بالاخره با مادربزرگ!

Chapter eight

With Grandmother at Last!

On the way to Bridge Street, Emil asked the driver to stop at the cafe. His case and the flowers were still there. He took them, thanked the owner of the cafe and got back into the taxi.

At last they arrived at his grandmother’s house. Emil rang the bell. The door opened and his grandmother was standing in front of him.

She kissed him, pulled his hair and said: ‘Emil, you wild boy! We’ve heard some very strange stories about you!’

Polly and her mother came running from the kitchen. They both looked very pleased.

‘Did you get the money back?’ Polly asked.

‘Of course,’ Emil answered. He took the notes from his pocket and gave his grandmother sixty pounds.

‘Here’s the money, Grandmother,’ he said. ‘It comes with Mother’s love. She’s sorry that she couldn’t send any for the last three months. But business wasn’t very good. Now she’s sent you more than usual.’

‘Thank you very much, my child,’ the old woman answered.

She gave him back one of the pound notes and said: ‘That’s for you, because you’re an excellent detective.’

Emil thanked his grandmother. Then he gave the flowers to his aunt. She took the paper off them, and Polly brought a pot of water from the kitchen. But it was too late. The flowers were dead.

‘Oh dear, they look like dry grass,’ said Polly.

‘They were fresh when Mother gave them to me,’ Emil said sadly. ‘But I couldn’t give them any water yesterday.’

‘It doesn’t matter,’ his grandmother said. ‘Now we must have our dinner. Uncle won’t be home before this evening. Can you help me please, Polly?’

After dinner, Emil wanted to ride Polly’s shining new bicycle, so he and Polly went out into the street. His grandmother lay down to rest. His aunt made an apple cake. Her apple cakes were famous.

As Emil was riding along Bridge Street, a policeman came past. ‘Do you know where Number 15 is?’ he asked.

‘Yes, why? Has something happened?’ Emil replied. He was thinking about the statue again.

‘No, no,’ said the policeman. ‘Are you the schoolboy Emil Fisher?’

‘Yes, sir.’

The policeman didn’t say another word. He just walked to the house and rang the bell.

Emil’s aunt asked the policeman to sit down in the sitting-room. His grandmother woke up. She wanted to know what was happening, too. Emil and Polly stood near the table. They were all excited.

‘I have some news for you,’ the policeman began. ‘Emil and his detectives followed a bank thief. The police have wanted to catch the man for a long time.

We found his fingerprints in our list of criminals, so he had to tell us everything. And this time his story was true.

Most of the money that he stole was in his hat and inside his coat. It was all in hundred-pound notes.’

‘Really?’ said Polly. She couldn’t believe it.

The policeman continued: ‘Two weeks ago, the bank promised a reward to the person who found the thief.

And you caught the man,’ he said, turning to Emil, ‘so you’ll receive the reward. The chief detective is very pleased.’

The policeman took some notes from his pocket and put them on the table.

‘Fifty pounds,’ he said.

Emil looked at the money. He was too surprised to speak.

His grandmother gave the policeman a cup of coffee and then he left. The old woman put her arm round Emil, saying: ‘I can’t believe it! I can’t believe it!’

Emil still couldn’t speak, but Polly could. She jumped up and down, shouting: ‘Now we can invite all the boys here to tea.’

‘Yes,’ Emil said. ‘But first we must invite Mother.’