Dognapped!

by Karen King

  ‘Oh, Amy. I can’t bear not knowing what’s happened to Fluffy.’ Gran blew her nose. ‘Do you think that animal rights group is behind all this?’

  ‘I’m not sure, Gran,’ I told her. ‘But one thing still puzzles me.’

  ‘What’s that dear?’

  ‘Well, you aren’t exactly a ‘breeder’ are you? You’ve got one dog that you keep in the house and treat as a pet. This Animals Have Rights Society seems to be targeting the big breeders who keep lots of dogs in outdoor kennels. Why should they pick on you?’

  ‘Because Fluffy is one of the favourites to win the show?’ Gran suggested.

  Maybe. But it didn’t make sense to me. For one thing, if the Animals Have Rights people were targeting show dog owners, why hadn’t they broken into Mr Mudlark’s kennels? Of course, I couldn’t say that to Gran. She thought they had, and I wasn’t about to tell her otherwise. I was now sure though, that Mr Mudlark and Mrs McFarlane were somehow involved in Fluffy’s disappearance.

  Chapter 14

  On the Tail

  Mr and Mrs McFarlane set off after breakfast, as usual. They were dressed in shorts and tee shirts – not a pretty sight I can tell you. Personally, I think there should be a law passed banning anyone over forty from wearing shorts. Mr McFarlane had his camcorder and was holding a map. I had an awful feeling that they were planning a sightseeing trip.

  I slipped my micro-recorder into my pocket (it could come in useful) and went to the yard to get my bike, expecting to see Max hanging around, trying to find out where I’d been, but there was no sign of him. I guess he was still sulking over our row yesterday. Well, I wasn’t about to apologise to him after the things he said to me. Anyway, it would make a nice change to do things by myself without his constant interruptions.

  I rode around to the front, just as Mr and Mrs McFarlane got into the car and shot off. I managed to follow them for a while, but once they were out of the narrow winding streets of Little Cragg, I lost them. Well, if I couldn’t tail Mr and Mrs McFarlane, maybe I could find Mr Mudlark, I thought. I headed for his house, hoping I could remember the way as I’d left the map in my bedroom. I needn’t have worried, though, it was clearly sign-posted.

  I glanced over at Mr Mudlark’s house as I cycled past (intending to sneak in the back way via the field again) and nearly fell off my bike when I saw Mr and Mrs McFarlane’s blue car parked in the drive! I checked the number plate, just to make sure, although the spotted nodding dog in the back window was proof enough. What on earth were they doing here?

  It was too much of a coincidence. They had to have something to do with Fluffy’s disappearance. Maybe Fluffy wasn’t being kept in the kennel block with the other dogs, but in the house, and Mr Mudlark intended to set her free once the show was over. Maybe he – or the McFarlanes – had released other dogs in kennels as a cover because it would look suspicious if only Fluffy had gone missing. It was possible that I had given them the idea when I took Maisy-May.

  Why were the McFarlanes involved though? What was their motive in all this?

  Once again, I put my bike over the fence, hiding it behind the hedge. Then I switched my cellphone to mute – I didn’t want it ringing at an awkward moment. I raced across the field and climbed over the gate, into the grounds of Mr Mudlark’s house.

  One of the windows was open and I could hear Mr Mudlark’s voice clearly. I slipped my hand into my pocket and switched the mini-recorder on, then crept closer still.

  ‘I’m going to have to sell up, Lil. The money Mother left isn’t enough to do the repairs on this place, never mind pay for the upkeep.’

  ‘I hope you’re not suggesting I give you my share? Mother left all of this to you, as well as half of her money,’ Mrs McFarlane sounded quite bitter.

  Mother? I pricked up my ears. New information. Mrs McFarlane and Mr Mudlark were in fact brother and sister.

  ‘And I’m the one who spent the last ten years looking after her, while you carried on merrily with your own life.’

  ‘Well, now that Fluffy is out of the way, Maisy-May should win the show and you’ll get the sponsorship deal,’ Mrs McFarlane said. ‘So you’ll have enough money to do the repairs.’

  ‘I hope so, but … ’ The phone rang and interrupted whatever he was going to say next.

