THE CENTRAL BRIDGE MYSTERY

WELCOME TO THE SECOND MYSTERY STORY FROM 'MYSTERY WITH CLARA DAWN' SERIES. CLARA IS A YOUNG SLEUTH. WILL CLARA BE ABLE TO SOLVE THIS CASE?

It was an amazing afternoon. Clara Dawn was in her room, organizing the book shelves. She absolutely loved books! Well, one can say that Clara became a great sleuth by reading millions of mystery-thriller books! Clara decided to organize the novels on the basis of their theme and genre. She was just keeping the last book that belonged to the Thriller genre on the shelf, when her friend, Lucy, jumped right in. "Ah! Clara......." She said, huffing and panting. "What's the matter? Why so much hurry?" Clara asked, thinking. When Lucy had finally stopped huffing, she said loudly, "Another mystery call for Clara Dawn!!" "Eh? You mean there's another mystery?" She asked. "Yes! Okay, now listen to me carefully. This morning, I walked past my brother, Frank's room. I heard him saying that he would meet his friend at the Central Street Bridge for a 'secret mission'. I don't think his intentions are right! Please come!" Lucy explained. "Hmm.....let's go then!" Clara told, walking outside the room.

They reached the Central Street Bridge soon. The bridge was indeed very beautiful. "This bridge used to be flooded with people! But, now its so empty!" Clara noticed. "Look at that board," Lucy said. The board read, "Phenomenal activities spotted here! Citizens are requested to stay away from this bridge! Seems as if Mathew Jones' ghost is wandering around!"

"Who is Mathew Jones, now?" Lucy asked, perplexed. "He was the one who made this bridge 25 years ago. He's not alive, unfortunately." Clara explained. Clara spotted a man walking at the edge of the road, so she asked him, "Hello, kind man. Actually, we wanted to ask you about why people are not coming here at the bridge?" "Didn't you read the board there? Well, this has been happening since the last three months. Someone told that he felt the presence of some unusual thing here, and since then, people avoid coming here!" He told. Clara and Lucy thanked the man, and they went back to the bridge. 

"Let's look for clues!" Clara suggested. They looked around, and soon they had actually found many clues! 

Clara told, "Okay, I found this little tuft of black hair." "And guess what I found! A little ring. It's tiny. It seems as if it came out from a chain or something." Lucy told. 

"Hmm. Do you know someone who has black hair, and maybe they have a broken chain?" Clara asked. "Let me think," Lucy told. "This morning, Frank kept complaining about something. He wears a platinum chain in his neck, and he said it was broken. We sent it to the goldsmith."

 "Aha! Do you remember the name of the shop?" Clara asked. 

"Goldy Golds," Told Lucy. 

They headed towards Goldy Golds, and soon they went straight inside. The goldsmith greeted them, "Hello! Welcome to Goldy Golds!" "Hello," Clara began. "This is my friend, Lucy. She had sent a platinum chain for repair here. Can you please show it to us for a minute?" 

"It's not repaired yet!" He said. "It's alright, we just want to have a look, please." Lucy quickly said. He went inside, and he came with a chain a moment later. "Here," He said. Clara and Lucy carefully observed the object. "Seems as if this is matching with the little ring we found." Clara concluded. 

"Does that mean Frank is guilty?" Lucy asked, scared. "Yes, I suppose." Clara agreed. "Oh! This is going to be very disheartening to my family if Frank really is guilty!" Lucy told. She was almost going to sob. "Don't worry. The innocent won't be harmed!" Clara assured her friend. "But, we cannot just conclude Frank guilty! We need clues! And, if all of them are against your brother, then, obviously, that would mean he's the one."

Lucy gathered her courage. They had found out that the tiny ring belonged to Frank's platinum chain. But, that didn't mean that Frank was guilty. The girls needed more clues. By the time they had researched in the Goldy Golds shop, it was already evening, and the girls had skipped lunch. Clara felt a bit weak and dizzy. Lucy told, "Clara, let's go, my dear. You are hungry! You can take rest for sometime, and then we can continue the mystery research." "But...." Clara hesitated. "Shh! No buts! Come on!" Lucy scolded. Clara couldn't argue with her friend. So, they two young sleuths went home. They ate some food, and soon, Clara got her energy back. Now it was almost evening. Clara and Lucy thought deeply about their next move. 

