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11/02/2019
Meggi
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Commissioner Olfattke takes a time-out
Second Chapter - Creeping, Viecherei
The next morning, as the commissioner headed towards his usual bank, he was expected. The two children stood there again. He hadn't expected it and was amazed that he was happy about it. Before he could say anything, they called out to him: "Someone broke into the gym of the school and destroyed a lot of things. You're a real detective, can you take a look at that?"
Without waiting for an answer, they rushed away and there was nothing left for him to do but to follow him half nervous, half amused. But just behind the Kurpark the school came into sight. As he approached, the door of a little house next door opened, apparently the caretaker's apartment. What Jan and Lena told the man excitedly, he could have guessed - to hear his answer, he was then dense enough:
"...and the police were here long ago and recorded everything. I'm finishing up the report for the school board now. Hopefully everything will be all right in time for the new school year. I don't know what else anybody's looking at? Pure..."
"That's a real inspector," Lena shouted outraged, her hands on her hips. "He catches criminals all the time!"
In the face of half a portion of man with sparkling anger for two, the displeasure of the caretaker vanished - and finally gave way to a smile when Olfattke winked at him.
"All right, let's have a look."
The gym looked like everyone else from the outside. Inside, however, it had been ravaged badly. Mats and devices were slit open, the walls were smeared.
"Where'd they get in?" the inspector wanted to know. "The door wasn't broken into, was it?"
"Through a window hatch in the locker room. There goes the mess. Wait, I'll just unlock..."
Olfattke looked around. He looked at the overturned trash cans and the crackling on the walls. Here and there his eyes grazed forgotten garments, which probably had not yet made their way into the find box because of the beginning of the holiday. One of them caught his attention:
"Isn't this an elementary school? That sweater back there on the bench looks pretty big for that."
"Oh, that hoodie?"
"The what?"
"The Hoodie. There's a hood on it, it's called a hoodie," Jan explained patiently.
"Whatever. Hardly any of the students left it here. Well, gym devastation can make you sweat a lot. Somebody probably took off his sweater... his hoodie and forgot it afterwards. That wouldn't be very smart."
As the commissioner looked more closely, he noticed some chunks on the floor under the bench that might have fallen out of one of the bags. That was remarkable and supported his thought. Such traces could only have come from the intruders, because it had certainly been thoroughly wiped on the evening of the last day of school. And neither janitors nor policemen would have crumbled directly under a bank during their tour earlier. He pulled a magnifying glass out of his pocket. Not because he needed it now, it just simply seemed mighty Sherlock Holmes-like. He didn't have to tell us that he used the magnifying glass for his scent tests to be able to decipher the small letters on the sample tubes in spite of his decreasing eyesight.
He grabbed one of the crumbs, crushed it lightly with his fingers and sniffed at it. It smelled musty, damp and musty. Besides a touch of putrefaction, as of decaying fruit, a banana for instance. Even the hoodie smelled strange. Dirty - but not that kind of dirt that leaves too long wearing but...
"Hm. Is there a zoo around here somewhere? One with tropical animals, maybe a bird hall?"
"What are tropical animals?" Lena wanted to know.
"Animals from warm countries. Monkeys, for example. This crumb smells a little like overripe fruit. Or greasy dried fruit."
"Iiiiiiiiih!"
"But it also reminds me of the sour smell of tropical birdhouses. It smells similar in bat caves. You can't let a real cop get in the way of that. Here, have a sniff!"
Gently the two children stretched out their noses and tried hard not to make a face - like real policemen just.
Olfattke repeated his question: "Is there a zoo around here?"
"In Gettorf, on the other side of the Kieler Förde, is a zoo", said the caretaker.
"We know him," Jan threw in. "They've got a place where all the birds fly around. It's warm and smelly when you come in. That's the zoo where Ben's big brother from my class works."
Lena giggled in print: "Mom said to Dad the other day: That fits - a monkey in the monkeys..."
The commissioner rose: "Sounds almost too simple. Someone should knock on the bush with this young man."
