Sherlock Sam and the Vanished Robot in Penang

by A. J. Low

  “Is this what we’re looking for?” he asked.

  “That robot belongs to me,” the man said.

  “No, it doesn’t!” Jimmy shouted. “That’s my mom’s robot!”

  “Why did you steal it, Auntie?” Nazhar asked.

  “Money,” I said, rubbing my bottom. “Dad was right. This has all been about money.”

  “Hold on a minute, the robot is stolen?” the man asked. He turned to Auntie Hwee Fong and said, “You never said it was stolen!”

  Officer Siva motioned for the guards to take the man in for questioning. His face was flushed and he continued to protest as they walked away.

  “Auntie Hwee Fong did the insurance paperwork for the robot,” I said. “She knows how rare and valuable it is since she was the one who drew up the paperwork. Yet when the robot was first stolen, she asked Auntie Vivian if it was rare. Her feigned ignorance coupled with her airtight alibi meant we would never think to suspect her.”

  “Her airtight alibi?” Wendy asked

  “She was eating lunch with us during the time of the robbery, remember?” I said. “She could have asked Auntie Vivian for her signature at any time before or after lunch, but she needed to make sure Auntie Vivian saw her specifically during that time.”

  “So she hired the art thieves to steal it for her,” Nazhar said.

  “Are you really going to listen to these children?” Auntie Hwee Fong said, glaring at Officer Siva.

  “You know you were caught selling the stolen goods, right?” Officer Siva replied.

  “Yes,” I said, ignoring Auntie Hwee Fong. “I first suspected someone who worked at the museum or for Auntie Vivian because they would know the layout of the museum and have access to the security plans. I never seriously considered the art thieves as suspects because I didn’t think they’d have this knowledge. Plus it didn’t make any sense to me that they would steal something so different from what they normally do. I mean, if they’re already making money selling wire art to collectors, why would they bother doing anything else?”

  “Money,” Dad said, grinning.

  “Yeah, money,” I agreed. “When we caught that tattooed man red-handed—”

  “First, we didn’t catch him, the Malaysian police did,” Eliza said. “And second, he wasn’t red-handed. He only had a picture.”

  “Fine, when we realized the tattooed man was trying to sell the robot and was part of the group stealing the wire art, I obviously had to take them seriously,” I said. “But it still didn’t make any sense. At least not until Sergeant Huda told us there was a mastermind.”

  “The money,” Dad said again. Mom elbowed him in the ribs, but I don’t think anything would have tamped his pride at having helped solve the mystery.

  “They were paid to steal a specific object, which meant museum employees were suspects again,” I said. “Whoever hired them to steal the robot would also have given them the security plans of the museum, which Sergeant Huda found in their lair.”

  “But how did you know it was her specifically?” Mom asked.

  “Play it again, Watson,” I said. A whirring sound preceded the dialogue:

  “WE FOUND A BUYER.”

  “MEET AT?”

  “ET TIAM PNUA.”

  “AIRPORT, ISSIT?”

  “YAH, HEH PENG.”

  “BETTER TELL HER WE FOUND A BUYER. QUICK, QUICK. IT’S TOMORROW, RIGHT?”

  “TOLD HER ALREADY.”

  “Et tiam pnua was easy enough to translate, but heh peng proved trickier. It could mean either ‘there’ or ‘over there,’ and because Hokkien is not our first language, we assumed it was ‘there’ due to the context,” I said. “After all, there’s only one airport in Penang.”

  “But that was bugging me,” Mom said, “because I wasn’t sure I translated it right.”

  “As the only Hokkien speaker in the group, Mom was the only one who realised it might actually mean ‘over there’, and why would anybody say the ‘airport over there’ if they’re talking about their only hometown airport?”

  It was Dad’s turn to elbow Mom in the ribs. They both grinned.

  Auntie Hwee Fong looked like she was thinking about running again, but then probably remembered Officer Siva’s amazing speed.

  “And 1.30pm was too specific a time to be a coincidence,” I said. “It makes sense that she’d want to sell as soon as possible, so she wouldn’t be holding the stolen robot.”

  “If you knew all this, why did you have me call Sergeant Huda back to ask about specifics?” Dad asked.

