Chapter Seven
Richard drove over to the police station to meet officer Bentley. They noted down the details and immediately had a sketch made of the culprit just as Jasper had described him. A team of policemen drove towards the old abandoned farmhouse to catch the burglar and arrest him.
"I've seen this man somewhere, " said Richard, looking at the sketch that Jasper helped the police man draw.
"Where? Can you remember?" Asked Nicholas eagerly.
"No, I can't remember at all," he said, shaking his head. "Let's go home children."
"Richard promise us that you won't tell anything of what happened today to granny Blair or Jenna or anyone else for that matter. If granny Blair comes to know if it, she won't let us investigate the case anymore, " said Jasper.
"Okay I won't tell anyone but it's too dangerous for you children to go investigating on your own now," said Richard. "The man has weapons and I cannot put you children at a risk."
"Okay we won't go alone, " promised Daryll.
"I'm hungry. Can we go and have that picnic please?" Said Diana. They all grinned at her and drove to granny Blair's house to have their picnic in her backyard.
Granny opened the door and asked them what happened at the farm. They just summarized and informed her that they hadn't found much, just some fresh food particles and a similar stud like before. So they complained to the police that someone might be living there and the police had gone to raid the place. Granny appreciated their efforts and they all trooped to her backyard to have their picnic.
There was bacon and ham burgers, fried chicken wings, lemon bars, peach cobbler dump cake, banana bread and cucumber salad. Jenna handed them a pitcher of fresh lemonade to go with the food. It was an amazing picnic.
Afterwards Richard received a call from officer Bentley that there was indeed someone living at the farm but he had escaped immediately after the children had left.
"I was expecting this," said Nicholas. "He must have realised that we would complain to the police."
"Now what do we do?" Asked Skylar.
"Let the police collect his fingerprints and other details. We could wait for the results and sightsee in the meantime. What do you say kids?" Asked Richard.
"Yes we could do that. We could also stalk Jenna and see if she leads us to the culprit," said Jasper.
Everyone agreed and they cleared up their picnic stuff and went inside the house to thank granny Blair. The children went back home after thanking granny. They were disappointed that the man had escaped.
"Do you think that the man would follow us around?" Asked Diana with a scared expression .
"He might but there's nothing to be scared. We will inform the police if he does," said Daryll.
They went up to their rooms to freshen up. They received a phone call later from uncle Stanley that he was arriving in the evening. The children were very excited. Daryll stood near his window with his binoculars, keeping a watch on Jenna's movements.
"Do you really think she's involved?" Asked Skylar.
"She might not directly be involved but she could lead us to the culprit, " said Jasper.
"I don't see anything suspicious about her. She's very hardworking and dedicated, I must say," said Daryll as he kept on watching. I think she's about to go somewhere. Jasper quick, let's follow her," he said, picking up his mobile and rushing downstairs with Jasper following after him. They kept at a safe distance behind Jenna as she hurried down the road.
"Where's she going?" Whispered Daryll as they followed her to a poor neighbourhood of suburban Richmond with smaller, humble homes.
"I think she lives here," said Jasper. They saw Jenna opening the door of a very small house and disappearing inside. After sometime a young man of around twenty years, rushed outside.
"That must be her son. He looks like her," said Daryll.
"Yes, nothing here Daryll. I don't think we'll find our man here. It's another dead end. So Jenna isn't involved in any way," said Jasper. They went back home with disappointment.
"Jasper, I think someone's following us, " whispered Daryll.
"Oh, how does he look like?" Asked Jasper.
"I think he's the same guy whom we saw that day infront of granny Blair's house, the one who left the note," whispered Daryll.
"What does he want now? He's also involved in this then, " said Jasper as they walked faster and faster towards their home. The man followed them too.
"He's still stalking us," said Daryll. They went into their house and upstairs to their room. A piece of paper tied around a small stone flew inside room through the window.
"What's this?" Asked Nicholas as he picked it up and started inspecting it. Daryll rushed to the window with his binoculars and saw the man running away at top speed, disappearing outside their complex. Nicholas opened the strip of paper. There was a message scribbled upon it,
Stay away or face the consequences
"He's given us a threat note," said Diana with a scared expression on her face.
"Yes, it seems so," said Jasper inspecting the note properly.
"It's just to scare us away," said Daryll, trying to console Diana.
"It doesn't look very professional to me," said Nicholas.
"We should show this to Richard," said Jasper and they all agreed. They called Richard and he came over immediately. They updated him about everything that happened, about the man who followed them. They showed him the note. He saw the note and started thinking hard.
"This handwriting seems familiar but I can't remember where I'd seen it," said Richard. The children groaned.
"Richard, please think hard. We've reached a dead end. Think where you've seen that man and where you've seen this handwriting, " said Daryll.
"I can't remember Daryll," said Richard, massaging his temples.
"How does this man look like?" Asked Richard.
"He looks similar to the burglar but younger. They might be brothers. They both have the same studded jacket," said Jasper.