  I crept nearer to the window, hoping to hear the phone conversation, but the dogs started barking so loudly, I couldn’t hear anything at all. I switched off the recorder and ducked around the side of the house, just in case Mr Mudlark came out to quieten the dogs. He did. When he came back in I heard Mrs McFarlane say they had to go and she’d be in touch later. Then they were gone.

  I checked out the grounds, but couldn’t find any other kennels. If Mr Mudlark did have Fluffy, he must be hiding her in the house. I hung around for a bit, hoping he’d come out into the garden so I could sneak in and have a look, but no such luck. So, I decided to head home and re-examine the evidence instead.

  I checked my phone before I went. No text messages from Max. I guessed he was still sulking.

  On the way home I decided to go past the house where Scarface lived, hoping to pick up some more clues. I could ask around, find out his name. I wanted to find out what his connection to Mr Winkleberry was. Perhaps Mr Winkleberry was paying him for getting rid of Fluffy?

  As I turned into the alleyway behind his house, I heard a shout, then Max came hurtling past on his bike, with Scarface hot on his heels.

  ‘If I see you snooping around here again, you’re going to regret it!’ he yelled at him.

  ‘Hey, pick on someone your own size!’ I said, furiously, manoeuvring my bike between him and Max. ‘He’s only a kid!’

  ‘You as well!’ The man glared at me. ‘Get out of here before I thump the pair of you.’

  ‘Yeah, and get yourself an assault charge?’ I told him. ‘Besides, if you touch us, we’ll tell everyone that you sent the ransom note … and that you’re the one who stole Fluffy.’

  ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ the man blustered.

  ‘Yes you do, the fake notes are in your bin,’ I told him. ‘I took a couple out and I bet they’ve got your fingerprints all over them.’

  The man looked furious. He marched towards me and grabbed the handlebars of my bike. ‘If you know what’s good for you, kid, you won’t show those notes to anyone. I know where you live … where both of you live. And next time it won’t be a dog that goes missing. Got it?’ He lowered his face close to mine. I tried not to flinch, but it was difficult … his breath smelt really bad.

  ‘Good job I’ve got all that on tape then isn’t it?’ I said, calmly, ‘’cos they’ll know who to come looking for if anything happens to us.’ I jerked the handlebars out of his hands. ‘Come on, Max!’

  We both rode off as quickly as we could to the main street, stopping by the nearest bench.

  ‘You okay?’ I asked Max.

  He nodded. ‘You were so brave standing up to him like that.’

  ‘It was nothing,’ I said. To be honest, I was so furious with the man for bullying Max and trying to rob Gran, that I hadn’t had time to think of any possible danger.

  ‘Have you really got it all on tape?’ Max asked.

  I shook my head. ‘I wish I did, but I didn’t have time to switch the tape on. What were you doing there anyway? You could have got into some major trouble on your own.’

  He glared at me defiantly. ‘I wanted to find some evidence to prove that he took Fluffy. Then you’d know that it wasn’t me who let her out.’

  I sighed. ‘Look, I don’t really think it was you. You just got me mad.’

  ‘I don’t think it was you either.’ He sat down on the bench. ‘So where have you been today?’

  I sat down beside him. ‘To spy on Mr Mudlark, and guess what I saw?’

  I filled him in on the McFarlane’s visit to Mr Mudlark’s place, then played the recording.

  ‘Wow! You mean Mrs McFarlane and Mr Mudlark are brother and sister?’r />
  ‘Yep, and by the sound of it, Mr Mudlark needs to win the sponsorship deal to pay for some repairs to his home, otherwise he’ll have to sell it.’

  ‘Do you think they’re the ones who took Fluffy?’

  I hesitated. ‘I’m not sure yet. But there’s one good way to find out.’

  ‘What’s that?’

  ‘I’m going to set a trap.’

  Chapter 15

  The Trap

  The guest house received a lot of mail the next day. I picked up the letters from the mat and sifted through them. ‘Three for you, Gran, one for me from my folks,’ I said, taking the letters into the dining room where everyone was having their breakfast. ‘And one for everyone else.’

  I slipped my letter into my back pocket, handed Gran hers and glanced at the three remaining ones. ‘Oh, these haven’t got stamps on them,’ I said.

