Detective Crunchie and the Case of the Missing Child

A Flake in the Works

  A tremendous roar emanated from the open fire and the button minions went to work keeping it alight. A hooded figure grinned behind them, it was time. A wave of hot air blew around the room making it harder and harder to succeed in finishing the job. Suddenly, the hooded figure raised his right hand abruptly and all the whirring of the machines came to a halt. He gradually pointed with his skeletal finger, towards the old, wooden door at the back of the room. A group of buttons nodded and walked steadily up towards the door. They unbolted it, and after hesitating slightly, they wandered inside.

   A sudden moaning was heard and the minions came out holding a very full looking tray. They marched towards the open fire and threw the tray onto it. A bloodcurdling shriek echoed around the room emanating from inside the blazing fire. No one flinched. They had obviously been used to the suffering of their innocent victims being slowly and painfully melted to death before their hallowed eyes.

   Just then, the soft padding of footsteps was heard from outside and the aroma of honeycomb lingered around the entrance of the covert hideout. Everyone started to panic and clear all the evidence from this intruder’s sight. Everyone but the hooded figure who was lurking in the shadows surveying the distress that was unraveling in front of him. The doorknob slowly turned and a towering man wrapped in a golden coat and an old top hat entered. The hooded figure saw him and, with a flick of his blackened cloak, faded into the darkness…

            Detective Crunchie isn’t exactly the usual person you would think of being a detective. He towers over everyone, has soft, brown skin with a long solemn face underneath his old tattered top hat. If you walked past him in the street, you would think he was just a peculiar character in a black top hat and golden coat with his name printed on the front in bold letters. No one would have known what he had gone through like finding out his wife was murdered when he came back from work. Over the years, he became lonely in a huge echoing house with no one but himself for company. That was until he met Freddo at a crime scene two years ago and they’ve been partners ever since.

            That morning they had been called to the house of Mr and Mrs Flake where they said that their son had mysteriously ‘crumbled away from home.’ Crunchie also thought it sounded suspicious so they went to investigate.

             Detective Crunchie locked up and got into his curly wurly mobile and, watching his marshmallow house disappear into the distance, he set off to Bourneville town. But something was troubling the detective, he was driving carefully but you knew that his honeycomb mind was elsewhere. He bit his lip. Maybe this detective job was getting too much for him but it seemed too early to tell as they pulled up by Mr and Mrs Flake’s tutti fruiti path towards their house and knocked abruptly on their daim door then awaited an response.

            Mrs Flake opened up and Crunchie instantly noticed the scrunched sugar tissue peeping out of her clenched fist and the slight bags underneath her red eyes as well as her shaking hands when she greeted them. Clearly, she was sleep deprived and wasn’t eating well due to the shaking which was probably from low sugar levels. This procedure wasn’t new as this was exactly what Crunchie had always done whenever a new chocolate was introduced.

           “Oh Detective!” She whimpered, wiping away the jelly tears. “Please, do come in.” As they passed through the hallway, they noticed all the family photos and achievement certificates lining the walls; liquorice chess captain, meeting the Parma Violets and the rapper Iced Bun. Boy, this kid was a lucky one, with the quality ingredients indeed.