and Bob. "It's not Rina. Her eye colour is different."

Brandon informed them that the girl's name was Florina. "Hmm. So, the girl who's usually rude to us is Florina. And the girl who's her exact opposite is Rina. Right?" Lilly asked. Brandon nodded. "Okay, so-" Bob was interrupted by someone. "Hello, what's your name? I'm Rina! I love your bracelet a lot!!" Rina said to Lilly. Lilly just smiled. Then, she scurried away.

"Hmm, now it's really confirmed that the girls are twins!" Lilly said, nodding.

IN THE EVENING: 

Lilly, Bob and Brandon were in their room, cabin number 15D. 

Suddenly, Lilly let out a piercing scream which hit Brandon's and Bob's eardrums sharply. "Aaahhhhhhhhh!" She screamed. 

Bob held his ears tightly with his hands. "Lilly, why are you screaming?" He asked. 

"My blue bracelet! It's not here!" She said, screaming. 

"Your blue bracelet? Is it the same one which was praised by Rina?" Brandon asked, and Lilly nodded. 

"Oh! My sixth sense is telling me that it's the twins who stole it!" Bob said. 

"Yes! And, when Rina was praising Lilly's blue Bracelet, I could see greed in her eyes!" Brandon said. 

"Let's check the CCTV." Lilly said. 

They went through the corridors, and then they went in the Technical office. "Hello, sir, we would like to see the CCTV, please." Lilly said. There was a man sitting on a chair and he asked the three friends why they wanted to check the CCTV footage. Lilly tried explaining about the robbery. 

"Robbery?" Asked the man. The three sleuths nodded their heads. 

"Okay, I'll let you see the footage. But you must do fast! I'm really busy." He said, nodding. 

He played the footage, but no luck! It seemed as if the twins had deleted the footage which displayed them as the robbers. So, the three just went inside their rooms again. 

"What if those girls are wanted? And what if they're expert criminals?" Lilly asked, breathing hardly. "Lilly, calm down! Don't worry, we'll find out!" Brandon assured her. 

She smiled patiently, and then the three young sleuths decided to question Mrs. Turner, who was a wealthy woman travelling onboard. They'd met her on the cruise. "Mrs. Turner is wealthy, and I'm sure the twins must've also targeted her as well. That is, if the twins are money-minded." Bob said. 

They went in Mrs. Tuners's cabin, and they were glad that she was still awake, and hadn't slept yet. She greeted them, and she said, "Hello! What brings you here?" 

Lilly said, "Uh, hello. Sorry for the disturbance. But, we wanted to know whether any of your precious or costly jewelry got stolen or not?" 

The woman laughed, as if Lilly were talking nonsense, "Robbery? Really? Who could possibly rob me?!" 

"We're not joking. Please tell us." Bob said. 

"Okay, Okay, as you wish," the woman said, checking her trunk in which she had kept all her precious items and jewelry. 

Then, she let out a huge scream! And, the reason for her scream was the robbery of her jewelry! 

"See! I told you! I knew it!" Lilly shouted. Mrs. Turner was in shock. For a moment, it seemed as if she would faint. 

"Wh-Who stole my j-j-jewelry?" She asked, stammering. Bob tried to console her. "There are two twins onboard. They're really greedy. There are possibilities that they're the ones responsible for the robbery. And, guess what, Lilly's bracelet got stolen also!" 

Mrs. Turner said that she would help them. 

*TO BE CONTINUED IN 'THE TWIN DILEMMA- CHAPTER 2.' *