The Mystery of Smugglers Cove (The Mystery Series, Book 1) (20 page)

Mr Spencer grinned. “Of course she did. I bet you that right now there are several police boats waiting for us.”

“Do you really believe that?” Amy asked, gazing earnestly at him.

Mr Spencer paused. “Well, until we know for certain, why not be optimistic? Isn’t that better than expecting the worst?”

“But what if the police don’t make it in time?” Will said.

Mr Spencer sat down next to his son and tousled his red hair. “When the doctors told me that there was nothing that they could do to save your mother, I didn’t give up hope.”

“Why not? If the doctors—”

“Hope was the only thing that I had left. Though your mother did sadly pass away, that hope helped me through the tough times. No one can have too much hope. Anything is possible anytime, anywhere.”

“So what you’re saying is that we should never give up hope, right?” Joe asked.

Mr Spencer nodded. “Life is tough, and I’m not just talking about this situation. If you always have hope that things will eventually turn out for the better, I believe that’s the best way to go through life.”

Amy went over to the porthole and glanced out. “We’re entering the harbour.”

Everyone rushed over and peered out. Apart from distant lights on the shore, nothing could be seen.

They waited anxiously as the boat headed towards Toulville, slowing down as it approached a pier. Soon afterwards, the vessel stopped and the anchor was thrown overboard.

Joe couldn’t stand the suspense any longer. “Where are the…” He paused as the silence was suddenly shattered.

Lights blazed and sirens sounded. A big commotion broke out on the upper deck and they could hear voices ordering the crooks to stay where they were.

As Amy glanced out of the porthole, she saw a French police boat pull up beside them.

Mr Spencer grinned. “I told you things would be all right.”

The others smiled as they eagerly banged on the door and yelled out. “Hello! We’re locked in here!”

They waited for what seemed like ages before the door was pushed open and a French police officer smiled at them.

But before he could say anything, someone rushed past him. It was Sarah!

Chatting eagerly to one another, the group made their way upstairs to the bridge.

There they found themselves in the presence of a jolly looking French police officer. “Bonjour!” he said, with a strong French accent. “I’m Inspector Dupont.”

Mr Spencer thrust his hand out and warmly shook the officer’s hand. “I’m Arthur Spencer. This is my son Will, and the others are his friends Joe, Amy, and Sarah.”

Inspector Dupont looked up from a piece of paper that he was holding in his hand. “You’re a long way from Smugglers Cove.”

Mr Spencer smiled. “You already knew who we were, didn’t you?”

Inspector Dupont smiled. “I just wanted to confirm who you were. Inspector Price told—”

“You spoke to him?”

“How did you think this operation came about?” Inspector Dupont glanced over at the crooks that were being lined up on the nearby pier. “I suspected that something fishy was going on in these parts, but could never put my finger on it. So thanks.”

Mr Spencer looked at the children. “Thank them. Especially Sarah. She’s the one who made the radio call.”

The inspector nodded as he shook each child’s hand. He paused in front of Sarah. “Great job.” He glanced at the whole group of them. “I expect you want to get back to
England
.”

Mr Spencer nodded. “It’s been a long couple of hours, so the sooner I can lie down on a nice comfortable bed the better.”

“Well,” said Inspector Dupont, “the authorities in
England
will want to take charge of this gang of crooks, so once we process them here, we will send them back. So, if you would like to have a rest at the station—”

“Thanks, we will,” Mr Spencer replied.

~

At around nine that morning, a French police boat entered the
harbour
of
Smugglers Cove
and pulled up alongside the pier.

As police officers transferred the crooks from the vessel to the waiting police cars, the children and Mr Spencer shook hands with the inspector before they walked down the gangplank.

They were met by Inspector Price and Sergeant Wilmore. “Good job everyone,” the inspector smiled. “And you did especially well, Sarah. I received your radio message just in time to contact Inspector Dupont.”

Sarah smiled. “I was terrified, but it was worth it to see the crooks caught.”

“Are you sure that you have captured all of them?” Joe asked.

Sergeant Wilmore nodded. “We have caught six crooks, which includes the five we previously caught as well as Constable Howard. He was a surprise catch, but we did know that the boss was someone with a link to the police force, so…” He paused as Constable Howard was led past.

The constable glared at Joe. “How did you know it was me?”

“Your cough,” Joe replied, grinning.

Constable Howard frowned. “My cough?”

Joe smiled. “Yes. It was so distinct that day at Chandler Manor that it was impressed in my memory. So, when you coughed in the cave, it got me thinking. And when I passed the tunnel and you found it, as though you had been there before, I knew for certain.”

