Read The Case of the Wayward Professor for Free Online

Mr Dilly,’ she sniffed.
    â€˜What sort of conference did he say it was?’
    â€˜He said it was one of his nonsense cryptozoological conferences.’
    â€˜Cryptozoological?’
    â€˜It’s stupid, really, just his hobby, mythical creatures, he loves anything like that … unicorns, sea monsters and, you know …’
    â€˜Dragons?’ said Dirk.
    â€˜Yes, they’re his favourite. That’s why I chose your detective agency. In a funny sort of way I thought he’d approve of the name …’ Her voice trailed away.
    â€˜Why didn’t you mention this before?’ asked Dirk.
    â€˜I didn’t think it was relevant. It’s just a stupid hobby, isn’t it? Those things don’t really exist, do they?’
    â€˜Of course they don’t. It just helps to know these things sometimes,’ said Dirk. ‘I’ll call when I have news.’
    He put down the receiver and looked up at theclock. The big hand was pointing left. The smaller hand was below it. He scratched his head.
    Come on, Dirk, you can do this
, he thought. Big hand was minutes. Yes. That meant it was a quarter to something. The small hand was hours and that was just below the nine. That was it. A quarter to nine.
    A quarter to nine
? He had less than fifteen minutes to get to Euston Station. Dirk was quick but even he couldn’t get across London’s roofs at that speed, particularly not in daylight on a busy Saturday morning.
    He pulled open the window, checked the street below and leapt out. It was a bright day, but overcast, like a grey blanket was spread over the sky. Usually Dirk travelled over roofs because they provided good cover. If he was seen he could stop and blend in an instant, disappearing from sight. He could become a figment of your imagination quicker than you could say, ‘Oh, look, a dragon sitting on top of Tesco’s.’ However, Dirk had a good pair of wings and was perfectly capable of flying. He just had to take precautions in a big city like London.
    He shut his mouth and snorted through his nostrils, standing upright on his hind legs and spinning round. White smoke billowed out of his nose. He flapped hiswings as he turned, sending the smoke into a cloud that swirled around his body. He flapped a little harder, lifting himself off the roof, twisting and snorting as he flew upwards, to keep the smoke around him.
    Having reached a good height, Dirk allowed the smoke to thin out to see where he was going. The view was spectacular, his beloved city of London at his feet. He found Euston and headed, feet first, towards it. Seeing an aeroplane flying above, Dirk snorted hard to thicken the smoke screen.
    Inside the aeroplane, one of the passengers, also admiring the view of London, noticed the strange clump of smoke floating across the city.
    â€˜Take a look at this,’ she said, tapping her boyfriend, who was pretending to be asleep. ‘This cloud is acting very oddly.’
    â€˜Is it really? How very interesting, dear,’ said the boyfriend, patting her hand, not bothering to open his eyes.
    Wondering whether she should break up with her sarcastic boyfriend and instead go out with the nice chap she had met down the laundrette, the girlfriend forgot all about the peculiar cloud drifting across London.
    Dirk landed on the corrugated roof above the stationplatforms and the smoke wafted away.
    Above the sound of the train engines starting up, whistles blowing and doors shutting, an announcement said, ‘The train about to depart from platform seven is the 8.59 to Glasgow. Please stand clear of the platform’s edge …’
    The train rumbled forward.
    There was no time to think.
    Dirk sprang into the air, spread his wings and glided down, landing safely on top of the moving train, holding on tight and blending with the carriage roof.

Chapter Seven

    Holly had been learning the trumpet for two years but had never stayed long enough at any