The Baker Street Boys - The Case of the Disappearing Detective by Anthony Read

he managed to control himself, clenching his teeth really hard and holding his breath until the cramp gradually eased. The men were still talking. Sparrow did not know how much he had missed, but he heard one of them say something about a grand opening going with a bang, which made the other men chortle. Then he heard the Professor’s voice, quiet but full of menace, saying “utter disgrace … the end of Mr Sherlock Holmes”. This was followed by a particularly nasty laugh.
    After a short pause, the Professor announced, “It’s time to go. Anything you need, take it now. There’ll be no coming back to this place after tomorrow.”
    Sparrow heard the noise of things being dragged across the floor. The packing case shook, as something was dumped on top of it. There was a dull rumble, as a heavy weight was wheeled away. And then the iron door clanged shut and all was quiet.
    In the silence, Sparrow could hear a loud ticking, like a clock, just above his head. He rubbed the leg that had had cramp, which was still sore. He needed to stand up and stretch it, before the cramp came back again. But even more than that, he needed to get out and run to find Wiggins and the others, to tell them what he’d heard.
    Sparrow pushed on the lid. It wouldn’t open. He tried again. It was impossible. Whatever had been put on top of the packing case was too heavy. The ticking above his head seemed to get louder and louder. He was trapped – and nobody knew where he was.

 

A Bomb in a Box
    The Great Gandini towered over Sparrow, his face contorted in fury.
“I’ll teach you to keep your nose out of my business,” he snarled. He wrapped a chain round the helpless boy, pinioning his arms tightly to his side, and fastened it with a huge padlock. Sparrow suddenly noticed that the magician had grown taller, and was wearing a wide-brimmed black hat and a heavy coat with a curly fur collar. He was now, Sparrow realized, the big man they had been trailing earlier. Another man stood behind him, laughing coldly. Sparrow could not see his face, but he knew that it was the evil Professor.
    “Drop him down the well,” the Professor hissed. “They’ll never find him there.”
    Then Sparrow saw a black hole in front of him, so deep it seemed to have no bottom. The two men from the storeroom appeared from the shadows, seized Sparrow and started to drag him towards the hole…
    And then Sparrow woke up, trembling from his bad dream. He was almost relieved to find he was still inside the packing case. It was pitch black and totally silent, and he was very frightened. But he had been so tired after all the events of the day that he had fallen asleep. Sparrow had no idea how long he had slept, but the empty feeling in his stomach suggested it had been some time. He would still have been sleeping, but something had disturbed him. He became aware that someone was moving around the room.
    Suddenly alert, Sparrow listened hard. Was it the Professor back again? Or the big man? What should he do? If he called out, he might be in even greater danger, but at least he would be rescued from the packing case. It was a difficult decision. He held his breath in fear. Then someone called out “Ow!” and someone else made a shushing noise.
    “Sorry,” the first voice said. “I hurt my toe.”
    Sparrow could hardly believe his ears. It was Beaver!
    “Oi!” he shouted, as loudly as he could.
    There was a scream, and a bump as something was knocked over.
    “There’s somebody here!” That was Queenie’s voice.
    “Can’t see nobody,” came Gertie’s voice. “Must be invisible.”
    “It’s a ghost!” That was Rosie.
    “No, it ain’t!” Sparrow shouted. “It’s me!”
    “Sparrow?” Wiggins called.
    “Yeah! Get me out of here!”
    “Where are you?”
    “Over here! In the big box!”
    A flicker of light penetrated a crack in the packing case, as Wiggins shone his lantern over it.
    “What’s he doin’ in there?” Shiner asked.
    Beaver