Clara suggested, "Hey! Let's investigate the bridge. What if we find something unusual there? This time, we'll stand on the bridge, and then investigate. Maybe new clues will come this way?" "Genius idea!" Lucy appreciated. "Quick, take a torch, and some extra batteries, just in case." Clara told. Lucy quickly got the supplies. After that, the duo quickly tried to reach the bridge, but they had got stuck in a traffic! "Why do these traffics occur at the worst time?!!" Lucy complained, frustrated. It was already fifteen minutes, when suddenly, spooky and loud music started to play. People got so scared, thier facial expressions said it all. And guess what, the traffic started decreasing! All thanks to that spooky music! 

The whole Street was empty, but only Clara's car was on the road. Lucy and Clara were not at all scared. So, they quickly started following the path from where the music was actually playing. They walked on top of the bridge. Lucy told, "Okay, now, I think the sound is coming somewhere from here," She tapped her foot, but, Lucy was underneath the bridge! "It's a hidden trapdoor!" Clara shouted. She also jumped inside. Lucy told, "Look what I found! A radio!" "This must be playing the spooky sounds." Clara said, turning off the button. "One thing is clear: there is no real ghost! Just a bunch of hocus-pocus!" 

They decided to investigate more. They found an old white cloth, and thousands of boxes. Clara opened one of them. She found hay. But, when she started shoving it, shiny pieces of gold shone brightly! 

"There's a bunch of gold here!" Clara informed. "And some drugs in this one!" Lucy informed back. "Speaking of gold," Clara began. "Some fellow is definitely smuggling these things!" "I'm ringing the police!" Lucy said, as she furiously dialed 911 on her phone. Luckily the police had come on time, but, they were walking on the bridge. They still hadn't figured out the trapdoor. "Psst! Is it Officer Parker?" Lucy called. "Eh? Where's that voice coming from?" He asked confused. "Here!" Lucy called again. "Oh, okay. Here's a trapdoor." He finally said. 

He jumped in. Clara told them about the whole scenario, and she also said that they felt that the gold and drugs were being smuggled. "Any suspect, Ms. Dawn?" He asked. "Uh, yes. Lucy's brother, Frank is the suspect. We found a tiny ring here. And, when we confirmed with the goldsmith, we learnt that the plastic ring belonged to Frank's platinum chain." Clara said, explaining the whole scenario. 

The officer said that they would go and question Frank. They reached Lucy's home, and the officer barged inside. Frank was in the living room. "Excuse me?" Frank asked, frowning. "Mr. Frank, you're under arrest! Now don't say that you haven't done anything. We have come to know about your smuggling business!" Parker said fiercely. "Well, what proof do you have?" He asked. Officer Parker showed him the tiny platinum ring. Frank gulped. "Okay, I don't want to lie anymore. Yes, it is me." He accepted. "But, there are some other boys involved too. There is Jason, Marc and his brother, Marcus." 

"You will take us to him." Ordered Parker. Lucy, on the other hand, was fuming with anger. "I'm sorry, sister." Her brother apologized. "What sorry? Huh? You've broken everyone's heart!" Lucy shouted. "We expected you to be a good person. But, no!" 

Frank hung his head low and said nothing more. Parker arrested him, and when Frank took him at his friends' place, he arrested them too. All agreed that they had been involved in that case. 

Meanwhile, Clara consoled Lucy. She said, "Thanks for the support, Clara. I'll try to be strong!" 

Clara hurried towards her car. And, she went at the central bridge. She quickly removed the fake board, and replace it with another one, which said, "The Bridge is free of any ghosts! A bunch of smugglers were hiding in the trapdoor, and to avoid any disturbance, they decided to spread this rumor!" 

And, soon, people were again flooded near the bridge! When they came to know that Clara was the one who had solved the mystery, they shouted, "Hooray for Clara Dawn!" 

Clara was happy to help the citizens of her city. And, so was Lucy.