------------------------<<font color="#ffff00">-==- proudly presents
The remaining chapters:
1. Comptoir Sud Pacifique, Aqua Motu
3. Profumum Roma, Acqua di Sale (coming soon)
The next morning, as the commissioner headed towards his usual bank, he was expected. The two children stood there again. He hadn't expected it and was amazed that he was happy about it. Before he could say anything, they called out to him: "Someone broke into the gym of the school and destroyed a lot of things. You're a real detective, can you take a look at that?"
Without waiting for an answer, they rushed away and there was nothing left for him to do but to follow him half nervous, half amused. But just behind the Kurpark the school came into sight. As he approached, the door of a little house next door opened, apparently the caretaker's apartment. What Jan and Lena told the man excitedly, he could have guessed - to hear his answer, he was then dense enough:
"...and the police were here long ago and recorded everything. I'm finishing up the report for the school board now. Hopefully everything will be all right in time for the new school year. I don't know what else anybody's looking at? Pure..."
"That's a real inspector," Lena shouted outraged, her hands on her hips. "He catches criminals all the time!"
In the face of half a portion of man with sparkling anger for two, the displeasure of the caretaker vanished - and finally gave way to a smile when Olfattke winked at him.
"All right, let's have a look."
The gym looked like everyone else from the outside. Inside, however, it had been ravaged badly. Mats and devices were slit open, the walls were smeared.
"Where'd they get in?" the inspector wanted to know. "The door wasn't broken into, was it?"
"Through a window hatch in the locker room. There goes the mess. Wait, I'll just unlock..."
Olfattke looked around. He looked at the overturned trash cans and the crackling on the walls. Here and there his eyes grazed forgotten garments, which probably had not yet made their way into the find box because of the beginning of the holiday. One of them caught his attention:
"Isn't this an elementary school? That sweater back there on the bench looks pretty big for that."
"Oh, that hoodie?"
"The what?"
"The Hoodie. There's a hood on it, it's called a hoodie," Jan explained patiently.
"Whatever. Hardly any of the students left it here. Well, gym devastation can make you sweat a lot. Somebody probably took off his sweater... his hoodie and forgot it afterwards. That wouldn't be very smart."
As the commissioner looked more closely, he noticed some chunks on the floor under the bench that might have fallen out of one of the bags. That was remarkable and supported his thought. Such traces could only have come from the intruders, because it had certainly been thoroughly wiped on the evening of the last day of school. And neither janitors nor policemen would have crumbled directly under a bank during their tour earlier. He pulled a magnifying glass out of his pocket. Not because he needed it now, it just simply seemed mighty Sherlock Holmes-like. He didn't have to tell us that he used the magnifying glass for his scent tests to be able to decipher the small letters on the sample tubes in spite of his decreasing eyesight.
He grabbed one of the crumbs, crushed it lightly with his fingers and sniffed at it. It smelled musty, damp and musty. Besides a touch of putrefaction, as of decaying fruit, a banana for instance. Even the hoodie smelled strange. Dirty - but not that kind of dirt that leaves too long wearing but...
"Hm. Is there a zoo around here somewhere? One with tropical animals, maybe a bird hall?"
"What are tropical animals?" Lena wanted to know.
"Animals from warm countries. Monkeys, for example. This crumb smells a little like overripe fruit. Or greasy dried fruit."
"Iiiiiiiiih!"
"But it also reminds me of the sour smell of tropical birdhouses. It smells similar in bat caves. You can't let a real cop get in the way of that. Here, have a sniff!"
Gently the two children stretched out their noses and tried hard not to make a face - like real policemen just.
Olfattke repeated his question: "Is there a zoo around here?"
"In Gettorf, on the other side of the Kieler Förde, is a zoo", said the caretaker.
"We know him," Jan threw in. "They've got a place where all the birds fly around. It's warm and smelly when you come in. That's the zoo where Ben's big brother from my class works."
Lena giggled in print: "Mom said to Dad the other day: That fits - a monkey in the monkeys..."
The commissioner rose: "Sounds almost too simple. Someone should knock on the bush with this young man."
------------------------<<font color="#ffff00">-==- proudly presents
The remaining chapters:
1. Comptoir Sud Pacifique, Aqua Motu
3. Profumum Roma, Acqua di Sale (coming soon)
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