RED CHRISTIAN GOES MISSING

 
PEOPLE, PLACES AND FACTS

TIMELINE top

MAP OF NORTHERN EUROPE top

INTRODUCTION top

The Magic History of Britain: The Mystery of Red Christian tells how two children, Jane and Sam travel back in time to solve a history mystery. Jane is a young witch whose family has come to live in England from the West Indies. Sam is her best friend, his mum and dad are from Norway. Jane has many hobbies: drama, reading, writing stories and archery. Sam is a wonderful swimmer, ice skater, judo champion and kick boxer who loves computers, making models and mending machines. Jane lives at 2, Aelfred Rd, Axchester, a small English country town. Jane and Sam go to a local school where they suffer from an old fashioned and deadly dull history teacher, Miss Woodhead. 

2, Aelfred Rd is also where lives Uncle John, a famous storyteller who teaches history in a lively and exciting way. Uncle John is a wizard, but a modern one with a wizard microchip in his wizard ring. Uncle John sends Jane and Sam on history mystery trips into the past. These are usually in answer to a plea from Jane to help her with a history task that Miss Woodhead has set because Jane has not paid attention in class. Jane also lives with her family: her mum, dad, and long suffering older sister, Rose. 

The family Mum looks after the family and dad spends most of his time fishing. The family also has three pets who go on Jane and Sam’s adventures: Cleo the cat, Leader a furry spaniel and Cocky Pheasant, a tame bird who lives in the garden. They travel with Jane in a three legged black cauldron that can be shrunk to fit in her pocket. A fourth pet, Boudicca, a second spaniel stays at home because she keeps picking on Leader and makes his life hell.

Magic and the past Magic is a wonderful way of getting inside the past. Through magic Sam and Jane can go anywhere at any time, take place in the most amazing events. They meet, talk and work with men, women and children from the past, both normal people and those who changed the world. Using our imaginations we can travel with them and share in their adventures, just as we do when we read a novel or watch a film. In helping Jane and Sam solve their problems there was a danger of using magic as an easy way of getting them out of trouble. 

Using Magic This I have tried to avoid. Nearly all of the ‘magic’ that Jane uses is possible using modern technology. As you read the stories, see if you can work out what inventions would make her magic work. For example, when I first wrote that Jane’s seeing mirror could show a detailed map of where she was, this seemed pure fantasy. Yet, I have just bought a car that has such a device: satellite navigation! Sam and Jane work as a team. Jane uses her brains to solve problems while Sam often rescues her from danger.

The people in the book It is usual to say that the characters in a book are not based on real people. The Magic History of Victorian Britain is different – Jane and her family existed, and I have tried to show them as they really were; for Uncle John died in 1999 and Leader and Boudicca are no longer with us. The people whom Sam and Jane met also existed: I have tried to paint as accurate a picture as I can of them, the world they lived and worked in and the problems that they faced. To do this I write surrounded with a pile of history books and documents, and I also use the Internet a great deal. It is an amazing, rich archive, full of highly detailed sources that contain evidence about the past.

CHAPTER 1: 2, AELFRED RD: INTO THE PAST top

Home from school Jane rushed into the house, tripping over Cleo who was sprawled on the mat in the entrance hall. Cleo was a friendly ball of brown fluff who spent most of the day fast asleep in a chair or in front of the fire. Each day she would greet Jane at the front door. Cleo fled with a hiss and meow, while Jane dumped her bag and coat on their pegs, went into the kitchen and raided the fridge for a coke and a chocolate muffin. Another day at school, another history lesson with Miss Woodhead. A shout from the sitting room from Uncle John told Jane that he was at home, 
‘Can you bring me a glass of red wine, please?’

Miss Woodhead and the government inspector A minute later Jane Uncle John was holding his glass in his hand and looking owl like at Jane through his horn rimmed glasses.
‘And what have you to tell me? Has Miss Woodhead been on her usual form? How did she respond to your last history adventure?’
Jane dunked her chocolate muffin in her glass of coke, took a bite, chewed and swallowed:
‘She forgot to ask. And, you won’t believe it. She was sweet and nice, at first being really pleasant, making a real effort to be interesting. And then out came the awful truth. The government inspector is coming to our history lesson next week, he is her relative! Just our luck.’
‘Well, what does the inspector want?’ asked Uncle John. 

History detectives Jane took a swig of coke and went on:
‘Miss Woodhead said that the inspector had written to say that he was really interested in any detective work that we had been doing. Inside Sam and I were jumping up and down with joy. Sam dug me in the ribs and whispered an idea in my ear. I put my hand up, the smile vanished from Miss Woodhead’s face as she asked,
‘Well Jane, what do you want? Are you going to pay attention for once? And, have you done the work in detention for missing your last homework?’

The challenge I ignored this dig and sweetly told Miss Woodhead,
‘Sam and I are only too happy to talk to the inspector in private and tell him all that we knew about history detective work we do on our history mystery trips. I bet he would also love to find out what goes on in our history lessons.’
‘Ah’, said Uncle John ‘I am sure that that thrilled her. Particularly after you had that blazing row with her last week. You shouldn’t have told her that she should be an oil prospector as she could bore for Britain.’

