I looked out of the window and saw that it was raining. Never trust the weather! That's my policy. It was clear and sunny all these days when we had school, but now that it's Saturday and we have plans to play football, it has to rain!
I sat on the table and quickly wolfed down three ladoos. When you have an elder sister who is equally hungry romping about in the house, you have to eat quickly if you don't want her grabbing the laddoos from you. Survival skills, I call it! I hopped down from the table. I had to go to Bhavya's house. We had planned to work on Math sums together. The very thought made me yawn loudly. But I cheered up when I saw my raincoat hanging on the windowsill.
I love my raincoat. When I slip it on, I feel like I am Sherlock Holmes! (There is nothing I love more than being a detective!) I stood in front of the mirror and pulled up my collar so that it came up to my chin. I looked just like a smart, professional detective! I was thrilled.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my mother watching TV. "Ma, Detective Dinesh at your service!" I announced and saluted smartly. It was evident that she was very impressed because she immediately said, "If only I could find out how ladoos are disappearing from that tin at such a rate…" I quickly brushed my cheek. "I don't want to investigate this case, but I can give you some good advice… Keep an eye on Reetu!" I whispered.
My mother looked at me questioningly. Then she looked at my sister. "Reetu, have you been taking ladoos again?" she demanded.
I marched out of the house at once, after grabbing my notebook and pencil box. As I walked down the street, I observed all the people passing by that way. I even scribbled down the number of a car that was going way too fast in my opinion.
I went into Bhavya's house and before long, we were immersed in Math problems. At least, she was. I was barely listening to her while she explained a trigonometry sum. But I pricked up my ears when I heard Bhavya's mother complaining to the maid about mangoes missing from their tree.
"How can mangoes vanish like this, Anjana? I wonder who is taking them!" she was saying. Here was a case for Detective Dinesh!
I looked up at Bhavya.
"Did you hear what your mother said? Let us go and investigate!" I said. She tried to protest, but I closed the Math textbook and made her get up.
"Finding out the mango thief is the most important thing to be done now!" I told her seriously.
We went into the garden and like a pro, I started searching for clues near the mango tree. I even climbed up the tree to see if I could fi nd anything. As I looked down, my sharp eyes spotted a set of footprints leading away from the tree.
