There had been four robberies in the town in the last month. The residents were scared but the local police had no clues. When one more house was robbed, Arham and his school friends, Haider, Adnan and Fauzia made a detective group and named it the ‘4Ds’ (The Four Detectives). They thought it was time for them to investigate the cases and contribute to the welfare of their neighbourhood.

The group took permission from the owner of a house that was robbed, to inspect the house. One of the rooms had its window broken after the robbery. The 4Ds searched the house a lot. All they could find was a crumpled paper with some nervous scribbling that made no sense.

The group then left the house to meet at a deserted inn at the end of the street. They had walked a few steps only when a powerful motorbike came towards them with full thrust. The young detectives jumped on to the sidewalk to get out of the way as the biker swerved and then having missed them, went down the road at full speed. They tried to chase him but he was too fast.

It seemed the biker deliberately wanted to hurt them. They immediately went to the nearest police station to report the incident. As they came out, the guard at the gate eyed them warily while scribbling away in the tiny notepad in his big hands.

They waved at him and walked away.

As they arrived at the inn, the news of another robbery was all over the local TV channel. This time, Arham’s house had been the target. They became very perplexed and left for Arham’s house with his driver.

On their way home, the driver told  them that he was in the back garage, repairing the car when the robbery had taken place. He didn’t realise that robbers had entered the house. Thinking that no one was around, robbers talked about their next target, the local museum, as they were escaping from Arham’s house. These voices alarmed the driver who tried to catch them but failed in his effort. He had seen a glimpse of one of the robbers who had a little notebook in his hand and was scribbling in it. It seemed he was doing it unconsciously. Perhaps it was some psychological disorder.

They all looked into each other’s eyes as the same thought crossed their minds; the image of a man scribbling away in a notebook. The 4Ds had a plan for the night.

They waited for the robbers at the museum, crouching near the entrance, eager to get a glimpse of the awaited guests. It was 3:00am. They had almost given up when there was a thud and someone jumped over the side fence. A shadow went past them on tiptoes. They waited in utter silence. He was clad in black, his face masked and hands gloved.

And then Adnan saw it; the notebook in his left hand. He almost clapped with excitement. It was him. They knew it instantly. It was the police guard. The pieces of the puzzle came together. It meant that the guard was keeping the gang informed about how to dodge surveillance and get into the houses unseen.

The game was over. Now was the chance to lead him to the trap and catch him red-handed. The shadow disappeared behind a bush. When he became visible again, he was the guard in his uniform. He walked over to the guard at museum and told him to shift his position to a better place because there was a threat of robbery. He had done the trick again. By the time the sentry will be back, he would have finished the job and walked away successfully in his uniform.

It happened exactly as they had surmised. When the gang climbed down the museum steps after their mission, the 4Ds and the local police officer came out of their hiding. The guard was terrified. The police officer pinned them down. It was then that a crumpled notebook fell out of the guard’s front pocket. The group beamed at each other knowingly.

The young detectives had successfully solved their first mystery. It was time to stay on the job and continue to serve the community.