The Whistle Blower.

The middle aged, blonde haired, dark brown eyed man, with a moustache, put on his Police Constable uniform and then, along with his equipment, he picked up his whistle and a lamp.

“I am off now, Elizabeth,” said Constable Thomas Hardy to his wife, as he walked to the front door.

As he opened the door, the cold wintry wind, blew in.

“Good evening Constable,” said a short, fat man, who was just climbing down from lighting a gas lamp, “Out on patrol?”

“Aye Mr Hammers,” replied the Constable, as he looked up at the street lamp and watched the man climb down.

The street was soon lit up, as the fog settled in along with the darkness of the night and the lights reflecting through the dense fog. 

“Do you think you will catch any criminals tonight?” replied George Hammers, as he picked up his ladder and walked over to the next street lamp, along the long, now dimly lit, narrow street and put up his ladder.

“There’s no crime that we cannot solve,” replied the Constable, as he walked on.

Crunch, crunch, crunch, came the sound of footsteps, as Thomas Hardy turned into a darkly lit, narrow street. Suddenly, a dark shadow moved from right to left in front of him. The Constable, quickly placed the whistle to his lips, grabbed his lamp and turned it on to see what it was. The light shone brightly and directly at someone, who unable to bear the light, quickly covered his eyes with his hands.

“Oi!” yelled Constable Hardy, as he squinted at a boy.

The young boy, with his hands shivering and feeling scared, slowly came out of the darkness and put his hands forward. At that moment, some other boys, who had been hiding in the dark, ran and began to scatter all around the surrounding narrow streets.

“Run Oliver!” shouted one of them, “run!”

The Constable, realising who these boys were, blew his whistle, which could be heard almost a mile away, alerting other Constables nearby. The chase began as the young boy ran with what he was carrying in his hands as fast as his small legs would carry him.

“Stop!” warned Constable Hardy, as he chased the boy into another narrow street which had no lights on at all.

With the night being cold and the dense fog filtering through the light and smoke coming out of his mouth, the Constable saw the boy, in the distance, with the back against a dirty, black and brown, coloured wall. In the meantime, other Constables who had heard his whistle, had begun to chase the other boys.

“I will not harm you,” said Thomas Hardy, as he gently moved towards the boy and grabbed him by the collar of his coat.

“Let me go,” cried out the boy, as he struggled to release himself from the grip.

“Not so fast, young man,” said the Constable, as he tightened his grip around the boy, “What is your name and what have you stolen?”

“Oliver,” replied the boy, as he struggled to get out of the grip, “and I have stolen nothing!”

Suddenly there was a sound as a wallet fell on the ground and alerted the Constable and as he tried to pick it up, other Constables, blowing their whistles, came running upto him and shone the bright light onto the boy’s face and grabbed him.

“The name on this wallet is “James Hammers,”” read Constable Thomas Hardy, as he picked up the wallet and readout the name and the address.

“I found it and was going to return it,” said Oliver, as he stopped struggling.

“Well! I know where he should be know, “said the Constable, as he turned to his colleague, “Thank you Edward, I will handle him now.” With that he grabbed hold of the boy by his collar.

“I hope you are right or else you are in trouble,” he said to Oliver, as they walked out onto the main street, “Now! Where did you find it?”

“On the bridge across the river,” replied the boy.

Minutes later, the Constable and the boy turned onto another street and in the distance saw James Hammers, getting up a ladder to go up and light a lamp.

“Mr Hammers,” called the Constable, as he looked up at the man, “I have a young scoundrel here, who claims that he found this wallet!”

The man stopped climbing and quickly got down and recognised his wallet and claimed it as his.

“Aye it’s mine,” he said, “Some boys robbed me this evening as I was on the bridge but he was not one of them,” said James Hammers, as he checked his wallet and then turned to the boy, “You look like an honest boy!”

Oliver turned to the Constable.

“I was nearby and was a part of the gang that robbed this man, sir,” he said innocently, “Something happened and we had to run, dropping the wallet and when I got the chance, I went back and picked it up so that I could hand it in. I don’t want to be a part of that gang! I want to do honest work, if the kind man will have me as his apprentice?”

Constable Hardy looked at the boy and then at the man.

“There’s no money missing constable and it seems that he is honest,” said the man, as he looked and smiled at the young lad, “I can give him a try and see how he works in the nearby coal mines.”

“You won’t regret it, sir,” said Oliver, as he smiled and then looked at the Constable, who released the young boy into the hands of the man.

The boy and the man then walked away, as the Constable, once again, took out his whistle and walked away to continue with the patrolling the streets.