Once in the police
car, Pete started wondering why they were taking so long to get to the police
station. It’s only ten minutes away from
school, he thought. What Pete didn’t know was that they were taking him to
the New Scotland Yard, one of the biggest stations in the whole United Kingdom,
and it was in the centre of London.
Finally, after forty
minutes on the road, they arrived at the police station. The police officers
took him to the Chief Inspector office, on the top floor of the building. The
office was big. Through the big window you could see St. James Park. It had a
big desk made of wood, from the XIX century. On its top there was a picture of
the Chief Inspector shaking the hand of the prime minister. The walls were full
of diplomas. The office was extremely clean and tidy and it was tastefully
decorated. Inspector Holton wasn’t alone, next to him, sitting down on a smaller
chair, was inspector Legrand.
“What am I doing
here?” Pete asked. “I haven’t done
anything wrong!” he shouted.
“Listen boy, do not
shout at me, you hear me?” Chief Inspector replied to Pete. “You need to
respect authority.”
“Sit down” said
Legrand pointing the chair situated on the other side of the desk. “We just
want to ask you some questions. If you collaborate it won’t take long and you
will be able to go back to your home.”
Pete, a bit
terrified, sat down on that chair. The two officers stared at him.
“Where is the watch
you stole from the British Museum?” asked quietly Legrand.
“I didn’t steal
anything” Pete replied.
“Don’t you lie at us,
boy, we know for sure you have it” said Holton.
“I had it, but I
haven’t got it anymore. And I didn’t steal it; I found it on a bench.”
“Do you think we are
going to believe that?” Holton said, laughing sarcastically. “Stop wasting our
time!”
“I am telling you the
truth. I found it on a bench at Russell Square Gardens, in front of the British
Museum. I kept it for a while but then I felt bad because it wasn’t mine and I
returned it where I found it.”
You’d better tell us
the truth right now or you are going to prison.” Holton shouted impatient as he
hit the desk. “We already know how special is the watch so we obviously can’t
believe you returned it.”
“Calm down Chief”
said Legrand. “Please boy, tell us what really happened and we will let you go
out of here as soon as possible.”