Operation Gadgetman! Read Online Free PDF Page B

police station. We’ll start our enquiries straightaway,’ said Detective Warner.
    They all went to the front door.
    â€˜Don’t worry, Beatrice. We’ll find your father. I’m sure he’s safe and sound.’ Detective Warner smiled. ‘Oh yes, something else . . . I think it would be best if all three of you didn’t say a word about this to anyone else. We don’t want to put your dad’s life in danger, do we?’
    â€˜No!’ Beans replied emphatically.
    â€˜We won’t say a word,’ Louisa said.
    â€˜Not one word,’ Ann agreed.
    Beans said goodbye to the detective before closing the front door slowly behind him. She scowled at the door, her eyebrows practically knitting together.
    â€˜What’s the matter, Beans?’ Ann asked. ‘I know that look.’
    â€˜I don’t think much of him,’ Beans said with disgust.
    â€˜Who? Detective Warner?’ Louisa asked, surprised.
    Beans nodded. ‘He didn’t talk about taking fingerprints or trying to find any clues left by the kidnappers or anything.’
    â€˜Maybe he’s coming back to do that with some of his colleagues?’ Louisa suggested.
    â€˜Then why didn’t he say so?’ Beans argued. ‘He didn’t seem to be very with it. In fact, you two asked me more questions than he did. I could do better than that!’
    â€˜Well, you’ve got to let the police do their jobs,’ Ann pointed out. ‘I’m sure that detective knows what he’s doing.’
    But Beans wasn’t listening. Her eyes held a strange gleam as she stared into space.
    â€˜Yeah . . . I could do better than that.’ Beans’s whisper was more to herself than to anyone else. ‘Ann, Louisa, I’m going to find Dad! Nothing’s going to stop me from finding out who the kidnappers are – and where they’re holding him.’

Chapter Five
    Looking for Clues
    Louisa and Ann stared at Beans.
    â€˜You’re not serious, are you?’ Louisa asked. The look on Beans’s face answered her question. ‘Beans, you can’t do that. It might be dangerous.’
    â€˜I can’t just sit around here doing nothing,’ Beans replied. ‘And if that detective’s in charge of the case, then it seems to me the police need all the help they can get.’
    â€˜But what can you do?’ Louisa asked.
    â€˜Dad wrote in his note that there were two men in the house today who made him write that letter to me,’ Beans said. ‘So they must have left some clues behind. Footprints, fingerprints – something. And I’m going to look for those clues until I find them.’
    Louisa frowned at Ann, then back at Beans. ‘Then we’re going to help you, aren’t we, Ann?’ said Louisa firmly.
    â€˜You can’t. You’re both expected at home,’ Beans pointed out.
    â€˜We can easily phone our parents,’ Ann said. ‘Come on, Beans, you must let us help you. That’s what friends are for, after all.’
    â€˜But I don’t want to get you two into trouble,’ Beans said.
    â€˜Don’t worry. We’ll handle our parents,’ Louisa said confidently. ‘We’re not going to leave you to do everything by yourself.’
    â€˜Anyway, what about your gran?’ asked Ann. ‘You told Detective Warner that you were going to phone her.’
    â€˜I will do,’ Beans said. ‘But not now. I’ll phone her a bit later. I don’t want Gran disturbing any likely clues. I’ll be out in Dad’s workroom when you two have finished your phone calls. I want to examine the workroom first, before it gets any darker outside.’
    Beans lowered her head. A moment’s unwelcome doubt settled over her. Would anything she could do help? Would it really?
    â€˜Beans, don’t worry. Your dad’s all right. I just know he is,’ Louisa said