Lyra & Nina Ten Days in Paris Read online

man standing closely to them.  Indeed, Lyra did not see him at all until she felt something move in her backpack.  She thought that someone must have just knocked her in the crowd. However then she looked and saw a familiar man in a black beret and striped shirt trying to move quickly away through the crowd.  She quickly took off her backpack and saw that the zip was open and that her new silver purse was gone.  He had stolen it - that same man that had followed them the last two days.  Lyra was so angry.  Why would he want to steal her money?  She didn’t have much money in the purse.  Her parents had much more. 

  Lyra looked at the man angrily and wished that one of the characters would just grab him and he would drop her purse. She couldn’t believe it when suddenly Mickey Mouse ran into the crowd to cuddle some children and knocked the man over.  Her purse fell out of his hand on to the ground.  Lyra quickly ran over, picked it up and tucked it into the front pocket of her jeans.  What luck she had! Her purse was safe again from that horrible man. 

  All of this had happened without Mum, Dad or Nina even noticing.  Lyra turned to her Mum and Dad and told them what had just happened.  By the time she finished explaining the man was gone again.  They decided to go into one of the restaurants to eat and discuss what to do next.

  As they sat down, Dad asked Lyra to give him her new purse.  Lyra reached into her pocket and took the purse out.  Dad took the money out and then opened the little zip pocket inside.  Inside the zip pocket was a small silver key. “What is this for Lyra?” asked Dad.  “I don’t know” replied Lyra “I haven’t seen it before.”  “Hmm, I wonder if this key is the answer as to why that man has been following you Lyra” Dad said.  “We will need to do something about this tomorrow.” 

  When they finished dinner it was five minutes until closing time at EuroDisney. They had had a wonderful day.  Lyra and Nina both agreed that it had been the best day of their lives.  They would certainly remember this forever.

  Day 6 - A visit to the French Police

  The next morning Dad decided that they should go to the police station and report the man that had been following them.  Dad also wanted to know if the Police would know what the key could belong to.

  They asked in the hotel reception for the nearest police station.  As luck would have it, it was only a short walk away.  So they headed out.  When they arrived at the station they were told to wait.  Most of the police officers did not speak English so they needed to wait for a special detective.

  Detective Petit was a small man, with dark hair and a curly moustache.  He introduced himself and then asked them to explain in detail what had happened. Lyra told him that she had first noticed the man three days ago watching her in Montmartre.  Then she had seen him again in the park outside the Louvre when he had tried to take her backpack.  Finally he had also been to Euro Disney where he had taken her new purse out of her backpack. 

  The detective asked if Lyra could describe what the man looked like.  It was difficult for Lyra to describe him as he had always worn sunglasses and a hat. She mentioned the black beret and the striped shirt.  Suddenly she had an idea. “Dad, do you have the camera?” she asked.  “Yes, of course I do Lyra. Why?” he replied. “Can I look at the photos from Euro Disney?” Lyra asked.  “Lyra, now is not the time to show the detective our holiday photos” her Dad said. “Oh Dad, I don’t want to show him holiday photos, I am hoping that when you took the photos of Nina and I, that the man was in the picture too” Lyra sighed. 

  Dad pulled the camera out and handed it to Lyra.  As she scrolled through the photos she finally found what she was looking for.  There he was standing right next to her and Nina in a picture with Minnie Mouse in the background.  She showed the photo to the detective.  “Perfect!” he said.  He asked to copy the photo from the camera and quickly connected it to his computer to download. 

  There on his screen was the man.  Detective Petit looked closely at the picture with a frown.  Dad then mentioned the key that he had found in Lyra’s new purse.  He handed it to the detective.  The detective’s frown turned into surprise. Then he jumped up and shouted “Mon Dieu!”  That was French for “My God” translated Mum, who had learnt French at school.  He was so excited he ran from the room.  Two minutes later two more detectives ran into the room.  They both looked at the picture on the computer screen. “Oui, Oui!” they said.  “Yes, Yes!” 

