The Case of the Stolen Film (4 page)

‘Sacked me?' whined Karnataka. ‘They're talking
about giving me a special commendation.'

Dirk couldn't help but smile. ‘All this time you've spent on the wrong side of the law and it turns out you're better suited to working for the right side,' he said.

‘I know,' said his old friend, with a shrug. ‘Who'd have thought it?'

‘So you're an honest dragon these days, are you?' Dirk asked sceptically.

‘I'm doing the job well,' insisted Karnataka.

Dirk gave his old friend a look of disbelief.

‘Well, of course, being Captain there are still plenty of opportunities to make an extra bit of gold to … you know … supplement my wage.'

Dirk smiled. ‘I'm relieved. For a minute there I thought you'd gone all respectable on me,' he said.

‘Come on, it's not just me – every Drake in the Dragnet is looking for a backhander.'

‘No wonder you fit in so well,' said Dirk.

‘Look, I'd appreciate it if you didn't go shooting your mouth off about certain things.'

‘You mean like the time you stole the council's Welsh gold reserves?'

‘Exactly. I'm a changed dragon.'

‘I find that difficult to believe, since I currently find
you in my landlady's cellar with your head jammed inside a cheap Edwardian dressing table. What are you doing here?'

‘I came to find you. The rock brought me most of the way but these human settlements have concrete foundations. You ever tried talking to concrete? It's a very one-sided conversation, I can tell you. So I had to claw my way through. Give me a hand, will you?'

‘My heart bleeds. You shouldn't be here,' said Dirk.

Crackly old jazz music drifted downstairs and Dirk could hear Mrs Klingerflim shuffling around the kitchen, singing along to whatever the tune was.

‘Neither of us should be here,' said Karnataka. ‘I don't need to remind you that lodging with a human is a blatant breach of the forbidden divide. If you ever found yourself in front of the Dragon Council, you'd be banished to the earth's Inner Core quicker than you could say liquorice laces. Now, please help me up, Dirk, I need to speak to you properly.'

‘Oh, all right, then.' Dirk gave in and lifted the dressing table away, revealing the hole that Karnataka had made in the bottom of Mrs Klingerflim's basement. He reached down and grabbed a claw that the Shade-Hugger had forced into the room, then, with an almighty tug, yanked him into the cellar. Bits of
concrete flew all over the place and Dirk fell backwards, as the full weight of the Shade-Hugger landed on top of him.

‘Get off me,' snarled Dirk.

Karnataka jumped off but landed on the dressing table, crushing it under his weight, sending splintered wood everywhere.

‘Is everything all right down there, Mr Dilly?' called Mrs Klingerflim from the top of the stairs.

‘Fine, Mrs K. I just slipped.'

‘Please be careful, Mr Dilly,' she said nervously. ‘I know it all looks like rubbish but there are lots of things that are very valuable to me down there. My mother gave me that dressing table as a wedding gift.'

Dirk looked at the dressing table, which was utterly destroyed. ‘OK, Mrs K,' he said.

‘I'll leave your cup of tea at the top of the stairs here,' she said.

‘She got any liquorice?' asked Karnataka, taking in his surroundings. He lifted a piece of paper. ‘Hey, this looks like an Amphiptere,' he said, holding up a line drawing of a snake-like creature with a huge lion-like mane. ‘What is all this stuff?'

‘This stuff is none of your business,' said Dirk, snatching it from him. ‘Why are you here, Karny?'

‘What do you know about Minertia?' asked Karnataka.

‘Just the usual. Minertia Tidfell was the oldest, wisest and greatest dragon of all. She was the one who called the great conference and counted the vote and announced that dragons would go into hiding. She defined the three aspects of the forbidden divide as being seen by a human, attacking a human or allowing a human to find any evidence of the existence of dragons. Then years later she was convicted of breaching it and banished to an eternity in the Inner Core.'

‘Did you ever meet her?'

