The Riddle of the Caves by Michael Chapman

Author:Michael Chapman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Michael Chapman
Published: 2014-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

On Monday morning, refreshed by breakfast and determined to get to the bottom of the mystery, the four of them set off by bus for the little seaside town of Swanage.

‘You know,’ said Stewart, ‘there’s something else we should be doing.’

‘What?’ the others demanded.

‘We could see if the public library has the book.’

‘That’s a brilliant idea,’ Edwin said. ‘Shall we do that first?’

Everyone agreed that they should.

The bus topped a rise and the sea came into sight. Out in the Channel, a Merchant vessel was ploughing its solitary way north, its barrage balloon floating above it like a huge inflated sausage. They watched it until the bus dipped into a hollow and the sea disappeared from view. The silver balloon, tethered by its just visible line to the little ship beneath, was a powerful reminder of the dangers of war and occupied their thoughts until the bus came into the town.

In his office, Chief Inspector Hanbury sipped his morning cup of tea and tried to think his way through the permutations.

The enemy knew something important was going on in this part of Dorset: coded radio activity had been traced to the area; lights at night had been observed off the coast; a book in a school library had gone missing. Someone had borrowed it and sought to cover his tracks by destroying the library records.

Hanbury was restless. Unless he was able to construct some kind of rational thesis he was merely chasing shadows.

Just as the Chief Inspector was thinking about them, the four kids he had recruited to help him drifted into view on the street beneath his window.

Hanbury watched as they went away from him along the High Street. They were a smart bunch and he wondered what they were doing. They seemed to be looking for something. The girl was pointing across the street. The other three joined her and they disappeared from his view.

Hanbury guessed what they were looking for and why they had come into town. He put down the tea-cup, picked up his hat and left the office for the public library.

It didn’t take the four of them long to find that what they were looking for wasn’t there. They stood in line at the desk. The elderly lady who had come out of retirement when the younger staff had left didn’t at once see them.

Edwin said “Good morning” politely, but the librarian was going through her box of ‘overdue’ tickets, and didn’t look up.

Edwin took a breath. “Ahem” he said, loudly.

Still nothing happened.

Edwin looked at the notice on the desk. “Quietness in a library is golden” it said.

It felt more leaden than golden to him. He nerved himself, and bellowed ‘I say!’

Browsers at the book-shelves stopped what they were doing and peered to see who was making such a disturbance.

The librarian looked up sharply. ‘Yes, yes, young man. What is it?’

‘We’re looking for a book.’ Edwin said.

‘And it isn’t there,’ Elizabeth explained.

‘Then either it’s out or we haven’t got it.’ The librarian started to walk her fingers through her box of cards again.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.