around the next morning to use his computer to print something out. His reply said to come around at ten when everyone else was out.
‘What are you going to do?’ he asked when I arrived at 10 am on the dot.
‘Set a trap for the blackmailer,’ I told him. ‘You have got a scanner haven’t you?’ I hadn’t thought to check that with him last night.
‘Yeah, the printer scans and photocopies. Why?’
‘Because we’re going to make some fake money to fool the blackmailer.’ I grinned at him. ‘Can you cut straight?’
‘I don’t need to, Dad’s got a paper trimmer. I’m not supposed to use it – Mum thinks I’m going to cut my fingers off – but she won’t be back for a couple of hours, so she’ll never know.’
‘Where are your sisters?’ Max had two step-sisters, both a few years older than him. I’d only caught a glimpse of one of them, dressed completely in black, with jet black hair, black make-up and a couple of face piercings.
‘At work. And Mum’s over the road, doing Mrs Crystal’s hair,’ Max replied. ‘She doesn’t like to leave me on my own … thinks I’m still a baby, but I told her I’d be fine for an hour or two.’
‘Great. Let’s get cracking then.’ I took the ransom note out of my pocket and showed it to Max. ‘Gran doesn’t know about this. It came last night. So, not a word to anyone, okay?’
‘She’ll be mad that you haven’t told her.’
‘She won’t ever know. I’ll meet the blackmailer tonight and get Fluffy back. Job done.’
‘How is this going to work? Where are you going to get £2000 from?’
I grinned triumphantly and whipped a twenty pound note out of my pocket. ‘I’m going to make one hundred copies of this!’
‘Hmmm,’ Max didn’t look too impressed. ‘You reckon that will fool him, do you? And what about Fluffy? When the thief finds out the notes are fake, you won’t get her back.’
‘The thief could be a “her”,’ I snapped, stung at his lack of enthusiasm for my brilliant idea. ‘I do think that a good copy will stall the blackmailer for a while. Long enough for me to sneak up and take a photo of him – or her – on my cellphone. I can show it to the police, and they can trace the blackmailer and rescue Fluffy.’
Now Max did look impressed. ‘That’s clever.’
‘I know,’ I said smugly, putting the ransom note back in my pocket. ‘Mind you, the blackmailer might not have Fluffy. The note could have been sent by someone who read about Fluffy going missing and thought they’d try to get some easy money out of Gran.’
Max scowled. ‘That’s really nasty.’
‘But a strong possibility, which is why I don’t want Gran to see the note.’ I told him. ‘Any idea where the dog beach is?’
‘Yeah, it’s a little beach the other side of the harbour. You have to go down some narrow steps to it. It’s called Craggmor Beach really, but it’s known as the dog beach ’cos it’s the only beach dogs are allowed on in the summer.’
I thought about this. ‘So that means a local person must have written the note, because someone on holiday wouldn’t know about it being called the ‘dog beach’ would they?’
‘I guess not.’
‘Right, now let’s get on with scanning in this banknote.’
I scanned in the front of the twenty pound note. I could get three on each page. Then I scanned the back of the note and did three of those on another page, making sure they would match the fronts. Finally, I printed them out and glued the two pages together. Then, I colour-copied one page.
‘Where’s the trimmer?’ I asked Max. ‘I need to check that I’ve got the notes matched properly before I make all the copies.’
‘I’ll do it.’ Max took a small paper trimmer off the shelf, put it on the desk and carefully lined up the sheet of paper. A couple of minutes later he handed me three ‘twenty pound notes’.
I took the real banknote out of the scanner and compared them. The paper quality was different,
‘What are you going to do?’ he asked when I arrived at 10 am on the dot.
‘Set a trap for the blackmailer,’ I told him. ‘You have got a scanner haven’t you?’ I hadn’t thought to check that with him last night.
‘Yeah, the printer scans and photocopies. Why?’
‘Because we’re going to make some fake money to fool the blackmailer.’ I grinned at him. ‘Can you cut straight?’
‘I don’t need to, Dad’s got a paper trimmer. I’m not supposed to use it – Mum thinks I’m going to cut my fingers off – but she won’t be back for a couple of hours, so she’ll never know.’
‘Where are your sisters?’ Max had two step-sisters, both a few years older than him. I’d only caught a glimpse of one of them, dressed completely in black, with jet black hair, black make-up and a couple of face piercings.
‘At work. And Mum’s over the road, doing Mrs Crystal’s hair,’ Max replied. ‘She doesn’t like to leave me on my own … thinks I’m still a baby, but I told her I’d be fine for an hour or two.’
‘Great. Let’s get cracking then.’ I took the ransom note out of my pocket and showed it to Max. ‘Gran doesn’t know about this. It came last night. So, not a word to anyone, okay?’
‘She’ll be mad that you haven’t told her.’
‘She won’t ever know. I’ll meet the blackmailer tonight and get Fluffy back. Job done.’
‘How is this going to work? Where are you going to get £2000 from?’
I grinned triumphantly and whipped a twenty pound note out of my pocket. ‘I’m going to make one hundred copies of this!’
‘Hmmm,’ Max didn’t look too impressed. ‘You reckon that will fool him, do you? And what about Fluffy? When the thief finds out the notes are fake, you won’t get her back.’
‘The thief could be a “her”,’ I snapped, stung at his lack of enthusiasm for my brilliant idea. ‘I do think that a good copy will stall the blackmailer for a while. Long enough for me to sneak up and take a photo of him – or her – on my cellphone. I can show it to the police, and they can trace the blackmailer and rescue Fluffy.’
Now Max did look impressed. ‘That’s clever.’
‘I know,’ I said smugly, putting the ransom note back in my pocket. ‘Mind you, the blackmailer might not have Fluffy. The note could have been sent by someone who read about Fluffy going missing and thought they’d try to get some easy money out of Gran.’
Max scowled. ‘That’s really nasty.’
‘But a strong possibility, which is why I don’t want Gran to see the note.’ I told him. ‘Any idea where the dog beach is?’
‘Yeah, it’s a little beach the other side of the harbour. You have to go down some narrow steps to it. It’s called Craggmor Beach really, but it’s known as the dog beach ’cos it’s the only beach dogs are allowed on in the summer.’
I thought about this. ‘So that means a local person must have written the note, because someone on holiday wouldn’t know about it being called the ‘dog beach’ would they?’
‘I guess not.’
‘Right, now let’s get on with scanning in this banknote.’
I scanned in the front of the twenty pound note. I could get three on each page. Then I scanned the back of the note and did three of those on another page, making sure they would match the fronts. Finally, I printed them out and glued the two pages together. Then, I colour-copied one page.
‘Where’s the trimmer?’ I asked Max. ‘I need to check that I’ve got the notes matched properly before I make all the copies.’
‘I’ll do it.’ Max took a small paper trimmer off the shelf, put it on the desk and carefully lined up the sheet of paper. A couple of minutes later he handed me three ‘twenty pound notes’.
I took the real banknote out of the scanner and compared them. The paper quality was different,
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