At that moment Mr Thomas’ wife appeared. “Oh hello, Neil; still got your plasters on, I see.”
Moggy nodded and waved his arm. Mrs Thomas smiled and turned to her husband; “I’ve phoned for an ambulance, it should be here soon. Oh and I knocked on the Loaches’ door and told her exactly what I think of their bloomin’ skip and that I held her responsible for this accident. Needless-to-say, she didn’t say anything, just looked embarrassed and slammed the door. I think it’s all down to her husband...”
Mr Thomas stood up “Did you tell the ambulance to come to the front? Be easier if they just come through our house. Otherwise, they’ll have to reverse down the lane.”
Mrs Thomas nodded; she’d said to come to their front door because of the skip. She smiled at Holly, Ryan and Moggy then went back into the house to wait for the ambulance.
Holly gave a polite cough and suggested, as the Thomas’s seemed to have everything under control, they should leave rather than get in the way. With that, Holly, Ryan and Moggy set off back down the lane.
~~~
The three friends passed through the small gate and back into Moggy’s garden. Holly swung the duffle bag as she walked and smiled; “before anything else happens we should take some pictures of the helmet and coins…” she would have continued but as they emerged from the pine and laurel bushes, they stopped in their tracks, open-mouthed.
PC Grearson was standing in Moggy’s back garden. He looked at Holly, Ryan and Moggy, smiled and held out his hands. “Back in medieval times men would hold out their hands for shaking to show they were not concealing a dagger or knife up their sleeves.” He turned his hands over and back again then withdrew them. “It’s a trust thing, isn’t it?” He turned to the two women standing next to him in the garden; “this is Detective Inspector Barton and her assistant, Detective Sergeant Davies.” He smiled again and lifted his hands up to chest height, revealing that he was handcuffed.
DI Barton took an identity card out of her pocket and passed it to Holly. “If you want to check that I really am a police officer, you can phone this number.” She passed another card to Ryan and, noticing the e-tab on the garden table added, “or just look me up on the county police web site, it has my picture on the site somewhere.”
Moggy looked at PC Grearson, “so who are you then? Are you our village policeman, a super-duper undercover museum spy or some crook?”
DI Barton raised her eyebrows. “Museum spy, Grearson?” she shook her head, “‘PC’ Grearson works or rather, worked, for me. He was assisting my team in trying to find out what Fimister was up to.
“We suspect Fimister has been involved in the smuggling of several items of art since he was released from prison. No doubt as a means of funding his lifestyle. And that he probably had an idea as to where the stolen museum gold was hidden. However, Grearson here obviously went too far and failed to report and act on certain things. He has given what I hope is a full account of what has gone on and is under arrest pending charges.”
“Well, if you are interested in catching Sinister Fimister, you better hurry,” said Ryan pointing with his thumb over his shoulder, “he’s about to be taken away by an ambulance…again.”
Holly nodded; “he crashed his quad bike into a camper van at the end of the lane and knocked himself out.”
DI Barton turned to her sergeant and told her to check out what Holly and Ryan had just said. Davies nodded and headed out of the garden, through the gate and up the lane. Five minutes later she phoned DI Barton.
“OK Meg,” said DI Barton into her phone, “get some uniformed boys from the station and get them to go to the hospital. We need to know as soon as Fimister comes round. No visitors and a twenty-four hour guard. Get that phoned through now then come back here.”
DI Barton smiled. “Just in time. He won’t escape us again. Well, now that we have the coins and the helmet, I take it that is what is in the bag?” Holly nodded and held out the bag. DI Barton looked inside and smiled again. “Right, we can head back to the station and you, Grearson, can return to your cell. As soon as Fimister is able we’ll get a statement from him and then we can compare your stories.” She looked at Holly, Ryan and Moggy, “we also took the precaution of arresting Edna Preece. Although it seems she was unaware of what went on last night, having been drugged.”
“Edna is Fimister’s sister,” explained Moggy. Half sister added Ryan with a little laugh.
Sergeant Davies returned and after a brief chat with DI Barton, took Holly, Ryan and Moggy’s full names and addresses. They would all need to give statements of what they knew and how they had become involved and, it seemed to DI Barton, stopped Fimister getting away with a very valuable haul of national treasure.
Holly, Ryan and Moggy watched DI Barton, Sergeant Davies and the handcuffed ‘PC’ Grearson leave the garden by the path that ran along the side of the house to the front gate.
“Do you think we’ll get a reward?” Ryan looked at Holly and Moggy.
Moggy shrugged and rubbed his plaster-cast arm. Holly thought then said, “be nice if we got something, wouldn’t it? A little certificate or something like that.”
At that moment Moggy’s gran came into the garden carrying a tray of iced drinks and a layered chocolate cake. She placed the tray down on the garden table and stood back; “Well, it seems the three of you are quite the heroes and heroine, so I’m told by the Inspector. And, if that is the case, I think we need to celebrate with some big slices of cake! And,” Moggy’s gran smiled, “you can tell me all you have been up to!”
Holly, Ryan and Moggy laughed and reached out for slices of cake.
The End
~~~~~
epilogue
The Easter Gang & Sinister Mister Fimister
Several weeks after Holly, Ryan and Moggy had returned to school, they each received an invitation for afternoon tea hosted by the Mayor and Lady Mayoress and the High Sheriff of the County of Somersetshire. Afterwards they filmed by the local TV news programme being presented with framed letters of thanks and replica Saxon gold coins on ribbons (Ryan muttered ‘cheapskates’ on receiving his, disappointed it was not the real thing).
The Parish magazine, keen to make amends, printed Holly, Ryan and Moggy’s story as well as a full apology for Moggy.
Victor Fimister made a full recovery from his collision with the camper van and was sentenced to 6 years in prison.
PC Grearson co-operated fully with the police and was spared a prison sentence. However, he did loose his police job. He now gives history and ghost walks of the local area.
For her part, Edna Preece was given a community service order and told to run the scout hut café every Saturday morning and every school holiday until further notice. She continues to be an ex-smoker and has changed from carrots, parsnips and leeks to chillies…
Anna Smarna did begin teaching Aylid at home but soon found it interfered too much with running a post office and keeping up with the local gossip. After attending one of former PC Grearson’s history walks, she began dating him and persuaded him to become Aylid’s tutor…
Noomis Deare is still missing…presumed divorced or in the hands of the CIA or the Taliban or all three!
As for the gold coins and the helmet…they were returned to the British Museum in London and eventually put on display…in secure, alarm protected cabinets.
~~~~~
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The Spotless Leopard
Reginald, Prince of Baboons
The Honey Elephant
A Triangle of Wizard tales
The Tale of One tree
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