The Case of the Missing Cats Read Online Free PDF Page A

you could be my niece?’
    They were winging their way eastward. Holly sat up, relaxing a little. ‘How many dragons are there in London, for example?’ she asked.
    â€˜Look, kiddo, it’s bad enough that you’ve seen me. I’m not answering any more questions. I said you can come with me today, then you can let me get back to doing my job.’
    â€˜Well, I didn’t think that dragons existed at all until this morning.’
    â€˜You never wondered about the Loch Ness monster?’
    Holly gasped. ‘Why? Does it really exist? Is it a dragon?’
    â€˜No,’ said Dirk, laughing. ‘There’s nothing in Loch Ness except fish and water.’
    â€˜Oh,’ said Holly, disappointed. ‘What about Saint George?’
    â€˜You call him Saint George. We just call him George the cold-blooded murderer. He killed a defenceless pregnant mother. Very heroic. Nice guy to choose for your patron saint,’ snapped Dirk angrily.
    â€˜I didn’t choose him. Don’t have a go at me,’ she replied.
    â€˜Hey, look, if you’ve had enough . . .’ Dirk stopped on a sloping roof. He lowered his body by the chimney top and said, ‘You can get off here and I can go about my business on my own. You run and tell your mummy and daddy that you met a dragon and he told you that the Loch Ness monster is just a rubbish story made up by scared humans. Go on, get off.’
    â€˜There’s no need to be like that. I only pointed out you aren’t very friendly, but it’s to be expected, you don’t have much company. Nor do I. Lots of people don’t think I’m very nice either.’
    â€˜Don’t you care?’
    â€˜Not really,’ replied Holly. ‘I know what I’m really like and if other people can’t be bothered to find out then I can’t be bothered to care what they think.’
    Dirk craned his neck round to look at the girl. She looked stubbornly back at him.
    â€˜You’re not like most humans,’ he said. ‘All myclients ever care about is what other people think. They don’t want it getting out that their wives are having affairs or that their business has gone under or that their daughters have run away from home. They want it kept quiet, brushed under the carpet.’
    â€˜Well, I just want to know what’s happened to Willow. She’s only a cat and can’t really look after herself.’
    â€˜OK, then, let’s find out.’ Dirk stood up and they continued their journey in silence.
    They came to rest on a flat factory rooftop across the road from the warehouse where he had seen the mysterious dragon take the cat. Lying in the yard outside the warehouse was the drainpiping that Dirk had ripped from the wall.
    â€˜Are we there?’ asked Holly.
    â€˜Yes, get off,’ he replied.
    She clambered off his back and stretched her arms out. ‘You’re not very comfortable.’
    â€˜I’m not very friendly, I’m not very comfortable. It’s a wonder you’re here at all.’
    â€˜I told you, I . . .’
    â€˜Want to find your cat. Yes, yes, yes. Well, this is how we find her. We wait here and watch.’
    â€˜OK,’ said Holly and she sat down. ‘What are we watching?’
    â€˜That building.’
    For an hour, they stared at the warehouse, but nothing happened. No dragons landed on the roof. Nobody went in or out of the building. Dirk was expecting Holly to moan about being bored. In fact, he was hoping she would. That way he could be shot of her. People always thought detective work was exciting but in reality most of it was like this. Sitting still, watching nothing happen slowly. He glanced at her, but she showed no signs of getting tired. Her eyes stared at the building as unblinkingly as they had an hour ago.
    She caught him looking at her and said, ‘What?’
    â€˜Nothing,’ said Dirk
    Suddenly a loud BANG rang