The Secret in the Fool's Head

June and her twin brother Jean were taking a leisurely stroll through the park in the evening. They were talking about all the adventures and sleuthing experiences they had enjoyed during the last few months.

“I could become a detective,” Jean said, “if I get no other job.”

June laughed. “You could become a pizza taster. In case you taste one too many, you have the practice to endure the consequences.”

Jean was not very pleased at his sister’s remarks, but he thought it best to pretend he had not heard her sarcasm.

Suddenly June stopped. Jean, unaware that his sister had applied the brakes on her feet, continued his motion for a few seconds. When he realized that his sister was not beside him, he turned round and retraced his steps.

“Why the sudden halt, June?” he asked, quite perplexed.

“Why is the child crying there?” June asked, pointing to a lone girl of about eight near the northern corner of the park.

Jean said carelessly, “Oh, probably some child has snatched away her toy. Don’t waste time, June ─ let’s move on.”

But June was unconvinced. “Perhaps you’re right. But even then, consoling a child in distress may be a good deed in service of God.”

The twins went to the child, and June patted her gently and kindly.

“What’s the matter, dear? Have you lost anything?” June said in a reassuring tone.

“Where is your house and what’s your name?” Jean asked the child.

“My doll is broken… I am Angela,” the girl managed to say between her sobs.

“Oh, that’s nothing, Angela,” June comforted her. “You can buy another. And if you’re afraid that your parents might scold you, I’ll come with you to your house and explain to them. It was only an accident ─ you didn’t break it on purpose, did you?”

“I didn’t break it. A bad man breaks them every day, and this is my fifth doll that he has broken.”

June was really astonished. “Man? Not a child? Who’s that man?”

“I don’t know. We just saw him running away. Before we could come to the place where we had arranged our toys, he disappeared.”

“It’s strange,” June said to herself. “If it had been a child, it would make sense. Perhaps some childish quarrel could be the motive. But an adult ─ it doesn’t make sense, unless he’s insane or a maniac!”

“Is it the same man who breaks your toys every day? He has broken four dolls earlier, hasn’t he?” June asked the child.

“Not mine alone, he breaks whoever buys that doll,” Angela said, now more composed due to the effect of June’s affectionate attitude.

“That doll ─ what do you mean, my dear?” June asked, really perplexed. 

“A fool,” Angela shot out, and June was visibly embarrassed. Jean could hardly repress his smile.

“That’s the doll’s name: A fool,” said the child, and June was greatly relieved.

It was getting late, and June thought it best to escort the little girl to her home. Jean reluctantly decided to accompany them.

June took the child’s soft hands in hers and asked her brother to collect all her playthings. Angela led the way to her residence.

Angela’s mother was delighted. Pleased with the twins for being so considerate and helpful, she asked them to stay for a few minutes while she made some hot cocoa for all of them. June used the opportunity to make a few more queries of the little girl.

At last, the twins took leave and June promised Angela that she would bring her some chocolates the next day. Angela couldn’t help thinking that June was the nicest person she had ever come across, so full of love and feelings for small children.

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 The twins reached home, had a refreshing shower, and sat down to relish their tea. But June was uncomfortable. She was thinking of Angela.

“You seem upset,” Jean said.

“Yes, I’m thinking why an adult would take so much pains to break by stealth a particular toy of every child every day,” June said, talking more to herself than to her brother.

“A maniac ─ it can’t be anything else.”

“It might be so. But it’s disturbing all the same. It’s not grudge, because in that case he would target one particular child,” June pointed out.

“Also, he would break all the toys of that particular child against whom he nurses a grudge,” June reasoned logically.

“Instead, he targets all children, but smashes only one particular doll called the fool,” June quipped.

“May be, he simply hates that doll or its name,” her brother suggested. But June shook her head.

“An adult man cannot have much interest in toys and dolls. In fact, most adults are probably not even aware that there’s such a doll in the market.”

“Could we visit the toy shop and find out about it,” Jean said doubtfully.

 “Perhaps, but I am not sure what we should ask them about it,” June returned.

“We could go and hide somewhere in the park and catch the rascal red-handed,” Jean advocated a direct approach.

“We’ll see. Let’s think over, and we’ll exchange our ideas tomorrow,” June said.

