\u201cUncle Ben, could I come with you?\u201d asked Tom to his neighbor, who was a local police officer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTom, I know that you love detectives, and hope to become one someday, but it\u2019s just a simple robbery case and I am sure the police will be able to handle it\u201d replied Uncle Ben.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At this point in the conversation, Tom\u2019s elder sister piped up, \u201cUncle Ben, I think it would be for the best that you take him since you were unwise enough to mention the thievery in front of Tom. He will probably go off behind you after some time, and I don\u2019t want him to be all on his own there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so off went Tom to 2nd<\/sup> street of Chinatown, to \u2018investigate\u2019 alongside Uncle Ben.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Right across the street of the apartment where the burglary had occurred, we met an old beggar. He asked for some food, and so Tom gave him my imported chocolate which he had brought from home which he ate hungrily. Ben went on indifferently right across the street to our destination, and gave a call to me, so as to make sure Tom was still following him. He hurried on to catch up with him, and we went inside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The watchman seemed to have been expecting Ben, but he gave an enquiring look in Tom\u2019s direction. But Uncle Ben just gave him \u2018he is sort of my apprentice\u2019 look and the man asked no one questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFloor 15, room at the end of the hallway, and forgive us but the elevator is under repairs today, you will have to use the stairs.\u201d said the watchman. \u201cOh, and also, kid, don\u2019t waste your money feeding that beggar if you come again. He sits there every day and refuses to work to earn his living.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Huffing and puffing, drenched in sweat to the soles in their shoes, and with stiches at their sides, both Tom and Ben arrived at the 15th<\/sup> floor clutching their stomachs and gasping for breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLet\u2019s hope they get that elevator fixed in time. I don\u2019t think this case will be cracked in one visit.\u201d said Ben.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tom just grimaced at Ben\u2019s statement; he simply did not have enough breath to spare for a laugh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo, Mr. James, you say this robbery occurred in your apartment when you were holiday out of town?\u201d questioned Ben.<\/p>\n\n\n\n James nodded and then proceeded to say,<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI had gone away from home to take a break from everything. When I got back, I didn\u2019t even suspect anything because everything was intact, and there was no sign of a forced entry. It was only gone to the inner room that I found that the safe was missing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWas there anything valuable in the safe?\u201d put in Tom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere was an antique vase that my Uncle loved very dearly, and who bequeathed it to me before his passing away a few years ago.\u201d replied James.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tom nodded, and started to go inside the house to have a look at the place the safe was kept, but just then came a knock on the door, and a man came inside without waiting for a response. He was young, probably as young as James, although that was very much hidden behind his beard and slight tummy. He seemed to know James, as he acknowledged him with a jovial wave from his hand. He had a hawk sitting on his shoulder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAh, Officer Ben, this is a friend of mine. His name is Arthur, and the hawk is Copernicus.\u201d said James to Ben.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was running up and down the stairs, when I heard you guys talking here from a floor down. So I came up to see if I can help in any way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tom left the adults to have their talk, and went out to investigate and explore for any form of clues. But having no success, both he and Uncle Ben left for their homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The searching went on for 5 days, but on the 6th<\/sup> day, when Tom came to meet Uncle Ben,<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDon\u2019t bother coming today, we are abandoning the case.\u201d said Ben and left without another word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tom was flabbergasted with the news, but was still equally determined and adamant to solve the case, and so he went alone. He kept scratching his head, his brain refused to accept that a perfect crime had been committed. If only he could get hold of a witness, but then it hit him. He slammed his head, and proceeded to the street opposite Mr. James house, and then had a chat with the watchman. When he was satisfied with the answers, he did the strangest thing possible. Tom went to the street opposite to the building and had a talk with the beggar who sat there every day. His smile was something to watch after he had finished questioning the beggar; it was a smile of victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhy have you summoned me here, officer.\u201d enquired Arthur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTom here will explain why he has summoned you here\u201d replied Ben.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tom cleared his throat, and then said in a dangerous voice, his eyes flashing,<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s you, Arthur. Game\u2019s up. Tell us where you hid the safe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Arthur at first looked shocked, but then laughed and said in a mocking voice,<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIs this some sort of joke?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo jokes. And I can lay down my evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Arthur looked shocked at Tom\u2019s words, but composed himself in an instant, and waited for Tom to continue,<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou gave sweets to the watchman the day the safe was stolen. They were probably drugged, for the poor man had to go the bathroom immediately after, in which time you stole the duplicate key to Mr. James\u2019s house. The beggar opposite the building is proof of that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Arthur looked frightened for a second, but realizing that there was no adequate proof yet, he went on smiling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe door at the end of the hall is empty, but it doesn\u2019t mean it doesn\u2019t belong to someone. It belongs to you, Arthur, and that is where you hid the safe after stealing it, because you knew you will have to store it or risk getting caught\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat room is empty kid\u201d replied Arthur with a growl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMaybe, but there were drag marks by the dust on the ground, leading to the door. Also, the lock is brand new, as I noticed the first day I came here. The watchman also said he saw you carrying something just a day ago, which I can guarantee was the contents of the safe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Arthur, with a look of rage, pounced on Tom, but Ben and James interfered and managed to pin him down. Arthur confessed where he had taken the safe\u2019s contents, and Ben patted Tom on the back with a look of pride on his face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI hope to see you accepting your detective badge someday, my boy\u201d said Ben.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cUncle Ben, could I come with you?\u201d asked Tom to his neighbor, who was a local police officer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deepwrites.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deepwrites.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deepwrites.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deepwrites.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deepwrites.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=54"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/deepwrites.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deepwrites.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=54"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deepwrites.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=54"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deepwrites.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=54"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}