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MOTHER (On phone): Yes, good morning. We're going shopping, but we'll come round on the way. Bye! |
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MOTHER: That was the police station
in the High Street. Will you look in today? They have a difficult
case and need your help. I told them we would look in on our way to
do the shopping. If we can GO shopping, that is. I seem to have mislaid
my purse... |
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MOTHER: Good
gracious! You are right. What would we do without you? LUCY: Mother. The first thing I must do is collect Sherlock from the doll's hospital. Mr. Truscott says he will be ready today. MOTHER: We'd better go, then. You have a busy day. |
| Mr. TRUSCOTT:
Good morning Mrs. Lanzarote! 'morning Lucy! MOTHER: Good morning, Mr. Truscott. We have come for Lucy's teddy. Mr. TRUSCOTT: Sherlock is ready, as I promised. I have put a patch on him so he looks as good as new LUCY: Thank you Mr. Truscott. |
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MOTHER: How
much is he? Mr. TRUSCOTT: A small donation to charity. I get my pleasure from watching the children's faces when they see their toys as new again. MOTHER: You are a kind man. MR. TRUSCOTT: Thank you, Mrs. Lanzarote. Goodbye, Lucy! |
| POLICEMAN: 'Morning! MOTHER: Good morning, Mr. Trotter. I'll take Sherlock. I don't want him to get in the way while you're investigating. She's all yours, Mr. Trotter! POLICEMAN: Thank you, Mrs. Lanzarote. Have a nice day! MOTHER: Same to you. Goodbye Lucy. Solve it quickly. Lunch is at half past one. |
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SHARMAN: Chief,
we bring in reinforcements from local stations and post them behind
every bush in the area, all in plain clothes and with radio link up
so that- CHIEF: Saved! Here come Lucy Lanzarote!! |
| CHIEF: Lucy,
we are at our wit's end. I have been awake all night. And my wife is
worried sick. Someone who dislikes children has covered the skateboard
track in the park with graffitti of the worst kind. LUCY: I suggest we go there at once. Please drive slowly. Fast driving makes me dizzy. |
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LUCY: The person
that wrote this is left handed. The writing slopes to the left. CHIEF:Yes..yes I see that... extraordinary... Anything else? LUCY: What does the writing say? CHIEF: It says ' Children should be sent to bed without supper.', 'No more stories at bedtime' I am sorry, Lucy, I cannot go on. In all my years in the force I have never come across anything like this. |
| LUCY: Well,
well, well.... What is this?... CHIEF: Dear, oh, dear! No need to trouble yourself. You are such a tidy person. Your mother must be very proud. |
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SHARMAN: We shall have two men stationed in car A, here, who will be linked up by radio link with an unmarked van B, who will be keeping surveillance on the barges on the canal. Three other officers, in plain clothes, will conceal themselves in the bushes, C, and a fourth, dressed as a lock keeper will walk the towpath- |
| CHIEF: Here
comes Lucy - Lucy! What news? LUCY: Good news! There will be no more graffitti. SHARMAN: You know who it is? Who is it? LUCY: I'd rather not say. But you must let me deal with this in my own way. CHIEF: Of course. Anything you say. SHARMAN: But chief -? CHIEF: The case is closed, Sharman. |
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LUCY: Mr.Truscott, you must stop writing graffitti in the park. You left a strand of cotton there. It was the same colour as Sherlock's patch. Why did you do it? Do you dislike children so much? |
| MR.TRUSCOTT:
Yes! I hate the way they treat their toys. They pull out the eyes and
stuffing. Some of the dolls are chipped and cracked and in a shocking
condition. Children do not deserve toys. And it's time the world knew.
I did the graffitti so that parents would be aware of these things.
LUCY: Surely the fact that children bring the toys to you in the first place means they love them. Otherwise they would have thrown them away. MR. TRUSCOTT: I suppose so... What's going to happen to me? LUCY: Nothing. If you promise to stop these scribblings. MR.TRUSCOTT: I promise. And I thank you a thousand times. |
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| MOTHER: Just
in time, dear. Delicious pork chops. Did you solve it? LUCY: Yes. But I wish the Chief would stop giving me a medal every time I help him solve a mystery. MOTHER: Never mind, dear. It's the thought that counts. I'll put it with the others.... |
The End |
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Copyright © Frank Dickens2.000-2.023
Redistribution in whole or in part prohibited |
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