November Lake: Teenage Detective (The November Lake Mysteries) Book 1 by Jamie Drew Page B

as great as mine. We both
approached the mysteries we came across from different angles, but
we always met somewhere in the middle. He could be cocky at times,
but we made a good team and I trusted him.
    Just as
planned, as we reached the outskirts of Little Choke, Kale slowed
and Wendy overtook us in her car. We followed her as she made her
way along the narrow and winding roads that led to the cemetery.
Wind gusted against the side of Kale’s car and I was glad that I
hadn’t made the journey on my motorbike. In the distance, at the
top of a small hill, I could just make out a set of black iron
gates that towered up into the night. Wendy headed toward them,
eventually slowing to a stop. I climbed from Kale’s car and he went
to the boot where he grabbed a torch.
    “ Handcuffs?” I asked him.
    He
opened the front of his coat and I could see them attached to his
belt. They gleamed in the moonlight. He closed his coat again as it
flapped about his legs in the wind. Wendy pulled the hood of her
coat up over her head and bent forward as we approached the
cemetery gates. They screeched as we opened them and stepped
inside. Fallen leaves blew amongst the tiny headstones. Kale cast
his torch over the ground and amongst the trees. Just ahead, I
could see what I had come to find. Three of us, bent against the
wind, cut across the cemetery. We stopped before the large grave
that had been freshly dug.
    “ The grave has already been dug,” Wendy said, looking at me.
“Is it for the dog that I found in my garden?”
    “ Yes,” Kale said, over the cry of the wind.
    “ Who dug it?” she asked.
    “ The council did,” I told her.
    “ But…” she started, looking confused.
    “ I telephoned the council offices this afternoon and they
confirmed that a request had been made yesterday for a grave big
enough for a large dog to be dug,” I explained.
    “ But that man never really telephoned the council offices,”
Wendy reminded me.
    “ That’s because the request had already been made by another,”
I said.
    “ Who?”
    “ A Mr. Baxter,” Kale said. “Ever heard of him?”
    “ No,” Wendy said with a shake of her head.
    “ It doesn’t matter,” I said. “What does matter is that the
grave has been dug for the dog. Now I think we should make our way
through the village to your house.”
    “ On foot?” Wendy asked me.
    “ We don’t want to spook the man when he comes for his dog
tonight,” Kale said.
    “ Do you have the keys to your shed on you?” I asked
her.
    She
fished them from her coat pocket and held them up.
    “ Perfect,” I said. “Your shed will be our hiding
place.”
    With
Wendy at our heels, we made our way back across the cemetery. Back
at the cars, Kale and Wendy reversed them into the shadows beneath
some large trees, where they were hidden from view. Together, the
three of us set off in silence as we followed Wendy through the
village of Little Choke toward her house. Just as she had described
it, Wendy’s house was set back from the road. There was a small
front garden with a path. We made our way along it and past the
front of her house, which sat in darkness. Wendy led us into the
garden. Moonlight streamed down from above, illuminating the lawn.
It couldn’t have been better. Kale switched off his torch and we
made our way in silence to the shed. Wendy unlocked the door. Kale
reached inside and pulled out the wheelbarrow. The front wheel made
a shrill squeaking noise as it turned. There was a spade just
inside the door, so I took hold of it and placed it in the
wheelbarrow.
    “ You’re not meant to be helping this guy,” Wendy
said.
    “ Shhh!” I warned, placing one finger against my lips. “We don’t
want him breaking into the shed, as we will be hiding in there. He
will think you left them out for him to use.”
    Without
saying another word, the three of us crept into the
shed.
    “ Lock the door, and leave the keys in the lock so no one can
get in but we can get out quickly