‘No. I saw her at the great conference but I was pretty young then. What's all this about?' said Dirk.

‘A dragon that old and powerful must have accumulated a fair amount of treasure, don't you think?' Karnataka's yellow eyes seemed to turn gold, as though reflecting all that imagined wealth.

‘Ah, I knew it. It's about gold. Is this one of those opportunities to … how did you put it? Supplement your wage?'

‘No,' protested Karnataka. ‘The Kinghorns are gathering support but my spies tell me that there's a splinter group called the One-Worlders. Vainclaw is worried.'

‘So? What's that got to do with Minertia's treasure?' asked Dirk.

‘Vainclaw's cronies are looking for it. I guess he's looking for gold to buy support.'

‘Nice try,' said Dirk, smiling wryly, ‘but I've known you too long, Karny. You want to make a little extra gold for yourself.'

‘A little extra gold? We're not talking about a high street jeweller's. We're talking the biggest stash of gold in the world. I've been looking through the records from her trial. Did you know the council offered to reduce her sentence if she told them where it was?'

‘If no one's found it in all the years that she's been banished, I'm guessing it's pretty well hidden.'

‘That's why I need you,' said Karnataka. ‘Please, Dirk. You're the best there is.'

‘No.'

Karnataka let out a frustrated growl. ‘Seriously, if you knew what I know, knowing you, you'd be looking for it too.'

‘Then tell me what you know,' said Dirk.

‘That's the thing,' snorted Karnataka. ‘If you knew what I know, you wouldn't help me find it.'

‘Karny, I'm in no mood for your riddles. If you've nothing more to say, you can disappear down your
hole and get back to your shady dealings.'

‘You're making a big mistake, Dirk,' said Karnataka, but he climbed back into the hole, leaving Dirk alone in the empty cellar. Dirk picked up the bits of the dressing table and looked at it. It was way beyond repair. He piled the remains over the hole and went back up the stairs.

Mr Bigsby didn't speak as he motioned Holly and Archie into the back of the car. When the radio came on automatically, he switched it off, filling the car with an uncomfortable absence of sound.

They arrived at Sidney Clavel Estate and Mr Bigsby stopped the car and switched off the engine. Holly had only been there once before. She was struck by how much gloomier, dirtier and rougher it was than the street where she lived.

‘You'd better know I intend to have a serious word with your father,' said Mr Bigsby.

‘You might have to wait a while,' said Archie defiantly. ‘Dad's in prison.'

For a moment Mr Bigsby looked thrown by this, then he said, ‘Your mother, then.'

‘Mum's …' Archie's voice faded away as though unsure how to finish the sentence.

They all stepped out of the car and Mr Bigsby marched them over a patch of grass, which was littered with bits of rubbish, discarded clothes and plastic bags. The area was lit by dim yellow lights. In the middle were a couple of upside-down supermarket trolleys and a mangled bicycle.

‘I'm sorry, Hol,' whispered Archie.

‘No talking,' barked Mr Bigsby.

Archie led them to the block where he lived, past a lift with an ‘Out of Order' sign on it and up the grimy concrete stairs, which had threatening graffiti scrawled across the walls.

On the third floor they followed Archie along an outside walkway. On the floor above someone was playing music extremely loudly, and below a couple could be heard arguing. Archie stopped in front of a green door.

‘This is where I live. Thanks for the lift. I'll see you later,' he said, as casually as if he was being dropped off after a trip to the cinema.

‘We'll see you in,' said Mr Bigsby, waiting for him to
open the door. ‘You have a key, do you?'

Archie pulled out a key from his pocket but still didn't try to open the door. ‘I'll be fine from here,' he said.

‘Open the door,' ordered Mr Bigsby firmly.

Archie looked pleadingly at Holly. She could tell that he didn't want to open it.

‘Come on, Dad, we don't want to disturb anyone,' she said.

‘Open the door,' Mr Bigsby repeated sternly.

Seeing no way to avoid it, Archie unlocked the door. ‘Bye, then,' he said.

