1. SUSIE JOINS THE SECRET SEVEN

Chapter 9 - THE PATH THROUGH THE WOODS

Peter and Susie returned from Ryde and called an emergency meeting

''So Colin isn't staying with Aunt Fanny'' Peter said gravely ''We need to find out where he really is because Bruno lied and there must be a reason for that'' 

''I think we should tell the police'' Barbara said

''I agree with Barbara, let's tell the police and they can investigate this'' George said

The others agreed so Peter went to the police station to report Colin missing

Two police officers went to see Bruno and Colin's mother

''These kids are saying that he isn't staying with his aunt Fanny as you said he was, so they want to know where Colin really is?'' the police officer told them

Bruno sighed and looked troubled ''Listen officers the truth is none of us know where Colin is'' he said at last ''It's true he is not staying with my sister Fanny. The truth is he has run away and we have no idea where he is so we told people he is with Fanny to stop people from asking''

The two officers looked furious and incredulous

''If he is missing then you should have reported him missing!'' one of them said sternly ''How long has he been missing and why didn't you report it?''

''He has been missing for a few weeks and we didn't report it because we thought he would return home soon so we didn't think there was a point in reporting it and making a fuss'' Bruno told them

''He has been missing for several weeks, you really should have reported it'' the officer said, getting angry

''We wanted to'' Colin's nervous mother said ''but the longer he was missing the harder it was for us to bring ourselves to report it, we just kept hoping each day that he would come home. You see he ran away because he and Bruno had a fight. I'm sure he is somewhere safe sulking, hiding with a friend or something. He will come back when he is ready to stop sulking I am sure of it''

''You don't seem to realize how serious this is'' one of the officers said, getting frustrated now ''Any teenager being missing for this long is a serious matter and should be reported much sooner than this. We must search for him''

The officers left and reported back to the secret seven

''Kid's you did the right thing reporting it'' he told them ''Colin is missing and they should have reported this from the start. Two weeks is a long time to be missing. We will try our best to find him''

The six kids were very concerned and worried and Scamper could tell they were and this made him worried too

''We will have to do our bit to try and find Colin'' Peter told the others ''In fact, a task like this is what we really need as things have been too quiet lately''

''We all want to help find him but how can we?'' Janet asked ''the police will do it, we are not experts at finding missing people. I want to help find him but I don't know how''

''My feeling is that Bruno is hiding something'' Peter said grimly ''I think he has done something to Colin and is trying to hide it. I want to know the truth and I intend to do it''

''Look Pete. I know you don't like Bruno, none of us does but to suggest he has hurt Colin is a bit much'' Jack said feeling uncomfortable

''I don't think so, that man is a thug and he has lied and kept Colin's disappearance hidden for weeks. There is a reason for it and we have to do our best to find out. We owe it to Colin. Janet when you're at school you can interview Abigail. see if she can help you with any more clues.  We can speak to Colin's neighbours and see if they saw or heard anything. We can try to find out who last saw him and where. We can do this guys''