They fell silent. June was lost in deep thoughts. The mystery was intriguing. But she could fathom no rhyme or reason why a man should go on a toy-breaking spree. It did not seem to be an interesting pastime.

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The next day the family had guests at the breakfast table. Their dad’s colleague Mr Carlson had come with his wife and their seven-year old daughter. During the course of conversation, Carlson’s wife casually mentioned that someone had broken the child’s doll on the previous evening at the park where she had gone to play.

 June was very much interested in the news. She took the child upstairs saying she would show her some interesting things. She kept the child engrossed in a great many interesting items and kept on liberally supplying her with nuts and cashews and raisins. Very casually June asked her: “Which toy of yours was smashed yesterday?”

A noise at the door made them both turn towards the entrance. Jean hastily entered the room, as the girl said, “A fool!”

Jean did not know that it was the child’s answer to his sister’s question about the smashed doll, and was very greatly discomfited. After a few furtive glances this way and that, he thought it best to make a quick exit.

June secretly flushed with pleasure ─ it was the perfect tit-for-tat retribution for his previous evening’s insolence in front of Angela.

“And have any of your friend’s dolls been broken?” June asked her gently.

“Oh, yes. Mary’s doll, and also Anne’s doll ─ all these were broken the day before,” the child revealed.

“And all these were the same type of doll ─ the fool, right?” June asked the child, gently caressing her face so as not to upset her with what was essentially a very painful topic for the child.

 “Yes, we bought them on the same day from the same shop, the shop at the street corner,” the child said sadly.

June waned to ask her whether she had seen the man who broke their dolls, but decided against it as she saw the agony on the child’s face.

“Don’t worry, dear. I am going that way this evening. If I can get it, I’ll buy you a new one,” June assured her as she gifted her one of her electronic airplane and gently led the child back to her parents downstairs.

June wondered whether she would be able to solve the mystery!

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The twins met after lunch. After some brief skirmishes about the earlier faux pas, they began to talk about the mystifying episode in right earnest.

“They can’t go to the police,” Jean said thoughtfully, “because no crime has been committed.”

“No serious crime has yet been committed,” corrected his sister. “It’s a big and detestable crime to unnecessarily torment small children or terrify them. And I can’t help thinking that something sinister is afoot. Why should someone indulge in such apparently mindless acts of vandalism?”

“What can be there inside a fool’s body?” Jean wondered, referring to the doll that was called a fool.

“You should know best,” retorted his sister. “What’s inside your head? Or, should I ask, is there anything at all?”

Jean flared up but, as usual, he was no match for his smart sister. He swallowed his pride and decided to continue on the main topic.

“At least, in that doll’s head there’s nothing. But why should someone smash it? It can’t be a plain hate-crime, can it be?”

“Absurd. It is too much to suppose that a man is so filled with hatred against the fool that he roams every park and breaks the dolls. And it’s not just one place, he has been active at two different places at least, and may be more.”

“I’d like to know more about the doll,” Jean said with curiosity.

“Me too,” echoed June. “I’ve promised the child one. And perhaps we might take one for poor Angela too. If it is not very expensive, I’d like to buy half-a-dozen. We may examine them to our heart’s content, and then gift them to all those children who have lost their fools.”

“Like a Santa generously distributing gifts!” teased Jean. “The Good Samaritan act may be highly laudable, but I wonder whether the shop has enough in stock. They could run out of stock, if every child buys as many as Angela did. She said it was her fifth.”

“If they have no stock of the fool, perhaps I could send you to Angela for a few days!” June remarked with witticism.

Before Jean could react to this caustic pun, her eyes fell on the newspaper.

“Jean, look here!” she said.

“What?” the boy asked totally bewildered.

 “Smugglers of narcotics, it says, are using unusual methods of communication. One such method is to hide a cryptic code inside the cylinder of a pen and mix it with other pens being sold at a shop!”

“Ingenious, only if someone doesn’t take such a pen to the exam hall,” June remarked with scorn.

“But the problem is: how do they identify which pen has the message?” June wondered.

“Could it be possible that the shopkeeper is in collusion? Then he would know which pen, or at least which box of pens, contained the message.”