Mr Bigsby pushed the door open and switched the light on. The hallway was a mess. Pictures lay smashed on the ground, a telephone table was on its side and the telephone ripped from the wall.

‘What on earth?' Mr Bigsby stepped inside.

Holly looked at Archie but he refused to meet her gaze.

They followed Mr Bigsby along the hallway into the front room, which was in as bad a state as the hallway. The sofa was on its side, scraps of paper and old magazines lay strewn across the floor and Holly noticed that the frosted glass in the door was cracked.

‘She's not usually so bad,' Archie said. ‘Sometimes
she's a great mum, you know, laughing and joking and messing about. Other times she gets all miserable and it's like nothing you can say or do will cheer her up. But recently she started getting really angry and shouting horrible stuff. I hid because I knew that it wouldn't be long before she'd get over it and start crying again but she carried on screaming and it was late and I suppose one of the neighbours called the police and they couldn't calm her down, so they took her away. Sectioned is what they call it. It's when they have to lock you up because you've gone wrong in the head. They would have taken me too but I ran …'

Tears fell down his face and Holly became aware of her own eyes welling up. She swallowed hard to avoid crying and turned to her dad, who had gone quiet.

‘Come on,' he said gently.

‘Where are we going?' said Holly.

‘We're going home,' he replied. ‘All of us.'

They returned in silence.

As Mr Bigsby turned the car into Elliot Drive, Holly noticed that another car had taken the space in front of their house. Grumbling to himself, her dad parked a few doors down.

‘You'll stay with us tonight, Archie,' he said, switching off the engine. ‘It's late. I'll decide what to do with you tomorrow.'

‘Thanks,' said Archie, getting out and accidentally slamming the door behind him.

‘Be quiet,' Mr Bigsby said, scowling. ‘And utter silence on the way in. Believe me, you do not want Bridget to wake up.'

‘I think it might be too late,' said Holly. ‘We didn't leave the hall light on, did we?'

As she said it, the living-room light came on too. Through the net curtains they saw the silhouette of a man.

‘It's a burglar,' gasped Holly.

‘No it's not,' replied her dad, stopping in front of the car that was parked in his space. Holly recognised it too. It was Brant Buchanan's customised Bentley.

Holly's dad marched them all to the front door. As he opened it, Brant Buchanan's driver, Weaver, stepped into the hallway. His appearance was no less smart than usual considering the lateness of the hour. His black hair looked as if it had been painted on and his grey suit, shirt and tie matched his slip-on shoes exactly.

Big Hair's voice came from the kitchen. ‘How do you take your coffee, Mr Weaver?'

Weaver nodded a cursory greeting at Mr Bigsby then looked at Holly and Archie unsmilingly. ‘Black, no sugar,' he responded. ‘And it's just Weaver.'

Big Hair appeared holding two mugs of coffee. She was wearing a white dressing gown. Her hair looked messy from sleep. ‘I can't think where Malcolm could have got to …' Seeing her husband she stopped. Her gaze fell on Holly. ‘I should have known you would have something to do with it,' she said.

‘It wasn't Holly's fault,' said her dad. ‘Now, Holly, take Archie upstairs. He can sleep in the spare room tonight.'

‘Sleep in the spare room?' said Big Hair.

‘I'll explain in a minute,' replied her husband. ‘Sorry, Weaver, what can I do for you?'

‘You're required in America immediately,' said the grey man.

‘You're going to America?' said Holly.

‘Actually, Mr Buchanan has organised to fly all of you to Los Angeles as a reward for Mr Bigsby's loyal service,' said Weaver.

‘What about Archie?' asked Holly.

‘He should go home to his mother,' said Big Hair.

‘He can't,' said Mr Bigsby. ‘His mother's been taken ill. We'll have to contact the local authorities.'

‘That will take too much time,' said Weaver. ‘Mr Buchanan is insistent that you come back with me immediately and that your family join you.'