The history inspector ‘Yes’, Jane continued, ‘The smile slipped off her face and she put her usual death mask back on. Then she said, quite calmly, 
‘The inspector will not be talking to any pupils. I will tell him what you and Sam have been doing. But, you will have to show me that you have been working as a real history detectives.’
So, Uncle John, can you help us? Sam and I would love to take part in another history mystery where we have to work as genuine detectives.’

Uncle John’s history mystery Uncle John slumped back into his comfy armchair, a smile flickered across his face. Jane could tell that he was thinking hard about where she and Sam could go and what they could do. Slowly he took off his glasses, wiped their lenses, sucked his bottom lip and said,
‘I will talk to your Dad about what you can do. There is a perfect mystery you can try and solve with Sam, I will check it out with your father first. As you know, he has gone fishing and will be back for supper, late as usual. Meanwhile, pop round to Sam’s house and tell him to come here later this evening.’

The trip Jane tingled with joy, she knew that she and Sam would be going somewhere really exciting. Each history mystery trip they went on was always a surprise. The only problem was that they often ended up in cold, wet, miserable places or in deadly danger. Her hope was that she and Sam would have the clothes they needed with them for a change. She drank the rest of her glass of coke, finished her chocolate muffin and put on her coat before popping out to see Sam who lived around the corner.

Supper Supper was over at 2, Aelfred Rd. Piles of sausages, mashed potatoes, beans, sweet corn and gravy had all disappeared. An empty ice cream box and empty chocolate mousse cartons on the table were all that were left over from pudding. The washing up machine was crammed to bursting with dirty dishes, Leader & Boudicca had stopped quarrelling over the huge meaty bone that had arrived from the butcher’s shop, Cleo was happy as she had had best chicken breast mixed in with her dried cat food. Rose, Jane’s older sister was moaning about being left to clear up as usual as Dad had rushed out back to the river bank. Mum was at a parents evening – she taught in a local school. 

Into the past Sam had just arrived. He, Uncle John and Jane were seated in their comfy chairs in the sitting room. Leader and Cleo crept in to the room, along with Cocky Pheasant whom Jane had fed with peanuts. 
‘Well’, said Uncle John, ‘Are you ready to go?’ 
Sam and Jane were wearing their thick coats, new jeans and sturdy boots. They had stuffed their bags with coke, crisps, chocolates, buns and sandwiches. Leader, Cleo and Cocky Pheasant were sitting in the black cauldron in the grate, waiting to go with Sam and Jane. As Jane was about to ask where they were going, Uncle John twisted his disappearing ring. The room span round in front of Jane’s eyes, all she could hear was a whistling sound. 

CHAPTER 2: SVOSTRUP, DENMARK top

Aarhus, Denmark What had Uncle John done? Sam and Jane found themselves on a boat that a notice told them was sailing from Harwich to Aarhus in Denmark. A gale was blowing, the boat rocked and rolled; they were tossed from side to side like bean bags in their bunks. Jane was violently sick, Sam’s stomach felt as if someone had been jumping up and down on it all night. They fell half asleep in their cabins, as they woke the sea had grown much calmer. They dressed, packed their bags and stood on the deck as their boat steamed into Aarhus harbour early in the evening. Jane’s seeing mirror told her that it was Friday, the 25h April 1952. Sadly Jane realised that Uncle John had left Cocky Pheasant, Leader and Cleo behind.

Uncle Hans Waiting for Sam and Jane on the quayside of Aarhus harbour was Jane’s Uncle Hans, driving a pony and trap, a small horse drawn carriage. Sam and Jane had travelled back over fifty years in time. They could both speak and read Danish fluently. Why had Uncle John sent them to a town in Jutland, a province of Denmark? How could this history mystery trip help her meet the challenge that Miss Woodhead had set them? Would they work as history detectives to solve a genuine history mystery? Sam’s stomach knotted with worry while his hear beat faster at thinking of the thrills and dangers they might face. Any thoughts of Miss Woodhead and her boring history lessons had flown out of his mind long ago.

Svostrup village Uncle Hans helped them load their luggage on to the two wheeled carriage. The pony trotted through the port’s streets and out into the countryside. They passed through a land of meadows, pine woods, slow flowing streams and lakes and ponds. Svostrup village was strung out like a string of beads on a necklace along a single muddy street. There was a school, tiny wooden church, a village shop, a pub, a blacksmith’s forge and a dozen single storey wooden houses. 

The house Uncle Hans lived in a large wooden house at the end of the village. Downstairs the house had a huge sitting room, a large kitchen and a couple of spare rooms. Upstairs were six bedrooms. Outside the house was a large wood store full of logs and a mound of neatly stacked dried black earth bricks. There was a separate wooden hut for steam baths, a sauna. The house stood in an acre of lawn, shrub and fir trees that stretched down to the edge of a large pond. At its front the house looked out over a small field on the edge of a pine forest full of cows.

The family Waiting to greet Sam and Jane were auntie Helga, uncle Hans’ wife, and their two children Gerda and Eric. Helga said,
‘Welcome, we were delighted to get a letter from Jane’s father and mother asking if she could come and stay with a friend. We have not heard from them for ten years, it was a lovely surprise. It will be such fun for Gerda and Eric.’ 

