The Young Detective Misfits

                                                      The Young Detective Misfits



Drake, Doug, and Amy, the newly founded band of young detective misfits, followed the overgrown path toward the quarry, an isolated place on the best of days. Today was no different, the fragmented bushes and trees drooped as if the heavens had forsaken them. However, rain didn’t seem to be an option with the humidity high and the sun’s rays so intense today. Shoving aside a large branch Drake heard Amy behind him thinking aloud.

“Rain would help these poor plants,” Amy voiced her opinion aloud. “You can see how much they need some water.”

“No doubt, but not today, the news said it’d be hot all week with no rain in sight.” Doug replied as he too shoved aside branches pulling up the rear.

One of the kids at school told Drake that he heard a bunch of noise coming from the quarry when he and his friends had been riding through here on their way home the other night. Drake and the newly formed band of young detectives decided to check the quarry out to see if there was any thing going on they could solve. A little while ago Katy started following a scent she’d picked up and they were following Katy hoping to get a story or a detective job. Amy was one of the writers for the school paper, Doug was the computer geek, and Drake was the scientific geek. They were hoping for a good story for Amy.  Drake grunted his agreement about the rain forecast comment from Doug as sweat ran down his back and face as he worked his way through the rough, overgrown trail that led deeper inside the quarry. Katy, Drakes amazing dog, barked again as if to say, ‘hurry up.’

Drake, in the lead, hurried his steps. The dry leaves, branches, and long grass crinkled underneath his feet with each step, the sound a bit unnerving. Amy and Doug quickened their steps as well, after Katy barked. The three detective misfits soon found Katy, a mixed breed of unknown origin, standing off to the side of a large tree branch that covered an area that appeared disturbed. Drake, the scientist geek noted it had Amy, and Doug help him pull the tree branches off a man made hole that someone dug into the ground. The hole turned out to be walk-in hole, a slim area that led inside where it opened up to a wider area with a wooden ramp to walk down into the enlarged hole.  The branches and tarp on top kept the hidden stuff from prying eyes and any rain that might fall. The whole set up was intriguing, but what was inside was more interesting, they all hoped. The three worked together to pull the branches and tarp off. Once they uncovered the hole completely and the sun shined in on the area they found brand new boxes inside with name brands on each box. The new boxes titles ranged from microwave ovens to television sets, and all sorts of appliances. Most of the boxes were of new flat screen television sets that were expensive.

“Wow…. Would you look at that stuff, someone is stealing and hiding it.” Amy said surprised. What a story for the school paper.

“Man…It sure looks that way. If you write about it, you’ll need more information.” Doug agreed and suggested.

Drake just stared for a few moments, wondering what to do. The person or people responsible for this much stolen stuff would not appreciate them finding it. Katy barked dragging their attention away from the walk-in hole and ran to another spot that appeared the same as the first, dead branches covering the top of a tarp. Drake and his friends investigated, and in all, found four holes dug out in the quarry ground filled with new boxes of appliances. This was a thought out place Drake and his co-detectives realized. The stash placed underneath a tarp, and tarp on the inside of the holes the stash sat upon. It was obvious the thieves were protecting the stash from rain and mud. Drake realized that he and his friends found the stash of the gang of thieves that had been on the news lately. Katy had a good nose for finding things; Drake thought and then praised her.

“What a good dog you are Katy, this is a great find.” He patted Katy and loved on her somewhat while Katy licked his face with pleasure. Doug and Amy joined Drake in praising Katy. After a few minutes of praise Amy spoke up.

“Geez…I wonder, should we report this to the police,” Amy asked her co-detectives.

“I think we should take some of this stuff home.” Doug said excitedly.

Doug set off to go down into the hole of the original hiding place they uncovered, trying to reach a large flat screen T.V.

“No Doug, don’t get your fingerprints on the evidence.” Drake called out, stopping Doug in his tracks.

“Look guys, it’s a mystery, a perfect find for our new detective agency of misfits. We need to set up some type of surveillance and catch the robbers.” Drake’s hand waved toward all the evidence before them as he spoke.

Drake gazed at his friends, “besides taking this home can get us in trouble, it would be like we were accomplices to the robberies.” Drake explained.

Amy nodded her head in agreement. “That is true Doug; every mystery we’ve read explains that.” Amy nodded her head toward the evidence, “if we want to be detectives, we need to keep a clear head and remain legal in all our cases.”

Doug nodded as he returned from the huge hole in the ground. “Darn, I guess you two are right.” He sighed. “Alright, what kind of surveillance are you thinking of.”

Amy sighed as she and Doug gazed around the area, each deep in thought. Her face brightened.

