The Mystery of Smugglers Cove (The Mystery Series, Book 1) (14 page)

“Well, no, but you know what I mean,” Joe replied. “If the crooks did have someone to help them escape, and it wasn’t Mr Spencer, then it must have been one of the police officers.”

“Last night, my dad told me that there was a leak in the police force,” Will said. “He thought they might be close to Constable Howard. But that doesn’t make sense.”

“What do you mean?” Amy questioned.

“He was down at the beach,” Will said. “So how could he, or someone close to him, have helped the men escape from Chandler Manor?”

“Your dad must have been wrong,” Joe said. “The leak must come from someone close to Inspector Price.”

“Does it really matter who the leak is?” Sarah said. “In fact, maybe the crooks did escape by themselves. Either way, how is that going to help us find Will’s dad?”

“What I’m thinking,” Joe said, “is why would the crooks run away when they could hide nearby?”

“Of course!” Will’s face lit up. “Why didn’t we think of it earlier?”

Amy glanced back and forth between the two boys. “What?”

Sarah smiled. “The tunnels!”

“How could we be so stupid?” Amy grinned. “That’s the perfect place to hide out. Especially since the police don’t even know about them.”

Joe stood up. “We don’t know where the tunnel entrance is inside the manor is, but we can get into the tunnel via the other entrance.”

“Should we tell the police?” Amy asked as she stood up.

Joe shook his head as they hurried down the driveway and headed for the gate. “We don’t know for certain. So let’s just go down it ourselves and see if we find anything.”

The children eagerly raced up the hill, but they were in for a shock. They all came to a stop a moment later. The hole was no longer there!

Joe rushed forward and tried to move the rocks that were blocking the entrance, but it was impossible. The others joined him, but they all stopped a few minutes later.

Will kicked the ground in frustration. “We’ll never move all those rocks.”

Joe nodded and sat down on the grass. “There are only two ways that these rocks could have got here. Either there was a natural rock collapse, or the men put them there.”

“My guess is that it was the crooks,” Amy said. “This makes me believe even more that they are hiding in the tunnels.”

Will nodded. “That would make sense. If only we knew where the other exit is located in the manor.”

“We know it’s in the basement,” Sarah said.

“Yes, but where exactly?” Joe asked. “And who is to say that they haven’t blocked that exit as well?”

“Let’s go where we know we can get in,” Will said.

“Where?” Amy queried.

Will grinned. “The beach.”

“Of course. Let’s tell that police officer now,” Joe said. “They wouldn’t have blocked that exit since that would trap them in the tunnels.” He got to his feet and hurried down the hill.

If the police officer was startled to see the children tearing down the hill towards him, he didn’t say so. He just smiled. “Having fun? I remember when I was a child—”

“We know where the crooks are!” Joe yelled.

The police officer stopped speaking and his face took on an expression of astonishment. “You do? Where?”

“There’s a tunnel that goes from Chandler Manor to the beach,” Joe said.

“Did you tell this to Inspector Price?”

“No,” Joe said. “We thought the crooks had fled the area. But since they haven’t been found, they must be in the tunnel.”

The police officer nodded. “I’ll contact the inspector.” He hurried to his car as the children waited. It wasn’t long before he came back. “I can’t seem to reach him. Why don’t you come with me and we’ll go down to the station, okay?”

The children nodded and followed him back to his car. After they had climbed in, the officer started the vehicle and headed down the road.

The children grinned at each other as the car drove past the woods and headed into Smugglers Cove.

“If the crooks are caught, it will be because of us,” Joe said.

“I can’t see them being anywhere else,” Will smiled. “My dad must be in one of the caves.”

“Well, we shall soon see,” Amy replied, as the car parked next to the police station.

It was a hive of activity. As the children climbed out, Inspector Price exited the station and headed to his car.

“Inspector!” Joe called.

The inspector paused as the children and the officer rushed up.

“The children think they know where the crooks are,” the police officer said.

“You do?” Inspector Price said.

“There’s a tunnel that connects Chandler Manor to the beach,” Will said. “The crooks must be there.”

Inspector Price nodded. “That’s a good theory, but the crooks have just been spotted on the outskirts of
Rockford
.”

“But that’s miles from here!” Will spluttered.

“Exactly. This means that if they’re there, they can’t be in those tunnels.”

“How do you know that these men are the same men?” Joe queried.

