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Authors: Karen King

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BOOK: Dognapped!
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Chapter 10
Blackmail

Max and I had swapped cellphone numbers that afternoon, so I sent a text to him later that night to tell him what had happened. I also wanted to ask if I could come around the next morning to use his computer to print something out. His reply said to come around at ten when everyone else was out.

‘What are you going to do?’ he asked when I arrived at 10 am on the dot.

‘Set a trap for the blackmailer,’ I told him. ‘You have got a scanner haven’t you?’ I hadn’t thought to check that with him last night.

‘Yeah, the printer scans and photocopies. Why?’

‘Because we’re going to make some fake money to fool the blackmailer.’ I grinned at him. ‘Can you cut straight?’

‘I don’t need to, Dad’s got a paper trimmer. I’m not supposed to use it – Mum thinks I’m going to cut my fingers off – but she won’t be back for a couple of hours, so she’ll never know.’

‘Where are your sisters?’ Max had two step-sisters, both a few years older than him. I’d only caught a glimpse of one of them, dressed completely in black, with jet black hair, black make-up and a couple of face piercings.

‘At work. And Mum’s over the road, doing Mrs Crystal’s hair,’ Max replied. ‘She doesn’t like to leave me on my own … thinks I’m still a baby, but I told her I’d be fine for an hour or two.’

‘Great. Let’s get cracking then.’ I took the ransom note out of my pocket and showed it to Max. ‘Gran doesn’t know about this. It came last night. So, not a word to anyone, okay?’

‘She’ll be mad that you haven’t told her.’

‘She won’t ever know. I’ll meet the blackmailer tonight and get Fluffy back. Job done.’

‘How is this going to work? Where are you going to get £2000 from?’

I grinned triumphantly and whipped a twenty pound note out of my pocket. ‘I’m going to make one hundred copies of this!’

‘Hmmm,’ Max didn’t look too impressed. ‘You reckon that will fool him, do you? And what about Fluffy? When the thief finds out the notes are fake, you won’t get her back.’

‘The thief could be a “her”,’ I snapped, stung at his lack of enthusiasm for my brilliant idea. ‘I do think that a good copy will stall the blackmailer for a while. Long enough for me to sneak up and take a photo of him – or her – on my cellphone. I can show it to the police, and they can trace the blackmailer and rescue Fluffy.’

Now Max did look impressed. ‘That’s clever.’

‘I know,’ I said smugly, putting the ransom note back in my pocket. ‘Mind you, the blackmailer might not have Fluffy. The note could have been sent by someone who read about Fluffy going missing and thought they’d try to get some easy money out of Gran.’

Max scowled. ‘That’s really nasty.’

‘But a strong possibility, which is why I don’t want Gran to see the note.’ I told him. ‘Any idea where the dog beach is?’

‘Yeah, it’s a little beach the other side of the harbour. You have to go down some narrow steps to it. It’s called
Craggmor Beach
really, but it’s known as the dog beach ’cos it’s the only beach dogs are allowed on in the summer.’

I thought about this. ‘So that means a local person must have written the note, because someone on holiday wouldn’t know about it being called the ‘dog beach’ would they?’

‘I guess not.’

‘Right, now let’s get on with scanning in this banknote.’

I scanned in the front of the twenty pound note. I could get three on each page. Then I scanned the back of the note and did three of those on another page, making sure they would match the fronts. Finally, I printed them out and glued the two pages together. Then, I colour-copied one page.

‘Where’s the trimmer?’ I asked Max. ‘I need to check that I’ve got the notes matched properly before I make all the copies.’

‘I’ll do it.’ Max took a small paper trimmer off the shelf, put it on the desk and carefully lined up the sheet of paper. A couple of minutes later he handed me three ‘twenty pound notes’.

I took the real banknote out of the scanner and compared them. The paper quality was different, of course, but I folded the fakes up a bit to make them look more used. I thought they looked pretty convincing, but were they good enough to fool the blackmailer? There was only one way to find out.

We printed out another thirty-three pages, which gave me two extra notes that I could use to practise folding up. The ink was getting pretty faded by the time we got to the last couple of pages, but I didn’t figure the blackmailer would stay around to count them all – he, or she, wouldn’t want to draw attention to themselves.