“Well….This place has no way of using electricity, and with that said, we have no way of using plug in electronics’ in this isolated haven, we’ll have to use a hand held camera. That means one of us will have to be here to record the thieves when they eventually come back.”

Amy grinned with her ideas, gazing at Doug the computer geek.

“A good plan Amy, but it could be dangerous.” Doug commented as he too gathered his thoughts, grinning. “A hand held camera that offers night vision should do the trick.” Doug agreed.

“Hmm…I think Amy’s mom has one of those, I remember her showing it to us when she bought it.” Drake supplied.

“We’ll have to risk the danger in order to find the thieves.” Amy replied, her own smile lifting the corners of her mouth.

Doug spoke up, “We’ll do what the other detectives do, sit on the evidence. We’ll do it in shifts, that way one of us will be here when the thieves come back, recording.” Doug grew excited with the idea.

“Agreed,” Drake smiled, “Amy, can we borrow your mom’s hand held camera with the battery pack.” Drake asked, his own excitement running high.   

Amy frowned. “Yeah, I’ll get it.” She promised her friends with a half hearted smile and a wave of her hand.

“Looks like this may get dangerous; the area is well thought out, maybe professionals. We’ll have to remain quiet if they come back while were recording.” Amy stated with worry in her voice.

“We can do it.” Doug insisted, trying to placate Amy’s concern, and Drake gave his nod of approval.

“Yeah, we can do it.” Drake agreed.

“Alright, let’s cover the holes back up, just as we found them, and get out of here. Then we have to agree on a schedule.” Amy announced as she too made the choice of following up on the thieves as they covered up the stolen goods just as they’d found it.

On the way home Drake, Doug, and Amy discussed the surveillance schedule.  First stop was Amy’s house to locate her mom’s camera and battery pack. They divided the twenty four hour day into three shifts. Then Drake came up with a new theory as they walked to Drakes house with camera and battery pack in hand. Katy ran ahead catching the stick Drake threw. Katy’s white and brown muscled body running quickly with her tongue hanging out, way ahead of the group. Drake realized Katy needed some water. He stopped throwing the stick until Katy drank and relaxed in their air-conditioned home a few minutes away.

“Katy, come here and walk by me, no more play until we get you home, it’s too hot for you today.” Katy bounced toward Drake and walked next to him slowly. Drake turned to his friends; he gave his opinion on the thieves. 

“Look, I’ve been thinking about the thieves, it’s more likely the gang will come in the evenings, broad daylight they’d be seen going into the quarry with the boxes, so we should divide the evenings and night shifts instead of the days. That kid at school said he heard the noises at night on his way home. That is a clue; they only come to their stash in the darkness.”

Drake thought for a moment and then added. “Another thought, the news says the thieves break into the stores during the late hours of the night. I believe that’d be the best time to catch them on video.” Drake gazed over at his friends to see if they agreed, he noted both heads bobbed up and down in agreement.

“And….With the kid at school it had to be just gone dark if he was on his way home. So it is possible the thieves will come when darkness falls. I agree, if we monitor before it grows dark until the early morning hours, we should catch them.” Doug agreed.

“They recalculated the surveillance schedule to accommodate what they thought was a good time to record the thieves in action. With all prepared they agreed to start the surveillance that very night.

Two weeks later:

The young detectives were growing restless and frustrated; they’d been monitoring the place for two weeks with nothing happening. No noise, no thieves, and no more drop offs. Not even a wild animal interfered with their mission. Every now and then a rabbit would run by, but that was all the excitement they’d experienced. They were about to give up and inform the police, however they voted to monitor one more week. Drake was on his way to relieve Doug when he heard cars driving by and a couple of closed doors. He was far enough inside the quarry not to worry about being seen, but he turned off his pen flashlight, just in case. It’d gone on one a.m., his time to relieve Doug. Doug used the binoculars to see who was coming and was grateful to see Drake coming up the path they used. Keeping one way in made sure each one knew it was the other coming and not someone else. They’d tied little strips of dirty cloth to some bushes to help them stay on the correct path, but if anyone else noted them they’d think it was old debris. Drake gave his soft whistle call as he approached. Doug grunted and rose to his knees from laying down watching the area. They’d picked high ground so they could record the whole area if they needed too. 

“What’s up Doug, any action yet?” Drake whispered to his friend.

“Naw, nothing yet,” Doug whispered back with a yawn. “This detective work is wearing me out, never been so tired in my life.”

“Yeah, now I realize how tough it is to stand by and wait for something to happen.” Drake agreed, keeping his voice low. “I did hear a couple of cars while I was walking up here, maybe it’s the thieves.” Drake hoped.

