6 CHAPTER TWO Friday 22 00 Pollo snapped shut her book Last Slayer IV The Dark Count and shoved it under her blankets breathing fast This was the best book of the series yet She couldn’t read it quickly enough though at the same time she could hardly bear it Something about the villain in this one Count von Alberecht the Slayer’s evil uncle really got to her She put the book on the bedside table It was shameful to admit but she was still a bit twitchy from before Luckily once she was out in the open again everything hadn’t been totally black like it was on Diamond Jack’s Trail And it wasn’t far home from the cemetery along the track that ran behind the back fences of the houses She reached across to her pen jar found her carrot and 10
7 took a big bite They said carrots helped you see at night She might still be out there if she hadn’t always eaten her three a day At the knock on her door Pollo jumped Her father poked his head into the room Not too late mate Two cats and a piglet are relying on you tomorrow They’ll want Pollo di Nozi not Pollo di Dozy Pollo smiled Just wrapping it up Dad Curses Of all the mornings to be needed at her dad’s clinic when the story that could change her life was out there on the loose Atta girl Her father crossed the room and scratched the top of her head as he would a friendly dog’s See you at brekkie then Nighty-night As soon as he’d gone Pollo pulled her laptop from under the bed As if she could sleep The front page of her new special edition was laid out on-screen All it was missing was its story She brought up her surveillance log and studied it What clue had she overlooked 17 35 Suspect barges into Sherri’s shop Long heavy coat SMUGGLER 18 45 Suspect arrives at cemetery Walks in circles RITUAL Metal case silver Approx 45 x 60 cm blinking light WHAT IS IN CASE Weapons Drugs Extraterrestrial communication device 19 25 Suspect runs off carrying case 11
8 (cid:25)(cid:33)(cid:34)(cid:26)(cid:30)(cid:3)(cid:49)(cid:86)(cid:94)(cid:77)(cid:91)(cid:92)(cid:81)(cid:79)(cid:73)(cid:92)(cid:87)(cid:90)(cid:3)(cid:80)(cid:73)(cid:85)(cid:88)(cid:77)(cid:90)(cid:77)(cid:76)(cid:3)(cid:74)(cid:97)(cid:3)(cid:91)(cid:77)(cid:84)(cid:197)(cid:91)(cid:80)(cid:3)(cid:73)(cid:91)(cid:91)(cid:81)(cid:91)(cid:92)(cid:73)(cid:86)(cid:92)(cid:9)(cid:9)(cid:9)(cid:3)(cid:3) Lost visual when suspect entered forest 19 32 Audio recognition of suspect at head of Diamond Jack’s Trail Torch USELESS Abandoned tail (cid:3) (cid:54)(cid:87)(cid:92)(cid:77)(cid:3)(cid:92)(cid:87)(cid:3)(cid:91)(cid:77)(cid:84)(cid:78)(cid:34)(cid:3)(cid:47)(cid:45)(cid:60)(cid:3)(cid:54)(cid:45)(cid:63)(cid:3)(cid:60)(cid:55)(cid:58)(cid:43)(cid:48)(cid:3)(cid:42)(cid:41)(cid:60)(cid:60)(cid:45)(cid:58)(cid:49)(cid:45)(cid:59)(cid:9)(cid:3)(cid:47) (cid:47) (cid:47) Foiled by dead batteries She could hardly blame Shorn Connery for that And to be fair she’d never have seen the suspect at the cemetery tonight if it hadn’t been for him She could kick herself She didn’t have nearly enough on the man for an amazing special early edition of the Riddle Gully Gazette before applications for the cadetship closed And her best back-up story was Sergeant Butt’s stepson the boring new kid in her year at school He barely spoke a word and doodled head-down in a sketchpad all lunchtime She hardly knew what he looked like A raw egg was more newsworthy No without doubt practically her entire future as an investigative reporter hinged on the man who’d got away tonight It was funny that Sherri didn’t seem to think there was anything wrong with him Pollo had been on her way out of Sherri’s second-hand shop after delivering a bundle of the latest gazettes when he had charged through the door and nearly knocked her into the china display Sherri had 12
9 already turned off the lights and was ready to close But instead of booting him out on the spot all Sherri had done was fluff up her hair and check that her earrings hung straight True the stranger had apologised but it was Pollo not him who’d found herself alone on the footpath Sherri’s heavy glass door clunking shut behind her Whatever happened to telling people to come back in the morning Sherri was halfway between a friend and a mother which was nice for someone without a mum and whose dad was halfway between a friend and a father She was Aunty Giulia’s best friend too But Pollo wondered about her sometimes In every photo on the wall of Sherri’s shop from her twenty years as a cruise-ship singer there was a different tuxedoed arm around Sherri’s waist Could her judgement be trusted when it came to men Pollo took another bite of her carrot and came to a decision Unfortunately no Sherri might have come back to Riddle Gully to settle down and become a boring grown-up as she put it but her instincts were clearly all at sea Besides in Sherri’s defence she hadn’t seen the stranger in the cemetery walking around in circles and galloping off like something was after him The man was definitely dodgy maybe even dangerous Sherri just didn’t know it yet And although Pollo had let him get away tonight 13