June gave a screech, and the boy seemed plainly terrified. “Don’t break me, June; I’m not a fool, though you think me to be one!”

“There’s just a probability that a doll is being used for a similar purpose. And a particular gang may have decided to use the fool.”

“But how do we find out? We can’t buy all the fools manufactured by the company and smash them one by one,” Jean raised a valid point.

“We will cross the river when we come to it. For the nonce …..” June began but her brother interrupted.

“What did you say ─ for the nonsense? What do you mean, June,” Jean interposed.

“Not nonsense, nonce. It means for now or for the time being. For the nonce, let’s buy the doll and examine it. It may not have any concealing space for message transfer.”

“If it does not have such a facility, then we’ll have to examine other possibilities to understand the doll-smashing hobby.”

They decided to buy a pair of dolls at first. They could take one each, inspect and scrutinize it separately, and try to discover what secret (if any) was hidden in the doll that rendered it vulnerable to an inquisitive criminal’s barbarity or an angry maniac’s outrage.

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That evening the twins arrived at the mall where there were several toy shops. June was yet undecided as to what questions she would ask the shopkeeper while purchasing a pair of fools.

“Why are you waiting, June, Let’s go and seek the fool!” Jean said with great impatience.

“We’ve plenty of time,” June explained. “Let’s just roam around and observe. First, does any shopkeeper look suspicious? Second, do people usually flock to any particular shop among the half-a-dozen stalls standing in a line on the left? Third, what additional small talks can we make with the salesperson and elicit some useful info.”

They rambled here and there, always keeping a sharp look-out for the shops and the customers who went in. Parents and children were continually going in and coming out of the stalls. Suddenly, June nudged her brother and briefly signaled to him to look at the third toy-stall.

“What’s there? I can’t spot anything suspicious,” Jean said with a puzzled look in his eyes.

“Every shop is visited by parents with children. But, see there, it’s a middle-aged man alone. And he is talking very seriously to the shopkeeper, yet the latter hasn’t shown him even one toy or doll.”

“You’re right,” June said, now illuminated by his sister’s observation. “Either a shopkeeper simply says that he does not have the specified item or else displays what he thinks might interest the customer. And what can this bearded old-uncle want in a toy shop?”

“We can just casually walk in and ask for the doll called the fool. But until the shopkeeper turns his attention towards us, be in no hurry. We will just pretend that we’re examining the items on display, although we’re really trying to overhear what they’re talking.”

They went in and proceeded to execute their plans. While they pretended to be admiring the items and trying to decide what to buy, they strained their ears to hear what the men were whispering in hushed tones. They had hardly caught a couple of words before luck ran against them. The salesman turned towards them and asked what they would like to buy. He put an amiable smile, but it was clearly an affected and artificial one.

“We’re looking for the doll called the fool,” said Jean.

“Sorry, Miss, that’s out of stock. We can give you when fresh stocks arrive. It might take just a few days.”

“It’s very popular, isn’t it? Lots of people must be buying them,” said Jean.

 “Yes, that’s right. It has caught the children’s craze. Sells like hotcakes,” the salesman volunteered.

“What is so special about it that it has so strongly captured everyone’s fancy?” Jean asked innocently.

“It’s just that the face can be screwed off and fitted upside down. Then the happy girlish face changes to a sad boyish face,” the salesman obligingly explained the stunning feature of the fool.

“Perhaps these other shops may have a few left. If not, we’ll place advance orders with you,” Jean told him.

“No use, Miss. Only I stock them…,” he began ─ but a warning glare shot out from the bearded-man’s eyes and he abruptly broke off. On second thoughts, he added: “I mean I am the largest retailer of that item. You may, nevertheless, ask at the other shops.”

The twins took leave, but June could not help seeing in the shop-mirror the bearded man’s distrustful gaze on them. Intense dislike and annoyance, if not malevolence, was unmistakably written on the face.

Suddenly June had an idea. She turned back and said, “I’ll just take a snap of this beautiful doll here. May be, my sister will like it and won’t go frantic for the fool.”

Before anyone could say or do anything, she took out her cell phone, clicked the picture of a doll on the opposite showcase, warmly bade both the men goodbye, flashed a lovely smile, and left.