“One could hope, but we hear cars drive by all night long.” Doug replied just as softly, clear frustration in his voice and Drake grunted his agreement and then added, “I did hear a couple of doors slamming shut.”

“Really, maybe tonight is the night then. Man I hope so, I really miss my bed.” Doug replied with a hopeful look toward the hidden holes.

“Where’s Katy?” Doug asked Drake, noting he was alone.

“Had to leave her home, the heat is too much for her. Boy was she upset.” Drake smiled at the thought.

“Poor Katy, this was her find and she has to remain home because of the weather.” Doug sympathized with the little dog as he gathered up his empty snacks container, and bottled water.

Both boys heard some noise and Doug lay back down on his stomach with the binoculars and Drake held the cam recorder.

“See anything.” Drake whispered to Doug.

“Naw, nothing yet, too dark, but I can hear noises coming this way.” Doug replied just a softly.

Both boys soon heard some men talking, yet could not see them. The binoculars did not have night vision unfortunately.  Both boys kept their bellies on the ground while they waited and watched, listening for the men to grow closer. Four men finally came into sight with the full moon, one of the men turned on a large flashlight that lit the area up somewhat. Each man had a big box, Drake started recording from the hidden trees. The high ground slope worked well with the recording, Drake was able to follow the men every move they made. The voices were understandable now, no longer garbled. Doug and Drake shared a smile.

“When is this shipment going out Matt?” One of the guys asked the other. He was a tall, slim guy with blonde hair that just came out of the hole, dropping off his boxes.

“Jim has it scheduled for Friday, we’ll have to come and load the U-Haul around midnight, and it’ll take six hours to get it over the county border and get this stuff off our hands.” The other guy, a rough looking man with broad shoulders, replied.

“Boy, the money form this haul will be welcome when done, could use the every dime of the money it’ll bring.” The tall, blonde man spoke again.

“You two need to shut up, we can’t hear anything with all the mouth flapping.” This came from an older man in the back of the line of the men.

"Yeah, shut up. Silence is mandatory when hiding the stash.” The third guy said, and he appeared the youngest of the group with brown hair.

Drake and Doug stayed very quiet and unmoving while recording the silent men as they shoved boxes into the ground. Drake and Doug were continually afraid of being caught with the camera. But the men did not note them at all. The men made several runs to drop off the stolen items and then covered the holes again with the tarps and branches. They left a few minutes later, still silent. Drake and Doug remained at their hidden spot until the sun came up, worried they’d have another load coming in and catch them leaving. However, the men never came back and Drake and Doug made their way through the quarry trees and bushes, they needed to inform Amy of the good news before she showed up at the quarry looking for them when they weren’t home yet.

“Wow, this camera is good, the night vision makes it look like day. We have excellent video; let’s go see your dad, Drake, is he on duty today?” Amy didn’t wait for an answer; she continued as Drake gave a nod that his dad was working today.

“They should be able to stake the place out Friday and catch them all red handed with the stolen property.” Amy’s excitement grew.

“Do you think they’ll let us tag along?” She asked Drake who shrugged his shoulders happily.

“I sure hope so, after all the waiting we did.” Doug said hopefully.

Drake, Amy, Doug, and Katy went in search of Drake’s father, a detective with the local police department. His office was in the main police building in the small downtown area of their town. Drake’s father was upset at the chance the children took watching the thieves but eventually he gave in to their request of tagging along with them on the sting operation.

Drake’s father even allowed Katy to join them in the sting operation; he allowed them to observe from a safe distance with binoculars. Katy sat in a well air-conditioned car with the others on a hill some miles away from the operation. Katy even had water bowl on the floor board of the car and Drake had bottled water for them all in the back seat. Katy acted as if she knew what was going on, she had her nose to the window and watched as the kids did and Drake chuckled at her antics.The take down was fast and clean, the sting commander video tapped the six men loading the U-Haul before the take down and arresting the men. They also video taped from where the kids video taped making sure to collect the complete evidence of the ring uncovering the goods and carrying it to the U-Haul. They head man was there, the one paying for the stolen items and just before the six men jumped into the U-Haul, with money in hand, the police surrounded them. The local and national news picked up the story and some even used part of Amy’s story she wrote for the school paper.  The headlines were full of the three kids that took down the professional ring of thieves and the dog that found the stash. Katy became a celebrity overnight, her picture on T.V. and in the newspapers, and she loved every minute of the spotlight.

Drake, Doug, and Amy’s parents were proud but insisted that Drake, Doug, and Amy give up detective work for a while, and concentrate on their school work. The kid’s promised to consider it even as they were off on another hunt for professional dog nappers.