Marvin was flat on his stomach as one FBI agent had a knee in his back while another handcuffed him. Then he was yanked to his feet and quickly searched.

"We're takin' you in," another agent said, "and you're done for. Too bad, too sad about your big checker star salary. You're nothing now, and you'll be even less in prison." Another agent laughed. "Wonder how long he'll last?" he said with a sly grin.

But as Marvin was being led to one of the SUVs, another three black SUVs pulled into the parking lot and more men piled out with guns drawn.

Marvin was quickly shoved into an SUV and the agents took cover behind their vehicles. "FBI!" one of them shouted. "Drop your guns!"

The reply came quickly. "What are talking about? We're the FBI!" Drop your guns and come out where we can see you!"

The FBI agents looked over the hoods of their SUVs at the new arrivals. They were about to open fire when one of them said in obvious surprise, "Jack? Chris? It's Mike! But what are you guys doing here? Men, hold your fire, they really are FBI!"

"Dan? Mike? What are you guys doing here?" one of the newly arrived men said. "We were told that Marvin J. Mavin would be here and might be attacked by mobsters. So his wife called the FBI and here we are."

"Well," said Mike, "we had a tip from Mavin's coach that he would be meeting with some conspirators here and we just arrested him based on his Coach's statement."

Marvin, not knowing what to think, said, "Hey, what, are all of you from the FBI?"

"That's right," Jack said, "and it appears there are conflicting stories and something of a mix-up."

"Don't you guys like, you know, talk to each other and stuff?" Marvin said. "So, like, am I still under arrest and stuff?"

"I guess not, at least for now," Jack said, "we'll have to get the stories straight first." Jack removed Marvin's handcuffs but warned him, "You better show up at the FBI building like, right away, and stuff."

It was something of a long night. Marvin gave a statement, as did Priscilla. She had been suspicious about a supposed meeting with the FBI at a location out in the country, and had checked out the Wayward Inn on Google and found it had closed years ago. So she had herself called the FBI and explained the situation.

However it seemed that Coach Baba Dudut had also called the FBI and spun them a story about Marvin being corrupt and going to meet with mobsters. Coach claimed to have intercepted a phone call to that effect. But under questioning his story soon fell apart, and he was held on suspicion of lying to the FBI.

The newspapers got hold of the story, and the FBI's minor embarrassment about uncoordinated action was swept under by the unfolding NCL scandal.

An investigation by several agencies ensued and the results were shocking and far-reaching. And all across the country, and even in Canada, the following scene repeated itself.

# # #

Suddenly the door to the Coach's office burst open and men in tactical gear with weapons at the ready burst in to the shock of the Coach, who was sitting behind his desk busy with paperwork.

"On the floor, now! Hands where we can see them! You're under arrest!"

More men in tactical gear swarmed into the locker room and practice rooms, seeking out individual players and taking them into custody.

But the biggest scene of all played out in Belpre, Ohio, where the NCL Deputy Commissioner was cornered in a stairwell as he tried to flee when he saw the tactical squads exit their vehicles. He tried to put up a fight but one zap from a taser put an end to his struggles, not to mention his career and his freedom.

# # #

Indeed a number of coaches and players from all across the league were arrested, Coach Baba Dudut among the most prominent. The (former) NCL Deputy Commissioner tried to cast aspersions on Axel Homeboy but it seemed the Commissioner had been quite unaware of the goings-on. But the bad publicity forced him to resign, and he was replaced by a Ms. Kimmy Lewis, who appointed Byron Hinman as Deputy Commissioner. Both Ms. Lewis and Mr. Hinman promised complete reform and tight oversight.

And so the greatest scandal in the history of professional checkers came to a highly public and very messy conclusion.

# # #

One night a little while after it was all over, Marvin and Priscilla were relaxing in the living room of Priscilla's condo. A cheery artificial fire was in the faux fireplace. Marvin was enjoying a bottle of beer and a problem in the latest All Checkers Digest. Priscilla had a glass of dessert wine and was reading an issue of the Hostile Takeovers and Malicious Mergers business journal.

Marvin was muttering "I think this one has dual solutions," when Priscilla asked, "So how's the new interim coach?" Coach Baba Dudut had of course been immediately dismissed and was now facing at least ten years in prison.

"Sammy Sawizawiz? He seems like a pretty good guy. He ain't so hard on me like Baba Dudut was. 'Course, he's just interim coach 'til they hire somebody. But I think it's gonna be okay. And the League will make a comeback, you'll see."

"I'm sure it will, dear," Priscilla said, "but all the same, in the future you had still better not be talking to reporters or doing anything foolish. I saved your neck this time but I might not always be able to do so."

"Well, there ain't gonna be ... "

But Marvin saw Priscilla's stern look and knew better than to say anything further.

# # #

Things had gone totally wrong. Cha Cha owed the Bulgarian mob a lot of money and with the match fixing having ended, she had no source of income. It was time to high-tail it out of the country and assume yet another identity.

She thought it was clever how she was able to pull strings from such a distance and manipulate the players and coaches in the NCL. But that fool of a player and his swanky stuck-up wife had ruined it. It was unfair. But at least no one suspected her; operating through the mob, she had kept enough distance to stay in the clear. The guilty had had no contacts beyond the mob, and the authorities had been unable to locate any mob members.

Well, even though she was off to Malaysia, and who knows where after that, they hadn't heard the last from Cha Cha. Not by a longshot.

THE END

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We hope you enjoyed this 7-part serial and will tune in again for more adventures in the world of Marvin J. Mavin. But meanwhile see if you can solve today's problem. Marvin did hint at something important so do pay heed. When you're ready, click on Read More to see the solution. Or should that be "solutions"?

Solution

*30 26, *11-15, 25 22---A, *7-11, 22 13, *15-18, 20 16---B, *11-27, *21 17 Drawn.

A---Also 20 16, *15-18, then 16 11 and 24 20 both draw.

B---Also 21 17, 18-27, *19 15. Drawn.

This problem, by Bill Salot, was unfortunately disqualified from Mr. Salot's 7th problem composing contest. Mr. Salot very strictly disallows dual solutions! But we think it's still quite a nice problem and we hope you agree.