The Mystery of the Missing Door (Chapter 3: A Man With A Door)

Reen went inside his house and ran to the kitchen. He drank a glass of water, and as he was just about to go out, he heard some scratching noises at the door.

He rushed to the door and as he grabbed the door knob to open the door, it fell down with a big thump at his feet. Reen was so surprised! He looked around him. He could not see anyone but he saw some footprints on the ground near the door. They were the same as the footprints that they saw at Miss Nyla’s earlier!

He stood there thinking and a few minutes later, he called his smart pet cat, Reena to guard the place. The cat sat down, licking its paw and looked around him.

Reen ran upstairs to tell his father about what had just happened.  And down they went to the front door where Reen’s smart pet cat Reena was guarding the door. Reen’s father took out his mobile phone and called the police.

Meanwhile, Reen went out running to the beach hoping to find Pete over there. And there he was! Reen ran excitedly toward Pete that he tripped over a root of a big tree and fell down to the ground.

A man came over and he helped Reen up. He was carrying a big piece of heavy, flat, fine brown wood wrapped in plastic over his head and he put it down as he help Reen up.

“Thank you, sir,” said Reen.

The man turned away, picked up the heavy, flat wood and hurriedly walked away without saying anything. Reen started running towards Pete and suddenly he stopped. He just remembered that the man was carrying a big piece of flat wood, sized like a door.

“A door?” asked Reen aloud.

Then he saw the familiar footprints. they were like the ones that he saw at his house and at Miss Nyla’s. He ran to Pete and told him the news.

“Are you sure?” asked Pete. “Perhaps the man ran away because you’re wearing the PeforaMeen uniform today,” continued Pete. “What colour are his eyes and how does he look like, Reen?”

“I don’t know,” answered Reen sadly. “Anyway I saw his footprints and they were the same as the ones we saw at Miss’s Nyla’s house.”

Reen went on to tell Pete about what happened at his house. Pete was really surprised to hear the news.

“Can you remember anything about the man? The colour of his shirt and things like that?” asked Pete.

“As I have told you, I can’t remember anything about how he looks like,” said Reen. “But I remember what he’s wearing. It’s a nice rainbow coloured t-shirt with a picture of a bull. He wore a light grey jeans with buttoned pockets and brown shoes. Do you think that he is the one who stole Miss Nyla’s door?

“I don’t know,” Pete answered, “But we have to investigate. Maybe we’ll go around and see if we can find him.”

They went to the mini market near the beach but there were no customers inside. But as they were walking away, Reen saw the man.

He whispered, “Pete, can you see the man who is carrying the big, flat thing over his head, over there? I guess he’s the man we are looking for.”

The man looked nervous and as the two boys approached him, something very unexpected happened in front of Pete’s and Reen’s eye.

To be continued …

The Mystery of the Missing Door (Chapter 2: A Mystery Begins!) – A Story By Ahmad Ali Karim

Please click here for: The Mystery of the Missing Door (Chapter 1: Back Together)

Mic rushed inside, running to the dinning room. “Reen, Safora!” he shouted. “Pete’s calling for you. Come on!” He ran outside followed by Reen and Safora.

“What happened, Pete?” asked Reen as Pete looked at some footprints on the dirt of the pathway.

“Reen, Safora can you see anything wrong around you?” asked Pete as soon as the two children reached the spot where the front door used to be.

Safora looked around her and suddenly she shouted, “Oh, no! The door is missing”. She looked at Miss Nyla and asked her, “Miss Nyla, what had happened to your front door?”

Miss Nyla was too stunned and upset to talk. Pete and Safora took Miss Nyla to their house. Their mother made a cup of hot strawberry tea for Miss Nyla to calm her down. And while Miss Nyla drank her tea, Pete’s mother called the police.

While waiting for the police, the four children tried to inspect the area where the incident happened. Pete gave Safora his camera saying, “Safora, Reen please snap some photos of the footprints and try to investigate them further while Mic and I look for more clues.”

They were very careful not to touch anything around the area as they do not want to disturb any clue or evidence left by the suspect. Then Safora checked all the other doors to make sure that they are not missing.

When the policemen came, they asked the children what had happened and they took some photos of the foot prints that the children had inspected earlier. Later the policemen went to Pete’s house to interview Miss Nyla about her missing front door. After the policemen left, Safora helped Miss Nyla to locked all the other doors at her house while her father called a carpenter to get Miss Nyla a new front door.

Ten minutes later, Pete brought a piece of wood inside a zipper storage bag to the small table out side Mic’s house where the others were already waiting for him. “I only found this clue,” he said. “I think this piece of wood came from the missing door. And there is a fingerprint on it. I found it on the pebbles in front of Miss Nyla’s house after the policemen left the house. But it is very hard for us to find out whose fingerprint is on this wood. Mic, can you please take this clue to the police station and ask the Constable if he knows whose fingerprint it is? And don’t forget to tell him that you’re from the PeforaMeen Solvers. I’ll go home and call our friend, the police chief to tell him about our new mystery. May be he can gave us some advice on what we should do.”

“Right, Pete.” said Mic. “I’ll go with Safora just in case anything happens. Reen, you better go inside and drink some water. I can that see your lips look too dry.” So, the four children left the table and separated into different directions to do their own jobs.

To be continued …