  “Because Sergeant Huda found something even more important at the thieves’ lair, and nobody realised it,” I said. “Plus, I wanted to know what kind of movies these guys were watching. I had assumed they would be into arty films, like The Seventh Seal, but no, they were watching Fast and Furious 5. Sigh.”

  Everyone stared at me. I cleared my throat. “Officer Siva, can you check Auntie Hwee Fong’s left wrist?”

  Auntie Hwee Fong’s eyes flew open, but before she could hide her arm behind her back, Officer Siva tugged on her sleeve and revealed the Chinese zodiac charm bracelet. “Can you see which one is missing, Officer Siva?” I asked.

  “Let’s see, tiger, rabbit, dragon, horse, goat... wait, the snake is missing,” Officer Siva said.

  “And what kind of charm did Sergeant Huda say they found at the thieves’ lair?”

  “Snake!” Mom and Dad shouted at the same time.

  “And I would have gotten away with it too, if not for you kaypoh kids,” Auntie Hwee Fong said as Officer Siva handcuffed her.

  “Good job, Sherlock,” Officer Siva said. “This case seems like your most dangerous yet.”

  “My mom is going to be so happy!” Jimmy said. “Thanks, Sherlock!”

  “Isn’t there something else you’re supposed to say?” Wendy asked.

  “There is...?” Jimmy started thinking. Then he started counting on his fingers for some reason. “Oh yeah! Sherlock is Singapore’s Greatest Kid Detective!”

  “But-he-needs-to-warn-people-before-he-jumps-on-them,” Watson replied.

  “Everybody else got to fly on you!” I shouted.

  “Everybody-else-eats-a-salad-once-in-a-while.”

  A few days later, Mom came into my room as I was looking up tin robots on the Internet.

  “Did you see this in the papers, Samuel?” she asked.

  I turned in my chair to face her, and saw an article about how the Penang Toy Museum had a great vintage robot exhibition after the jewel of the collection was retrieved, thanks to the efforts of one Sherlock Sam. Many people came from around the world to see it. There was a picture of Auntie Vivian holding the robot.

  “You’ve also got a letter, Samuel,” she said.

  “From who?”

  “From Sergeant Huda, in Penang.” She handed me the letter.

  “About the Case of the Vanished Robot,” I said, “Officer Siva called to let me know the man trying to buy the robot was completely clean. It seems he really didn’t know anything about it being stolen. He works for a rich family in Singapore, and the man who employs him is just someone who likes robots.”

  “I feel sorry for him,” Mom said. “He got caught up in something illegal without meaning to.”

  I opened the letter and read it aloud:

  “It seems you’re becoming quite famous, Samuel,” Mom said. “What’s going to happen when police all over the world want you to help them?”

  “I’ll tell them I can only travel during school holidays, and that I have to be home by bedtime,” I said.

  Mom laughed. “I’m going to frame these and put them next to the other letters and newspaper clippings on the wall.”

  “You don’t have to, you know,” I said. “I can just keep them in my desk drawer.”

  “Are you kidding?” she said. “How will I prove to the auntie next door that I have the smartest little boy in the world?”

  She kissed me on my head. “I’m very proud of you, Sam
, and I want everyone to know how proud I am.”

  I smiled, but not for long. When Mom bent back down to sniff my head, she said, “But right now, you should go bathe. You’re smelling a little stinky.”

  GLOSSARY

  Ben’s Vintage Toy Museum—A two-storey toy museum in the heart of George Town that features space toys, robots, battery-operated toys and tin toys. Watson’s heaven.

  CERN Large Hadron Collider—The world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator, located in Switzerland. Its main purpose is to study the particles that may have appeared when our universe first began. It is highly unlikely that these experiments will cause a black hole to sprout in the middle of the planet.

  Changi Airport—Opened in 1981, Changi Airport is Singapore’s only commercial airport. It won the Best Airport Worldwide award three years in a row, from 2009 to 2011.

  Char kway teow—In Hokkien, it literally means ‘stir-fried rice cake strips’. The dish is made from flat rice noodles, stir-fried over very high heat with light and dark soy sauce, chilli, belachan, whole prawns, cockles, bean sprouts and chopped Chinese chives. It is said to have been invented in Penang, but some might dispute this. (In Hong Kong, however, the dish is often referred to as Penang char kway teow.)

