It was a ‘’normal’’ Saturday in the countryside in 1896. I was sitting on my couch, reading the latest newspaper. Suddenly, someone screamed and the door flew open, revealing a black silhouette in the rain. A woman came in and said to me ‘’My husband is gone! I can’t find him anywhere!’’

The woman started to cry, and she pulled me into her car. We drove to her house, and she showed me very odd things inside. There were muddy pawprints on the couch, on the table, and everywhere. And she also said that their cat was missing. I observed the pawprints, and I noticed, that those were not ordinary pawprints a cat would make.

They were very big and strange. The woman told me that her husband was a well- known judge who was respectable by people, but only for good people not for criminals. Two years ago, somebody attacked him and tried to kill him. After this accident he spent 4 weeks in a hospital. “It was everything ok until now” - said the woman.

I tried to find some clues, something that could help me solve this problem. It wasn’t easy. I took some pictures, asked woman and her neighbours some questions. After a few days I decided to look around near the house, forest and the river. When I was walking near the forest, .....

I saw a hut and entered it. I saw a lot of books everywhere: on the floor, on the shelves, on the windowsills... There were some rare books among them. As far as I knew, the judge was a great book-lover and he was famous for his rich collection of books. I looked around and noticed four strange shoes in the corner of the room.

They looked like cat’s paws. Who had the temptation to steal books? Suddenly I heard the voices outside. Somebody was approaching the house. I hid behind the curtains and waited. The door opened and. and I saw two men whispering with each other. They had dark sunglasses on, monobrows, a long curly moustache and very bushy beards. 

I watched the two men look around, they mentioned some sort of bottle, but I don’t remember seeing any special bottle. “Aha!” said one of the men. “Here it is!”

He picked up the green bottle, and inside was a key. I wonder where this key is for.

The men approached the book shelves, and started throwing all the books on the floor. Behind the book shelf, was a secret door. 

With a lot of strength, they pulled the book shelf and used the key to open the door. It was a dark room but inside there was a sound, like a person mumbling. I came out from behind the curtains to get a better look, and there was the judge! 

I must act now to save him or he could die, so I sneak up behind the two mysterious men and slyly grab one of the batons from a back pocket, with a swift movement.

I bash them both on the head with the baton and they fall to the ground, unconscious. Quickly, I run to the judge and cut him free and call the police to finally get justice.

 This book is written and illustrated by students from

Tevaniemen koulu, Ikaalinen, Finland

Szkola Podstawowa w Lubowidzu, Lobowidz, Poland

Bilopillia specialized school 1, Bilopillia, Ukraine

FEDAC HORTA, Barcelona, Spain

ZŠ, Kroměříž, Komenského nám. 440, Kroměříž, Czech Republic