The Two Little Detectives and the Cake Thief

Hello, everyone.

    Today, I am going to tell you another story of the two little detectives. I hope you remember them. They are Jack and Susan. This time they help their neighbour to catch a cake thief.

    Read on and find out how they did it.

The Two Little Detectives and the Cake Thief

    Once Jack and Susan were playing catch in the garden. As they were running around trying to catch each other they noticed that their neighbour Mrs. Bentley was searching for something on the ground. The children stopped playing and looked at her. She looked all hot and bothered.

     “I wonder what Mrs. Bentley is searching for?” wondered Susan.

    “Let’s go and ask her,” replied Jack.

    And so they went near their fence and asked Mrs. Bentley what the matter was.

    “Well, I had baked a cake and had kept it on the windowsill to cool,” she said in a puzzled voice, “and now it’s gone. I thought maybe a bird must have come and thrown it on the ground but there is not sign of it. I have guests coming this afternoon that is why I had made it for tea.”

    The children looked at another with one thought in their mind. Here was a chance to use their detective sets again.

    “Don’t worry, Mrs. Bentley,” said Jack. “We will try to get to the bottom of this mystery. Do not touch anything. We will be right back.”

    Mrs. Bentley looked at them doubtfully but she nodded her head and went inside.

    The children ran and brought their sets and set to work. They looked on the ground underneath the windowsill to see if there were any footprints there. Sure enough there were some there. Susan took out her notebook and drew the pattern of the footprint and Jack measured it with his measuring tape which Susan wrote it down.

    Next, they took the plate on which the cake had sat and dusted for fingerprints. There they found beautiful sets of fingerprints which Jack lifted it off the plate.

    “These footprints look like from an adult’s shoes,” concluded Jack. “Also these fingerprints are big, which means they must come from a big person.”

    Susan agreed to that. Then they went searching for more clues and found a small cigarette butt not far from the footprints. Susan took this and put it in a small plastic bag. Then they went home.

    They sat down on the steps and began discussing the case.

    “Since it hasn’t been long since the cake has been stolen,” suggested Susan, “maybe the thief must be eating it right now.”

    “Yes, that is true,” said Jack. “We must look for the thief immediately or else we will never find him. First let’s see what clues we have collected.”

    “Well, we have the fingerprints,” she said, “and then we have the footprints. Then we have this cigarette butt.”

    “Let’s look at the butt,” said Jack. “It is so dirty.  Also the fingerprints were so dirty too. This means our thief has dirty hands. Now let’s look at the footprint. It is big and look at the pattern. In some places there is no pattern.”

    “Yes, this means our thief is wearing worn out shoes,” she said in an excited voice.

    “Who would smoke a cigarette with a dirty hand and wears worn out shoes?” asked Jack.

    Both the children sat thinking and then Jack clicked his fingers, his eyes shining.

    “It has to be a homeless person,” he said, excitedly.

    Susan became excited too.

    “What shall we do now?” she asked.

    “Let’s walk down the street and see if there are any homeless persons there with worn out shoes and most probably eating that cake,” suggested Jack.

    And so they went out of their gate and started walking down the street. When they came to the end of the street they turned a corner and a bit further up the street there was a tree and under that tree they saw someone sitting there eating something. When they went a little closer they saw that it was a very dirty homeless man eating a large piece of cake broken by hand.   

    The children looked at one another excitedly. They had found their thief. But the big question was what to do next? They stood there looking for a while and then Jack made a decision.

    “I will stand here and see that he doesn’t go away, Susan,” he said. “You go and tell Mrs. Bentley that we have found her cake thief and to come immediately. Hurry up and go.”

    “Alright,” said Susan. “I will go.”

    With that she ran to tell Mrs. Bentley. She reached her house in no time at all as it was not very far.

    When Mrs. Bentley heard that she quickly came with Susan. When they reached the place where Jack was still standing the homeless man was still there. Mrs. Bentley gave an angry look and went to tackle the thief.

    The man denied it at first that he had not taken any cake but after much arguing he admitted to taking it. He looked down on the ground and when he looked up he had tears in his eyes. He explained that he had not eaten for two days and so when he saw the cake he couldn’t resist it and had taken it and that he was sorry. He said he would do anything to pay Mrs. Bentley back. He did not have a job at the moment that is why he did it.

    Mrs. Bentley felt sorry for him. She thought quickly and then made up her mind.

    “Would you like to have a job?” she asked him.

    “Yes, Ma’am, I would love to have a job,” he said.

    “Very well,” said Mrs. Bentley and asked, “how would you like to work as a gardener for me?”

    The man’s face lit up with hope.

    “That would be very kind of you,” he said, gratefully.

    “Good,” said Mrs. Bentley. “You can start work today. My gardener has retired and I was looking for one. But first let me give you some clothes and get yourself cleaned up before you start work, alright?”

    The man agreed and then he followed her to her house and she gave him some old clothes and old shoes of Mr. Bentley.

    And so the man worked for Mr. and Mrs. Bentley.

    Mrs. Bentley was very grateful to Jack and Susan and bought them a beautiful jigsaw puzzle as a gift.

    That was sweet, wasn’t it?