Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 12 | Page 187

The Case of the Missing Coins
Good Hope Primary School cum Kindergarten, Cheung , Hiu Ching - 10
O
ne sunny afternoon, Sherlock Holmes and Watson were sitting in the office, chatting. Just then, the phone
rang. The phone call was come from Shanghai. It was the Shanghai Mint. Shanghai Mint minted
circulation coins in China at that time.
“The coins in Shanghai Mint were stolen! Come to Shanghai right away!” Shanghai Mint’s supervisor, Mr
Chen said anxiously. Mr Chen and Sherlock Holmes were good old friends. Holmes and Watson bought
themselves two air tickets, packed their luggage and flew off.
When Holmes and Watson arrived at Shanghai Mint, a huge building came into sight. There were security
guards all around patrolling. Mr Chen greeted Holmes and told him how the coins were missing.
“We have about 100 security guards on duty a day. Doors and windows are locked but the coins were still
stolen,” Mr Chen was puzzled.
“Some VIP guests came and visited Shanghai Mint on Wednesday. I showed them the coins. Then I
locked the coins back in the safe after the guests had left. The coins were still there at that time!” said Mr Chen
nervously.
“Yesterday morning when I was checking the locks, I found that one of them was open and the coins
were missing!” Mr Chen handed Holmes an empty address book.
“This is the only thing that the thief left,” he said.
“It’s such a complicated case!” Watson frowned.
“It’s a challenging case!” Holmes laughed.
Holmes closed his eyes, thought for a while and smiled. Every time when Holmes did that, he found a
clue.
“Bingo! Holmes has found a clue!” Watson was excited.
“If the address book is blank, that means the thief doesn’t know anyone here and he is a stranger. Let’s go
to the hotel and check it out,” Holmes said.
At the hotel, Holmes asked the receptionist.
“Have you come across a stranger lately?”
“Yes, there was a stranger with squinty eyes checked in yesterday but he headed away a while later,” the
receptionist said.
Holmes closed his eyes, thought for a while and smiled.
“The thief is wearing glasses!” Watson guessed. “Very close! The thief has squinty eyes. That means he
has misplaced his glasses. We must go to the glasses store immediately!” Holmes said.
Within minutes they were at the glasses store. Holmes asked the shopkeeper if he had seen anyone with
squinty eyes.
“There was only a customer yesterday. And yes, he has a pair of squinty eyes and also a very expensive silk
tie,” the shopkeeper said.
Holmes closed his eyes, thought for a while and smiled.
“The thief likes wearing ties,” Watson said.
“Not only that. If the thief can afford so much money for a silk tie, he must be very well off. We need to
go to Shanghai City Nightclub where there are lots of rich people,” said Holmes.
Soon they were at the Nightclub, asking the bartender.
“There were a few men sitting at the bar drinking and eating. Oh yes, one of them had squinty eyes and
he had a very nice tie. He was eating an apple. Before he finished, he left in a hurry,” replied the bartender.
“Can I have a look at the leftover apple?” Holmes asked.
“Hmmm, there are some big teeth marks and blood on it,” Holmes grinned after seeing the apple.
“The thief must like eating apples. Shall we go to the fruit store?” asked Watson.
Holmes closed his eyes, thought for a while and smiled.