They left the shop and walked to the cake shop. They ordered two currant cakes and sat down in a corner.

“What’s going on in your head, June? Why did you take the photo? You don’t have any sisters. Why did you put up such an elaborate drama of falsehood?” Jean asked.

 June smiled at his simplicity. “Don’t go by what I do. Concentrate on what you saw.”

“What?” Jean seemed totally perplexed.

“First, let’s take our friendly bearded uncle. What’s your observation, Jean?”

“He’s totally unfriendly. He warned the shopkeeper not to disclose even innocuous information to us.”

“It is because he didn’t consider it to be innocuous. He feared it might spoil the game ─ though what game it is, I can’t say,” June said, taking a huge bite of the fresh and soft cake.

“Who is he, by the way?” asked an exasperated Jean.

“I don’t know, but he’s definitely someone worth watching. Next, did you overhear what they were conversing in such secrecy when we went in?” June brought out her second salvo.

“I heard the words sorry, mixed and out. Did you catch anything else?” Jean asked, eating his cake.

“I too heard these words, but I also noticed the shopkeeper making a brief gesture with his finger. He just twisted it a wee bit, but I saw him doing so. He was trying to point out something in some particular direction.”

“What do we conclude? They are in collusion?”

“That’s quite certain. If I read the situation correctly, he has by mistake sold the particular packet of the fool to somebody, something which he shouldn’t have done,” June proposed her theory.

“Then he was trying to show where those customers live. Both Angela and Mr Carlson’s family live nearby,” Jean conjectured.

“Brilliant, Jean. It’s simply marvelous!” June beamed on him. “Very likely you’ve hit on the right solution. It was indeed an intelligent guesswork on your part!” June was very magnanimous in her appreciation and that left her brother blushing.

“But ….,” began Jean. June interrupted him.

“Now, about the shopkeeper: he’s afraid of the bearded one, that’s clear. He’s the only stockist, or rather the largest one, for the fool. Why?”

“The specially marked packets come to him. He’s chosen as its agent or dealer or whatever because he’s mixed up in this funny business,” Jean put forth his hypothesis.

“Or, he pays so much money and places such large orders that others cannot match,” June put forth her alternative version.

“We can at least go and find out whether other shops sell the fool,” Jean proposed.

“We will, after we finish eating. I want to have another. What about you?” June put forward a tempting proposition.

“Yes, I could do with one more. Thanks, June. Really, detective work needs a lot of food!” Jean said gratefully.

While they were munching their second helping with much gusto, June continued:

“Now let’s come to the photo I snapped. Did you see how the man ogled at us as we were leaving?” June asked.

“No, how could I? I have no eyes at my back,” Jean protested.

“Neither have I, but I had the sense to see the reflection in the mirror. It seemed he would have liked to batter us to pieces for having interrupted him.”

“We indeed have two very nice men. But why did you photograph the doll, I can’t imagine,” Jean let out what has been troubling him since they left the shop.

“Oh, the doll was only an excuse. I took the photo of the man as it was reflected in the mirror. Have a look!” June said as she showed what she had captured in her phone.

Jean simply stared open-mouthed. The gaze was positively spiteful ….

“So, it’s no longer necessary to inquire for the fool at any other stall. We just go and place our advance orders. Let’s meet our friends once more…,” June said as they finished their eating.

They did so and turned homeward. However, June sent her brother home, saying she had to meet Angela and give her the chocolates she had promised her. June returned home after more than three hours. Jean could not help wondering why his sister had spent so much time with the child.

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The next morning June came to her brother’s room after breakfast.

“You were right about detective skills requiring plenty of food. This delicious breakfast has stirred my intellect, Jean,” June said, positively enthused with energy.

“Now, what’s the new thing? Can we go to the mall and have a few more slices of those superb cakes to boost our skills?” Jean asked in an amused tone.

“No, my dear pig-head, we go there tomorrow to take delivery of our order. Listen to what happened at Angela’s yesterday…”

“Oh, yes. I was pondering what you did there for three full hours.”

“I was with Angela for hardly twenty minutes. She was so pleased that she insisted on sharing her cookies with me. But I did manage to get some useful information.”

“Let me guess. You showed her the photograph of the bearded man you clicked yesterday and she identified it as the man who broke all her dolls.”

