Page 75 - My Home on the Earth

turned around to speak to Steve only to see him dive inside the shop. It wasn’t who he thought it was. Nevertheless, the jacket looked identical to the one seen on the CCTV cameras.
‘Excuse me,’ Steve said, approaching the boy, who was choosing chocolate bars with another lad. ‘I am PC Bates and this is my colleague, PC Jackson. We are looking for jackets similar to yours but without the logos on the sleeve. Do you mind telling me where you bought your jacket, please?’
‘Of course, sir,’ answered one boy. From his well- spoken manner, Steve wondered if they were students from the public school in the city.
‘I bought it from a charity shop, sir, in the high street. I didn’t want the jacket, just the badges. See here, sir, this is a McLaren, Red Bull, Vettel and Senna and so on. I’ve been collecting for years and haven’t got these.’
‘Was it recently?’ asked Liam.
‘About two hours ago, sir,’ replied the boy. ‘It was an amazing stroke of good luck. We saw it in the shop window and I just had to buy it. It’s next door to the bookie’s.’
Steve smiled. ‘Thank you, lads.’
The officers looked at each other, smiled and without hesitation, strode out of the shopping centre into the high street. The charity shop was packed with customers but on seeing the police step inside, a female member of staff came forward. ‘Can I help you, officers?’
Steve explained what he was looking for and she
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