Johnny Max and the Panther's Skull by Daniel Godfrey

Author:Daniel Godfrey
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Troubador Publishing Ltd

Chapter Thirteen

Johnny shoved his hands into his pockets and let a long sigh escape from his mouth. It was cold and his breath immediately fogged out in front of him. Why had he agreed to this? Of course, because Breeze had persuaded him. The phone call had come late last night. Did he want to meet up at the corner of Union Avenue and Croftbeck Corner early on Saturday morning?

The obvious answer was ‘no’. He’d have preferred to have gone straight to the arcades – but, after a week of being cooped up with his aunt, the chance of a brief escape had proved quite attractive. Plus, he’d spent more than enough time jumping each time the phone rang – just in case it meant some news about Robyn. After all, now the police had the loot, why were they still keeping hold of the Leafords?

“Hi, Johnny!”

Johnny span to find Breeze standing right behind him. Despite his weight, his friend seemed able to pad around softly if he wanted to.

“Hi. Still no news about Robyn?”

“No,” said Breeze. “Not yet anyway.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Breeze handed over his mobile phone. It displayed some aerial photography – zoomed down onto the streets in which they were now standing. Johnny glanced at the screen and then handed it back. “So?”

“There’re some garages at the end of this street,” said Breeze, pointing down the road. “Twenty of them.”

Johnny continued to stare at his friend, but then it clicked. “That small key… it was a garage key?”

Breeze nodded. “Yeah. And the letters? A large ‘V’ above the letters ‘VA’? It was the Roman coins that made me think about it… ”

“The ‘V’… is the Roman numeral for five. And the ‘VA’?”

“A street name.”

Johnny scratched at his ear. “Something Avenue… but beginning with ‘V’? I can’t think of one off the top of my head!”

“No. Think about Augustus. You were so used to seeing it written in Roman that you didn’t even struggle with it out on the moors.”

“Beginning with a ‘U’! The Roman’s used a ‘V’ instead of a ‘U’!”

Johnny stared down at the street name plate beside them. Union Avenue. He scrambled through a list of local street names. Were there any other streets beginning with a ‘U’ in town? He couldn’t think of one!

“Have you told the police about this?” he asked.

Breeze shook his head. “That Brewer is a moron. I thought we could at least take a look. Maybe even embarrass him again!”

“Okay. But let’s be quick.”

With a hurried stride, Johnny started to make his way along the row of terraced houses until they arrived at the garages. They were simple concrete boxes – and most looked like they were about to fall down. A few cars sat outside several of them.

“Over there,” said Breeze, pointing.

Johnny saw it too. A battered Ford Escort. Both instinctively glanced around them. Union Avenue was a cul-de-sac. If anyone did appear behind them now, they’d be pretty much trapped. No one was about.

On the garage

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