  Chee cheong fun—A Cantonese dish from southern China and Hong Kong. It literally means ‘pig intestine noodle’ because the rice noodle used resembles a pig’s small intestine. It’s a thin roll made from a wide strip of rice noodle, and can be filled with shrimp, pork, beef or vegetables. Sweet soy sauce is poured over the dish when served.

  Chendol—A popular Southeast Asian dessert made from coconut milk, short green jelly noodles, shaved ice and palm sugar. Other ingredients include red beans, grass jelly and creamed corn. The name chendol is believed to originate from the word jendol. In Javanese, Sundanese and Indonesian, it means ‘bump’ or ‘bulge’, in reference to the sensation of drinking the green worm-like jelly.

  Cheongsam—A body-hugging one-piece Chinese dress for women, and is also known in Mandarin as the qípáo. The stylish cheongsam that we see today was created in the 1920s in Shanghai and was made fashionable by socialites and upper-class ladies.

  Chinese zodiac—An astrological plan originating in China that some believe can tell your future, depending on which lunar year one was born. It is on a 12-year cycle, and each year is represented by a different animal.

  Dungeons and Dragons—A fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) that was first published in 1974. Players can play various classes and races (like a warrior dwarf or a mage elf). It helps to build imagination as there is usually no visual component to the game. It all happens with stats written on paper, dice rolls and players’ storytelling abilities.

  Fast and Furious 5—The fifth installment in a long-running movie franchise in which car races and car chases are the centrepiece. Most of the films in the series star Paul Walker and Vin Diesel.

  Fish and chips—A British dish featuring deep-fried fish and chips. Often comes with tartar sauce on the side.

  George Town—The capital of the state of Penang in Malaysia. It was named after Great Britain’s King George III, and is located on the northeast corner of Penang Island. It is the second largest metropolitan area in Malaysia, after Kuala Lumpur. The inner city part of George Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

  Goreng pisang—A battered and deep-fried banana fritter snack food sold and eaten throughout Southeast Asia. It literally means ‘fried banana’ in Malay and Indonesian. Usually sold by street vendors.

  Hokkien—A Chinese dialect originating in southern Fujian, a province in southeastern China. It is spoken by many Chinese in Southeast Asia and Taiwan.

  Hokkien mee—A prawn noodle dish served in Penang (with a variant served in Singapore). It consists of egg noodles and rice noodles in a soup made from both fresh shrimp and dried prawns, as well as pork or chicken. It also contains fish cake, leafy greens, pork ribs, squid, crisp deep-fried shallots, spring onions and fresh lime. It’s garnished with sliced red chili, light soy sauce and sambal.

  Ikan bakar—A generic term that refers to various kinds of charcoal-grilled fish from Southeast Asia. The term literally means ‘burned fish’ in Malay and Indonesian.

  Kaypoh—Nosy or meddling. A busybody.

  Khoo Kongsi—A large Chinese clan house in Penang with elaborate and highly ornamented architecture. It is also the grandest clan temple in the country and one of the city’s major historic attractions. The clan temple has retained its authentic historic setting, which includes an association building, a traditional theatre and the late 19th century rowhouses for clan members, all clustered around a granite-paved square.

  Kopi susu—A Malaysian coffee drink made with only coffee and condensed milk. It is similar to the Singaporean kopi c, which also contains added sugar.

  Live Long and Prosper—A Vulcan’s usual farewell in the Star Trek television series and movies. Mr Spock used it often, accompanied by the hand salute.

  Mee goreng—A spicy dish made with thin yellow noodles fried in cooking oil with garlic, onion or shallots, fried prawn, chicken, chili, Chinese cabbage, tomatoes, egg and acar. It literally means ‘fried noodles’ in Malay and Indonesian.

  Pasar malam—A type of street market (like a flea market or swap meet) in which many people set up stalls to sell food, clothing, household items and many other things. It means ‘night market’ in Malay and Indonesian. A pasar malam tends to open in the evening, usually in a residential neighbourhood. They are popular in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.