  ‘I’ll take them, thank you.’ Mr Winkleberry snatched the letters out of my hand, selected his, handed one to Mr and Mrs McFarlane and put Emily’s down on the side. She hadn’t come down for breakfast yet – no doubt waiting for everyone else to finish so she didn’t have to look at the bacon and remember that it used to be a pig. Mr W read his letter quickly, his left eye twitching like mad, then pursed his lips and shoved it in his trouser pocket. He looked seriously bothered.

  ‘Is everything all right, David?’ Gran asked.

  ‘Junk mail,’ he said. ‘It’s all I ever seem to get nowadays.’ He reached for the teapot. ‘Would you like me to pour?’

  Neither of the McFarlanes had showed the slightest interest in opening their letter, it was still lying on the table by their plates. When they’d finished their breakfast, they disappeared upstairs, taking the unopened letter with them.

  ‘Poor Fluffy has been missing for a week now,’ Gran said sadly. ‘I’ve almost given up hope of getting her back. The dogs let loose from Kimpton Kennels were all found, you know,’ she added.

  ‘I reckon someone’s keeping Fluffy safe, Gran, and you’ll get her back soon,’ I told her.

  ‘Well, it’s nearly show day … not that I care about the show, I just want Fluffy home,’ Gran sighed as she stood up to clear away the dishes.

  Mr Winkleberry jumped up. ‘I’ll do those for you. You sit down and have a rest.’

  Was he just being kind, I wondered, or did he have a guilty conscience?

  Emily came down a little later, grabbed some toast and her letter and went back upstairs again.

  When all of the guests had gone out, I offered to help Gran tidy the rooms. Her obvious delight at my help made me feel guilty that I was only doing it to see if anyone had left the letters in their rooms. But hey, a detective has got to do what she’s got to do, and it would all be worth it if I managed to bring Fluffy back home safely.

  There was no sign of a letter in Mr Winkleberry’s room or the McFarlane’s room, but Emily’s letter was lying, still unopened, on her dressing table. I picked it up and looked at the envelope. The big black letters would have made me so curious I’d have wanted to open it right away, but Emily obviously wasn’t interested. I put it back down on the dressing table and turned to go out of the room, when something on the floor glistened and caught my eye. I bent down and picked it up. It was a silver shield-shaped badge; there was a dog’s head on it and the words ‘Animals Have Rights’ were spread around the edge of the shield.

  So, Emily was a member of the Animals Have Rights Society. Now that was interesting.

  I heard footsteps on the stairs and quickly dropped the badge back on the floor. I picked up the cleaning cloth and turned to smile as Emily came into the room.

  ‘Hi, I’m helping Gran tidy the rooms,’ I told her.

  ‘That’s good of you. Could you ask her for a clean pillowcase and a fresh towel, please?’ Emily asked. She opened her wardrobe door and took out a yellow sweater. ‘It might get nippy later,’ she said. She put the sweater into her patchwork bag, picked up the letter from the dressing table, dropped that in the bag too, then went out.

  Could it be her? I wondered, as I heard Emily shout goodbye to Gran, then go out of the front door. Well, if my trap worked, I’d find out soon.

  Max texted me:

  Max came round straight after lunch. ‘Are you ready?’ he asked.

  ‘Yep,’ I replied defiantly.

  ‘Amy, can you please go to the shop for me before you go out?’ Gran called.

  I groaned. ‘I’m in a bit of a rush, Gran.’

  ‘It will only take you five minutes. I just need some milk and gravy powder.’

  I glanced at my watch. ‘Okay.’

  There was a queue in the corner store, so it took me fifteen minutes. ‘We’ll be late,’ Max said as I rode back to Gran’s with the shopping.

  I glanced at my watch again. ‘If we hurry, we’ll still get there first.’

  We cycled as fast as we could along the narrow cobbled roads until we came to the outskirts of Little Cragg, then we took the left turning to the old chapel. The now derelict building was deserted.

  ‘Good, no one’s arrived yet,’ I told Max.

  We cycled up to the chapel and parked our bikes around the side, so they weren’t visible to anyone from the road.

  ‘Do you think this will work?’ Max whispered.

  ‘It’s foolproof. Whoever’s taken Fluffy will be worried sick when they read that letter and come to find out who’s on to them,’ I told him. ‘Any minute now we’ll find out who the dognapper is.’ We ducked down behind the chapel wall and waited.

  After a few minutes, a familiar silver car came along the road.

  I nudged Max. ‘Look!’