“I salute you, Jean, for being wrong as usual. She didn’t catch even a glimpse of that man’s face, so it was no use showing her the photo. I just ascertained how many dolls were broken.”

“How did you develop so much interest in statistics, June? Math always terrifies me.”

Well, do you remember the child we had yesterday at breakfast? She told me that she and her two friends have suffered the fate. So, three dolls were broken at that park. Angela says five of her dolls were broken. It makes eight. Yesterday, she told me that three dolls belonging to her friends were also broken during the last few days. So, eleven dolls have suffered martyrdom at the hands of the prowler.” 

“Don’t reel off numbers, June. They make me tizzy. Do you want to erect some sort of memorial for the eleven fools?” Jean asked with acerbity.

“If I did, I will definitely invite you as the twelfth one to cut the ribbon. No, the point is that only one doll of the box of twelve is left. And if one of the dolls in that box contained any secret, and the madman hasn’t found it yet, then it must be in that doll.”

“But how do we find out where that is?”

“It’s just a wild guess. All the twelve of one box must have been sold either on the same day or within a couple of days. A shopkeeper does not usually open a new box until he has sold out all the pieces from the previous box.”

“That’s quite natural,” June agreed.

“My friend Pamela bought one for her cousin-sister last week. She was also a bit astonished to see a child buying five of them. Assuming that the child was Angela, the twelfth doll is probably with Pamela’s cousin-sister.”

“So you went to Pamela from Angela’s place yesterday. Did you see the fool?”

“No, I had not the opportunity yet. First, we have to examine the fool and see where, if at all, the hiding place is.”

“So we’ve nothing to do today…”

“Don’t lament, Jean. There’s another reason why I went to Pamela’s house. Both her parents are electronic engineers.”

“Now, where does electronics come into the mystery? Statistics was bad enough,” June said in horror.

“It comes into the strategy for solving it. Do you remember both Pamela and I had a doll whom you could teach singing?”

“Yes, I do. Once you teach it a song, it could sing it back any time. It was considered to be a brilliant student, and the child who taught it would be regarded as a wonderful teacher,” Jean said. 

“I wanted to understand the mechanism. Her parents showed me. There is a very small microphone, a mini recorder, a microchip, and a tiny speaker. What you sing is recorded and played back.”

“Probably you’re right. But what has these gadgets got to do with the fool?” Jean asked, totally baffled.

“We can think of some ruse to leave the doll at the shop. It would record all the conversation for a few hours,” June disclosed her plan.

“And if by mistake someone presses the frock button, it would reproduce the entire thing. That would give away our game,” Jean pointed out.

 “I will remove the speaker. Later we can reconnect it or otherwise transfer the content of the microchip to a computer. Pamela’s parents would know how to do that!” June said radiant with new-found zeal.

“You’ll have to put that doll in the shop when the bearded man is there,” Jean said, and his sister immediately concurred with him.

They awaited with bated breath the delivery of a box of the fool.

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The teen investigators were sitting with a new box of the fool. It contained twelve dolls, and each of them was intently examining one.

They unscrewed the head, but could find nothing there. They tried to tinker with each and every part of the fool’s body. Suddenly, June let out an owl-like screech.

“Now, please don’t frighten me, June. I am already dazed with your statistics and electronics. If at all you have discovered anything, I hope it does not bring in chemistry or astronomy!”

“Now, don’t be silly. Look here, I accidentally twisted the crown of the head, and it came off. There’s a clear space inside where you could hide a piece of paper with some evil code,” June pointed out.

“Well, how do you fix it? I mean, how do you reattach the crown?” Jean asked.

Both of them tried in vain for half-an-hour before they were forced to conclude that it was broken for good and could only be glued back using some adhesive paste.

“So that’s why our fanatic goes on crushing the fool to pieces. There is no way he could detach and again fix the crown,” Jean whistled in amusement.

“I doubt if he would have done so, even if it was possible. He was in a hurry, you see,” June contended rationally.

 “But, June, it makes our task more difficult. We can’t damage Pamela’s cousin-sister’s doll,” June remarked, suddenly realizing the practical problem.

