It was a fine, sunny morning; warm, breezy and peaceful. Just the sort of day P.C. Theophilus Goon enjoyed the most. He sighed to himself, as he stretched languidly in the chair next to the open study window. The window faced onto the main high street of Peterswood, and from here, Goon prided himself on being able to see all that there was to see. Today however, nothing in particular at all appeared to be going on. And that was the way Goon liked it. It had been exactly the same for the past month or so, ever since a particularly warm and stifling summer had settled in. There had been no burglaries, no fires, no kidnappings, no crimes, no peculiar goings-on whatsoever lately. The most interesting case Goon had had reported to him in the past week was the missing cat of Mrs. Elderidge two doors down; even that had wandered back home the very next day. Peterswood seemed to be completely at peace; still and quiet. This would have been utterly frustrating for any policeman with a thirst for solving crime and a passion for his duty; P.C Pippin, Goon knew, belonged to this sort. But he, Theophilus Goon, was not a young, eager youth, desperate for a juicy case to crop up in order to receive praise from the Superintendent. He was wise enough and experienced enough to know that as soon as something fishy sprung up, he would be first on the scene. He didn't need to wander about, aimlessly looking for dead end clues and suspects for a crime that hadn't yet been committed, especially in this heat; he was a serious officer, and he would conduct his duty as such, by waiting for a suitably interesting case in a calm, professional manner. It seemed to Goon that a nice, undisturbed few hours' of rest would be a capital way of going about this.

Just as he was settling down more comfortably in his chair, the telephone bell rang out, shrill and loud. Goon groaned and heaved himself upright; stifling a yawn with the back of his hand, he picked up the receiver, inwardly cursing it for ringing at such an inconvenient time.

"P.C Goon," he answered, wearily, certainly not in the mood for professional calls. If it was Mrs. Elderidge about her cat again, he would jolly well hang up right away!

"Hallo, Goon!" a familiar, business-like tone spoke from the other end of the line. Goon snapped into attention straight away; it wouldn't do to appear lazy and sluggish in front of Superintendent Jenks!

Clearing his throat, Goon at once put on his most polite and agreeable tone. "Good morning, Superintendent. What an unexpected surprise! Do you have a case to report to me, sir?"

"No, Goon. Nothing of the sort," Superintendent Jenks replied, much to Goon's relief. It was far too warm to be doing any real sleuthing anyway! "I called to remind you that, as is customary given the time of the month, it is fairly safe to assume that Peterswood will see an increase in crime in the next few weeks or so. Now, you are a capable officer, Goon, of that I am well aware. However, there has been many a time when you have, er... fallen below the belt a bit. See that you do not sink into the same traps this time, Goon".

Goon nodded hesitantly, cringing slightly at the Superintendent's words. He was however, very puzzled. An increase in crime? Just how was the Superintendent able to guarantee such a change?

"Pardon me, sir," Goon stuttered, at a loss to understand. "Why exactly is it that you predict an increase in crime?"

"Why, Goon!" the Superintendent chuckled. "Surely you of all people, should not be confused by that! Today is the last day of the school term. By tomorrow afternoon, Master Frederick Trotteville and the other 'Find-Outers' will have returned home for the holidays. You know as well as I do how a crime always seems to crop up when those five are about! As intelligent as they are however, Goon, they are not members of the police force. I shall expect you to up your game a little, should a 'mystery', to use Master Trotteville's own word, suddenly pop up. Do I make myself clear?"

Goon was so speechless after hearing the Superintendent's words that he almost forgot to reply. "Yes, sir," he managed, weakly. "Goodbye, sir". Though the Superintendent rung off, Goon sat in the same spot, still clutching the receiver as though for support.

When those blasted kids had first gone off back to school a few months ago, he had been smug and gleeful, glad to see the back of them. He had welcomed his duty without them; it had been almost blissful to wander about on his beat without almost bumping into them at every corner. It had caused Goon even more pleasure to be able to ride his bicycle about the village without being knocked off of it by Frederick Trotteville's tiresome, snappy dog. Yet somehow, as time had progressed, Goon had quite forgotten about those five children. The undisturbed peacefulness of the summer had slipped by without a single reminder that they would soon return, no doubt bringing with them a nice, meaty case. And Superintendent Jenks seemed quite certain that there would be one as soon as they arrived back in Peterswood; he believed that he, Goon, needed to 'up his game' in order to solve it before the Five Find-Outers did. Bah! Five Find-Outers indeed! It was such a silly name, Goon thought. And they were silly children, always poking their noses in where they were not wanted! Always sending off he, Goon, on the wrong track whilst they did all the discovering!

Goon snorted out loud at this point. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts of the Five Find-Outers and all those times that they had come out on top, which were extremely painful to recall, that he almost jumped out of his skin when the telephone bell rang out again. Going to answer the call, Goon noted with some surprise that he was still holding the receiver; really, he would have to keep his mind from wandering so far from his job!

"P.C. Goon," he repeated. Surely this could not be the Superintendent again!

"Oh, er... hallo, Uncle," came the nervous reply. "It's me, Ern."

"Ern!" Goon replied, incredulously. Whoever he might have expected had he had time to ponder upon it, he would never have thought of his nephew, Ern!

"Yes, Uncle," said Ern. There was a few seconds' silence.

"Well, what is it, Ern?" Goon prompted, slightly exasperated at Ern's lack of conversation. The boy surely hadn't rung him up just to stand there in silence! The more he thought of this idea however, the more likely it seemed to him. That was just the sort of thing Ern might do to aggravate him!

"I was wondering, Uncle, whether I mightn't, er... come and stay with you for a bit?" Ern proposed, awkwardly. "You see, Sid and Perce were taken ill halfway through the term and mother wrote to me saying that they aren't any better. She suggested I stay with you for a bit; she said she was going to write to you herself in the next few days, but I thought I'd better ring up just to make sure it was all right". Ern had rushed his way through this speech, and now fell silent. Goon knew Ern was slightly scared of him and he approved. It was good and healthy to have a bit of fear in such a relationship.

"Well, er... yes, Ern. You come along and stay with me," Goon replied, doing his very best to seem hearty and cheerful.

"Oh, thanks awfully, Uncle!" said Ern, gratefully. "I shan't be any trouble. I shall get the first train tomorrow and be along in the afternoon. Goodbye!" Before Goon could say any more, Ern had rung off, no doubt before his uncle could change his mind.

Goon replaced the receiver and leant back in his chair, sighing. To think he had woken up this morning content and at peace with the world! And now all that would be ruined by this time tomorrow! By then, the Five Find Outers would be back, spreading mischief and mayhem wherever they went. And they'd be encouraging young Ern again before long. He, Goon, would be the one trying to stamp out the nonsense those five young rascals filled poor Ern's head with! At once, he wished he hadn't agreed to let him stay. Ern would be a nuisance, that was for sure! But Goon was very fond of Ern deep down, and would never have refused to help the boy.

Gazing out of the window at the still, peaceful high street, Goon decided to savour the remainder of his last morning of serenity by putting Superintendent Jenks, Ern and the Five Find-Outers to the very back of his mind; letting his eyes close thankfully, he indulged himself in the very thing Theophilus Goon loved best - a restful doze.