The Child Detective

In Cleveland, America there is a street called Spencer Avenue, go down that street and there you will find a house called Jacaranda. It is a perfectly ordinary house it is exactly the same as the houses either side of it, with the same cream coloured walls and the same drive way with the same spiral pattern in them, but there is something special about this house, this house is where the greatest detective of all time lives. You probably think it is the man eating his breakfast in the kitchen, with his suit and moustache he certainly fits the role but you are wrong. Now if you went into the house, looking for the detective you would have to go up the stairs, along the corridor, the second door on the left and that is where you would find him lying asleep in bed. Nick Peterides the best detective of all time at the age of five. It is not just his brains and his logic that makes him the best detective but another good reason why he is the best detective is that people don’t suspect children especially not ones who can barely fend for themselves. He hasn’t even started school yet but he will grow up to best the smartest villains and catch the most cunning of criminals and here is where his legacy begins. He sleeps unaware that at this very moment someone is breaking in to the house sneaking into the lounge and knocking his father; Jack Peterides, unconscious with the butt of his pistol and dragging him off. He will find this out soon though when he wakes up for breakfast.

Nick woke and half fell half jumped out of bed. The bed was nearly as tall as he was and he had to use steps to climb up onto it. Nick scrambled up and ran over to the door, standing on tip-toe to turn the door handle, then he bounded along the corridor and then bounded down the stairs, taking them two at a time. Nick froze when he saw two police men and another man in a brown over coat talking to his mother, who had puffy eyes. None of them had seen him yet, but they would soon because he stuck out like a sore thumb with his bright red pyjamas against the cream coloured wall.. So he crept up the stairs and looked as the scene unfolded below in a gap between the banisters. They were talking in hushed voices so Nick could only here the odd word “any idea….. Could…maybe………who…….somehow.” Then the voices faded as Nick’s mother led them into the kitchen, obviously to stop him from hearing any more. But Nick was above that, he went down the stairs avoiding the ones that creaked and crept into the living room and out into the garden, then he rushed around the side of the house till he was next to the kitchen window and could here what they were saying.
“So you have no idea why someone would want to kidnap you husband” One of the policeman said
“No I have no idea, we’re not that rich, the lab doesn’t pay him that much, so they don’t want to hold him for ransom and they didn’t leave a note with an demands” Said his Mum
“Well we gathered that much said another voice” said another voice “call us if you think of anything else that could be of any use”

Nick sat down on the ground, his mind racing, so his father had been kidnapped, probably by some evil villain and he need to be rescued, by a superhero and Nick would be the super hero, but first he needed a cool name, went through super Nick, Nick man and super kid .But then he realised he needed some superpowers, but he didn’t have any sort of superpowers he couldn’t fly like superman and he couldn’t shoot lasers from his eyes, but then Nick realised that not all superheroes had superpowers. Batman just used cool gadgets and kung fu, but nick didn’t know kung fu but he did have cool gadgets. He went back into the house, into his room and crawled under the bed to reach his k-nex box. He opened it and inside saw his treasure trove of weapons. There were ninja stars, two daggers, a sword and various other bits and bobs all made out of k-nex. He crawled under the bed again to get his slingshot, it was not very elegant, a y-shaped twig with an elastic ban on it, but it worked and Nick was proud of it, along with it he also ad a bag filled with ammunition; stones, bits of wood, paper pellets and cut up rubbers. The next thing he needed was an outfit he went up to the chest of draws, using the lower draws as steps to reach the higher ones, he got out his favourite outfit navy shorts and a black action-man t-shirt, he put them on and looked in the mirror. To his disappointment he looked very ordinary even when he was holding the sword in his hand, he even looked a bit small and weak, so he went over to the chest of draws and climbed to the very top to get some sunglasses he put them on and looked in the mirror, he looked a bit better. It just needed something extra to make it perfect, he tried to work out what it was it was he had the idea of it but he just couldn’t grasp it, but Nick was used to ideas you mustn’t try and grab them straight away they were like a bubble if you tried and grabbed it, it would pop, you had to let the bubble form and come to you. So that was what exactly Nick did he didn’t think about it directly and busied himself with his weapons but he always kept a thought near that idea and then it struck him he needed a cape all superheroes had a cape. The next thing he needed to do was find a cape, he looked around his room for anything he could use as a cape but could see nothing so he went on top of his bed to get a better view and he saw it. He was standing on it, it was his blanket, it even had stars on it, and it was perfect. Nick swirled the blanket around him and looked in the mirror, it was perfect he even looked taller because he was standing on the bed.