Eric and Gerda Eric and Gerda were Sam and Jane’s Danish cousins. Eric was tall and slim with blond hair down to his shoulders, piercing blue eyes, a hooked nose and jutting chin. Gerda was tiny and plump, her dark brown pigtails reached down to her waist, her heart shaped face framed two oval brown eyes, a small, pointed nose and a dimpled chin. Gerda and Eric were Sam and Jane’s age. Eric and Sam got on really well. Eric told Sam that he would teach him how to ski if it snowed, while Sam said he would show Eric some Judo throws. Gerda and Jane chatted happily.

The plan Uncle Hans remarked,
‘Jane, tomorrow, Saturday, Helga and I will take you for a walk with Odin. We will go to Nebelgard Fen, it is about two kilometres away. Later in the day I will show you how to skate on our local pond that is still frozen. I have plenty of spare skates for you to choose from. It has been a long hard winter, as you can see from the snow lying on the ground. On Sunday we will visit friends who live close by and have a boat. Monday is a school holiday, on Tuesday you can go with Erica and Gerda to school, a local archaeologist is visiting. He makes history really exciting and tells stories about Danish Vikings, buried treasure and the trolls and monsters who live in the local ponds and streams.’ 

To bed Jane and Sam were tired out and ready for bed straight after a supper of mashed potatoes, boiled ham and sliced cabbage. Their two bedrooms were at the top of the house and looked out over the fields. The moon shone brightly, they could see the dark fir trees standing in a ring around the house. In the distance Jane could hear a dog barking and an owl hoot. As she fell asleep Jane wondered what might happen to them. She could hear Sam snoring through the wall, he was dreaming of being a Viking warrior fighting in a fierce sea battle. 

CHAPTER 3:THE MYSTERY top

Bed and breakfast Sam and Janes’ bedrooms looked out over the rolling countryside of fir trees, slow flowing streams, ponds and reedy swamps. In the morning they dressed in their outdoor clothes, looking forward to breakfast and their walk. Breakfast was a feast of porridge, boiled eggs, bread rolls, butter, jam and sliced ham, washed down with fruit juice and hot chocolate. Odin, the family dog, ate left over the scraps from breakfast they put in his bowl. 

Nebelgard Fen After the children had cleared breakfast away Uncle Hans said,
‘We can all go for a walk around Nebelgard pond and fen, there are lots of birds and animals there. First I have to see someone in Grauballe village that is close by, after that we can down to the fen, it is about a kilometre from there. We will take Odin with us, he loves chasing around the open fields. If you’re lucky he might even catch a rabbit. Make sure that you don’t go to close to the edge of Nebelgard pond, even though most of the marsh has been drained. The villagers say that there is a wicked troll who lives in the depths of the pond who drags boys and girls in to the murky depths to feed to its children.’ 

Grendel In a flash Jane thought of the female monster Grendel in the Dark Age poem Beowulf. Grendel lived at the bottom of a deep, murky lake and used to come out at night to raid the hall where local warriors lived. She would grab one as he slept and race off back to her lake. After one raid Beowulf followed the monster’s tracks from the hall to her lake, jumped in and killed her. As Jane had these thoughts she could not but help think of Sam as a modern Beowulf, swimming to her rescue if the monster had kidnapped her.

The walk Straight after breakfast the children put on their warm winter coats, walking boots, gloves, woolly hats and scarves. Jane took her sketching pad and pencils with her. Although it was early spring, there was a bitter wind blowing as they trudged across an open meadow towards the edge of a large pond that stood on the edge of a forest. The ice was still thick on the pond. Jane looked forward to skating later. At the end of the wood where the field joined the peat bog Jane spotted a group of three men standing, leaning on their shovels.
‘Uncle Hans, who are they? And what are they doing?’

The peat cutters ‘They will be peat cutters from Svostrup. Each Saturday they come out from the village to cut peat from the edge of the bog. This bog has been drained in the past twenty years, only the small pond is left. The bog used to reach beyond where the peat cutters are working. You can see the pile of dark-brown peat blocks they have already dug. They look like house bricks. We burn the dried peat in our stove and fires; it keeps the house warm and snug. This is one of the best places to cut peat, as the road runs up close to the edge of the marsh.’
Jane now realised what the stack of dried earth bricks outside Uncle Hans house was used for. She turned to Sam, Gerda and Eric and said:

The race ‘Let’s race to see what the peat cutters are doing, last one there has to wash up this evening. The winner also gets a sweet from the other three.’ 
Eric said,
‘You’re on. I’ll count to three, and then off we go. Sam and I will give you girls a ten metre start, that is only fair.’
Eric slowly counted to three, the children sprinted off towards the peat cutters, with Odin racing round them and barking furiously. The children sprinted towards the peat cutters who ignored the row they made. The peat cutters were all looking down into the trench that they had cut. What were they looking at?

The end of the race Sam skidded to a stop just before he reached the peat cutters. He was delighted, he had won! He turned to greet the others as they caught up with them, Odin had sprinted off chasing a rabbit that had escaped. The children walked up to where the peat cutters were leaning on their spades. They were talking to each other in hushed voices. Jane could not help wonder, what have they found? She turned to Gerda and asked,
‘Do you think that they have found buried treasure, a purse full of gold coins or a ring? Somebody might have dropped something of value in the ditch where they are digging.’

