Half Moon Investigations - Eoin Colfer [24]
‘Thanks, Mr Devereux.’
Mr Devereux slapped a patch of dust from my shoulder. ‘Call me Gregor. What was that all about anyway?’
May began loading the stall into the back of the Volvo. ‘Red is a suspect.’
Gregor Devereux collapsed the legs on the folding table. ‘Maybe you should just leave that alone, Fletcher. It’s not worth the trouble for a lock of hair.’
I was surprised to find that I was as pig-headed as my mother always said. ‘I can’t do that, Gregor. I’ve already been paid, so I have to see this through. And anyway, it’s not just the hair any more. There’s something strange going on in Lock.’
Mr Devereux sighed through his nose. ‘Oh, really?’
‘Strange little thefts. Minidiscs, record-player needles. I need to know why someone would want all these things.’
‘I see April has signed you up for paranoia 101,’ said Mr Devereux. ‘OK, it’s your hide. Are we ready, girls?’
April was a million miles away. Probably imagining herself walking down the aisle towards the pop star of the day.
‘April, let’s go. May has to practise her dancing. The school show is next week. This year we’re coming home with the trophy. That will show her mother.’
April blinked back to the real world, then ran around to the passenger side, catching my sleeve on the way past. ‘Keep me up to speed.’
I nodded, watching the Volvo full of pink-clad girls draw away.
Up to speed? Suddenly, everyone’s a detective.
That night, back in my office. I say office – it’s actually my bedroom, but I think of it as an office. It sounds better if you say to a client, ‘I’ll need to run a few tests back in the office,’ rather than, ‘I’ll have a look at this with a magnifying glass after I put my PJs on.’
Officially I was asleep, but actually I was working on the evidence. Twenty minutes past Cinderella’s curfew and I was still trawling through the police reports. September seemed to be a busy month for the Sharkeys. Maybe they were getting a head start on their Christmas list.
I had scanned an Ordnance Survey map into my iBook, layering it over a 100-square grid. Next I mapped each crime on to the grid using a colour-coded system. It took a while, but eventually I had an overview of suspected Sharkey activity in Lock. I studied the plottings for a while and realized if the Sharkeys had actually committed all these crimes, then they must be operating twenty-four hours a day, every day. There was the option that they had people working for them. Not all the sharks had to be Sharkeys.
Something rustled outside the house, startling me. I turned off the bedroom light, dropping my gaze to the back garden. After a few moments, my night vision kicked in and I could make out the familiar shapes of walls and bushes. One of the bushes seemed to be moving. Unusual. It was unlikely that I was witnessing the birth of a new mutant species of bush, so I concluded that there was someone behind it.
I was correct. Seconds later a hooded head popped from the foliage. This was followed by an arm, which beckoned me down. Strange. Why would someone wish to talk to me at this time of night? Someone roughly my own age, judging by the height.
It’s perfectly reasonable, I told myself. You are a detective on a case. Everyone knows about the investigation, thanks to May. This person lurking in the evergreens must have some sensitive information.
I made sure I had my notebook, pulled on my jacket and resolved to make my email address more widely available in future, so this kind of skulduggery wouldn’t be necessary.
My parents were in bed, having had a rough day raising their children. Hazel was in her bedroom, acting out all the parts in a new play entitled Not So Happy Now, Are You? It was a simple matter for me to sneak downstairs.
I did pause for a moment, listening to the voice of reason inside my head screaming, Are you insane? Don’t you watch horror movies? Go back upstairs.
But I was a detective. How could I turn away from this development? Even so, I thought it best to play it safe and take a short cut through the garage. Maybe I could get a look at my snitch before