What Makes A Detective.

Chapter 7

Carmen had to duck under the doorframe to get into the shop, and when he did his eye was first drawn to Barnes at the little table.

"Refreshments on the job, Sargeant?" the huge Detective Inspector snapped, but Toby jumped in.

"Tea or coffee, cake or cookie, sir?" he asked bravely, sidling between Barnes and his boss and smiling at the latter politely. "All on me."

There was a standoff, where Carmen seemed to scrutinise the slip of a boy in front of him. Toby hoped that the Detective Inspector was only weighing up whether or not he was trustworthy with a teapot.

"Black tea, if you don't mind" Carmen said finally. "Leave the teabag in. I'll pass on the snacks, but I fancy my Sargeant would be grateful for another one of those cookies-blueberry and white chocolate, were they?"

"Indeed they were, sir" Toby replied, smiling, shielding his surprise and scuttling out. The cookies had completely cooled now, so Toby grabbed the rack in order to put them on the display. After dropping a teabag in the largest mug he could find, Toby boiled the kettle, and, black tea in one hand, rack of cookies balanced precariously in the other, Toby wobbled his way back into the shop, deposting the cookie tray on the counter before presenting the large mug to Carmen, who flickered a smile of approval. He and Barnes had been in close discussion as Toby had come in, and, not wanting to disturb, the young boy returned to his cookies and his display, trying to remember if he had left anything else in the oven. Other than the breads, which he would take out in the morning, Toby didn't think he had.

"Master Smart?" Carmen asked.

"Sir?" Toby said innocently, popping his head up above the counter.

"I assume you've heard about this second murder?"

"Yes sir" Toby replied truthfully. He sighed, leaning on the counter. "Horrid buisness, sir."

"What do you make of it?" was the Detective Inspector's next question. Toby sucked his lip, hopping up onto the desk and swinging his legs through, so he was now sitting facing the two policemen.

"I think it sounds like Sleeping Beauty, sir" he told them bluntly. "Same way Alice Carroll's death sounds like Through The Looking Glass."

Toby watched as Carmen's face changed.

"What does that mean?" he demanded, striding over to stand above the boy, intimidating him.

Detach, Toby said to himself in his head. Detach, detach, detach.

"Sir, there have been books going missing from the library" he explained, jumping up, refusing to be intimidated this time. "I noticed it when we met there the other day. Pages ripped out. Whole stories going missing. As of yet, it's only been these two. Sleeping Beauty and Through The Looking Glass. Through The Looking Glass is the sequel to Alice In Wonderland, and, if you take it literally, Alice Carroll fell through the looking glass when she was hit over the head with a mirror. The start of Sleeping Beauty, correct me if I'm wrong, tells of a king and queen who were sad, since they couldn't have a child. Mr and Mrs. Nevison have been trying to have a baby for years, sir. Ruby was so special to them, just like Sleeping Beauty was to the king and queen. Everyone in the village brought the Nevisons gifts, sir, just like the fairies in the story. And then, in the story, one wicked fairy casts a wicked spell. That's what represents the killing this time."

There was a silence, as both men stared at the young boy, seemingly dumbstruck.

"But how did the murderer get to Ruby Nevison?" Barnes then asked. "She was asleep in her cot the whole night."