Gerda pushed forward to see what was in ditch, stopped and gasped. What she could see was clearly not buried treasure.

The object The peat cutters were looking down at something buried in the ground. It was where they had cut into the surface of the ground and removed house brick shaped slices of turf, blocks of peat. As the peat blocks had come away they had revealed something jutting out of the soil. Sam could see a mass of dark brown hair, sitting on top of a head. The head was just poking above the surface. The peat cutters spade had just missed slicing off an ear. They had cleared enough of the soil away to reveal a bare shoulder. The person’s skin was dark brown, it was clear to Eric that he or she must have been in the peat for some time.

The response The children stood looking down into the trench. Gerda’s face went white, she turned, was sick and began to cry. Jane clenched her fist tight, she could not help wondering how the body had ended up in the bog. She put her arms around Gerda’s shoulders to comfort her. Gerda wiped away her tears with a hankie. Eric and Sam stood in silence. Both thought that the person might have been murdered and dumped in the peat bog. Odin had come back from his rabbit hunt and sat quietly by Eric’s side.

The diggers One of the peat cutters turned to the children and shouted,
‘Stand back from the edge of the trench. As you can see, we’ve only just stopped digging our load of peat. The trench could cave in, so don’t climb down into it. We’re going to the village for help. Make you sure that you don’t touch anything. There is nothing that you can do for the poor man, it is clear that he has been dead for a long time.’
The peat cutters neatly stacked their spades by the side of the stack of peat that they had already dug. Slowly they trudged off down the road towards Grauballe village.

Detectives In a flash Jane realised that this was the history mystery that Uncle John had sent them back in time to solve. Luckily she had Eric, Gerda and Sam to help. And, she knew that she could use the wizard chip in her disappearing ring to find things out. Forensica would give her reports from a police laboratory while archaologica would provide the latest archaeological evidence. The first thing that she would have to do would be to ask the others what kind of plan they should follow. She turned to them and asked,

‘This is our chance to work as detectives. What should we do? If we are lucky we can help solve the mystery of the dead man for Uncle Hans.’

CHAPTER 4:HISTORY DETECTIVES top

Jane and the body As the peat cutters disappeared from view, Jane walked around the body. The blood had drained from her face, she was feeling terrified. The corpse lay stiff and still, the sunlight playing on one side of its face. She could see from the stubble on the side of the face that it was a man. The peat had kept the body as fresh as the day it had died, his eyebrows and lashes were perfectly preserved. The man did not seem to be very old. 

Questions Questions flooded into her brain.
Had he had an accident and fallen into the bog?
Had he been murdered?
When and why had he died?
She turned to the other three,
‘Have you any ideas of what we should do?’

The plan Eric looked hard at the dead man, feeling both afraid and excited,

‘It would be fantastic to find out who he was, and to arrest the person who killed him. From the look on his face I suspect that he was murdered. Dad always says that the scene of a crime often gives clear clues about how someone was killed. We need to try and build up a picture in our minds of what this spot was like at the time he died.’

Gerda had stopped shaking with fright. She had begun to think hard about how to solve the mystery. Dad was the person to help.

Dad the detective She said, ‘Dad has been trained as a detective. He sometimes talks about how he goes about solving crimes. Usually they are nothing worse than a stolen lamp from a bicycle or some eggs that have disappeared from one of the farmers’ hen houses. I suspect that he will have to call in help from Chief Inspector Carlsen of the Aarhus police force. Alas, he does not get on well with him, he thinks he knows it all and treats Dad as if he is a fool. He is a bully who makes dad’s life a misery.’

The first step Gerda carried in, ‘As Eric has said, Dad says that the first thing the police do is to make sure that they have a full record of what is at the scene of the crime.’
Sam pretended to be brave, but deep down he was just as upset. He had been thinking along the same lines as Gerda. Sam had worked with Jane on solving a number of history mysteries. He piped up,

‘As this is a mystery about a dead body the police will come along and set up an incident room. They will photograph the body, note down any clues that they can find and then send it off for a post mortem. The police scientists will work out how and when he died. I am sure that Uncle Hans will be able to tell us what the police find out.’

Questions and questioning Jane listened carefully to what Gerda had said and carried on,
‘Detective work starts with asking questions. So, let’s draw up a list of all the questions that we can think of. I can jot them down on my note pad. We can also draw a sketch of the scene and try and see if we can spot any clues.’
Sam was bursting with ideas,
‘We have to ask questions about who, when, where, why, what and how. When we have our questions we can work out a plan to try and find the evidence we need to answer the questions.’

The questions Jane took out her note book to scribble down the list of questions that she and the others came up with. Soon the page was full. The questions were a great place to start their investigation.

Did he have any enemies?
How did he die?
Were there any witnesses?
What did he do for a job?
What might he have been doing just before he died?
What was he wearing?
When did he die?
Where did he live?
Who might have known him?
Who was he?
Why did he die?

