Though not participating in the sport of Black Friday bargain-hunting, Scrooge McDuck was up as early as those who were. And his stomach was most unsettled of all. That is, until he called Fenton Crackshell to his home office at four thirty that morning. And then it was Fenton with the most unsettled stomach in Calisota.

Come five-seventeen, Fenton found himself on wobbly legs in the doorway of Scrooge's home office. He was groggy and not just a little upset. Scrooge had sounded out-of-sorts on the phone, and anything that could get him that worked up ultimately spelled bad news for Fenton -- and most likely, his accompanying "alter-ego," Gizmoduck.

Scrooge didn't acknowledge Fenton when the door opened, nor when he closed it gently behind himself.

"M - Mr. McDuck?" Fenton stammered, adjusting the wrinkled collar of his shirt. "Um -- y-you wanted to s-see me?"

Initially, Scrooge remained silent, running his hands over a newspaper that had been spread all across the desk before him. Finally, he spoke with deadly calm treble. "Have ye seen th' newspaper this morn'?"

Fenton shook his head feebly. "N-no, Mr. McDuck."

"Take a seat."

Silently, Fenton sat on one of the two overly stuffed seats across the desk from his boss, waiting apprehensively for the inevitable dropping of the figurative shoe. Except that he didn't anticipate the aforementioned shoe to be more akin to emotional concrete boots.

Still, Scrooge failed to make eye contact with his accountant. Instead, he read from the front page of the Duckburg Times. "Heir to Dodgers fortune alive, story by Kayla Doxy-Bennett." He adjusted his spectacles rather pointedly before reading the article to Fenton. "In a startling turn of events at th' star-studded premier of th' Hunchback of Notre Dame in St. Canard, Calisota, Katellah Germaine discovered th' sole heir to th' Dodgers' fortune is alive.

"Once thought missing, then presumed dead on th' night of th' brutal triple homicide at renowned Fourteen Karat Jewel Garden, Tegwen Dodgers found her way along wi' a full house of theatergoers to th' premier of th' play in which former school teacher, Germaine, stars.

"'I got to speak wi' her only briefly,' Germaine said. 'But she was most definitely alive and well, so to speak. I'm afraid she's fallen in wi' an unsavory crowd. She took off before I could do anything to help her.'

"In a phone interview, Germaine was openly shaken in her plea for help. After th' play, she enlisted th' help of our own Gizmoduck and St. Canard's Darkwing Duck to bring Tegwen Dodgers home."

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