‘Oh, yes sir. Would you like to come this way?’

The young policeman–he could only be in his early twenties, thought Tiger–led them down a corridor and tapped on one of the side doors. ‘Come in.’

The policeman showed them in. ‘Mr and Mrs Wilson, sir. The shop owners.’

‘Ah, yes. Come in.’

The room was small. There was nobody in it but a plainclothes policeman. An overweight man in his forties with an open-necked shirt and a brown jacket. One wall of the room had a large window in it, and on the other side of the window was another room. A room with a table surrounded by several chairs.’

‘Mr Wilson, Mrs Wilson.’ He nodded at them and shook their hands. ‘Detective Sergeant Evans. We caught someone trying to break into your shop tonight–through the front door. I know you had a bit of bother last week, and just wondered if you’ve seen any of these before.’ He gestured in the direction of the window. ‘They can’t see you. It’s special glass.’

Tiger and Erica looked through the window at the three teenage youths slumped around it. Then they looked at one another. Erica shook her head. Tiger sighed. ‘No, Sergeant. No, we’ve not seen any of them before.’

The sergeant registered their disappointment. ‘It would have been neat if it had been the guy you complained about last week, I know. But we just wondered if there was any way you could associate him with these three.’

‘No, I’m afraid not.’

‘Well, they’ve had a go at one or two other shops as well. Maybe we’ve found our men. With any luck, the two things won’t be related and hopefully you won’t hear any more from your caller.’

Tiger nodded. ‘Well, thanks very much. What do we do now?’

‘They didn’t manage to get in. Our lads caught them in the act of trying. Bashed the lock a bit, but the shop is still secure. We can sort it out from here. Though you’ll probably want to claim on your insurance for any damage.’

He saw the worried look cross Erica’s face. ‘Only a bit of paint work. Nothing serious. We got them before they could really get stuck in.’

‘So what will happen to them?’ asked Tiger.

‘Oh they’ll probably go to a detention centre for a bit. It might help. It might not. Only time will tell. But at least we’ve stopped them for now. I’m sorry to have called you out, but hopefully this will be an end to your troubles.’

If only it were that easy, thought Tiger.