CHAPTER 5: CHIEF INSPECTOR CARLSEN top

The police arrive Odin began barking furiously, he was the first to hear the police car arrive. The peat cutters and a group of three policemen came into view: Uncle Hans, police Chief Inspector Carlsen and a young policeman who was carrying a camera. With them was a fourth person, Dr Balsey. Chief Inspector Carlsen was very fat and red faced; Gerda had said that he had a filthy temper. The policemen and the doctor stood around the body, looking with glum faces at the head as it jutted out of the ground. By now the peat cutters had also returned.

The body Soon the peat cutters got to work clearing the peat from around the head and shoulders. Jane gasped in horror,
‘Look at his twisted and screwed up face. His eyes are tight shut; there is a look of terror on his face. If he fell or was thrown into the bog he would have screamed for help as he drowned. What an awful way to die.’
Gerda began to sob, Jane comforted her as Sam and Eric looked glum. They noticed the peat cutters had finally cut out a huge block of peat containing the corpse. Slowly they lifted the peat block on to a large flat sheet of tin. Where the body had lain was a deep ditch.

Jane investigates Jane was standing by the body, pointing her wizard chip ring at it. Inside the wizard chip was a camera that took hundreds of photographs of the body; its head, hands, neck, feet and skeleton. The pictures were very clear, showing the dead man’s face, fingerprints, his neck and an x-ray of his skull. 

Chief Inspector Carlsen Chief Inspector Carlsen snapped at her,
‘Don’t touch anything. It is time that you buzzed off and went home. Sergeant Olsen and I do not need any help. It is quite clear that the man has been murdered. Looking at him, it is hard to see how long he has been in the bog. He could have fallen in just before the bog was drained. You are in the way of PC Johansen who will take photographs. Dr Balsey will also look at the body to see if he can tell us the cause of death.’ 
He could see that no one was looking, so he turned to shove Jane out of the way and into a ditch full of mud and water. 

The accident Quick as a flash she pointed her wizard chip ring at him while using her towser stun gun mind spell. It gave the Chief Inspector a mild shock in his right leg; he slipped and fell with a splash, face first into the ditch where the body had lain. He lay there quivering, and slowly rose to his feet. Everyone howled with laughter, he looked like a troll, with two eyes peering out of a thick mud mask. Dripping black slime covered him from head to toe. 

The locals News of the body in the bog had spread like wildfire. Soon a crowd of people had gathered. Many of them were from the local village, Jane overheard two old people.
‘No doubt they will say that it is one of those Iron Age people who lived in the time of the Romans. What rubbish, you can see that it is a local who must have got lost one night and drowned. It is amazing the number of people who have disappeared over the past fifty years. They get drunk, wander off the road and are sucked down into the bog. Some might have even been murdered.’

Home Gerda and the others were starving with hunger. ‘Let’s go home’ Gerda suggested. As they drove home in the carriage with Odin they chatted about what they had seen and how the man might have died. When they reached the house they found on the table a mountain of bread and butter, a plate of freshly baked scones, pots of jam, a bowl of thick cream and plenty of fruit juice. Uncle Hans arrived a few minutes later and joined them for tea. As they munched through the pile of scones, bread, jam, cream and cakes they could see he was very upset. When he had finished he explained.

Uncle Hans ‘That bully Chief Inspector Carlsen has told me to solve the crime. We must find the killer at once, otherwise the police will again be attacked for failing to catch murderers. If I fail to solve the crime he warned me that I will be sacked. The chief of police will be so angry, he says there have been too many unsolved murders. We will have to sell the house. Jane, your father wrote to tell me that you are a famous detective. Perhaps you can help, children can often find things better than grown ups. And, you can think more clearly about what might have happened and see links between clues. I am going to Aarhus straight away to report to Chief Inspector Carlsen about what I intend to do.

The meeting When Uncle Hans had left the room Jane said that they needed to come up with a cunning plan to solve the crime. Where should they start? In what order should they do things?
Gerda suggested,
‘We must help Dad. I am sure that he will tell us all that he knows. He could start with a list of old people living in and near the village’.

Jane Jane spoke next,
‘I am sure that I can get hold of a report on the body from the police doctor. It will tell us all about it.’
Sam butted in,
‘I think that we should draw up a list of local people we can go and interview. And then we should look at the local newspaper to see what it says.’
Eric was dying to say something,
‘Last year our history teacher told us about strange bodies that have been buried in bogs for thousands of years. Perhaps we could ask her if she can help.’

The plan The four argued about the best plan, swapping ideas and thinking hard about what to do. At last they agreed that they would first interview as many locals as they could who might know about the dead man. Then they would talk to the police doctor and review the scientific evidence. Finally they would ask Eric and Gerda’s history teacher for help. Jane and Sam heard that she was the opposite of Mrs Woodhead. She made history fun and exciting, always trying to bring the past to life through drama, story telling, detective work and other exciting ways of learning.

CHAPTER 6: THE BODY top

The wizard chip Jane went to her bedroom, she needed to be alone to look at the evidence from her wizard chip camera. The wizard chip automatically downloaded the photographs she had taken of the body after it had been taken from the soil on to her seeing mirror. The camera had also taken x-ray pictures of the body, and most exciting of all, could work as a body scanner. She opened the seeing mirror and used its touch screen to look at the photographs and x-rays. She pieced together a story that the pictures told and began to cry, something awful had happened to the man. With her photographic memory she had a mental picture of three pictures of the body and an x-ray of its head. She went down to the dining room where the others waited.