“A person just contacted the station and told us that his vehicle had been hijacked by five men. Men that match the description of the crooks. He saw them drive down the road, heading towards
Rockford
. I’m on my way there now. So, as you can see, they can’t be in those tunnels if they are heading towards
Rockford
, can they?”

Will shook his head. “I guess not.”

“Once we catch those men, we’ll see if they can give us any news about your dad. And, if we learn anything, you’ll be the first to know.”

Will nodded as the inspector climbed into his car and drove away.

The police officer patted Will on the shoulder. “It was a good idea while it lasted.” He turned and walked back to his car.

The children watched as the remaining police officers climbed into their vehicles and drove away.

Disheartened, the children sat on the curb as silence descended upon the area.

The station door opened and out walked Constable Howard. He stared at them through his thick-rimmed spectacles. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

Joe glanced up. “Why didn’t you go with Inspector Price?”

“Someone has to stay and keep an eye on Chandler Manor. Besides, he has plenty of men to deal with the situation.” He looked towards Will. “I heard about Mr Spencer. I’m sorry. He seemed like a good man.”

“My dad’s not a crook,” Will said.

The constable nodded. “Well, if I hear anything, I’ll let you know.” He left them and climbed into his police vehicle.

Joe looked at his watch. “Hey, it’s nearly
noon
. We must have been spent ages searching Chandler Manor.”

“And all for nothing,” Sarah said.

“So, what’s the plan now?” Will asked.

Arriving at the beach, Amy was the first one to pause as she came in sight of the caves and, within moments, the others had also come to a stop.

Joe frowned as he saw it was high tide. “Blow! We can’t search the caves now.”

Will walked forward and peered into the water in an effort to see how deep it was. “We could still wade in and get to the cave,” he said, not wanting to give up that easily.

“We could take our shoes off,” Sarah said.

Joe shook his head. “That wouldn’t work.”

“What do you mean?” Amy asked.

“I’m sure we could get to the cave as well as the tunnel,” Joe said, “but what if the men were in there? What then?”

“We would be trapped,” Will said.

“Yes,” Joe answered. “And a lot of good that would do us. No. We only have one thing we can do.”

“What’s that?” Sarah asked.

“Search Chandler Manor for the other exit,” Joe replied. “I know we searched the basement before, but let’s search it again.”

Everyone nodded. It was annoying that they couldn’t get into the tunnel via the caves, but, unless they wanted to wait a few hours for the tide to start retreating, it was the only option.

They turned and headed back up the cliff. Everyone was worn out from all this walking, so Joe suggested that they get their bicycles and ride to Chandler Manor.

Before long, their four bicycles were whizzing through the woods. Soon, the children had reached the driveway of the manor and were not surprised to see that the police officer was no longer guarding the entrance.

“I guess everyone thinks that the crooks are at
Rockford
,” Will said, as he rode through the open gates.

“Probably. After all, they were seen there,” Amy said.

“Well, we’ll soon know, one way or another,” Joe said. “If the crooks are not in the tunnels, then they are not in Smugglers Cove.”

On reaching the front door, Joe threw the bicycle onto the gravel and hurried up the steps. He grabbed the door handle and twisted it. It didn’t open. “It’s locked.”

Will frowned. “The police must have locked it.”

“How are we going to get in then?” Sarah asked, worried.

“What about that broken window? The one we climbed out of?” Amy said.

“No use,” Will answered. “The crooks boarded it up.”

“There must be another way in,” Joe said. “Maybe another window will be broken.” He hurried along the side of the building. The others followed him as they looked at all the windows in an attempt to see if one of them was open. But none were. They made their way back to the front door.

“If we can’t get in,” Joe said, “it means that we can’t search the basement, and if we can’t search the basement, then we can’t search the tunnels and—”

“We can’t find my dad,” Will concluded. He sat down on the grass.

“So that’s it then,” Amy said. She sat down on the grass, disappointed “It’s all over.”

Sarah stared at the three of them. “Why are you giving up?”

“There’s isn’t any way in,” Joe said.

“Of course there is,” Sarah said, grinning.

“What?” Amy asked.

“Why don’t we climb the ivy?”

Will suddenly smiled. “That’s a brilliant idea.”

Joe grinned. “Yes, why didn’t I think of that?” He hurried around to the wall where Will had climbed down the previous night.

Standing below the window, he glanced up. Even though part of the ivy had broken when Will had climbed down, it was still possible to reach the window as long as you climbed to the right first. “Since Will climbed down it, I think it’s my turn to help.”