How Ali Ferguson Saved Houdini (4 page)

‘Why?' asked Ali.

‘Because no one goes to bed at half ten unless they're a baby.'

That's not true
, Ali thought. He would have been in bed himself if it hadn't been for Caitlin knocking on the door. ‘I meant why were you looking out the window?'

Gez looked a bit embarrassed. ‘Well, you see, I've been hearing this owl some nights. It hoots down by the river. You know, “Tu-whit, tu-whoo”. I've never seen it, but I was looking out for it. It would be cool to see an owl, wouldn't it?'

Ali nodded. ‘You know, it isn't one bird making that noise; it's two. The female bird says, “Tu-whit-tu,” and then the male bird answers, “Whoo.”'

‘Really?' Gez was impressed. ‘Do you know about birds and animals then? I used to see foxes here sometimes. Urban ones. But I haven't seen them in ages. I hope they're OK. Do foxes migrate, do you think?'

‘Boys! Gez! Get to the point,' Caitlin said.

‘Oh, sorry. So, I was at my window. I had the light off in the room so that I could see out better. Then I saw a man and a dog, walking down the road. That dog.' Gez pointed at Falcon, who thumped her tail on the ground.

‘That was my dad. What happened next?' Caitlin leaned forward, balanced right on the edge of the crate.

‘Then I saw someone else moving on the river path. I hadn't seen him at first because he'd been standing still. He was carrying something, but I couldn't see what it was. Then a van with its lights off reversed down the road. Your dad was between the van and the man on the path. They started talking. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but it made them angry. The man put down his box. He stepped right up to your dad, jabbing his finger at him. Then he punched your dad, right on the side of his head.'

Caitlin gasped.

‘Your dad dropped like a stone.' Gez dropped a fist into his open palm to demonstrate. ‘And that dog –' he jabbed his fingers towards Falcon – ‘that dog ran away with her tail between her legs.'

Falcon whined gently.

‘Then what happened?' Ali asked.

‘The man who hit your dad ran up to the van. He put the box he was carrying in the back and the van drove off. Way too fast – they squealed away up the road.'

‘Hey! We heard that! Do you remember?' Ali asked Caitlin. She shook her head, as though she was trying to let it all sink in.

‘A few minutes later,' Gez said, finishing his story, ‘you two were there, with some woman. And it was all over.'

‘No,' Caitlin said with certainty. ‘It isn't all over. Someone hurt my dad. We have to find out what's going on.'

Ali looked at Caitlin. She looked stern, with her eyebrows set in a frown. The log he was sitting on felt damp and cold. He wriggled uncomfortably. He had enjoyed pretending to investigate, but now they knew what Gez had seen, he felt a bit different.

‘Caitlin,' he said slowly, ‘you were right. There is something odd going on. A gang doing something secret. But this is grown-up stuff. Should we really chase them? Perhaps now we should just let Dave go to the police. They'll catch them.'

Caitlin shook her head impatiently, ‘Dad won't do that.'

‘He won't go to the police? Why not?'

Gez laughed.

Ali didn't see what was funny. ‘No, really. Why not? If someone hurt him, then the police will help. Look at the crime scene, get DNA samples, stuff like that. They'd catch them, easy.'

Gez shook his head. ‘I can tell you're new. Caitlin's dad can't go to the cops. They'd arrest him soon as look at him. He's a gangster.'

‘You take that back!' Caitlin said angrily.

‘What?' Gez asked. ‘I was only saying what everyone knows. I wasn't being mean – honest, Caitlin.'

‘My dad is
not
a criminal. He's a businessman.'

‘All right,' Gez said, holding his hands up, ‘he's a businessman. Whatever you say.'

‘So why can't he go to the police then?' Ali asked.

Caitlin frowned harder. ‘Ali, Dad's business is looking after other people's dogs. At the top of a tower block. In a rented flat. What do you think would happen if the police came round?'

Oh. Ali suddenly felt a bit dense. He hadn't known that what Dave was doing wasn't allowed. Dave'd be in big trouble if anyone found out; he might even lose the flat. So there would be no police. ‘OK, fine. Sorry. But what can we do about it? We can't do DNA tests.'

