Invisible! by Robert Swindells Page A

miss.’

‘Hi, Pete. All right?’ Thursday morning, just before the buzzer.
    Peter nodded. ‘Not bad, thanks.’
    Rosie smiled. ‘For someone who nearly got run over by thieves, eh?’
    â€˜How d’you mean, thieves?’
    â€˜The place you were passing when the van nearly got you was Sowerby Old Hall, right?’
    â€˜I haven’t a clue.’
    â€˜Well it was. And that same night, by a strange coincidence, a statue was pinched from the grounds of Sowerby Old Hall. And by an even stranger coincidence, that statue later showed up in old Kippax’s garage.’
    The boy goggled. ‘How the heck do you
know
all this, Rosie?’
    She told him about Sergeant Springer’s visit to her home, and her own to the Kippax residence. She was explaining how she’d got herself locked in the garage when Carrie and Conrad joined them and she had to start all over again.
    When she’d finished, Carrie said, ‘Why didn’t you
tell
us you were investigating? We could have come with you. We’re supposed to be a gang, you know.’
    â€˜I know and I meant to, but it was so
cold.
You’d have hated it.’
    â€˜
You
managed.’
    â€˜I’m used to it. Thing is what do we
do
, now the police don’t believe us?’
    Conrad looked at her. ‘They didn’t believe
you
, Rosie, ‘cause you’re a stranger and a traveller. If one of
us
had been there …’
    â€˜It’d have made no difference,’ interrupted his twin. ‘It’s not because Rosie’s a stranger
or a
traveller, it’s because she’s a kid. Haven’t you noticed grown-ups
never
believe kids?’
    Conrad pulled a face. ‘’Course I have, turkey.So what do we do?’
    â€˜Get evidence. Hey Rosie – I’ve got a camera. Why don’t we go up the Kippax place tonight and take a picture of the statue?
That
’d prove you weren’t lying, wouldn’t it?’
    Rosie sighed and shook her head. ‘It’s
gone
, Carrie. I told you, a van came for it.’
    â€˜Oh, yeah. Well – couldn’t we grab Lee? Force him to confess?’
    â€˜Sure, if you fancy a rumble with Rex Fairclough and Carl Foxcroft.
I
don’t.’
    â€˜Hey, have you noticed,’ said Conrad, ‘they’ve all got the letter X in their names? Kippax, Rex, Foxcroft? D’you think that’s why they’re a gang?’
    His sister snorted. ‘What the X has
that
got to do with anything, you dummy?’
    â€˜I just noticed, that’s all.’
    â€˜We’ve got a choice,’ murmured Rosie. ‘Either we find a way of making someone believe us, or we say it’s none of our business and stop being invisible detectives.’
    Carrie shook her head. ‘We can’t do
that
, Rosie. It’s against the law to know about a crime and not tell the police, and we know about acrime
and
who did it. We’ve
got
to do something. Question is, what?’
    The buzzer sounded as she spoke, and Rosie pulled a face. ‘We’ll talk about it tomorrow,’ she said, ‘at the barbie.’

Three thirty-five. The twins, walking home.
    â€˜Hey, Con?’
    â€˜What?’
    â€˜Old Kippax. He’s got that yard near Sizzlers, right?’
    â€˜â€™Course. What about it?’
    â€˜Well, we’ve investigated his house but not the yard. It’s piled up with all sorts of junk, and then there’s the buildings. He could hide a flipping
elephant
there and nobody’d know.’
    â€˜There’s no elephants missing.’
    â€˜You know what I mean, dummy. Those paintings might be there. I reckon we ought to take a peek.’
    â€˜You could be right. Mention it to Rosie tomorrow night.’
    Carrie shook her head. ‘I’m not talking about Rosie, Con. I’m talking about you and me. What’s wrong with the two of us taking a look by ourselves?’
    Conrad looked