Compo 3

"Oh right! It's time for the J detectives to find out about this mystery that everyone that had been talking about!" I said in a very confident as I looked towards Janice and Juliane.

"We will have to do that right after school." Juliane reminded gently.

"No problem! I'll just have to ask my mother." I replied as I winked at both of them.

The school bell rang and we all walked towards those very same rows of bungalow I always walk every day. "Wait here for me." I whispered in the quietest tone to my friends before I walk into the gate of my house.

I shouted into the house, "Aminah! Open the gates! I'm home!" Immediately, the gates were opened automatically for me.

"Good afternoon Missy." She greeted me as I walk through my garden.

I left my bag on the sofa and ran up to my Mother's room. Before I could even knock on the door, Aminah rushed up the stairs and warned me, "Missy, keep your volume down, Madam is doing facial, the beautician is inside and she don't want you to embarrassed her in front of a guest."

Hearing the advice, I knocked the door very gently. Then my mother led me in. "Yes my dear?" She asked nicely.

"Mum, can I go hiking with my friends? Please..." I pleaded sweetly.

Though she did not reply but I know that she is warning me not to get into trouble from her expression. "Oh right, but be back before dinner! You have your piano class after that." She finally agreed as she felt a little embarrassed.

I ran all the way to my room and get my hiking tools all ready. "Binoculars check! Writing materials check! Magnifying glass, check!" I checked that I have all my things in my bags before I set off.

"Bye!" I bided good bye before anybody can stop me from having fun. "Let's go!" We exclaimed as we walk towards the lake behind school.

"Hey, are you sure that this is fine? Because we always get into trouble whenever we go hiking." Janice said timidly as usual.

"It will be fine. Don't be such a coward." Julianne comforted as she placed her hands on Janice's shoulders.

I took out my binoculars and tried to spot the chest that everyone say is always floating in the lake. After many hours of waiting, we spotted it! It was floating towards the edge of the lake. "Hurry, let's get moving!" I alerted my team mates.

Janice, being the one with the longest arm, volunteered to pull it on shore. "It's light! I really wonder what is inside." Juliane asked, feeling very excited and curious.

Juliane being the strongest volunteered to break the lock open. When the lock was finally opened, we all stared at the things inside and were thinking what it was. "These are pills!" Being the quick-witted one amongst the three of us, I concluded.

But before anyone one of us can take a closer look, something from the bush interrupted us. "What do you think you are doing? Give it back to us!" a voice boomed from nowhere. A man with shoulders as wide as the width of the table, with his faced halved covered with his beard, showed us the look that could have melted steel. We were all was trembling in fear and I could even hear my heartbeat!

"Don't you understand? Give it back to us!" This time round, another Scary-looking man yelled at us.

However, Juliane, being very stubborn challenged him, "I won't give until you tell me what these pills are!"

"Stubborn brat! Hurry!" he chased. Now more and more of these people came and surround us.

"Just tell us!" She argued.

Some of them started whispering, “Who is the one who suggested putting the drugs in this chest? This is such a stupid idea! Now we can't get all of these brats to return us! We should not use this lake as a drugs transit."

Having a sharp ear, Janice announced, "So these are drugs! All of you are smugglers!"

"Since you know that than give it back, if not you will suffer..." The leader of that group stood out and gave us a sinister grin. That makes me shiver really hard.

I fished out my mobile phone and tried to pressed the "9" button. Afraid of being seen, I wait till they are distracted but the argument, slowly and carefully, I informed the police.

Just right after I hanged up, one of them spotted me. "How dare you call the police?" He pointed to me and said in the harshest voice I ever heard.

I prayed that the police will come right then, luckily, my prayers were answered! Sirens filled the air as they looked at each other. "Run!" someone shouted and they all started too run in all directions. Without hesitations, we, all being the school's top 3 sprinters, started a wild goose chase around the lake. But not long after, all of the smugglers were caught with the help of the police and us.

"Looks like this time round our mystery is solved and we did not get into trouble! Instead, we helped to catch all those illegal smugglers too!" Janice teased.

"All thanks to your call to the police Jennifer, if not I thought it's the end of my life!" Juliane praised as I blushed.

Once again, the J detectives solved a mystery!