Uncle Hans Uncle Hans walked in, tired and worried. He had been at Aarhus, where the police photographer had given him some photographs like those that Jane had taken. It was time to ask for the children’s help.
‘Jane, can you and the others help me work out the clues from the evidence that the photographs show. We need to look at each one carefully.’
Uncle Hans handed Jane a pile of photographs, she chose four, similar to those she had already seen using her seeing mirror.

The pictures Gerda, Eric and Sam had cleared away the supper table and cleared a space. Jane remarked,
‘The four pictures contain evidence about the dead man and how he died. Let’s spread them out, I suggest that we choose one each to study. Each picture can help answer some of the questions we asked. But, be prepared to be shocked at what you see.’

Jane spread the photos out for all of them to see. The children and Uncle Hans passed them round. Sam had been drinking coca cola and pigging a currant bun. As he glanced at the photos he no longer felt hungry.

Choosing In turn each of the children picked one picture. Uncle Hans said,

‘Let’s look at each picture for a couple of minutes and then swap them over until we have studied them all. I have a magnifying glass for each of us to use. We’ll pool our ideas to see what we think and then push on with finding out how the man died. This will be a big help. Remember that Chief Inspector Carlson has told will happen if I do not solve the mystery.’ 
For the next ten minutes they used their magnifying glasses to examine their photos, chattering about what they could see. 

The head and neck Gerda had picked the photo of the body’s head and neck. The man’s red-brown hair was about ten centimetres long, She gasped at the story the picture of his face and neck told, Looking at the picture made her stomach knot up, she was almost sick.

‘The short hairs on his chin and lip suggest that he had not shaved that day. There are no rope marks on his throat. But look just below his ear, what do you think has happened to his throat?’
At this she ran her finger along a line of cut skin to the man’s shoulder. They could all see a deep, long cut.
‘Who could have done that to him? What happened? And why? What must the dead man have felt and thought in the time from when he knew he was going to die until his death?’

The body on the tin sheet Sam looked at the photograph of the body as it lay on the block of peat before being put on to the tin sheet. He could see that the man had his right leg bent up, his arm lay across the knee. Having seen the photograph that Gerda had examined, his eyes ran straight to the man’s throat. He gasped with horror. It showed clearly what had happened to it. The man could not have committed suicide. He passed the photo round for the others to see. Eric looked puzzled,

‘Why is he naked? What has happened to his clothes? If he was murdered, why would his murderers steal his clothes?’

The hand’s palm, thumb and fingers Eric had chosen the photograph of the man’s hands and fingerprints. The hand was clenched, the photo clearly showed his finger nails. Why were the nails so short and neatly cut? The skin on the man’s palm, fingers and thumb was unmarked, there were no thick, rough, hardened patches of skin on his palms and fingers. Eric thought long and hard about the clues the photo revealed,

‘The perfect state of his hands and his fingerprints show he could have died yesterday. What do they tell us about what kind of job he might have had? It is clear that he was not a farm labourer or workman who used heavy tools all day long. He might have worked in an office or been a teacher.’

The x-ray Jane had picked the x-rays of the head and leg. They seemed to contain important clues about what might have happened. The x-ray of the skull showed a fracture just above the eyebrows. 

‘The x-rays of his bones and teeth show that he was about thirty years old. Someone had hit him on the head with a blunt instrument like a hammer or blunt end of an axe. The man also had a broken leg. I can’t tell whether he had been hit on the head and broken his leg before or after he had died.’

The locals Uncle Hans was delighted with how Jane and the others had worked out what the clues in the pictures told them about the dead man. Turning to Jane he said,

‘Jane, I would love it if you could come with me tomorrow when I go and talk to the locals. We will also be able to go back to Nebelgard Fen to see if we can spot anything that will help us solve the mystery. Once we have looked at the evidence I will be able to write a report for Chief Inspector Carlson as I am sure that it will solve once and for all the mystery of the dead man.’

CHAPTER 7: THE VILLAGERS top

Breakfast Uncle Hans and Jane got up early next day. Uncle Hans was wearing his police uniform, even though it was Sunday he would have to work. Aunt Helga, Sam, Gerda and Eric were still fast asleep. They would go and see friends later in the day. After a breakfast of cheese, ham and bread Uncle Hans and Jane set out to interview any villagers who might know something about the dead man. They would also go back to the scene of the crime, Nebelgard Fen, to see if they could spot any more clues. Uncle Hans had some leads to follow up. As they rattled along in the pony and trap to the village he told Jane, 

To the village ‘We will first go to see Grannie Ulrika Olafson. When she was a girl she used to know everything that went on in the village. She was a great beauty, I have heard that all of the local young men hoped to marry her. On Saturday she visited the fen and told Chief Inspector Carlsen that she thought she knew the dead man. Perhaps the photos I have with me will jog her memory. It would be wonderful if we can find out from her who the dead man was. Then we can begin to think about who might have killed him and why.’

