The Case of the Wayward Professor (21 page)

Late that night, when both hands on his old wall clock were facing up, Dirk pushed open the door to his office and crept into the hallway. Every stair creaked on the way down and he almost knocked a picture off with his tail, but he found the kitchen and switched on his torch. He pulled down the box of books from the high shelf and there it was, the same book with the red cover and the white zigzag across it. He opened it. The title was printed on the inside page.

He turned to the introduction.

There are many different types of dragon in the world, each with its own unique set of characteristics. A Sea Dragon, for example, has a grey back with a blue underbelly; whereas a Mountain Dragon's colours are red and green respectively. A Tree Dragon's skin resembles that of a tree bark, while a Desert Dragon at rest is easily mistaken for a cactus. All winged dragons have hard backs and soft bellies, although a Sea Dragon's back will soften after a sustained period underwater to facilitate swimming. Once out of the water, the Sea Dragon's back takes a few days to harden again, during which time it tends to hide in a waterside cave
.

Dirk turned to another chapter and found more detailed descriptions, all illustrated with line drawings. Everything was spot on, saying where they could be found, what powers each type had, temperaments, diet. Everything. The last chapter speculated the reason for
their disappearance, suggesting that they had probably gone into hiding around the Middle Ages.

The kitchen light came on.

‘Oh, it's you, Mr Dilly. I thought we had burglars,' said Mrs Klingerflim, appearing behind him, wearing a pink nightie and brandishing a rusty fire poker. ‘That's my dear Ivor's book. I'm particularly fond of chapter twelve, all about Sky Dragons, but then I suppose that's probably because I wrote most of it.'

Dirk handed the book to the old lady. ‘Mrs Klingerflim?' he said.

‘Yes, Mr Dilly?'

‘You know I'm a dragon, don't you?'

She laughed. ‘It's difficult not to notice, really, isn't it?' she replied. ‘Shall we have a cup of tea? And biscuits. I've got some nice custard creams in a tin somewhere.'

The Dragon Detective Agency:
The Case of the Missing Cats

First published in Great Britain in 2007 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

This electronic edition published in September 2012 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
50 Bedford Square,
London, WC1B 3DP

Text copyright © 2007 by Gareth P. Jones
Illustrations copyright © 2007 by Nick Price

All rights reserved
You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages

A CIP catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

eISBN 978 1 4088 3687 3 (e-book)

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