  I felt a bit sick as the car pulled up by the chapel and Mr Winkleberry got out. Okay, I didn’t like him, but Gran did, and she’d be really upset to learn that he was the one responsible for her precious Fluffy’s disappearance. Mr Winkleberry looked around nervously, then another car came into sight. A blue one. I stared at it in astonishment. What was going on?

  Mr Winkleberry, his face a mask of fury, stormed over to the car as it pulled up behind his, and Mr and Mrs McFarlane climbed out!

  ‘So, it was you two!’ Mr Winkleberry shouted. ‘I always thought there was something suspicious about the pair of you. How dare you abuse Mrs Carter’s hospitality and steal her beloved dog. What made you do it, eh?’ He stood right in front of Mr McFarlane and wagged his finger at him, just missing his nose. ‘Don’t point your finger at me!’ Mr McFarlane yelled, his chin visibly quivering in anger. ‘You’re the one who stole the dog, that’s why you’re here.’

  ‘How dare you!’ Mr Winkleberry thundered. ‘I’m here because I saw that we all had the same letter this morning, so I knew that if I came here, I’d catch the thief.’ He took the letter out of his pocket and waved it at them. ‘See, it says: “I know you took Fluffy and where you are hiding her. Meet me at 2pm at the old chapel or I’ll inform the police.”’

  ‘That’s the reason we came,’ said Mr McFarlane. ‘We saw that everyone had the same letter, so we knew that whoever turned up was the thief. We were trying to help.’

  ‘That’s the reason I came too.’ I watched in astonishment as Emily walked over to them, she’d come along the cliff way, so no one had spotted her earlier. She held out her letter. ‘It seems like we all had the same idea.’

  Mr Winkleberry coughed awkwardly but couldn’t think of much to say. ‘I see … well, er… ’

  ‘No need to apologise,’ Mr McFarlane said rather sarcastically.

  ‘I think we should show these letters to the police,’ Mrs McFarlane suggested. ‘It should be easy enough to trace who sent them.’

  ‘Leave it to me,’ Mr Winkleberry said hastily. ‘I’ll deal with it.’

  ‘Would one of you mind giving me a lift back to the B&B?’ Emily asked. ‘It’s quite a long walk.’

  ‘I’d be delighted to,’ Mr Winkleberry said.

  Max and I watched as they all got into their cars and drove away from the scene.

/>   ‘After all that, we still have no idea who the thief is,’ Max groaned.

  He was wrong. I knew exactly who the thief was. They had just given themselves away. Now all I had to do was prove it.

  Amy is sure that she’s found the culprit. Have you? It’s time for you to look at all the evidence and solve the case … then read on to find out if you’re right!

  Chapter 16

  Red-handed!

  ‘I reckon Mr Winkleberry’s gone to see Scarface,’ I told Max. ‘Let’s follow him.’

  Max looked at me as if I was insane. ‘Hello, he’s got a car and we’ve got bikes,’ he said very slowly, as if explaining something to an idiot. ‘How are we going to follow him? He’ll be there and gone before we’re halfway there!’

  ‘No he won’t, he’s giving Emily a lift back, remember. If we hurry, we’ll get to Scarface’s house before he does.’

  We cycled as quickly as we could, but Mr Winkleberry’s car was already parked outside when we reached Scarface’s house. ‘Stay here!’ I told Max as I crept over to the garden. I could hear raised voices, it sounded like they were arguing outside. I found a chink in the fence and squinted through it. Mr Winkleberry was standing by the back door, facing Scarface, who actually looked like he’d had a wash and changed his clothes. They were both really angry.

  ‘I told you it wasn’t me. Just get off my case, will you!’ Scarface shouted.

  I didn’t dare hang around to see what they were arguing about, so I reached in my pocket, switched on my recorder, got down on my knees and slid it under the gate, slipping it to the side, behind a brick. I just might hear something useful. Then I went back to Max. ‘Let’s move away from here, things might turn nasty if they spot us hanging around again.’

  We cycled over the road where we could keep an eye on Mr W’s car without being spotted. About five minutes later, he came storming over to the car, got in and drove off. Telling Max to stay with the bikes, I quickly ran back to Scarface’s garden to pick up my recorder.

  ‘Got it,’ I told Max when I returned. ‘Now let’s get home. I’m going to set a trap for the thief.’