He ran down the stairs looking for clues about his father and fighting with shadows. He messed around for half an hour but eventually Nick got tired and hungry. He went into the kitchen and sat on his chair but there was no breakfast on the table. He realised that his mum must have been too busy to have made breakfast, so he ran upstairs to get her to cook breakfast but just before her bedroom he paused, he could hear her crying. Now the full weight of what had happened began to sink in. His father had been kidnapped no one knew where he was, he could have been killed or in another country. Most children of his age would have broken down and started crying, but Nick felt calm and he seemed to view everything in a detached impersonal type of way. He was still hungry so he went downstairs to the kitchen and got himself an apple. Eating it as he went, Nick walked into the lounge and looked around nothing seemed much out of the ordinary, but he knew it would be like that a true master villain would not leave any visible signs. There was only one place where he would find any answers and that would be in his fathers study, he walked over to it and turned the handle to his surprise it opened easily, it was normally locked at all times. Nick had never been allowed in here although he didn’t know why, the room had a strange empty silent feeling it was if the air was pressing in on him forcing him back, it was if the room knew he was not supposed to be here. He looked around there didn’t seem to be anything unusual the room was just filled with books he picked one up “Atomic discoveries of the 21st century” he had no idea what that meant so he put it down again. In one corner there was a desk with a laptop on it. Nick walked over it his hand skimming across the desk, he accidentally touched it and the screen flickered into life there were some words printed across the screen Btm P5 W3-4. The words meant nothing to Nick. Nick leaned closer to the laptop to see if there was anything else, there was a beep and a box popped up, Nick nearly yelled in surprise, after he had recovered from his panic he looked at the screen again it said “How’s the project” He looked at the sender but it was blank. All of this was beginning to creep Nick out so he ran upstairs and dived into his bed.

He lay their breathing heavily, his heart racing he listened for any unusual sounds but there were none his mother was still crying and the boiler was clanking as it worked, but that was strange the boiler wasn’t usually on at this time. He got out of bed and felt the radiator, it was cold, he listened again for the clanking sound it seemed to be coming from downstairs. His heart quailed at the thought of going downstairs and finding the source of that clanking sound but he had no choice it was the only link to where his Dad was. He was just about to go out of his room when something caught his attention it was his favourite book the “Two Monsters”. He had just realised something b was book and tm were the initials of his favourite book; his dad must have left a message for him somehow. Nicked picked up the book and turned to the fifth page and looked at the third and forth words “look below” well that didn’t help much but it was something. He went downstairs always keeping his ears pricked for the clanking noise. It seemed to be coming from right below him, but that couldn’t be right there was nothing under the stairs, apart from the cupboard under the stairs. He continued down until he was right in front of the cupboard under the stairs he needed to open those doors to find his Dad but ever thought screamed in his head not to. In all the movies the bad guys always hide in cupboards ready to snatch the person who opens the cupboard. But he had no choice but he made sure he was in the right position to run up stairs to his Mum as soon as he opened the doors. They creaked opened eerily like in movies but there was no one there but the clanking noise seemed to be coming from there, he went inside and remembering that cryptic message from his dad he looked down but he could still see nothing, so he closed the doors and there below his feet he could see a tiny chink of light. He pressed his eye to the crack he couldn’t see much all he could see was a figure slumped against the chair, that figure looked like his Dad but he couldn’t be sure. Then he heard footsteps from below and the sound of a door opening. This was too much for Nick he had found Dad now it was best to let the grown ups handle this.

