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successfully free himself of his dilemma, remaining completely dry. Looking pleased with himself, he brushed himself down, unwound the rope and carefully kicked the raft so that the crate bobbed out on to the river.
    â€˜Well done, Reg,’ said Arthur, slapping him on the back with such force that the fat man flew head first into the river with a loud SPLASH.
    Holly suppressed a giggle, but Arthur didn’t find it at all funny. ‘Stop messing about,’ he said. ‘It’s time to go.’
    â€˜Sorry, Arthur,’ said Reg, treading water, then climbing up the muddy bank. ‘I must have slipped.’ He was soaking wet, with streaks of mud down his face and clothes.
    Caught by the river’s current, the raft and large crate bobbed out into the middle of the river, pulling the rope taut.
    The two men returned to the van.
    â€˜Can we go to my place so I can change my clothes?’ asked Reg.
    â€˜What’s wrong with those ones?’ demanded Arthur.
    â€˜They’re all wet.’
    â€˜Well, you should have thought about that before you decided to go for a swim, shouldn’t you?’
    They climbed into the van, closed the doors and, after some protest from the engine, drove away.
    Holly jumped out from her hiding place and ran to the river’s edge. She looked at the raft bobbing on the river. She listened. To her horror, she could hear the unmistakable sound of a cat’s miaowing. She gasped.
    The crate was full of cats.
    She grabbed the rope and tugged at it, but it wouldn’t budge. Far out on the water she could hear desperate feline pleas coming from the crate.
Those poor cats
, she thought,
they must be terrified. What was going to happen to them?
She needed to rescue them, but how? She needed Dirk.

Chapter Nine

    Dirk was getting worried about Holly. Not that he cared what happened to the girl. Oh no. He was too tough and too old to get sentimental. And even if he did care a little, it was only because of the possible repercussions for him. It was one thing a cat going missing but a human girl was an entirely different matter. Besides, she had called him from home. The police only had to do a few checks and his number would come up, then they would start asking difficult questions, wanting to know his involvement. The police wouldn’t leave it at a phone call either. They would want to actually come round and check out his office. Yes, it would only make life complicated ifanything happened to her. That was the only reason he found himself hoping that Holly was OK.
    His thoughts were disturbed by the sound of the reluctant once-white van chug-chug-chugging its way down the path, turning right on to the road and disappearing noisily into the distance.
    A few seconds passed while Dirk stared intently ahead and then Holly appeared, her arms outstretched, running towards him, shouting at the top of her voice, ‘Dirk! Help. Come now. You’ve got to help them.’
    Amateur
, thought Dirk. If there was one thing he knew about being a detective it was that no matter how bad things got, you always kept your nerve. You didn’t go screaming blue murder at the first sign of problem.
    â€˜Dirk Dilly. You’ve got to save them!’ she cried.
    Cursing the girl, Dirk quickly checked that the coast was clear, spread his wings, jumped and glided across the road, down the tree-lined path, landing in front of her. He raised himself up on to his hind legs and said, ‘Shut up, will you. Do you want everyone to know we’re here?’
    But Holly just grabbed Dirk’s paw and dragged him towards the river. He looked across the water.The area was fairly rundown this far from the city. On the north bank was an old rusty boat that looked like it hadn’t been used in twenty years. Behind it was a shabby collection of ugly grey apartment blocks overlooking some overgrown allotments.
    â€˜What?’ asked Dirk.
    â€˜It’s full of cats,’