The Mystery of Smugglers Cove (The Mystery Series, Book 1) (11 page)

“Ha, ha,” the boss said, smiling. “I don’t believe you. In fact, to prove it, I will keep you locked up until our business is finished here.”

“You can’t do that!” Sarah cried.

“Can’t I? Just wait and see,” the boss said. He turned and left the room. Rocky closed the door and walked away.

Will got up and went over to the door to make sure they had locked it. Unfortunately, they had.

“It looks like this is it,” Amy said. She hung her head and stared at the floor.

“Don’t worry,” Will replied. “Even if we don’t get out of here, someone will come searching for us.”

“But no one knows that we’re here,” Joe said. “Even if your dad came over to check up on us later today, he would just think that we had gone for a walk or something. Let’s face it. We’re stuck here for some time.”

“But what about our parents? Would they search here?” Sarah said.

“Why would they?” Joe said. “Even if they came back tomorrow, why would they think of searching here?”

~

As evening came, one of the crooks brought them some food to eat. It wasn’t much, just bread and jam, but at least it was something for their grumbling stomachs.

Will was sitting on the bed and eating one of the slices of bread when he suddenly thought of something. He stood up and walked over to the window. After opening it, he glanced down. He had just remembered that he had seen ivy growing up a number of walls of the manor and hoped to find some ivy nearby. He was in luck.

A thick vine was growing right next to the window. He tugged on it as hard as he could to see if it was strong or weak. It didn’t break away in his hand, so it seemed pretty strong.

Will turned to the others and smiled. “I think I may have found a way out.”

“How?” Sarah asked.

“There’s ivy growing up this wall,” Will said.

Joe slowly nodded. “Of course. Why didn’t I think of that earlier?”

“Think of what?” Amy quizzed. She glanced back and forth between the two boys.

Will explained. “One of us can climb down the wall using the ivy as a makeshift rope. That person can then get to the wall—”

“And do what?” Amy asked. “We don’t have a ladder and, if the dogs are on the prowl, the person will be chased by those ferocious animals.”

“It’s a risk,” Will said. “But what choice do we have?”

“Will’s right,” Joe said. “It’s too risky for you girls, so it’s between Will and me. And though I would like to say that I could do it, I don’t think I’m the best the person for this.”

Will nodded. “I’ve climbed up and down trees, drainpipes, and almost everything else. I know my way around this area better than anyone else. And, for this plan to succeed, it will need to be done at night. So, yes, I think I would have a better chance than Joe in doing this.”

“Where would you go?” Sarah asked.

“My dad will know what to do, so I’ll go home.” Will glanced around at the others. “Is everyone in agreement?”

The girls nodded as Joe went to the window and surveyed the ivy. If the truth were to be told, it didn’t look too safe. The ivy could break at any time, but it was the only plan that they had, so it had to be attempted, no matter how great the risk was.

Now that they had a plan, time passed swiftly and it wasn’t long before the setting sun disappeared below the trees and darkness descended upon the area. As the stars appeared in the clear sky and the moon rose, Will got ready to escape.

The girls hugged him and Joe patted him on the back. He waved and opened the window. After glancing both ways to make sure that there were no men about, he climbed over the ledge.

After taking a deep breath, he started to climb down the ivy. He had to be careful and take it slowly. It was a long way to the bottom and he couldn’t risk falling.

He also had to be quiet. If he made the slightest noise, the guard dogs might hear. They would investigate and he wouldn’t stand a chance against the animals if they saw him.

All was going well when, a quarter of the way down, Will decided to rest for a moment. He grasped a bunch of ivy and, too late, realised his mistake. It was dead and couldn’t hold him. It came away in his fingers and he fell.

Will reached out with his hands in an effort to grab the rest of the ivy. He was six feet from the ground when he succeeded in grabbing a vine.

Looking up, he saw the others peering down anxiously.
Giving a wave to show that he was all right, he started to climb down the remaining distance.

He stopped and listened once his feet touched solid ground. There was no barking, which meant that the dogs hadn’t yet noticed him.

Praying that the wind wasn’t blowing his scent towards them, he made his way towards the wall. He got there without a hitch. Everything was going like clockwork. But now the hardest part remained. How was he going to get over the wall?

While Will had been waiting for the darkness to come, he had gone over this question in his head many times. The only solution he could think of was to climb a tree and edge along one of the branches until he reached the wall.

He had attempted it before when they were up the trees and the dogs were chasing them, but he hadn’t dared to risk it because it was a dangerous task. But as it was now the only way, he had to take the risk, despite the danger.

