The Mystery of Smugglers Cove (The Mystery Series, Book 1) (12 page)

The cars braked as they came in sight of the building. Will climbed out and watched as several police officers placed a ladder against the wall.

Inspector Price made his way over to Will. “I need someone to help me navigate the way to the study. I understand there’s a machine there that will open the gate. Are you up for the challenge?”

“Yes. I’ll do anything to help rescue my friends.”

“I understand. But no heroics, okay? You stay behind me at all times.”

“Yes, sir,” Will replied.

Inspector Price called to one of his men and then the three of them climbed up the ladder.

~

As the morning light penetrated the small room in Chandler Manor, the children were awoken by a commotion somewhere below them.

“The crooks must be moving stuff,” Joe muttered as he sat up.

“Maybe they’re planning a getaway,” Amy suggested. “They must realise that sooner or later someone will come here and ask questions. And if the police did search of this place, they would find the printing presses.”

“You may be right,” Joe said. He opened the window. He stiffened as he saw something. “Hey, I just thought I saw someone move behind those bushes up near the gate. But now I can’t see anything.”

“Maybe it’s someone coming to rescue us,” Sarah piped up as she peered through the window. “If Will managed to get out, he could be here with the police.”

“Let’s hope it’s the police,” Amy replied. “I don’t fancy another night sleeping in this bed. It’s as hard as a rock.”

They resumed scanning the garden in the hope that they would see some sign that a rescue was in progress.

~

Will breathed a sigh of relief as they reached the manor without hearing the sound of the dogs. He had mentioned to the inspector that they had climbed out of a side window that had been broken, and the inspector had requested that he lead him to the spot.

Will hoped desperately that the window would be in the same state as they had left it, but it wasn’t. The crooks had boarded it up.

“Is there another way in?” Inspector Price asked.

Will paused while he thought. At last, he looked towards the inspector. “I’m afraid not. The only other way we discovered was via the front door, and it’s unlikely that it would be unlocked.”

“Well, there’s no harm in trying,” Inspector Price replied. “We’ll just have to try our luck.”

They crept towards the front entrance, keeping close to the bushes that hugged the wall. Without warning, the front door burst open and Jake rushed out. He took one quick look around before heading down the driveway.

“Looks as though they are keeping watch,” the police officer said.

“I agree,” Inspector Price said. “I wonder if our plan has somehow been leaked to the crooks.”

“This could work in our favour,” Will said brightly, as he looked towards the door.

“What do you mean?” Inspector Price asked.

“The man has left the door open,” Will replied. “He probably did that so he could retreat quickly if he heard anyone nearby. But that means that we can slip inside the manor that way.”

“Okay, let’s try to get inside.” Inspector Price stood up from the cover of the bushes and, as quietly as he could, made his way to the door. The officer and Will followed behind him.

Once they were inside, they paused. They could hear voices, but they were faint. Will told the two police officers that the men were probably in the basement.

Quickly, they headed to the study where Will showed the police officers the gate opening mechanism. After taking a deep breath, Inspector Price took hold of the lever and pushed down.

He glanced through the window and smiled with satisfaction as he saw the gates slowly opening. He turned to the police officer. “Head outside and meet the others. I’ll be here, waiting.”

“Yes, sir.” The police officer left the room.

Will looked towards the inspector. “When are we going to rescue my friends?”

“Soon. But we have to catch the crooks first.”

Suddenly, gunshots rang out and they rushed to the window. They saw that the police cars, which were halfway down the driveway, had skidded to a stop. This was due to a hail of bullets that were being fired upon them from the garage.

The inspector looked at Will. “Stay here.”

“But I—” Will said.

“Stay. I have to help out.” Inspector Price took out his pistol, opened the study door, and, closing it behind him, made his way down the hallway.

No one was in sight. It looked as though the main group of crooks were outside. He headed towards the front door but, before he could reach it, the door was flung open and a man came rushing in.

Jake came to a halt as he caught sight of Inspector Price pointing his gun at him. “Put the gun down on the floor, nice and slowly,” the inspector ordered as he spotted the pistol tucked into the man’s belt.

Jake started to place the gun on the floor when he glanced over the inspector’s shoulders and smiled.

Fearing a trap, Inspector Price was about to order the man again to drop his weapon, when he glanced in a mirror that was facing him and caught a glimpse of another man holding a gun.

He turned and saw another criminal, Dan, behind him. The inspector turned back and saw that now Jake also had his weapon pointed at him.

