Mystery At Riddle Gully Read Online Free

this piece on Principal Piggott and her dog! I know it’s only a little fellow, but she still needs to pick up after it. She should go on litter duty for a week.’
    â€˜Totally! She’ll have it in for me now too, I suppose. Aah well, it’s the price I pay for reporting the truth. Now then, you know that stranger—’
    â€˜Speaking of dogs,’ said Sherri, ‘how’s Joe? He’s a lovely man, your dad. A customer the other day was saying what a gem he was when her old mutt swallowed a chop bone. We both think you should do an article on him.’
    Pollo smiled. ‘It’s not exactly cutting-edge reporting though, is it? An article on how great my dad is?’
    â€˜I don’t know,’ said Sherri with a shrug. ‘That kind of thing has its place. So anyway, which stranger were you talking about?’
    â€˜That creepy guy who barged in after closing time yesterday,’ said Pollo. ‘What did you find out about him?’
    â€˜Creepy guy? Barged in? Find out?’ Sherri flushed. ‘What on earth do you mean?’
    â€˜Sorry,’ said Pollo. ‘It came out wrong. I mean, what can you tell me about your customer last thing yesterday?’
    â€˜That’s more like it,’ said Sherri, leaning back in her chair. ‘I admit I’m curious too. It’s funny, but I feel I know him from somewhere. He had the same feeling. I can tell you that he has delightful old-fashioned manners and that his name is Viktor...’ She riffled through some invoices on a metal spike, carefully tore off one and read it. ‘...Viktor-with-a-K von Albericht.’
    â€˜Von what?’ gasped Pollo.
    â€˜Albericht,’ repeated Sherri. ‘It’s a doozy of a name, isn’t it?’
    Pollo grabbed the invoice from Sherri and stared. Albericht, with an ‘i’. Only one letter different from the Last Slayer’s evil uncle.
    â€˜He’s staying out at the old ranger’s hut,’ said Sherri.
    â€˜The old ranger’s hut!’ Pollo yelped. ‘On Diamond Jack’s Trail? What’s he up to out there in the middle of the forest?’
    â€˜Settle down, Pollo! Don’t let this scoop on the mayor go to your head. Viktor seems like a very nice person.’ Sherri’s eyes twinkled. ‘Very nice indeed. He had a perfectly good reason for being at the ranger’s hut. What was it now?’ She twirled an earring then chuckled. ‘I have to admit, I had trouble concentrating. He has the mostdeliriously deep brown eyes!’
    â€˜Urgh!’ said Pollo, rolling her own.
    â€˜I remember,’ said Sherri. ‘He’s with the environmental something-or-other. He’s looking for bats.’
    Pollo went cold all over. A shiver ran down the back of her neck and she sank onto Sherri’s desk. Everything about this von Albericht pointed to it. But there weren’t any in Australia, were there? In the twenty-first century? They were only in books, weren’t they? Books like the one she was reading now...
    Sherri was looking at her strangely. ‘You’ve gone all glassy, kiddo,’ she said. ‘Is anything wrong?’

CHAPTER SIX

    Saturday 11:30
    From a tiny kitchen tucked behind an oriental screen, the telephone rang and Sherri sprang to answer it. Pollo was straining to overhear when the ship’s bell clanged wildly and the black shape of Mayor Bullock filled the doorway. He spotted Pollo. ‘There you are, you gutter rat!’ he boomed, striding towards her.
    As Pollo reeled, Sherri bustled back into the shop, pointing the receiver like a laser sword. ‘Sir, please watch your manners while you’re in my shop or you’ll be out on your ear!’
    Mayor Bullock looked aghast. ‘You misunderstand, madam,’ he said. ‘Butter fat! I was warning the young lady here not to eat too much butter fat!’
    Sherri shook her head and steered the mayor by