The Christmas of Adventure

©2015 June E.

Philip, Dinah, Jack and Lucy-Ann are excited at the prospect of spending their first Christmas together, but by Christmas Eve all their plans lie in ruins. Things get even worse when a severe snowstorm brings the country to a standstill and leaves Bill snowbound, hundreds of miles away. Forced to fend for themselves in Bill's remote moorland cottage, rumours abound of a strange and terrifying creature lurking in the woods nearby... and with a ruthless thief on the loose, striking at night and stealing birds from the local Sanctuary, the scene is set for a frightening and perilous adventure. Can they stop the thief before it's too late? Or will Kiki be the robber's next victim?

Chapter 25: 'Let's creep out and look for fingerprints.'

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It was eleven o'clock when Bill gently shook Dinah's shoulder.

'Time to wake up,' he whispered.

Dinah rubbed her eyes and yawned. She could see that Philip was already awake and sitting by the window, ready for his watch.

'Okay,' she said quietly, reluctantly climbing out of her cosy sleeping bag.

The little room was chilly, for the fire in the stove had died down. She took her place at the window beside Philip, pulling her coat and hat on.

'Everything's quiet,' said Bill. 'Nothing's happened so far. If you see anything, wake me up immediately.'

Bill and a yawning Lucy-Ann climbed into their sleeping bags and settled down. Within five minutes they were both asleep.

Dinah found it boring just sitting by the window in the dark, and she began to wish something would happen. Then she had an idea. As quietly as she could she whispered, 'Philip, did Jack bring the fingerprint set?'

'Yes, it's here,' said Philip, pointing to Jack's bag – the end of a green box was sticking out.

'Let's creep out and look for fingerprints. We could sneak down to the fence. The thief might have left prints on the metal fence post or something.'

'We'll need a torch,' said Philip.

They both strained their eyes to see in the dark room, the only light coming from the glowing embers in the stove.

'There's one hanging on a hook by the door!' Dinah exclaimed, almost forgetting to whisper.

'Shhh! You'll wake everyone up,' hissed Philip. 'You fetch the torch and I'll bring the fingerprint things.'

Dinah took the torch and quietly opened the office door. They both slipped outside. The cold night air hit them immediately, and they shivered. There was something thrilling about creeping through the snow in the dark, by torchlight, and Dinah felt excited as she led the way to the fence, her boots crunching through the snow. Snowflakes were falling gently and the night was quiet and still.

When they reached the fence Dinah shone the torch around looking for something that might bear a fingerprint. Near the damaged part of the fence there was an upright metal fence post.

'I'm sure the thief would have held on to that when he was climbing through the fence,' she said. 'Let's dust it.'

Philip took out the grey dusting powder and sprinkled it onto the fence post. Dinah shone her torch carefully up and down, examining the surface of the metal.

'There are lots of smudges,' she said.

Then suddenly, she exclaimed, 'Here! Look! A clear fingerprint. Quick, get a piece of tape and we'll lift it.'

'Hold the torch steady, Dinah, or I can't see what I'm doing,' said Philip. 'It's bobbing up and down so much it's making me giddy.'

Dinah tried to calm her excitement and steady the torch beam, whilst Philip fumbled in his pocket for the fingerprint tape. Taking a piece, he gently pressed it on the fingerprint and then peeled it off.

'Now let's go back to the office and put it on the fingerprint card', said Dinah. 'I say, Philip – this could be valuable evidence for the police.'

The brother and sister crept back across the lawn, Dinah shining her torch to show the way through the darkness. Once back inside the office, which felt warm compared to the cold of the outdoors, Dinah rooted out some fingerprint card from the green box.

'Dinah, I think I'd better carry on keeping watch,' said Philip. 'After all, we don't want to miss anything important.'

'Fine', said Dinah absentmindedly, for she was totally absorbed in the delicate task of fixing the fingerprint to the card.

Once the tape was pressed firmly in place, Dinah looked at it and frowned. She rummaged in the box and found the cards they had made earlier, featuring their own fingerprints – these, she tossed aside. She was looking for something else. Where was it? Then, she found what she was searching for – the fingerprint belonging to the Midnight Man. She put the new fingerprint and the Midnight Man's fingerprint side by side.

'Philip, look at this,' she whispered, showing him the two fingerprints.

They were identical.

It was a few seconds before Philip spoke.

'I don't understand... what does this mean?' he asked.

'I think the cold must have numbed your brain, Philip' said Dinah. 'Isn't it obvious? The Midnight Man and the bird thief are one and the same person.'

'What!' Philip exclaimed.

'Everyone has a unique set of fingerprints – that's what Bill said,' explained Dinah, trying to be patient. 'These fingerprints are the same, so they must have come from the same person – they both belong to the Midnight Man.'

'But why would the bird thief... or Midnight Man, whatever you want to call him – why would he want to get into Bill's cottage?' asked Philip, puzzled. 'It doesn't make any sense.'

Dinah's eye grew wide as a realisation slowly dawned on her.

'Kiki!' she exclaimed in a shocked voice. 'He wants Kiki!'

'No!' said Philip, gasping in disbelief.

'Yes,' said Dinah firmly. 'And what's more, while we're here, Kiki is all alone in the cottage.'

Just at that moment, they heard church clock start to chime the hour... twelve chimes. It was midnight.

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