The inspector was not a man to give up easily, but he knew he was trapped. He laid his weapon down and raised his hands.

Suddenly, three police officers burst through the open door. Quickly assessing the situation, two of them tackled Jake.

Seeing that he was outnumbered, Dan turned and rushed down the hallway. But he was no match for the police officers who ran after him and he was soon caught.

As he was led away, Will emerged from the study. “Is everything fine? I heard—”

“Everything is going splendidly,” Inspector Price replied, smiling. “I think we’ve got the majority, if not all, of the crooks, so let’s see where your friends are being held.”

“They should be on the top floor,” Will said.

“Okay. Just let me talk to my second in charge.” He turned to Sergeant Wilmore, a tall, burly fellow with brown hair. “Search the ground floor and report back to me in five minutes. Okay?”

The sergeant nodded and, along with a couple of police officers, headed down the hallway.

Inspector Price climbed up the stairs and stopped as he reached the third floor. Will waited as two police officers quickly searched the hallway to make sure that none of the men were hiding nearby. Satisfied that it was safe, the inspector asked Will to show him the room.

Will raced along the hallway until he reached the one that the others were held prisoner in. He tried opening the door, but it was locked. He banged on it and shouted. “Hey! Are you still there?”

There was a moment of silence, and then Amy called out. “Yes! Let us out!”

“Move aside,” the inspector said. Will obeyed as the inspector called out to the prisoners. “This is Inspector Price. Move right away from the door. I’m going to shoot the lock.”

Waiting a moment, the inspector took his pistol and fired. The bullet split the lock in two and it fell away.
 

Will rushed forward and entered the room. He was greeted by three smiling faces.

“Great job!” Joe yelled.

“Smashing!” Sarah shouted.

“You’re the best,” Amy said and she reached forward and hugged the red haired boy.

Will hugged back. “Thanks, but it wouldn’t have been possible without the police.”

Inspector Price stepped into the room. “Are you all okay? I have an officer who used to be a medic—”

“Thanks, but no thanks,” Joe replied. “The crooks didn’t harm us, thank goodness.”

“Good to hear. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to see what’s happening with the search.”

After leaving the children in the charge of a police officer, he headed downstairs. He spotted Sergeant Wilmore near the staircase. “Have you searched the entire premise?”

“Yes,” Sergeant Wilmore replied with a thick cockney accent.

“And?”

“We found a few printing presses in the basement, but that’s all.”

“No money?”

“No. And, without any documents or money, those printing presses will not be enough to convict those men.”

“We still can convict them for kidnapping, but we still need to find where that money went. We can’t have so many counterfeit notes in circulation.” Inspector Price paced back and forth. “There must be something we are missing. Go out and get everyone in here. And get me Mr Spencer. I want to talk to him.”

“Yes, sir.” Sergeant Wilmore hurried to the front door. He spotted a number of police officers gathered around a police van and hurried towards them.

Reaching it, he paused as five crooks, handcuffed, were pushed inside the vehicle and locked in from the outside.

“Listen up, men,” the sergeant said. “Inspector Price wants everyone inside on the double.”

“What about the crooks?” a police officer asked.

“Leave two men to guard the van, but get the rest to come inside. Oh, and has anyone seen Mr Spencer?”

Everyone shook their heads.

“Okay. Never mind.” Sergeant Wilmore left them and headed up the driveway.

~

By the time the children had descended the staircase, they found the ground floor abuzz with police officers as they ransacked the rooms.

Joe spotted the inspector as he exited the study. “What are you doing?”

“Trying to find some solid evidence to put these crooks behind bars and track down the counterfeit notes,” Inspector Price replied.

“But what about the printing press in the basement?” Will asked.

“We found those, but nothing else.”

“What about the study?” Amy said.

“Nothing.”

Will shook his head. “There must be something else. Does my dad have any ideas?”

“I haven’t spoken to him yet.” Inspector Price glanced around. He spotted the sergeant. “I thought I told you I wanted to speak with Mr Spencer.”

Sergeant Wilmore nodded. “I know, but I couldn’t find him outside, so I assumed that he was already inside.”

Inspector Price nodded and yelled out to everyone. “Does anyone know where Mr Spencer is?” No one replied, so he tried a different question. “When was the last time anyone saw him?”

A young police officer raised his hand. “Just after I had spoken with Sergeant Wilmore. I was coming inside just like you had instructed when I saw him. He told me that he wanted to check up on something before seeing you.”

“Check up on what?”

The man shook his head. “I don’t know. But that was the last time I saw him.”