The A-Z Djinn Detective Agency by Parinita Shetty

Author:Parinita Shetty
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789385990915
Publisher: Random House Publishers India Pvt. Ltd.
Published: 2016-12-20T16:00:00+00:00

‘Zubeida!’ he screeched. ‘The bicycle thief! Come on!’ He grabbed hold of the younger djinni’s arm and began dragging her across the street.

A startled Zubeida called out to Oz, ‘Can I come back and visit you? I think you’re just who I needed to meet.’

‘You may not!’ Oz said emphatically. ‘I need to read five thousand books these humans seem to admire. How am I supposed to concentrate if I’m constantly interrupted by pesky rug rats?’

‘Great, thanks!’ Zubeida replied cheerfully. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow!’

‘STOP! THIEF!’ Ashwin yelled as he jumped out in front of the cycle with his arms spread wide. Zubeida stood beside him to confront the bewildered burglar.

‘Are you talking to me?’ the girl asked Ashwin after looking around to make sure nobody else was beside her. ‘Do I know you?’

‘You don’t know me but I know you,’ Ashwin said coldly. ‘A thief is a detective’s worst enemy!’

‘How about a murderer?’ Zubeida supplied.

‘A thief is a detective’s second-worst enemy!’ Ashwin tried again.

‘A kidnapper?’ Zubeida suggested.

‘Third-worst enemy!’ Ashwin said less dramatically. ‘And that’s enough!’ he hissed at Zubeida.

He turned to the girl who looked back at him, bemused. ‘I know the kind of thief you are! You saw a cool bike and thought, “Oh, this cycle is so awesome. I want one too. I know! Let me take this one!” And here you are! Brazenly riding the very cycle you’ve stolen! Have you no shame, missy?’

‘You think I stole this cycle?’ The girl raised her eyebrows. ‘Um, this is my cycle.’

‘A crook and a liar!’ Ashwin gestured wildly. ‘Why would we believe a thief? Zubeida! Do something!’

‘Like what?’ Zubeida inquired.

Ashwin sidled towards her, keeping his eyes on the girl with the cycle to make sure she didn’t escape.

‘You said you could move things around!’ he whispered. ‘Why don’t you turn the bike around? We’ll take it to Manan’s house!’

‘Right,’ Zubeida said. She stuck her hand into her back pocket. Ashwin and the alleged bicycle thief waited patiently.

‘Wait!’ the djinni exclaimed. ‘I left it back there!’

She ran across the street, had a hurried conversation with Oz and returned with her leather notebook. The girl looked at the two of them, confused. ‘What’s the notebook for?’ she asked. ‘Are you going to make me write “I will not steal things” a hundred times?’

Ashwin realized he would need to distract her to keep her attention off the djinni. He edged closer to the bicycle.

‘How did you do it?’ Ashwin asked. ‘How did you get the key?’

‘Am I supposed to have stolen a key, too, now?’ the girl asked in exasperation. ‘Kid, you’re one hundred per cent crazy.’

‘Manan told us that he’d chained the cycle to a tree,’ Ashwin insisted, resisting the urge to glance at Zubeida to gauge her progress. ‘How did you unlock it?’

‘Manan?’ the girl cried. ‘Is he the one who—’

The rest of her sentence was interrupted by two loud pops, one following the other.

‘What the—’ The girl looked down at the tyres of the cycle, then glared at Zubeida who was clutching her notebook tight, wearing an expression of horror.

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