He went upstairs to his mum’s bedroom, she was crying when he came in but she tried to stop and look like she hadn’t; she wasn’t very convincing.
“Mum I’ve found Dad” Nick said in a quite voice
“How could you have found Dad he’s at a conference in New York, you know that I told you” replied his Mum
“No you didn’t and I know your lying he’s been kidnapped” Nick said tailing off to a whisper at the end. His mum looked shocked but quickly recovered yourself saying “Nick you really have such an imagination, your Dad hasn’t been kidnapped he’s at a conference like I told you”
“Then why were you crying and why were their the policemen this morning who said that Dad had been kidnapped” asked Nick loudly
“That never happened dear, you must have dreamt it” answered Mum feigning a casual voice
“The why were their four mugs out on the table this morning, you couldn’t have drunk four mugs of tea and if you did you would have used one mug instead of four?.” Asked Nick again
“Well they were from last night” replied his Mum who was obviously flustered
“Then why did you use the nice mugs that we use when people come over, instead of the normal ones?” queried Nick.
“Well I just fancied a change, that’s all and I don’t think I should be interrogated here” replied Mum furiously
“What does interrogated mean?” asked Nick
“Never mind” sighed his Mum
Nick stormed out of the room furious so much for the adults coming to the rescue. He stormed into the kitchen and climbed onto to the work surface so he could reach the cookie jar. While he was pulling himself up his hand closed around a card, he dropped back down and looked at it. It was a business card for Holmes incorporated “we’re as good as the original” Nick went into the lounge, picked up the phone and dialled the number on the card. It rang for a while before being answered
“Hello who is this?” asked a voice
“Hi I’m Nick Peterides, I’m the son of July Peterides, she says she has found something useful but she can’t come to the phone right now can you come over as soon as you can” said Nick
“I can come over in a half an hour is that ok?” asked the man
“Yes that’s good, bye” said Nick
Nick went back into the cupboard under the stairs to do a bit of spying
, he pressed his eyes to the crack and saw his father on the chair and another man, definitely the captor; Nick could see the gun in his hand. If Nick listened carefully he could hear the other man speaking “I need to go now, don’t try anything funny or it will be worse for you” Nick had heard that voice before he just wasn’t sure where. He heard the creaking of something and then the sound of a door being opened, Nick looked around him for anything he could use, but it was pitch black he opened the doors and found a chisel on the floor which was perfect. Nick put the chisel in the crack using it as a lever to make the crack bigger, after some time he was awarded with a crack as the wood splintered. At the sound his father looked up, but he couldn’t tell where the noise and come from, Nick felt in his bag of ammunition for his slingshot which he had kept with him and dropped a stone through the crack, it made a large noise which echoed in the confined space. But then the lights went out and Nick couldn’t see anything anymore, but he had to let his dad know that he was coming; he turned the light on in the cupboard so his dad would be able see the light coming through he waited a few seconds till he was sure his dad had seen it, then he turned the light off in case the kidnapper came back and realised Nick had been spying on him.

He went out of the cupboard just as the doorbell rang. He went over to the door and opened it, outside was standing the man that had been talking to his mum this morning.
“Hello you must be Nick, I don’t think we’ve met, I’m George Patterson, you called to say that your Mum wanted to tell me something, can I come in?” Said the man
“Yes” replied Nick, standing aside so the man could come in. Normally Nick would have told the man about his dad straight away but there was something about the man that made Nick not trust him.
“So where is your Mum, Nick I’ve got quite a busy schedule so whatever she has to say better be quick” said George
“She’s upstairs I’ll just go and get her” replied Nick already half way up the stairs
He opened his Mum’s door and said “Mum the detective from earlier is here, you can’t deny now that dad wasn’t kidnapped”
“What! Give me a second go and play ion your room or something” cried Mum
So Nick went into his room and listened at the door until he heard her walking down the corridor and going down the stairs. Then he snuck out of his room and listened to their conversation at the top of the stairs.
“You said you had something important to tell me, what was it?” asked George
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, I thought you had come to tell me something” answered Nick’s Mum
“Your son Nick told me you had something important to tell me” said George
“Well I never told him to call you; I have nothing to tell you, I’m so sorry if this has caused any inconviences” replied his Mum
“Not at all, but I have another appointment soon so I’ll better go, hopefully I’ll see you soon with some news” said George as he left.
Nick ran back along the corridor, into his bedroom and crawled under the bed, safe in the shadows. He had just managed to get himself completely under the bed when his Mum burst in “Nicholas” she yelled “Come out right now you are in soooo much trouble, do you think it was funny dragging Mr. Patterson out all this way for nothing. Come out right now I know you’re in here”. She looked behind the door, under the duvet and the pillows, in the cupboard and under the bed, but here she met a barrier of boxes and toys that Nick had pushed in front of him when she was shouting. She carried on shouting and searching and eventually she realised he wasn’t there or she thought he wasn’t there.