I practised folding the two spare notes. I finally, decided that folding them in four lengthwise and bending over the corners a couple of times, then opening them up again, gave the best effect.

‘Fold them like this, then put them in wads of two hundred pounds, with an elastic band around each wad,’ I told Max. ‘Make sure the faded copies are in the middle. Then we’ll put them all in a big envelope. Have you got a big envelope?’

‘Yep, Dad’s got everything.’ Max opened the desk drawer and took out a thick brown envelope.

‘Great. How about a carrier bag?’

‘Mum keeps some in a drawer in the kitchen.’ Max went off to get one, coming back a couple of minutes later holding a pink plastic carrier bag with a white heart in the middle. ‘It’s all I could find,’ he said defensively when I pulled a face at it.

We’d just finished when we heard the front door open. I quickly shoved the carrier bag of ‘bank notes’ into the rucksack I’d brought with me.

‘I’m back, Max!’ Mrs Todd called. ‘Is everything okay?’

‘Yes, Amy is here. We’ve been on the computer.’

‘I’ll be off now, see you later.’ I told Max. I slipped the rucksack on my back. ‘Bye, Mrs Todd! Thanks for letting me use the computer.’

‘Hang on, Amy. Max said you have a laptop. Do you know if it’s a wireless one?’

‘Yes it is. But Gran hasn’t got internet access so I can’t use it,’ I told her.

‘You should be able to access the internet through our router, it’s a wireless one.’ Mrs Todd wrote something down on a piece of paper. ‘Here’s our password. We’ve got an MFV5. I’m sure you’ll be able to pick it up next door.’

She was right, my laptop had picked up a MFV5 router, but it had been password protected. ‘Great!

Thank you!’ I smiled. ‘I really appreciate it.’ Now I’d be able to surf the net, talk to my mates, and all from my bedroom at Gran’s. Brilliant!

At eight that night, I told Gran I was going for a stroll and set off with the bag of fake money to meet the blackmailer. Max had been texting me all afternoon, begging to come with me, but I’d refused. I had no idea who the blackmailer was, or how many of them there were. It was safer to go alone, then I’d only have myself to look out for.

Despite it being the height of the summer season, it was a bit chilly outside, so I was glad I’d brought my hoodie with me. I slipped it on, pulling up the hood, and hurried past the harbour to the beach. I looked at my watch. Ten past eight. I glanced around. Was the blackmailer watching me?

Most of the shops were still open and the sea front was packed, but as I passed the harbour the crowds dwindled. I realised why the blackmailer had chosen this beach now; it was much quieter at this end of the town. I peered over the wall, the beach below was deserted. I ran down the narrow stone steps and looked around. There was nowhere for anyone to hide without being spotted, so I put the bag in the bin by the wall, as the note had said, and ran back up the steps. Where could I hide to keep an eye on what was going on? Across the road I saw three huge green bins lined up against the wall of the last shop. I hurried over and squeezed behind one of them, crouching down to watch out for the blackmailer. My heart was beating very fast now.

I waited for ages, checking my watch every few minutes. Half past eight came and went. A couple of people walked past the wall, but no one went down the steps to the beach. At ten to nine I got a text message from Max:

The note must have been sent by someone playing a stupid trick. I squeezed out from behind the bins, crossed the road and peered over the wall. The beach was empty. I ran down the steps and reached into the bin for the carrier bag. As I pulled it out, a hand clasped me on the shoulder. Someone had followed me down the steps! My heart racing, I spun round and found myself face to face with PC Lambard. He yanked down my hood and shook his head sorrowfully.

‘Well, Amy, I’m very disappointed in you. I can’t believe that you’ve been blackmailing your Gran.’

‘I didn’t. I haven’t. You’ve got it all wrong.’

‘Save it for the station, young lady. I’ll phone your Gran and tell her to meet us there.’ He held out his hand. ‘I’ll have the bag.’

I looked at the bag, noticing for the first time that it was dark blue. ‘This isn’t the bag I left,’ I protested as PC Lambard snatched it out of my hand. ‘Mine was a pink one.’

‘Stop talking and start walking,’ he ordered. As he marched me up the steps, I glanced up and caught a brief glimpse of a pale, pointed face beneath a black beanie hat peering over the wall, but when we got to the top it was gone. If only I’d waited a few more minutes, we’d have caught the real blackmailer.

