DETECTIVE STORY 1

CASE 1:

THE BEGINNING
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
PART 1
It’s weird being a young school-age detective， you need to look like a regular schoolgirl or boy. And to be a normal schoolgirl or boy， you sometimes need to go on boring school holidays.

I think I must give some explanation here. I’m Lily Hua， President of the Nightingale Detective Society. I may be the youngest detective in the whole country. I’m just 12 years old， have short black hair that’s black as night. I have dark brown almond-shaped eyes， and some people say I have a very serious looking， straight pale face. I think my face is not that straight， just straight enough to still be attractive.

I have a friend named Margret Vance and she is the Vice-President of the Nightingale Detective Society. She is 12 years of age， and has long curly red hair down to her waist. She has interesting bright green eyes， and depending on her mood， wears a pink or yellow bracelet on her left wrist at all times.

Anyhow， enough with the explanations for the moment. Let me begin and tell you about the new case we started on Saturday， 27th March 2009.

PART 2
After what felt like a long year in Australia， where we attended a school called Miz of Mart， I nudged Margaret on the last school day as we were packing up， and whispered， “Psst， Margaret， are you sure you can come with me to China during the holidays?”

“Stop bugging me，” Margaret groaned “Yes， Father has agreed to let me stay with you during the holidays.” She paused， her eyes cast down， as though something was troubling her. Then， slowly， she took out a crumpled letter from the side of her pink daisy backpack - eyes still cast down at the ground - and passed it over to me. I opened it， a little surprised by her ‘confession’。 It took me a moment to read the letter.

13th January 2009.

My dear and charming Margaret，
Yes. I have agreed to your going to China with your friend Lipsey， or whatever her name is. I have bought three tickets to China. As you know， if you are going to go to China， then you must take your brother， Cleve with you as well. Take care and have fun， darling. You will have two and a half months together to have lots of fun! Don’t forget to write to me every week.

Love and kisses，

Mummy and Daddy

P.S. Please make sure you give Cleve his medicine for the first three days when you get to China， my darling.

When I’d finished reading the letter， I was feeling embarrassed for Margaret - her parents were driving her absolutely bananas!

“Well， I’m so amazed that your daddy…sorry…your father agreed to let you come to China and stay with me during the holiday…。 that is…。 Well， the deal’s…。 uh.” I paused for a bit as I scanned the letter and read the bit about Cleve …… but was lost for words.

“Hey， you two booger faces，” Snarled Alma， glaring at me and Margaret. “No talking!” Alma’s curly brown hair snaked over her face as she swung her duffle bag down onto her blue suitcase.

“Oh， shut your mouth would you， Alma?” Cried Amy， as she put her backpack onto her red and white striped suitcase. Amy’s tough， so we call her Cathy - after the superstar in longtail magazine - and we call Alma ‘Bull’； she’s so stubborn I’m sure she could chew a log.

While they were fighting - as usual - I saw a small head poke around the corner through the doorway; it was jammed between a flock of girls who were flapping noisily as they came into the room. The head belonged to a boy with brown hair and bright green eyes， just like Margaret’s.

“M-girl， be a love and see who’s there，” I said to Margaret who was watching Alma and Amy fight. Margaret， still distracted by the fight， finally turned around. Her face clouded instantly when she saw Cleve’s head float into the room surrounded by the flock of still noisy， flapping girls.
“You little brat!” Roared Margret， charging at the boy， and growling like a wild animal. Then， another girl rushed forward， her sandy coloured hair spilling over her chocolate brown face as she muttered something indistinct under her breath.

“Ooooooooooh， isn’t that a cute willy…。 ugh!” Said the girl feeling both amused and disgusted at the same time. “What if I tell the headmaster， that an ugly little frog has invaded the girl’s dorm， room 61435 on the 17th floor…she mused threateningly!” Her pretty face now twisting into a not-so-pretty， unreadable scowl.

I glared at the girl—Nancy De Anderson - she was an Opakapaka girl， a tribe that came from the east; the main tribe’s name was Oackatako. She was mean and ruthless. She also had a little sister named Crinda-Plex. She was nine years old and as sweet as you could imagine.

The girls’ father， Jahmoda De Anderson， was a rich blacksmith; their mother， Cordelia-Plex De Anderson， was a famous dancer in the local village. This information may be quite useless…。 But then again， you never know in a tale like this…

I didn’t make a move despite the horrible ‘compliment’； I didn’t raise my fists in the air nor did I narrow my eyes…but Margret did! She changed direction immediately and slammed her shoulder hard into Nancy’s ribs. I heard a squeal come from behind the mean girl. When I turned around， what I saw made my insides burn and my blood boil with hatred—it was Coblin Webb， Nancy’s closet sidekick. Ugh! It was ‘Cobweb’ herself， and everyone hated her!
　　　　　　　
She was standing there hissing and growling like a cat with its tail jammed in the door. Nancy roared， but quickly controlled herself; her snarl became a sneer. Her soft white curls were held in place by a sparkling hair band. She was wearing a loose-fitting， floral-patterned velvet dress with a thin sparkling belt， however， she continued glaring at Margret， and looked like she was just about to.…

BAM! Suddenly， she lunged with outstretched hands at Margret. And just as she lunged at Margaret， I sprung at her and knocked her aside， then used my feet to block her blows and protect Margaret. I soon realized there was no need because in all that crazy confusion Cobweb Coblin had tripped over and accidentally punched Nancy hard on the nose as she fell on her. There was a cracking， squishing sound and then lots of blood squirting everywhere.


“Eek!” At that moment， I wasn’t sure if what I was hearing was the sound of Nancy crying out in agony or Coblin crying out， horrified at what she had just done. Judging by the screams of the girls in the dorm， it had to be Nancy’s nose pumping blood over her face， her clothes and all over the floor. Right then， even M-girl and I felt sorry for the horrid girl!

The next thing I knew， was Nancy had managed to spring back to her feet; her shirt was spattered in blood， which still dripped from her nose， over her chin and onto her clothes. She’d whipped out a pair of sharp metal scissors and grabbed poor little Cleve by the neck with one strong hand， and pressed the sharp metal point against his pale skin with the other hand.

Despite the chaos all around me， I looked calm on the outside， but my insides were now a burning， searing mountain of panic. That’s when I realized this wasn’t your ‘regular-every-day-mean-kid-fight’ anymore. This horrid girl had managed to pull us – Lucy Hua， Margret Vance， little Cleve and myself， into what later was to become a very serious and bloody murder.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

PART 3
Nancy was still holding Cleve as she spoke， her voice sounding soft as raindrops pattering on the windows， but full of menace: “If you’d say sorry， or you apologised to me and my faithful friend， Coblin Web…AND were to give me 200 bucks right now… then maybe…just maybe…I’d let Cleve go. But if you don’t give me the money， then he – will – lose – his – puny – little –eyeball!” The look on Nancy's face at that moment made it clear she meant what she said.

I glowered over at her， straightening my back and stepping forward， but stopped instantly as Nancy pressed the scissors closer to Cleve’s eye. A signal drop of blood spilled onto his green sweater. Margaret yelled out in rage， threatening to ‘flatten her’。 This distracted Nancy enough for me to creep up behind her and grab her hand， then slam my suitcase hard and fast as lighting into her knee.