The cottage Grannie Olafson lived in a white cottage in the middle of the village. The garden was overgrown and full of weeds as Grannie Olafson was over ninety years old and could no longer look after it. Her husband, a local farmer, had died long ago. In the village he was still remembered as a champion wrestler with a foul temper. Uncle Hans tied the pony to a post outside the house and with Jane by his side knocked on the solid pine door. It opened to show a tiny old lady dressed in a long black dress.

Grannie Olafson Uncle Hans coughed,
‘Grannie Olafson, can I please have a brief chat with you about the man whose body was found on Saturday. I have brought my niece Jane with me. She will write down what you say if you don’t mind. As you may have heard, we are trying to solve what happened to the man whose body was found on Saturday in Nebelgard Fen.
Grannie Olafson looked at them both,
‘Please come in sergeant, only too happy to help you.’

The interview Uncle Hans and Jane went in to the front sitting room. On the wall were photographs of Grannie Olafson’s husband, children and a group of peat cutters. When they were all sitting comfortably, Uncle Hans asked,
‘Grannie, can you please tell us anything about the dead man, please? Here is a photograph of him taken before he was dug out of the peat and also a picture of his hand.’

Red Christian Grannie Olafson looked closely at the photograph and sighed, 
‘I knew him well, he was a close friend. We were once engaged to be married. He is Red Christian, one of the local peat cutters. You can see him in the picture on the wall, he is standing at the end of the row. Alas, he disappeared without trace one winter night in about 1887 or 1888. It was in the week before Christmas. He was very ill with tuberculosis. You can see from his pinched face that he was wasting away. That’s him all right, no one else could have a chin like that, it was always covered with stubble. Those are his fingers, as you can see, he chewed his nails.’

Silence Grannie Olafson fell silent, a tear came to her eyes. Uncle Hans said quietly,
‘How well did you know him? Are you sure it is him?’
‘Yes, we were brought up together. I used to see him a lot before I married my husband Carl. Yes, now I remember, Carl was in the pub the night Red Christian disappeared. I heard from his mum that Carl came home late that night in a foul temper. His friend Johan Bergman is still alive, he lives next door.’

Uncle Hans thanked Grannie Olafson. A minute later they were standing outside Johan’s front door.

Johan Bergman Uncle Hans knocked loudly, the door opened to reveal a wizened old man smoking a pipe. He smiled when he saw Uncle Hans, and asked him and Jane in. They sat in the kitchen, Johan made them both a cup of tea and told them Red Christian’s tale,

‘I heard he has turned up at last. He worked as a peat cutter, but was also a well known poacher. He had sold some deer he had poached and was in the local pub at Svostrup drinking away the money he had been paid the evening he disappeared. It was late November. He was a bit of a drunkard, was very friendly with the local girls and had even been engaged to marry one. That night he had already had a fight with a local farmer over how he had been treating the farmer’s girl friend. Red Christian had to walk home to his cottage past Nebelgard Fen. When we realised two days later that he had disappeared we searched everywhere. We feared he had fallen into the fen and would never be seen again.’

Nebelgard Fen Jane had written down everything Johan said in her notebook. Uncle Hans stood up, put on his coat, thanked Johan and turned to Jane,

‘Well Jane, I think tomorrow we need to drive from Svostrup inn past Nebelgard Fen to where Red Christian lived. Perhaps we can work out what the scene of the crime might have been like when he went missing. I think from what we have heard we are well on the way to solving the mystery of Red Christian. Chief Inspector Carlsen will get a big surprise when he reads my report. He has been looking for an excuse to sack me since the huge blunder he made last year which he blamed me for. He is a bitter, spiteful and angry man.’

Supper After supper Aunt Helga and the other children listened to Uncle Hans and Jane as they told them of their interviews with Grannie Olafson and Johan Bergman. Gerda said,
‘You can’t trust old people’s memories, they were talking about things that had happened over sixty years ago.’ 

Eric remarked, 
‘Yes, but the story they tell is so full of detail that I think it is true. We now have to work out why and how Red Christian was killed.’

Uncle Hans said that it was time for bed,
‘Tomorrow Jane and I will go back to the scene of the crime and try to retrace the final journey of Red Christian. Don’t worry, I am happy for the rest of you to have a day out in Aarhus.’

CHAPTER 8: NEBELGARD FEN top

Breakfast Monday morning was bright and sunny, Eric and Gerda were thrilled at the thought of going to Aarhus with Sam, although they were sad that they were not going to school. They loved meeting their friends and looked forward to one of Miss Svenson’s exciting history lessons. The table was groaning under a pile of pancakes, melted honey, toast and cheese. The children were starving; they bolted down their breakfasts in silence. Uncle Hans was sitting quietly, deep in thought. 

Aunt Helga Auntie Helga told the children her plans for the day,

‘I am sorry to say that Jane is staying to help Uncle Hans. They will visit Nebelgard Fen to see if they can spot any more clues and then visit Red Christian’s cottage. The rest of us are going to Aarhus for the day. We will be able to visit the local shops to buy surprise presents for everyone. In the afternoon we will go to the cinema to see the latest film.’

