As usual, Pearly was going to have to try and sort things out herself. Following an all-night stint with her homemade chromatography kit, Pearly is able to identify the glove as possibly belonging to Burgess, the caretaker of the Fallstown Junior and Senior Academy for Boys and for Girls.
‘I knew he would be the prime suspect,’ she crows triumphantly. Pearly had always considered Burgess to be a suspicious sort of fellow. ‘After all, he talks to himself,’ she continues, ‘that’s a sure sign that something suspicious is going on.’
Wanderley disguises himself as a classroom skeleton and waits for three days in a dusty storeroom before he hears Burgess asking the kidnapped headmaster of the Fallstown Junior and Senior Academy for Boys and For Girls if he wanted his tea yet.
This is all the evidence Pearly needs and, once again, Windy has to run really fast.
‘Run, Windy, run,’ says Pearly and Windy was off before she even had time to tell him where to run to. At the same time, Wes uses his strength to keep Burgess locked in the storeroom, while Pearly uses her detecting skills to follow the very loud but slightly muffled shouting that leads her to discover Dr. Trimfit locked in a wardrobe.
Even at her age, Ellis already knew enough to know that, just like Pearly Stockwell, everything depended upon the detail. If she could just get to Falcon Boy’s house, she was sure she would find out what was going on. But how could she possibly get there?
She was too young to drive a car and her tea was nearly ready. She couldn’t ask her Mum if it was alright to have her tea later because she needed to set off on a quest to try and rescue Falcon Boy and Bewilder Bird and save the world from the madness of Dr Don’t Know.
And here we are presented with a very interesting narrative challenge: how on earth can a six-year-old girl leave the safety of her own home to go off and investigate the kidnapping and disappearance of two superheroes by an internationally renowned supervillain, and along the way potentially get caught up in all kinds of dangerous and world-threatening events?
How am I going to get out of this one?
He will be thrilled if you follow him on Twitter! Falcon Boy @PBoyProductions #afairlyhopelesshero
She couldn’t care less if you follow her on Twitter! Pearly Stockwell @PearlyStockwell
If universal destruction is more like your business then why not follow Dr Don’t Know on Twitter @drdontknow