  Pasembur—A Malaysian Indian salad consisting of shredded cucumber, potatoes, beancurd, turnip, bean sprouts and prawn fritters, served with a sweet and spicy nut sauce. The term pasembur is unique to northern Peninsular Malaysia, especially Penang where pasembur is most common. In other parts of Malaysia, the term rojak mamak is more often used.

  Penang street art—There are two kinds of art on the streets of Penang: wire art and painted art. The wire art was drawn by many cartoonists, including Julian ‘Lefty’ Kam, Tang Mun Kian and Baba Chuah, and then made into wire art by Sculpture at Work. The painted art has been mostly painted by Lithuanian artist Ernest Zacharevic in 2012.

  Penang Toy Museum—The largest toy museum in the world, it contains 110,000 toys, dolls and other collectible items. Mr Loh Lean Cheng owns the museum, and started it in 2005, though he bought his first toy, a Popeye doll, in 1973. Since the writing of this book, the Penang Toy Museum has relocated to Teluk Bahang from its original location on Jalan Tanjung Bungah.

  Popiah—A soft, paper-thin crepe or pancake made from wheat flour which is then filled with a variety of ingredients: turnip, bean sprouts, lettuce leaves, grated carrots, slices of Chinese sausage, thinly sliced fried tofu, chopped peanuts or peanut powder, fried shallots, shredded omelette, and shrimp, chicken or crab meat.

  Putu piring—A round, steamed rice cake with a centre of melted gula Melaka.

  Ramly burgers—A burger consisting of a beef or chicken patty, margarine, onions, an egg, cabbage, mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce and Maggi seasoning. The first Ramly burger was sold in 1979 by a family-owned stall in Kuala Lumpur. The burgers can now be found all over Singapore and Malaysia, especially in pasar malams.

  Road 7 Hawker Centre—Also known as the Cecil Street Market Hawker Centre, it’s the biggest hawker centre in George Town, though difficult to find for tourists. It was built as part of the Cecil Street Market.

  Rojak—A traditional fruit-and-vegetable salad dish. There are many versions available throughout Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, including maman rojak, fruit rojak, Penang rojak and many more. The term literally means ‘mixture’ in Malay.

  The Seventh Seal—A 1957 film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. It is set in Sweden during the Black Death, and it tells of the journey of a medieval knight and a game of chess he plays with a character representing Death.

  Singapore Botanic Gardens—A 74-hectare botanical garden th
at features all the plants, trees and flowers native to Singapore (and many that are not). It is the only botanic garden in the world that opens from 5am to 12 midnight every day and does not charge an admission fee. In December 2012, an application was made for it to be listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

  Star Trek—A long-running television series and movie franchise, it has also spun into other mediums, including books, comics and radio. The property was recently revamped for the big screen using the characters from the original series, including Captain Kirk, Mr Spock and Dr McCoy.

  Tau sar pneah—A cookie filled with red bean paste, most famously prepared in Penang. The red bean is cooked with sugar until it becomes mushy and turns a shade of dark magenta. It is then put inside a biscuit-like confection. The term literally means “red bean biscuit” in Hokkien, but can also refer to biscuits filled with green pea paste, mung bean paste or lotus bean paste.

  Transliteration—The conversion of a text from one script to another. For example, hanyu pinyin transliterates Chinese characters into the Latin alphabet.

  UNESCO Cultural Heritage Site—A forest, mountain, lake, island, desert, monument, building, complex or city that is listed by UNESCO as being of special cultural or physical significance.

  Western Bar—An old LCD game published by Casio. It was very popular in Singapore in the 80s and featured western shooting gameplay. It is now available as an app on smartphones.

  Yusheng—A Teochew-style raw-fish salad that usually consists of strips of salmon, shredded vegetables and a variety of sauces and condiments. The term literally means ‘raw fish’ in Chinese but since the word for ‘fish’ sounds like the word for ‘abundance’, yusheng can also mean an increase in abundance. Yusheng is considered a symbol of abundance, prosperity and vigour within the Chinese communities in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, where it is tossed communally during Chinese New Year dinners.

  ABOUT THE CHARACTERS

  SAMUEL TAN CHER LOCK a.k.a. SHERLOCK SAM