Dirk turned to another chapter and found more detailed descriptions, all illustrated with line drawings. Everything was spot on, saying where dragons could be found, what powers each type had, temperaments, diet. Everything. The last chapter speculated the reason for their disappearance, suggesting that they had probably gone into hiding around the Middle Ages.
The kitchen light came on.
“Oh, it’s just you, Mr Dilly. I thought we had burglars,” said Mrs Klingerflim, appearing behind him, wearing a pink nightie and brandishing a rusty fire poker. “That’s my dear Ivor’s book. I’m particularly fond of chapter twelve, all about Sky Dragons, but then I suppose that’s probably because I wrote most of it.”
Dirk handed the book to the old lady. “Mrs Klingerflim?” he said.
“Yes, Mr Dilly?”
“You know I’m a dragon, don’t you?”
She laughed. “It’s difficult not to notice, really, isn’t it?” she replied. “Shall we have a cup of tea? And biscuits. I’ve got some nice custard creams in a tin somewhere.”
About the Author
Gareth P. Jones is a Blue Peter Award-winning children’s author of over 40 books for children of all ages, including The Thornthwaite Inheritance, The Considine Curse and Death or Ice Cream. His series fiction includes Ninja Meerkats, Adventures of the Steampunk Pirates, Pet Defenders and Dragon Detective.
Gareth regularly visits schools all over the world as well as performing at festivals. He plays ukulele, trumpet, guitar, accordion and piano to varying levels of incompetence. He lives in south-east London with his wife and two children.
Copyright
STRIPES PUBLISHING LIMITED
An imprint of the Little Tiger Group1 Coda Studios,
189 Munster Road, London SW6 6AW
www.littletiger.co.uk
The Case of the Wayward Professor by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc in 2007
Text copyright © Gareth P. Jones, 2007, 2020
Illustration copyright © Scott Brown, 2020
Author photograph © David Boni
Additional images used under licence from Shutterstock.com
eISBN: 978–1–78895–287–3
The right of Gareth P. Jones and Scott Brown to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work respectively has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
All rights reserved.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed upon the subsequent purchaser.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.