ENG

53. The red handkerchiefs

When Turner leaves, Laura carefully looks at the picture. After a while, she calls out to Peter and Natalie, who are in Peter’s office.

Laura: Jake has noticed something, haven’t you, Jake?

Peter: Hi, Jake!

Jake: Hi, Peter. Yes, I noticed something, I’m a detective like you!

Laura: Why don’t you tell Peter and Natalie what you discovered while you were looking at the picture, son?

Jake: I was looking at the picture that looks very like my “Where’s Wally?” books, and I realised that there were lots of baddies. I found them very quickly because they are all wearing red handkerchiefs.

Natalie: Oh wow! That’s true. How did we not realise that before?

Peter: What does this mean?

Laura: It could mean two things; either the criminals are part of the same group or that somebody has given them the handkerchiefs as a form of identification to protect them.

Natalie: I don’t understand. How does that work?

Laura: It wouldn’t be the first time. Generally, it has to do with corruption in the police force. A corrupt police officer offers protection to criminals in exchange for money. The identification, in this case a handkerchief, is so that the local coppers who are being paid don’t shoot at or follow the criminals.