Caitlin stood up, knocking the crate over as she did. ‘We don't need DNA, we just need to investigate. Come on!' She walked away, through the bushes, back towards the path.

Ali looked at Gez. Gez grinned, then followed Caitlin. Ali shrugged; the mystery would be solved much quicker if they went to the police. But if they couldn't do that, then he would help his new friend find out who'd hurt her dad. He picked up Falcon's lead and led her out to hunt for clues.

Caitlin was already at the path when Ali and Falcon reached her.

‘Gez,' she said, ‘did the man come from this path? Or from somewhere else?'

Gez thought for a moment. ‘He came from here. He was carrying something. He was waiting for his accomplice in the van when your dad turned up.'

‘So,' Caitlin said, ‘he must have come from the river. Let's go.'

They followed the path carefully, each step placed on clear ground for fear of destroying evidence. The path dropped steeply; Ali had to grab hold of tree branches to stop Falcon from pulling him over. The sound of the river got louder, water rushing over rocks. Ali had never been here before. The sight of the river when they finally reached it was a surprise. It was really wide! From the top of Lever Tower it had looked narrow, but it wasn't; the shallow water at the edge gave way to deep, black water in the centre. The far bank was thirty metres or more away.

‘Wow! It's a proper river,' he said.

‘What were you expecting? It goes out to the sea just a mile or two away,' Caitlin said.

Ali walked to the edge of the bank and looked in. The water ran over pebbles and tiny dark fish darted in tight formations. ‘Fish and everything!' he said.

Gez came up close to him and peered in too. ‘Yes. Too small for fishing though. We could put some in a jam jar and take them back to the den. We could have an aquarium like in a Chinese restaurant.'

‘Hey!' Caitlin yelled. ‘Will you two stop messing about? We are looking for evidence. Leave those poor fish be.'

Ali sighed and turned away. With Falcon at his side, he inspected the ground, looking for any sign of the man who had been here the night before. ‘There's a plastic bag here. And another one. But they're all scrunched up, they look old,' he said.

‘And some old beer cans here. And some cigarette ends,' Gez said from further along the bank.

‘Do you think we should take the cigarette ends? On the telly, they can tell who's the criminal by what brand they smoke,' Caitlin said doubtfully.

‘There's no way I'm collecting piles of dirty old fag ends. If they're clues, then you'll just have to work it out without them,' Gez said.

Ali looked at the ground carefully. The path led straight to the water and a kind of small, stony beach. On either side of the path, the grass was undisturbed.

‘Hey!' he said. The others turned to look at him. ‘The path is all muddy. But the grass hasn't been trampled!'

Gez shrugged. Caitlin frowned.

Ali sighed. ‘That means that the man didn't walk on the grass last night. Which means that the only place he could have come from is the river. He must have come by boat!' He grinned. Perhaps this investigating business would be easy after all. ‘So he unloaded something from his boat into the van, and Dave saw him do it.'

‘I wonder what was in the box?' Caitlin asked. ‘It must be something secret. Why else would they do it at night?'

Gez shook his head. ‘Dunno. Could've been anything! Drugs! Guns! Ancient artefacts! Priceless paintings!'

‘And your dad really won't tell us what he saw?' Ali asked.

‘No,' Caitlin said. ‘He won't say anything.'

‘Well, in that case, there's only one way to find out,' Gez said.

‘What way's that?' Ali asked.

‘Stake-out,' Gez said.

.

Chapter 5

‘Stake-out?' Ali asked. ‘You mean we should come here tonight and spy?'

‘Yup,' Gez said. ‘We could find out what's in the boxes.'

‘Cool.'

Ali's stomach rumbled loudly; it was time to eat. Mum would make thick-cut tuna sandwiches for lunch, if he asked nicely. ‘I have to go home,' he said. ‘But I can meet you both here tonight, maybe at eight o'clock?'

Caitlin shook her head. ‘There's no way Dad will let me out at that time. Not after last night. You two go, and make sure you tell me exactly what goes on. I've not got a mobile, but you have to ring the flat as soon as you have news, OK?'