When we got to the police station, PC Lambard took the envelope out of the bag and emptied it onto his desk. Piles of shredded newspaper tumbled out everywhere.

‘Did you really think we’d leave £2,000 in a litter bin for you to collect?’ he said.

‘I didn’t ask you to. I didn’t send the ransom letter. I went to the beach to meet the blackmailer,’ I explained. ‘I put a pink bag full of fake money in the bin.’ PC Lambard stood up straight and folded his arms. ‘A pink bag with fake money?’ he repeated, unconvinced by my story.

Fortunately, I still had the ransom note and the spare two fake twenties in my pocket, so the mix-up was cleared up by the time Gran and her shadow, Mr Winkleberry, arrived. PC Lambard went back to the beach, but the bag of fake money had gone. He wasnvery pleased. ‘If anything else happens, you come to me instead of playing detective, or I’ll have you arrested for withholding evidence,’ he boomed.

On the way home, Gran told me how they’d received a letter at lunch-time telling them to leave the money at 9.30 pm in the bin at the dog beach. The blackmailer must have changed his plan. I bet he was dead chuffed to see me being whisked away by PC Lambard. Gran said Mr Winkleberry had persuaded her to tell the police, so the officer had been watching for someone to go down the steps and take the bag of money from the bin. Then she gave me a lecture about acting irresponsibly and putting myself in danger. So did Mr Winkleberry. Then, when I got home and sent a text to Max, he phoned back and gave me a blasting too.

‘I told you I should have come with you,’ he said. ‘I could have kept watch and warned you about PC Lambard. And I might have seen the blackmailer.’

‘Yeah, and I’d have been in even more trouble for putting you in danger as well,’ I retorted. ‘Gran would have been so mad she’d have probably sent me back home on the next flight.’

I went to sleep feeling pretty low I can tell you. I’d been so close to catching the blackmailer, maybe even the dognapper, and I’d blown it.

Chapter 11
Scarface

I’m not one to be down for long, and I woke up the next morning feeling more positive. I’d gone up a few wrong tracks before I worked out who was sabotaging our baseball games back home, and even Vince Bronson didn’t always work out who the culprit was right away. I just had to keep trying.

I wondered how long it had taken the culprit to realise that the bank notes were only copies. And when he – or she – found out, what did they do with them? They’d have to dump them somewhere. Maybe I should go back down to the ‘dog beach’ to see if I could find any clues.

I waited until Gran was on the phone to one of her dog-breeder friends before making my exit. ‘Just going for a walk, I’ll be back soon!’ I waved, and was out of the back door before she could ask where I was going.

‘I’m coming too!’ Max announced, opening his back gate. I swear that boy had me tagged or something. I couldn’t seem to go anywhere without him. ‘I’ve been watching out for you,’ he said. ‘I thought you might try to sneak out without me.’

‘Detective work is too dangerous for a kid like you,’ I told him. ‘I should never have let you get involved in the first place.’

‘Yeah, right! The only time you get caught is the time I’m not with you.’

I had to admit he was right. And an extra pair of eyes might come in useful. ‘Okay. I’m going to the dog beach to see if the blackmailer has left any clues. Then I’m going to look around and see if the fake money has been dumped anywhere.’

There were no clues on the beach and no sign of the twenty pound notes we’d made. I guess the blackmailer had checked out the envelope at home and dumped the notes in their own bin. Well, there was no way I could go around nosing in bins.

‘Let’s go for a milkshake and discuss what to do next,’ I told Max as we passed a burger bar. ‘Don’t worry, it’s my treat.’

‘Thanks.’ He grinned.

We were sitting, drinking our milkshakes – strawberry for me and banana for Max – discussing whether we could eliminate any of the suspects, when Mr Winkleberry walked in. I had to look twice to make sure it was him; a burger bar was the last place I’d expect Mr W to visit. He seemed more the tea-and-cream-scones type to me. He walked by without noticing us; not really surprising as our table was partly concealed by a big palm tree-like plant. He ordered a coffee, then sat in the corner table, by the counter.

‘What’s he doing here?’ Max whispered.

‘He’s waiting for someone by the look of it,’ I whispered back. ‘Try not to let him see us.’

