Gordon and Buffy hurried back to the police station. First Buffy, happy and hopping. She sang about how good she was at investigating things. “I investi-ga-ga-gate!” Gordon trudged after her. His whole body felt tired, and he was dizzy from all the swimming.
Back inside, he sat at his writing desk and looked at the piece of white paper with the stamp on it.
“First, the police must investigate everything,” he said. He wrote:
“Investi-ga-ga-gate everything!” sang Buffy.
That was the next thing on the list. Buffy stopped singing and saluted.
“We must each be a different police group,” explained Gordon.
“Am I the little police group then?” asked Buffy. Gordon nodded distractedly.
“Then comes the most important and the most terrible thing,” said Gordon. “The snake I met today could have eaten me up. But that didn’t stop me. Courageously, I interrogated the most dangerous creature. I was prepared for anything, even to be eaten. Nothing must stop a police officer. One day I’ll tell you about the dreadful meeting I had with a fox.”
He wrote:
“Gosh,” said the mouse. “I’m not as brave as that yet. I was very scared of the crow. If he’d started arguing, I would have raced off to hide in a mouse hole…”
Gordon looked sternly at Buffy.
“And then I would have called for the other police group,” said Buffy.
Gordon nodded. What a clever police assistant he had. One fine day he’d make her Chief of Police, too. He just needed to find a bigger police hat for her. With more gold on it. Possibly there was an old one in the wardrobe…
“Take this piece of paper and read it!”
Buffy took the piece of paper. She turned it this way and that. Squinted at the words. Went over to the window to see it better.
“Hmm,” she said.
“Is there a problem?” Gordon wondered.
“No, not at all. Never.”
They drank tea and ate lunch cakes from the spotted tin. Pineapple cakes. Buffy ate one. Then she was full to the brim. Gordon ate four. Doubles. Then that tin was also empty.
Hmm, thought Gordon. He was starting to eat a little too much.
“Now we must summarize the case!” he said.
Gordon stretched out on the bed in the bedroom. He thought best when lying down. Buffy lay down on the adjacent bed. Gordon cleared his throat.
“But if we’re eaten up, this will be the last case!” Buffy got in first. “That’s quite sad…”
They considered this for a moment. Gordon banished the thought and cleared his throat again.
“There is clearly an unpleasant atmosphere in the forest,” he said. “Many animals are unhappy. Unhappiness is by no means forbidden, but I won’t have it in my police district. Some thug is going around saying nasty things to others. And saying nasty things is certainly forbidden! We’ll put an end to it at once…”
Buffy had to ask something.
“How do we know what’s forbidden and what’s not forbidden?”
Gordon rose carefully and went to fetch a book from the big police room. It was the fattest book in the entire police station. He heaved it over to the bedside table, where he put it down. The table creaked under its weight.
“It is in the Book of Law!” said Gordon. “You can read it yourself, somewhere in the middle.”
Buffy pointed a finger at the Book of Law and turned a page or two. On every page were thousands of strange teeny-tiny marks. And the book was a thousand pages thick.
She sighed.
“Probably I’ll read the book later,” she said. “But what should the different police groups do now?”
Gordon nodded.
“One group will lie on the bed and think,” he said. “This same group will be thinking about the Book of Law…”
“And what shall I do then?” said Buffy.
“The other police group should continue to investigate. Go out in the woods, listen and observe.”
Buffy wanted to ask about dressing up and the different hats you could wear, but Gordon raised a finger.
“The police group should dress normally, look normal, and walk in a normal manner.”
Buffy went over to the mirror and turned from side to side. She tried out different expressions and did her best to look normal.
“Do I look normal now?”
“You look almost too normal,” said Gordon behind her. “Off you go and investigate!”
But first Buffy whispered something to Gordon. She wanted to take two secret things in her backpack.
“Excellent!” said Gordon. “You are a smart police officer!”
Buffy hurried happily away. Gordon watched her through the window. She went off whistling and looking up at the sky in a very innocent manner.
Gordon lay back down on the bed, puffed up the pillow, and relaxed. He really did plan to work hard as well. Except he couldn’t help thinking about the adventure with the fox.
It had happened some years ago. A fox had been committing unpleasant crimes in the detective’s forest…
Mice disappeared. Voles disappeared. And suddenly one day the detective discovered a pile of woodhen feathers. Eaten up, without a doubt!
After a long investigation he succeeded in finding the fox asleep under a bush, with a tight, round stomach. In the fox’s mouth, the detective glimpsed a feather and, when he crept closer to investigate, he saw that it was the poor woodhen’s feather. The case was proved!
The detective cleared his throat loudly till the fox woke up. Then he told him he was putting his foot down and that the fox must leave the forest at once!
He was standing bravely right in front of the fox.
“Ha! Ha-ha!” the fox said. “And how, you little shrimp, can you make me do that?”
“I can do it because I am Chief of Police,” the detective said courageously, puffing himself up till he was as round as a cannonball.
He was prepared to risk everything for his forest. There was so much courage in this toad’s chest. Detective Gordon felt like a hero. Full of heroism and zeal!
When Gordon got this far in his thoughts, he dozed off. Then he was asleep.
A second later, the detective’s powerful snoring could be heard throughout the entire police station.