The constable growled as he was led away. Inspector Price looked towards the children. “I’ll make sure he’s locked up for a long, long time.” He glanced at his watch. “I’d better get going. I’ll drop in next week to let you know how things turn out.” He waved and hurried to his vehicle.

Mr Spencer looked at his watch. “I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. Who feels like going to Darby’s for something to eat?”

The children smiled. “Yes, please,” they responded in unison.

“Let’s get going then.” He headed down the pier. Everyone except Sarah followed.

Joe glanced back. “Are you coming?”

Sarah frowned. “I don’t think all the crooks have been caught.”

“What? But you heard what the police officer—”

“He was wrong,” Sarah said.

Joe frowned. “What do you mean?”

~

As Will finished off his third scone and quenched his thirst with a glass of lemonade, he glanced around the table and saw that everyone else was enjoying the food as much as he was. At least, everyone who was there.

The bell rang as the door opened and in came Joe. “Hope you left some food for me.” He hurried over to the table and piled two scones, a jam tart and a slice of chocolate cake on his plate.

“Where did you suddenly disappear to?” Amy asked.

“One moment you were right behind us, and the next moment you had disappeared,” Will said. “Sarah told us you had to see someone, but she didn’t know who.”

“So who did you see?” Amy asked.

Mr Spencer smiled as he looked at Joe who had his mouth full. “Let the boy eat first.”

The others resumed eating. Ten minutes later, all the food was gone and everyone was full.

Mr Spencer leaned back in his chair and rubbed his stomach. “That was filling.”

“I’m stuffed,” Joe said. “I shouldn’t have eaten so much.”

Amy glanced at him. “Stuffed? Really? Can it be true?”

Joe nodded. “Yes.”

“So you’re human after all,” Will said smiling as he reached for his lemonade and gulped it down. He placed the glass back on the table just as the bell rang and the door opened.

In walked the inspector and the sergeant. They headed over to them and pulled up two chairs.

Mr Spencer smiled. “I didn’t know you ate here.”

“I don’t,” Inspector Price replied, “but Joe asked me to meet him here.”

“He did?” Will looked at Joe, puzzled.

Joe looked at the inspector. “Is everything in place?”

Inspector Price nodded.

Joe glanced around at the others. “While we were making our way back to Smugglers Cove, something was bugging me. And, when Sarah talked to me on the pier, everything made sense.”

“What made sense?” Will asked.

Joe glanced at Mr Spencer. “Just before you got knocked out at Chandler Manor, you saw someone wearing a police uniform helping the crooks escape from the locked van. We thought that Constable Howard could have somehow sneaked back through the tunnels and helped them, but that didn’t happen.”

“How do you know?” Sergeant Wilmore asked.

“I just spoke to the two officers who were on duty then, and they said that the constable was within sight of them at all times.”

“Maybe the crooks escaped by themselves,” Will suggested. “Either way, does it really matter now that we have caught all the crooks?”

“What about the person wearing the police uniform?” Joe said.

“Maybe one of the crooks put it on to disguise himself,” Sergeant Wilmore said. “But, as Will said, we have caught all the men who were in the gang.”

“How do you know we did?” Joe reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. “I just had a word with Constable Howard and he told me that someone else was paying him to pretend to be the boss.”

“Did he know who?” Mr Spencer asked, leaning forward in earnest.

Joe placed the paper down in front of him. “This has one name on it. Constable Howard wrote it down for me.”

Everyone reached for the paper, but the inspector got to it first. He opened it up and glanced at it. He folded it back up and offered it to the sergeant. “Care to take a look?”

Sergeant Wilmore stared at the piece of paper and then took it. He gingerly opened it and then, seeing what was written, leapt up and rushed to the door. But he didn’t get far. There were two police officers standing outside the shop and they took him down.

Inspector Price looked out of the window as the officers led him away. “Good job, Joe.”

Amy grabbed the piece of paper and opened it. It had two words on it: Sergeant Wilmore. She glanced over at Joe. “This is your writing.”

Joe nodded. “Yes.”

“But you said Constable Howard—” Sarah said.

“I lied,” Joe said. “He didn’t confess, but I took a gamble that the sergeant wouldn’t know what the constable’s handwriting looked like, so I wrote the name myself.”

“But how did you know it was him?” Will asked.

Joe looked at Sarah. “I have Sarah to thank for that. Tell the others what you told me.”

“Well,” Sarah said, “When I was on the boat, the radio man contacted someone, and when I heard the person reply, the person spoke with a thick cockney accent. I straight away thought of the sergeant.”