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please.’
    They walked around the outside of the pavilion. Before the wooded area started there was a well-maintained garden with gravel paths and sculpted flower beds. In the centre of the garden was a stone fountain.
    Or rather, the remains of one.
    One of the flowerbeds was completely flooded as the shattered stone had spilled its contents across the gravel and into the soil. The centre-piece, whatever it had been, was in four large chunks in the bowl of the fountain, most of the existing water having been displaced. The pump had been shut off but puddles on one part of the path suggested that it had been shooting up into the air and spraying the gravel for some time after the demolition of the park’s decorative feature.
    â€˜What’s happened here?’ asked Charlotte.
    â€˜I know I keep saying this,’ said Fields, ‘But we can’t be certain. The emergency services were called to the park for something else. When we got here we found the fountain shattered.’ He walked over towards a bench. ‘And more of your son’s story here.’ They all stared at the empty seat. ‘Like before, we’re getting copies of the original. We’ll have them shortly, for what it’s worth. You really can’t see anything in the first part of the story that might give you a clue as to what’s happening here?’
    â€˜It’s just a story,’ said Alex.
    â€˜Hmm. So why does he keep leaving pieces of it?’
    Alex hung his head. ‘He’s punishing me. For never giving him the time he wanted. For never reading his stories.’ When he looked up his eyes were moist. ‘And my mother’s helping him.’ Charlotte put an arm on his shoulder.
    â€˜That’s how it’s beginning to look,’ said Fields, stroking his beard. ‘We don’t think he has been abducted but is doing this of his own free will. We think he’ll stay away until he’s left you all his story, then his grandmother will bring him home. How long’s the story?’
    Alex sighed. ‘I’ve no idea.’
    â€˜He will have filled the notebook,’ said Charlotte. ‘He always fills the books, more or less.’
    Fields nodded. ‘So if it’s the same length as the others you’ve shown me, we could be at this for some time. However, the main issue now is the vandalism.’ He looked down at the statue. ‘I don’t know how they’re doing it, but they’ve busted some patio doors and managed to smash this fountain to the point where it’s nothing but rubble. That must have taken some force.’
    Alex scoffed. ‘So you think a sixty-year-old with a dodgy hip, and a boy who can’t even walk can do that?’
    â€˜Until we catch up with them, we’ve nothing else to go on.’ Then Fields gave an involuntary flinch. His eyes dropped to the ground and the others followed his gaze.
    A frog was on his shoe. With a small hop it left it and headed towards the flooded flowerbed. Then, from the fountain, others came. Dozens of them, leaving the drying fountain base and heading for the moist cover of fauna.
    The three of them backed away and just stared, dumbfounded.
    Bizarrely, the frogs didn’t make a sound.
    Within half a minute they were lost from sight.
    â€˜That,’ said Charlotte, ‘Was the strangest thing I’ve ever seen.’
    â€˜The day we’ve had,’ said Alex, ‘I’m not so sure.’ He went to investigate the fountain. ‘What was this in the shape of before it broke? A horse?’
    â€˜Before it was broken,’ said Fields, ‘It was a dragon. You might have seen the pub on the corner before you turned into the car park? The Dragon and Key?’
    â€˜Can’t say I did.’
    The detective’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He took a quick call then spoke to the Hollidays. ‘They’ve got a copy of the new pages for you to look at. If you