  Finally Detective Petit turned to them and explained.  “My Australian friends, five days ago there was a very big bank robbery here in Paris - at the Banque de Paris.  A man escaped with ten million Euros.  We have been trying to catch this man.  The cameras in the bank provided us with a picture of this man.  Let me show you.”  The detective quickly found a photo on his computer and showed them.  It was the same man that had been following them.  He put the two photos side by side on the computer screen and it was clear that it was the same man in both. 

  The detective continued.  “We think that this man - his name is Francois Vilain, must need this key to unlock a place where he has hidden the money.  How did you get this key?”   Lyra explained that she had bought the only silver purse when they visited the Eiffel Tower and did not even see the key until her Dad found it yesterday.  The detective thought.  “ We did see Francois Vilain at a train station near to the Eiffel Tower.  Perhaps he worried he would be caught so decided to leave the key somewhere safe and then go back to get it.  It seems that he selected the purse that you bought Lyra.  He must have selected the only silver one so that it would be easy for him to know which one to buy when he returned.  Unfortunately for him, you bought the purse before he did!  He is trying to get the key back.” 

  Detective Petit talked with the other two detectives briefly.  Lyra could tell that they were all excited by what they had discovered.  Finally the detective turned back to talk to them.  “Did you see this man follow you this morning?” he asked.  “No, I haven’t seen him today” replied Lyra.  “We think that Monsieur Vilain will try to take your purse again Lyra.  This time however we want you to let him take it so that we can follow him to where he has hidden the money.  It is no use if we catch him and do not know where the money is.” stated Detective Petit.  “The bank will be very pleased if we solve this crime. Now we need to work on a plan.”  They all listened carefully as the detective explained to them what they were to do.

  Day 7 - Galeries Lafayette

  The next day they all awoke a little nervous and excited.  Today they were going to help the French Police by visiting Galeries Lafayette.  Lyra had looked up her guide book to read about Galeries Lafayette.  Galeries Lafayette is the most famous department store in Paris.  It is ten storeys high and more than 100 years old.  Lyra and Nina were very happy to be going shopping.  Perhaps they could buy some small gifts for their friends back home.  However they were also a little worried about the task they had to perform whilst shopping.

  As they walked towards Galeries Lafayette Lyra and Nina wondered at the beautiful building with the dome on top.  It sure looked like an expensive store. As they walked inside they looked up at the dome ceiling which was made with glass and steel.  It looked so lovely.  Each level had balconies so you could look up and down.  They strolled past the clothes and bags and perfumes. Everything was presented so perfectly.

  They made their way to the elevator and rode to the top floor.  This floor had souvenirs and restaurants.  Lyra couldn’t help looking around to see whether she could see the French Police following her but it seemed that they were being very careful hiding themselves.   She also was looking for Francois Vilain.  However she had also seen no sign of him since they had left their hotel.  She hoped that the plan would work.

  Lyra, Nina and their Mum and Dad browsed through aisles of souvenirs.  There were T-shirts with pictures of the Eiffel Tower, mugs, Eiffel Tower models, coasters, place mats and more.  After selecting a few gifts, Lyra and Nina sat down on a bench.  Mum and Dad went to the cashier to pay.
  Lyra reached into her backpack to get out her purse.  She had already removed most of the money from it, leaving only a few coins and the key.  The idea was that she was to leave it on the seat for a few minutes and hope that Francois Vilain would steal it. 

  Lyra jumped in shock when a man sat next to her and said quietly into her ear “Do not move or make a sound or I will shoot you with my gun.”  As Lyra looked around she saw Francois and he had a gun in his hand which he held close to her body.  “Give me your silver purse now” he said.  Lyra carefully handed the purse to him.  He looked fierce.  Despite knowing that she would get a new purse, she was angry that this man had followed them around Paris and frightened her.  As the man stood up to leave, she really wished that the gun would turn so hot that it would burn his hand and he would drop it and run away.

  Suddenly Francois Vilain yelled in pain and the gun dropped to the ground.  He looked at Lyra with his eyes wide and then down at his hand.  His hand was bright red and starting to blister.  It looked like it was swelling by the second. He quickly ran away holding his hand close to his body.

  Mum and Dad were soon hugging Lyra and