He waited until she had calmed down a bit and gone into her room before he came out from under the bed, then he rushed down again to the cupboard under the stairs. He went inside and closed the door behind him and pressed his eye to the crack, his father was still there and his captor was there again as well.
On a hunch Nick went out of the cupboard and picked up the portable phone and the card, he went back into the cupboard but left the door open. This time he dialled the mobile number and with his ear pressed against the crack he could hear a phone ringing. He felt so elated he would have jumped with joy, if he hadn’t been lying on the floor. Now for the next step he walked out of the cupboard and called 911, it went on to a machine saying press 1 for ambulance press 2 for fire department and press3 for police, while all of this was happening Nick considered if he should use a fake voice or not but realised that the police were supposed to help everyone even children so he decided against it. A voice suddenly said “hello, whats the problem and where are you?” “Hi I’m Nick Peterides I live in 6 Spencer Avenue in Cleveland it’s about my father he’s in trouble” answered Nick in a rushed voice
“Ok we’ll send a unit to you right away while we doing that can you fill us in on any more details of the situation” replied the police man
Nick filled him in and before long a police car arrived with two policemen in, they were about to knock the door when Nick opened it.
“Hi” Nick said standing aside so they could come in
“Were you the one who called about someone being kidnapped” asked one of the police men
“Yes” answered Nick
“Then we’ll need to speak to your mother if that’s ok” said the other police man
“She’s just on toilet at the moment, she will be done in a moment but I can show you its ok” replied Nick
“That’s nice but I really think we should talk to your mother first” said the policeman
At that time Nick’s mother came down the stairs and saw Nick talking to the two policemen, she stood still for a moment and then yelled “What have you done now Nick I’m going to murder you first you drag Mr. Patterson out for nothing that was bad enough, now this wasting valuable police resources just because you’re bored, I suppose you think its quite funny don’t you making people waste them time and totally embarrassing me to boot.”
Now it was Nick’s turn, he was livid he had done everything he had found out where his dad had been taken he had found out who had kidnapped him and handed it to the grownups on a plate all they had to do was listen to him for five minutes, but they wouldn’t because adults are important and know everything and children are idiots who don’t know a thing “WHY WILL NO-ONE LISTEN TO ME, I HAVE SPENT ALL DAY WORKING ON THIS, HAVING TO DO EVERYTHING ALONE AND I DID IT EVEN WHEN IT FRIGHTENED THE LIFE OUT OF ME AND KNOW WHEN I TELL YOU WHERE MY DAD IS AND WHOS KIDNAPPED HIM YOU WON’T EVEN LISTEN, WELL KNOW YOUR LISTENING AND THAT’S ONLY BECAUSE YOU THINK I’M FUNNY WELL YOU WON’T THINK IM FUNNY WHEN YOU GO IN THE CUPBOARD UNDER THE STAIRS SEE MY DAD TIED TO A CHAIR AND PHONE MT. PATTERSON’S MOBILE NUMBER”. Shouted George and with this he stomped up the stairs, slammed his bedroom door shut and flopped onto his bed in a strop.

Downstairs the two policemen and his Mum were still trying to take it all in. Eventually one of the Policemen said “I suppose we might as well do what he said it will make him happy at least”
“I suppose, it’s probably just his imagination anyway” said the other one
“OH AND BY THE WAY YOU HAVE TO CLOSE THE DOOR BEHIND YOU” yelled Nick
“I’ll do it” volunteered the younger policeman
“Yeah you can do it” said the other policeman
The younger policeman went into the cupboard under the stairs, bumping his head as he did so, he closed the door behind and looked down, there was indeed a crack in the floorboards he pressed his eye to it and saw a figure tied to a chair, there was also a shadow of someone else he couldn’t quite see he shifted his body a little so he could get a better a view and there was a person there and that person was holding a gun. The policeman stood up and bumped his head he cursed and stumbled out of the cupboard and said in a high-pitched squeaky voice “ he’s right the kids right there’s a guy tied to the chair and there’s another guy holding a gun”.
“Calm down” said the other policeman “You’re sure that’s what you saw”
“I’m positive” said the younger policeman
At this Nick’s Mother July Peterides fainted. The younger policeman rushed over to her and carried her through to the lounge and set her down on the sofa while the other policeman was issuing orders into his radio, we need backup we have a man with a gun and he’s got a hostage we need more men and can someone get me the mobile number to a Mr. Patterson he’s a detective so he should be easy to find. In a few minutes there were five cars surrounding the Peterides’ house. They had got Nick out of his room and were squeezing him for information “Do you know if they are any other men with him or is he alone?” asked a policeman with a comically large moustache
“No I’ve never seen anyone else, but if you just get my mother to call him and ask him to come out he won’t have his gun with him and you can just take him out” answered Nick.
“Ok we’ll do that thanks for your help Nick” said the man with the large moustache.
Everything was a blur of action and commotion for the next hour but eventually it was over, George Patterson was in jail, his Dad and everything was normal well as much as normal can get after you Dad ahs just been kidnapped and you have been given an award for helping the police. But after all this Nick still looked a bit gloomy, it was his mother who realised “whats the matter Nick? You saved the day you were the hero” asked his Mum
“Well after everything that has happened I never found out why he did it” replied Nick and at this his Mum laughed
“Well I do he was going to make me pay a fortune for him to find your dad” chuckled Mum
And this is the end of Nick’s first great adventure