Ali took out his phone. ‘What's your number? Gez, yours too.' They told him and he keyed them in. ‘Excellent. I'll see you back here tonight.'

.

A few minutes later, he let himself into the flat. It was beginning to feel like home already.

‘Mum?'

‘There you are!' Mum came out of her bedroom.

‘Mum, what are you doing?' Ali stared. Mum was wearing the red minidress that she'd found yesterday. It was tiny. And she wore huge boots, with thick soles. It looked like she had bricks strapped to her feet.

Mum twirled slowly – it was clearly tricky to do in the boots. ‘Do you like it? This was my Spice Girls outfit. I don't suppose you remember them. I used to go out in this! I was wearing it the first time I met your dad. And he still asked me out!'

‘It looks, er, nice.'

‘Oh, you are a good boy. I can't believe I can still get into it. There's loads of stuff I'd completely forgotten about. Some of your stuff too. I should have given it to a charity shop ages ago.'

‘No!' Ali said. He thought about the things in boxes, the things that Dad would have recognised.

‘What?' Mum asked.

Ali shook his head. He hadn't meant to shout. But the idea of throwing their things away gave him a strange feeling, like an ache in the middle of his chest. Mum was standing closer now. She cupped his chin in her hand.

‘What is it, sweetheart?' she asked gently.

‘Nothing.' He pulled back.

‘Come and have a look.' Mum sounded excited. She went into her room. Ali followed, not sure why he didn't want to. But he was sure that he didn't.

Mum's bedroom looked like an explosion at a jumble sale. Half-empty boxes spilled clothes and toys on to the floor. There were piles of fabric on the bed, red, gold, pink; things that Mum had already tried on.

Something blue caught Ali's eye. A man's T-shirt, twisted around an old toy truck. He lifted it gently from the box. It smelled of dust and old places. It didn't smell like Dad any more.

‘Oh, Ali,' Mum said softly.

‘It's OK,' Ali said, trying his best to mean it. He paused. ‘Do you . . . Do you think he might come back soon?' Even as he said the words, he wished he hadn't. Mum didn't want Dad back. Ali knew that. She remembered the rows, the arguing, the slammed doors and angry words. And Ali remembered them too.

But he also remembered the way it felt to have Dad hold him tight and whisper goodnight. It was like being held by a rock, or an oak tree. Solid and for ever.

He twisted the T-shirt around his fingers.

‘I don't know,' Mum said finally. ‘I don't think so. But then, I've never known what goes on in your dad's head. He might come back one day.'

Ali dropped the T-shirt back into the box.

Mum pulled off the boots. ‘So, where have you been this morning?' she asked.

‘I went to see Caitlin. I left you a note.'

‘I know. But I went to their flat . . .' Mum paused. ‘Dave said he hadn't seen you.'

‘He was asleep. Caitlin and me, we went out,' Ali shrugged.

Mum tugged on a pair of jeans. Then she pulled a jumper over the dress. The bottom of it still showed, like a sparkly red belt.

‘Ali,' she said. Her voice was serious. ‘We're making a new start here. Both of us. Without your dad.'

‘I know.'

‘Do you? Life goes on, you know. I need to start living again.'

Ali nodded, though he wasn't really sure what she meant.

‘It's been lonely for me too. I'm not saying I want your dad back; we were bad for each other. But I do miss the company.'

Mum was lonely? Ali looked down at his lap. He hadn't known that. He thought it was just him that missed Dad. ‘But you won't be lonely here, will you? You've got me,' he said.

She smiled at him in an odd way. ‘Yes, I've got you. And I'm sure I'll make new friends. You wouldn't mind that, would you?'

‘Of course not.'

‘Good.' Mum patted his shoulder quickly.

Ali nodded, but couldn't think of anything to say.

‘Come on. This flat looks like a bomb's hit it. We need to spend the day getting it shipshape.'

‘I was going to go out again, later,' Ali said.

‘But you've been out all morning! I thought we could get all this done, then I'll cook something nice for tea and then we'll watch a film from under our duvets. Just you and me. What do you say?'

He had to say yes. He couldn't let Mum feel lonely. Gez would have to do the stake-out on his own.