Tomas’s Park Mystery
On Saturday morning, the goalposts have disappeared! Time for the Football Detectives.
On Saturday morning, Tomas arrived at Daisy Hill with a football under one arm. But something was wrong. Something was very wrong. The goalposts had vanished!
‘Who would steal goalposts?’ said Leo. Tomas took out a notebook and magnifying glass. ‘Time for the Football Detectives,’ he said. ‘First, we need clues.’
They looked at the grass. There were two big dents where the goalposts had stood. And next to them, Tomas found a trail of sawdust. ‘Aha,’ he said, writing it down.
‘Perhaps it was the wind!’ said Leo. Tomas shook his head. ‘The tracks go this way,’ he said, pointing at the path. The detectives followed them past the swings and the old oak tree.
They crept up to the little shed behind the pavilion. The door was open a crack. A strange sound came from inside. Scrape, scrape, scrape. Leo gulped. ‘Ready?’ whispered Tomas.
They pushed the door open. Inside was Ollie the owl, the groundskeeper, holding a paintbrush! And there, laid out on the floor, were the goalposts, gleaming with fresh white paint.
‘Surprise!’ said Ollie. ‘The big match is tomorrow. I wanted the goalposts to be sparkling clean.’ Tomas burst out laughing. Leo laughed too. The mystery was solved!
They helped Ollie carry the goalposts back to the pitch and set them up. The Football Detectives had solved their first case. ‘And now,’ said Tomas, ‘who wants to play?’
The little lesson
When something puzzles you, look for clues and ask questions before you decide.
Let’s talk about it
- Which clue helped the detectives most?
- What do you think the surprise was for?
Finish stories to collect Tomas as a sticker in your Sticker Book.
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