How Ali Ferguson Saved Houdini Read Online Free Page B

first because he’d been standing still. He was carrying something, but I couldn’t see what it was. Then a van with its lights off reversed down the road. Your dad was between the van and the man on the path. They started talking. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but it made them angry. The man put down his box. He stepped right up to your dad, jabbing his finger at him. Then he punched your dad, right on the side of his head.’
    Caitlin gasped.
    â€˜Your dad dropped like a stone.’ Gez dropped a fist into his open palm to demonstrate. ‘And that dog –’ he jabbed his fingers towards Falcon – ‘that dog ran away with her tail between her legs.’
    Falcon whined gently.
    â€˜Then what happened?’ Ali asked.
    â€˜The man who hit your dad ran up to the van. He put the box he was carrying in the back and the van drove off. Way too fast – they squealed away up the road.’
    â€˜Hey! We heard that! Do you remember?’ Ali asked Caitlin. She shook her head, as though she was trying to let it all sink in.
    â€˜A few minutes later,’ Gez said, finishing his story, ‘you two were there, with some woman. And it was all over.’
    â€˜No,’ Caitlin said with certainty. ‘It isn’t all over. Someone hurt my dad. We have to find out what’s going on.’
    Ali looked at Caitlin. She looked stern, with her eyebrows set in a frown. The log he was sitting on felt damp and cold. He wriggled uncomfortably. He had enjoyed pretending to investigate, but now they knew what Gez had seen, he felt a bit different.
    â€˜Caitlin,’ he said slowly, ‘you were right. There is something odd going on. A gang doing something secret. But this is grown-up stuff. Should we really chase them? Perhaps now we should just let Dave go to the police. They’ll catch them.’
    Caitlin shook her head impatiently, ‘Dad won’t do that.’
    â€˜He won’t go to the police? Why not?’
    Gez laughed.
    Ali didn’t see what was funny. ‘No, really. Why not? If someone hurt him, then the police will help. Look at the crime scene, get DNA samples, stuff like that. They’d catch them, easy.’
    Gez shook his head. ‘I can tell you’re new. Caitlin’s dad can’t go to the cops. They’d arrest him soon as look at him. He’s a gangster.’
    â€˜You take that back!’ Caitlin said angrily.
    â€˜What?’ Gez asked. ‘I was only saying what everyone knows. I wasn’t being mean – honest, Caitlin.’
    â€˜My dad is not a criminal. He’s a businessman.’
    â€˜All right,’ Gez said, holding his hands up, ‘he’s a businessman. Whatever you say.’
    â€˜So why can’t he go to the police then?’ Ali asked.
    Caitlin frowned harder. ‘Ali, Dad’s business is looking after other people’s dogs. At the top of a tower block. In a rented flat. What do you think would happen if the police came round?’
    Oh. Ali suddenly felt a bit dense. He hadn’t known that what Dave was doing wasn’t allowed. Dave’d be in big trouble if anyone found out; he might even lose the flat. So there would be no police. ‘OK, fine. Sorry. But what can we do about it? We can’t do DNA tests.’
    Caitlin stood up, knocking the crate over as she did. ‘We don’t need DNA, we just need to investigate. Come on!’ She walked away, through the bushes, back towards the path.
    Ali looked at Gez. Gez grinned, then followed Caitlin. Ali shrugged; the mystery would be solved much quicker if they went to the police. But if they couldn’t do that, then he would help his new friend find out who’d hurt her dad. He picked up Falcon’s lead and led her out to hunt for clues.
    Caitlin was already at the path when Ali and Falcon reached her.
    â€˜Gez,’ she said, ‘did the man come from this path? Or from somewhere