I kept an eye on the door and a few minutes later a pointy-faced man, with a scar running down one cheek and a black beanie on his head, walked in. He looked pretty similar to the man I saw peering over the wall last night. Mr Winkleberry raised his hand and the scar-faced man went over and sat down next to him. Mr W sprang up, ordered a coffee and a burger and handed them to Scarface, who started eating as if he hadn’t had a meal for a week.

‘I’m sure that’s the man I saw at the dog beach yesterday,’ I whispered to Max. I stared hard at the man. He looked as if he slept rough. Why was Mr Winkleberry meeting him? And why was he passing Scarface a wad of money?

Scarface scoffed his burger, downed his coffee and then left. Mr Winkleberry followed a few minutes later. When he got up, I ducked down behind the plant, motioning Max to do the same, but I needn’t have bothered, Mr W didn’t even glance at our table.

‘Something’s going on and I’m going to find out what it is,’ I told Max. ‘Let’s follow that man and see where he goes.’

Making sure we kept our distance, we followed Scarface through the narrow back streets to the other side of town, where he opened the back gate to a run-down terraced house and went inside. We waited a while, but he didn’t come out again.

‘Bit of a dump this,’ I said, peering over the gate. ‘The windows are all boarded up and the yard’s like a tip. There’s trash everywhere.’

‘It’s a squat,’ Max told me. ‘Mum said that homeless people live here. There’s no running water or electricity or anything.’

Just then, something pink fluttering among the pile of rubbish by the wall caught my eye. It was a pink carrier bag with a white heart on it. It was the same carrier bag I’d stuffed with false notes and left in the bin on the dog beach.

I ducked back down. ‘It’s him. He’s the one who sent the ransom note,’ I whispered to Max. ‘Yes, I know there are other carrier bags like it,’ I said as he went to interrupt, ‘but, I’m sure it was Scarface I saw looking over the wall at the beach yesterday.’

‘So, where do you think Fluffy is?’ Max asked.

‘I’m not sure, but I’m going to find out. The windows are boarded up, so no one will see me unless they come out of the back door.’

I clicked open the gate and cautiously stepped inside, glancing over at the house. The back door was firmly shut. I ran over to the carrier bag and opened it up. It was empty. I dropped it and swept my gaze over the yard. The man might have thrown the carrier bag down and taken the envelope inside before checking the money. Then what would he do with it? Put it in the bin? I ran over to the garbage bin and opened the lid. Inside, was a big brown envelope, and peeping out of it was a fake twenty pound note! I’d just reached in to grab it when I heard the back door open.

I shut the lid and pretended to be searching for something on the ground.

‘Hey, you! What are you doing here?’

‘My ball went over the fence. I was just looking for it,’ I said, getting up. It was Scarface.

‘Get out of here!’ he yelled.

‘But my ball …’

‘Want me to kick you out?’ He took a small, but threatening step towards me.

‘Don’t worry, I’m going!’ I ran out of the yard, slamming the gate behind me.

‘Run!’ I shouted to Max. We kept running until we reached the main street, then we both collapsed onto the nearest bench.

‘He was the one who sent the ransom note,’ I told Max when I finally caught my breath. ‘I saw the envelope full of our fake money in his bin.’

‘Really? Are you going to tell Auntie Sue?’

‘Not yet. I want to find out how Mr Winkleberry fits into this story. Gran said he persuaded her to call the police. Why would he do that if he was working with Scarface? And why did he give Scarface money? It doesn’t make sense.’

When I got back home, Gran was sitting on the couch in the lounge, crying over a photo of Fluffy.

‘Oh, Amy, I wonder where my precious princess is,’ she sobbed. ‘She’s been gone almost a week now. I should be getting her ready for the show, having her coat clipped, booking her in for a shampoo and groom. How could anyone steal her?’

I put a comforting arm around Gran’s shoulders. ‘I’m sure we’ll get her back, Gran.’

Gran sniffed. ‘I know people think I’m daft about Fluffy, but she’s all I’ve got, Amy. She’s my baby and I want her back.’

Poor Gran. First Dad went away, then Grandad and now Fluffy. I had to find that dog and bring her back home. If I didn’t, Gran would be heartbroken.

BOOK: Dognapped!
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