“Oh, yes, we can. All we have to do is to offer a replacement. We will give the child a new doll in place of the one she has,” June said, resolving the apparently insurmountable problem with a simple solution.

“Let’s go now. There’s nothing like the present,” Jean said as he got up and selected a doll from the box. They left home, greatly thrilled at the prospect of unearthing something valuable.

It was after lunch that the twins examined the doll they had brought from Pamela’s cousin-sister. June gently twisted the fool’s crown and jiggled with it until it came off. Inside, they found to their immense delight, was a small roll of paper.

They carefully extracted it with tweezers and opened it. It was a blank piece of paper. They stared at it open mouthed.

“I can’t make the head or tail of it,” Jean bemoaned.

“It’s probably invisible writing. Let’s warm it. Run the electric iron over it, Jean,” June said, not quite sure that anything would be gained by the procedure.

“Are you sure?” Jean asked doubtfully, as he got up to fetch the electric iron.

“No, Jean, frankly and truthfully speaking, I don’t know if all our efforts would yield any fruit. But let’s simply pray to God and go ahead,” June said with diffidence.

God heard their prayer, and some cryptic writing emerged on the paper on heating. Now, they were ready for the final phase of their activity: help the police nab the rascals!

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June and Jean were roaming at the mall, awaiting the appearance of the bearded man at the shop. “He’s sure to come there every day, until the lost treasure is recovered,” June argued.

After about half-an-hour, they saw with glee their quarry entering the shop. He was plainly agitated as well as worried.

The twins had carefully rehearsed and prepared everything. They walked into the shop, and the bearded man gawked at them with fiery eyes.

Paying no attention to his displeasure, they gave the shopkeeper the broken doll. “It was broken, and we found this paper inside. Could you please replace it?”

The man was transported to the seventh heaven at having retrieved what he thought was irrevocably lost. He had to struggle to hide his ecstasy. He gratefully replaced the broken doll with a new one.

“Now, please do us a favor. We have to gift this doll to a child, but we didn’t get the time to pack it. Could you please pack it using beautiful gift wrappers? You may stick a happy birthday tag on it as well. We’ll pay you for that, of course.”

The shopkeeper had no second thoughts. He would pack even a hundred gift items for them free of charge. He would willingly do anything for the kids who had brought him the valuable paper! They promised to return in an hour.

“It’s six now. We’ll come around seven. We may be a bit late, but we’ll definitely collect the parcel before eight. The shop is open till nine, isn’t it?”

As they left, June glanced at the reflections on the mirror. She was amused to see that the bearded man’s gaze was now much mellowed!

As they were out of the men’s earshot, Jean said: “I hope he doesn’t pack the doll first. In that case, it would hardly record anything.”

June smiled with elaborate patience.

“Don’t worry, my nincompoop, he won’t,” she explained in order to allay his fears. “For one thing, I have given him a box without a lid. In his state of elation, he didn’t observe even that. Now he would have to find a lid of some other box of the same size. Second, rapturous at the recovery of the paper, they will plunge into an energetic discussion. They will probably forget all about the packing for some time. I took great pains to impress upon them that they had at least an hour’s time at hand.”

“If they apply heat on the paper and find out that the writing is some nonsense concocted by us…,”June whispered in apprehension.

“There’s no chance of such an eventuality, Jean. I carefully studied the original and made a near duplicate with subtle changes. It would take them quite a few days to discover the deception.”

They both went to the rolls corner to replenish their energies. Mutton rolls were really very appetizing, they felt.

They walked back into the shop at seven-thirty, collected the neatly packaged item, and headed straight to Pamela’s house.

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The twins were seated before the police inspector. He looked at them with pleasure and reverence.

“You’ve done a wonderful job. We have arrested the whole gang and even recovered the entire consignment of drugs before it could be distributed by the drug peddlers. All your reasoning and deductions were admirably correct and logical. Your idea of recording their conversation and the idea of capturing the man’s photo in your cell phone really helped us arrest them quickly. You definitely deserve to be honored with a reward…”

June smiled and said: “I only want this as my reward: The bearded man, who smashed the children’s dolls, must be asked to pay for a new doll and a large bar of chocolate to each child whom he has wronged. I will go to the house of each child and deliver them.”

The inspector stood up and raised his hand in respectful salute.

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