He selected the tree closest to the wall and started to climb up. This he achieved with no problem. It was the bit ahead that would be tricky. He chose the best branch and gingerly edged along it. At the end, he manoeuvred himself until he was hanging by his arms like a monkey. After swinging out, he landed safely on the wall.

Will sat down on the cold stone and paused for a few moments to regain his breath. Ready to continue, he jumped down on the other side, tumbling in the thick grass. Unhurt, he got to his feet and hurried along the road.

He knew it would be too dark to use the path through the trees that he knew, so he stayed on the road.

It took a bit longer this way, but at least there wasn’t any chance of him getting lost or tripping over something.

Reaching his house a short while later, he ran down and the g
arden
path and banged on the front door.

A few seconds passed before his father peered through the curtain. A moment later, the door opened. “What are you doing here? I thought you—”

“You need to get the police,” Will blurted. “The others are being held prisoner at Chandler Manor!”

“What in heaven’s name have you been up to? You had better come and sit down and tell me exactly what’s going on.”

Will hurried inside and quickly told him everything that he and the others had done in the last few days. When he’d finished speaking, he looked over at his father. “Are you going to tell the police everything that I’ve told you?”

“It’s a bit more difficult than you realise, son,” his father replied.

“What do you mean?” Will said, frowning.

“I’m going to have to tell you something that I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone, not even you. As you know, I used to be a police officer. I was very successful and put a good many men behind bars.”

“What has that got to do with this?” Will asked.

“For the past few months I’ve been working with Inspector Price—”

“Inspector Price?”

“Yes, he lives in Edgeworth and is in charge of this district. A while ago he told me that he believed a counterfeiting ring was operating somewhere close. He didn’t have any concrete evidence, but he was suspicious. Not wanting to attract the usual publicity that a police officer gets, he asked me if I could keep my eyes open.”

“Gosh! So we’ve stumbled on the crooks that the police have been trying to catch for months,” Will exclaimed.

“Yes, it certainly looks like it.”

“Can we tell the local constable?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“For the past six months, despite there being roughly the same number of crimes committed in Smugglers Cove compared to other neighbouring towns, hardly anyone was being caught.”

“Was someone tipping the crooks off?”

“Probably. That was the second problem that the inspector told me about.”

“So what are you going to do then?”

“Contact the inspector. Knowing him, he will want to come himself, so we should expect him and his men around dawn tomorrow.”

“But the others are waiting for me to return with the police,” Will said. He looked down, disappointment in his eyes.

“They’ll just have to wait,” his father replied. “If someone tips the criminals off and we find nothing, I’ll have blown my cover for nothing. Besides, there’s no way that Constable Howard can capture the crooks all by himself. So we will have to wait till dawn.”

~

As dawn broke over Smugglers Cove, Mr Spencer paced back and forth along the pavement near the police station. He then walked back to his car where his son was sitting in the front passenger seat.

“What’s taking them so long?” Will asked.

“I don’t know,” replied his father, “but they were due five minutes ago, so they should be here soon.”

“And then what?” Will said.

“Well, after the inspector has talked to Constable Howard, we’ll drive to Chandler Manor.”

“What if they’ve already been tipped off?” Will asked, worried.

Mr Spencer shook his head. “That isn’t possible. Like I said last night, the informer is someone who has access to the police station. It could be the cleaner, a friend of the constable—”

“So almost anyone.”

“Yes. But at the moment only two people in Smugglers Cove know about this plan and that happens to be you and me. So, since the informer obviously can’t know at the moment, he can’t tip them off. You see…” Mr Spencer paused as four police cars tore down the street and braked to a stop just behind their car.

He left Will and made his way over to the lead car just as a cheerful looking fellow with a moustache and a bald head, climbed out of the car. “Inspector Price?”

“Yes. Are you Mr Spencer?” Inspector Price asked.

Will’s father nodded. “We need to get moving straight away if we are going to catch the crooks sleeping.”

The inspector flicked his hand at the police station. “What have you told Constable Howard?”

“Nothing. Just for him to be here. I suggest that you deploy him and three of your officers to the beach. Our sources indicate that there’s a tunnel which goes from Chandler Manor to the beach.”

“That sounds like a sound plan,” the inspector replied. He headed inside the police station with one of his men to talk to the constable. Mr Spencer paced back and forth as he waited anxiously.

A few minutes later, the inspector and the constable exited the building. “Let’s get going,” Inspector Price said.

Mr Spencer nodded and leapt into his car. He followed the group of police cars as they made their way through town, past the woods, and finally to Chandler Manor.