Dragon's Den🐉(DDen)

|Cracking a Mystery|

     The police defended the entrance passionately. The policemen used their batons to push the crowd back. When a policeman pushed back one person, another person promptly replaced them. The whistle-blowing made everyone partially deaf. Soon the whistles were fed up and went mute. Each policeman put in their heart and soul into defending the entrance of the building. Only their rigorous training they went through sustained them during that time.

Many things rained upon their heads: mirrors, purses, clocks, and watches. Luckily for them, the objects were light or bounced off their thick black helmets. After thirty long minutes, the crowd gave up and dispersed. Loud chatter and yelps filled the air, overshadowing the murmurs from passersby on the streets. When the last person walked away, the policemen gathered before the entrance and knelt down. They soon turned the museum entrance into a makeshift church. A tall policeman led the gathering, and the others held hands and recited prayers. To their surprise, some passersby and their pets joined in. They filled the dull morning air with life and harmonious singing.

Detectives, policemen, and a few journalists swarmed the dinosaur exhibit. Many people held up giant magnifying glasses over wax sculptures. There was dusting, analyzing, inspection of objects, and zipping of items in small plastic bags. "Well, here we are. There is no fight here. There are no weapons, hiding spots, or signs of a struggle here. " Ross scrunched his eyebrows and glanced at the T-Rex model. A red light glistened on the top of the T-Rex's skull. It flashed fiercely under the powerful ceiling light.

"Everyone! Look at the red light on the skull!" exclaimed Ross. It looked quite small from his position.

The night before, while sitting on the skull, the Chinese man misplaced a bead from his red bangle.

"Oi! Get up that skull and get the red thing!" The chief officer yelled at two policemen. The men found a ladder, and one of them climbed to the skull. Two minutes later, he retrieved the bead and handed it to Ross. He rolled it between his fingers, studying its strange design. Red Chinese characters were engraved on its glossy red surface.

"Ross, where is this from? I think Korea or Malaysia? No, it's India! No, maybe not..." Officer Peters failed at guessing its origin. "No, it's from China; ancient China. I feel like this needs to be studied further. Thank you for your time, everyone." He slipped the bead into his pocket and dusted his hands before walking away. He left the museum using the back door.

Three policemen went on their nightly inspection not far from their station. The moonlight barely illuminated the dark streets. They stumbled as they tried to walk around. One of the officers stupidly shone his torchlight to the sky. His partner snatched the light from his hand and immediately turned it off.

"You blasted fool! Are you trying to get us killed? You should know how dangerous that is!" His shoulders trembled slightly from fear. "Something freaky flew past us! It's too dark to see, so I had to shine my torch on it." The sound of a stone hitting a wall caught their attention. "We need to leave!" They sprung to their feet and guarded themselves.

Five figures walked out of the darkness in the alley behind them. Two women and three hefty men surrounded the policemen. The women surprised the policemen, as twins were uncommon in their area. The tall, thin, dirty brunettes each had a missing tooth and a scar on their arm. Above their freckled cheeks, they sported hazel brown eyes. The second twin possessed a unique trait: one of them had one green eye. The twins wore filthy blue cotton dresses and were barefoot.

The men dressed like stereotypical thugs. The giant silver piercing hung from their earlobes. "Nice to meet you, policemen." The green-eyed twin spoke gently, twirling a strand of hair around her fingers.

Her sister leaned against her shoulder and licked her lips seductively. The officers secretly shuddered in disgust. She just ran her tongue over her dry, dusty lips. If she were prettier, it would have been a better sight.

The officers prepared themselves to fight. One thug took out a sharp silver pocket knife from his pocket. He was about to strike one of the officers. He chuckled and lunged for his throat when something flew into his arm. One of his friends managed to catch him before he fell on the rough stone floor.

Ross stood behind the policemen with a small pistol revolver in his hand. The thugs slowly backed away. The thug's arm bled profusely. Warm red blood trickled down his arm and formed wet patched on his clothes. The other thugs wasted no time in carrying their wounded to safety. The girls managed to throw a few insults before they disappeared into the darkness.

When the thugs were out of sight, everyone felt the atmosphere become clam again. The officers sighed, relieved they were safe. Ross smiled softly and put the gun back in his black trenchcoat pocket. Ross cleared his throat before speaking. "I sensed trouble, and as a detective and man of the law, I must help those in need. This time, please be more careful." A soft breeze blew his hair gently as he walked away from the men.

Back in his office, Ross examined the characters on the red bead with his magnifying glass. Using a small brush, he lightly dusted its glossy surface. He smiled at the smoothness of its surface.

He took out a hammer from a small black box next to his left foot. He brought out a small silver box from the black box. He opened the box to reveal a black velvet interior with various sized holes at the bottom. He dropped the bead in a small hole the size of a bottlecap.

He tapped the bead lightly with the hammer. Usually, when he tapped glass, it cracked. He added a little more force but failed to dent its surface. After twenty minutes of frustration, he finally banged the hammer on the bead and almost lost his fingers.

He tried to relax. The bead was too difficult to determine! He cupped his face in his hands and pondered. It was too transparent to be metal, too shiny to be wood, and too hard to be glass! The only option remaining was...crystal! He hurriedly took a small drill from the black box.

After five minutes, he successfully chipped off a piece of the bead. He kept the small piece wrapped in his handkerchief. Satisfied, Ross tidied up his office before walking out to his car.