Max was staring out of her window. Admiring the lush green garden in front of her, she could hear the birds chirping away and the cold breeze lightly caressing her hair. Something told her that today was going to be a great day, full of excitement and joy. The sweet smell of daisies and lilies filled her room and urged her to go down.

Happily, Max got dressed. She wore her favourite fuchsia pink dress and with a bewitching smile on her face, went downstairs to give her mum a hug. Her mum, Lydia, was a well-known and dignified lawyer and was currently working on a murder case. Max was accustomed to helping her mother with her cases and two would often brainstorm new ideas.

“So mum, what’s this case about?” Max inquired whilst chomping away on an apple.

“My client, Ted, blames Hopper Finn for his sister Robin’s death. I think there’s some kind of foul play involved,” Lydia replied.

Max thought carefully for a moment and then suddenly brightened up and exclaimed “Mum! Hopper is Nancy’s dad and Nancy Hopper is my best friend! I can easily ask her questions about her father!”

“Oh, that’s right, Max!” exclaimed Lydia “You can ask her dad about his job, but don’t make it too obvious”

The next day Max went to Nancy’s house and as the two girls played, she innocently began asking Nancy questions about her father. Max was very intelligent and managed to get a lot of information as discreetly as possible. Soon Max’s mum came to pick her up and as Max headed out, she ran into a tall, broad man with a big beard and yellow teeth. The man gave Max a creepy smile and tried to say hello, but Max hurriedly hopped in the car. On the journey back home, narrated everything to her mother.

The next morning, Max went to Nancy’s house again. The whole time Max was there, she noticed Billy, who was Ted’s assistant, and Hopper secretively talking in hushed tones and saw them poring over something. Max decided to hide behind the curtains and managed to overhear them talking about Robin and how they would take over her company. Both of them laughed loudly as they discussed how they had successfully murdered Robin.

Max informed her mother of everything she had overheard. Lydia was very grateful to her as this was a major clue to the case. Proud of her daughter’s quick thinking, she immediately called Ted and came up with a new action plan to confront Hopper in court.

Freshly armed with new evidence, Lydia and Max continued to gather more information and eventually, when the case went to trial, Lydia won and Hopper lost. Ted was now at peace and could deal with his sister’s demise more calmly.

Max decided to become a detective when she grew up. She knew strong intuitive skills and could make an excellent career out of them.

Published in Dawn, Young World, January 9th, 2021