Read Granny for Free Online Page B

Exactly the same. And I’m ashamed to say, Joe, that it was your granny’s eyes at that tea party of hers. I saw them, and quite frankly I would have preferred to have been sitting down with the crocodile.”
    â€œSo you believe me!” Joe whispered.
    â€œI’m afraid I do.”
    â€œBut what can we do?”
    â€œThere’s nothing I can do,” Mrs. Jinks said, “except to warn you to look after yourself. And remember this, Joe. In the end, the truth will always come out, no matter how long it takes.”
    Joe pulled away. “You’re talking as if you’re not going to stay!” he cried.
    Mrs. Jinks looked at him tiredly. “I don’t know,” she said. “I really don’t know. But I had to talk to you, Joe. Before it was too late…”
    Â 
    The next theft took place on the following Sunday. This time it was Mr. Warden who was the victim. He had dozed off in his chair after lunch, and when he woke up he knew at once that something was wrong. And it was. Someone had stolen two of his gold teeth.
    â€œIt’th a thcandal!” he cried out, whistling at the same time. There was a large gap in the front of his mouth. “Thith ith a matter for the polithe!”
    Granny, of course, was there. As Mr. Warden raged and whistled, she shook her head as if she were utterly confused. “Who would want to take two gold teeth?” she asked. “Although now that I think about it, Mrs. Jinks was telling me how very much she admired them…”
    After that, things happened very fast.
    The police arrived in two police cars and an unmarked van. This, when it was opened, revealed two of the most ferocious dogs Joe had seen in his life. They were Alsatians, long-haired with thin, angular bodies and evil black eyes. Their tongues were drooling as they began to pad around the house, sniffing suspiciously.
    â€œThere’s no meat out, is there?” the dog handler asked.
    â€œMeat? No!” Mrs. Warden replied.
    â€œGood. It’s just that Sherlock and Bones here haven’t eaten for five days. It keeps them sharp. But I can’t let them get a whiff of meat.”
    â€œPlease, Officer.” Mrs. Warden gestured. “My husband is in here…”
    The policemen followed her into the living room. Irma and Wolfgang went back to the west wing, leaving Joe and Mrs. Jinks in the hall. Mrs. Jinks was looking rather pale.
    â€œI think I’ll go and sit outside,” she said. “I need the fresh air.”
    As she moved away, Joe heard a door softly close. Had someone been watching them? Granny? Suddenly worried, without knowing why, he opened the door and followed the passage on the other side all the way down to the kitchen.
    There was someone there. Afraid of being seen, he peered round the corner just in time to see Granny climbing down from a cabinet with something in her hand. Now she was moving rapidly toward him and Joe ducked into the pantry to hide. He heard a swish of material and caught a whiff of Decomposing Sheep as she passed, but then she was gone. What was she doing? What had she taken?
    Joe waited until he was sure she had gone before he went back out into the hall, but now there was no sign of her. In the living room, he could hear his father talking to one of the policemen.
    â€œYeth, Offither. They were thtolen when I wath athleep!”
    He went back to the front door and looked out. Mrs. Jinks was sitting on a bench at the side of the house, and as he watched her, Joe heard a window open on the first floor. He wanted to call out to her, but suddenly the two police dogs appeared, lumbering across the lawn, and he shrank back.
    But not before he had seen…
    Something was drifting onto Mrs. Jinks. At first Joe thought it was raining. But whatever it was was brown. And it was some sort of powder. Mrs. Jinks hadn’t noticed. She was sitting quietly, deep in thought. The powder sprinkled onto her