‘Great’, said Eric to Sam, ‘What a fantastic treat. It is three months since we last went to Aarhus. Mum has already packed a large picnic of cold chicken, tomatoes, home baked bread, butter and cakes. A friend is taking us there in his new motor car, the only one in the village.’

The phone call As Eric stopped speaking the phone rang. Uncle Hans answered it; the smile disappeared at once from his face. Jane guessed that it must be Chief Inspector Carlsen. They could all hear a man shouting at the other end of the phone. All Uncle Hans said was ‘Yes sir, no sir, yes, sir, at once sir.’

As he put the phone down Jane thought that he was almost in tears. He bit his lip, slumped back in his chair and remarked,

‘Chief Inspector Carlsen wants the mystery solved by tomorrow. The press are baying for results, they are afraid that a killer might be on the loose. Chief Inspector Carlsen says that if I don’t come up with an answer I’ll be in deep trouble.’

Nebelgard Fen Jane would have loved to go to Aarhus, but she knew she had to help Uncle Hans solve the mystery of how Red Christian had died. The pony and trap rattled along the earth road for two kilometres from Silvestrop until Nebelgard Fen came into sight. The sun shone weakly through thin cloud, a biting, chill wind blew. There was little sign of spring, although the ice had melted on the pond. 

On each side of the road stood a few old birch and larch trees. Nebelgard pond stood in the middle of beds of reeds and rushes that grewout of the thick peat marsh. Tracks from the fen led to local villages, the fen was a meeting point. Jane could see Red Christian’s pretty white cottage from where they stood.

The Seeing Mirror Jane pulled out her Seeing Mirror. Uncle Hans thought that she was tidying her hair; in fact she used a mind spell forensica to find out about Nebelgard Fen in the past. The spell used latest scientific techniques. In a flash the forensica spell analysed the seeds found in the dead man’s stomach. One by one pictures flashed up of sixty three different trees, bushes, grasses and flowers that grew in and around the fen. The mirror clouded over and cleared to show what the Fen might have looked like on 28th November 1887, the day that Red Christian disappeared. 

Nebelgard Fen The message also told Jane that Nebelgard Fen had been unchanged for thousands of years, indeed since prehistoric man had first chopped down the trees that covered the hills. The pond and bog lay in a saucer shaped hollow between hills on each side. Nothing had changed. 

Vegetation On the steep sides of the hills stood a few clumps of birch, willow, ash and thorn bushes. There were no big trees; they had long since been chopped down for fuel and timber. Heath covered the rest of the hills. The heath almost reached the edge of the marsh. A string of tiny meadows ran along the side of the marsh. On the heath grew a mixture of bushes, heather, grasses, clover and weeds. New peat cuttings cut deep into the marsh, old cuttings were full of water. Grasses, mosses and marsh plants covered the peat surface of the marsh.

The pond Jane could see that sixty years ago the pond was much bigger. It had almost reached to where the dead man’s body had lain. Jane noticed at the point the peat cutters had found his corpse were old peat cuttings full of stagnant water and oozing black mud. The pond’s surface was inky black, stained with peat. A flock of ducks was splashing and quacking loudly, while coots and moorhens scooted in and out of the reeds. Around the pond and its marsh a few skinny sheep and cows grazed in the meadows. Heath ran back from the meadows, covering the hills.

Red Christian’s cottage Jane and Uncle Hans walked carefully around the pond, trying to work out what might have happened to him. Jane rattled off a list of questions,
‘Uncle, how could he have got into the peat cutting? What might have happened to his clothes?
Do you think that the person who cut his throat was alone? 
What could have led to such a violent death? 
What was the motive?’
Uncle Hans sucked on his pipe deep in thought as the pony and trap trotted past Red Christian’s cottage, a picture of peace bathed in sunlight. 

Home - the newspaper As Uncle Hans walked into the house he picked up the local newspaper from the mat. It was full of stories about the dead man found in Nebelgard Fen. A journalist had already been to see Grannie Olafson and Johan. The paper reported that they knew the dead man, Red Christian whom they claimed had disappeared on his way home from Svostrup inn to where he lived on the other side of Nebelgard Fen. The paper also printed a photograph of Red Christian’s white washed thatched cottage. An expert in a local museum had also stated that it was clear that the body was not from the Iron Age. The paper printed a poem.

The poem 

They still remember him well in the parish,
But how famous he's now become!
Yet we have to admit his age has been
considerably overdone.
Yes, Glob must have made a big mistake
When he made his diagnosis,
And now the folk who know what's what
Want to speak out, and tell what they know.
There's monkey business somewhere
Glob must admit it's so.

The Iron Age Expert Uncle Hans suddenly remembered that Dr Ulrich Balsey was the expert who would be visiting the local school next day to talk about trolls and ancient legends. It would be a good idea for him to spend the day with the children listening to what Dr Balsey had to say. Dr Balsey knew Professor Glob well, the leading expert on Iron Age bog people. Perhaps Dr Balsey could throw light on the mystery Red Christian. Then Uncle Hans would be able to write the report on the Red Christian mystery for Chief Inspector Carlsen that would save his job. Jane could not wait to see Chief Inspector Carlsen’s face when he discovered his plan to sack Uncle Hans had failed.

Jane’s letter Jane remembered that Uncle John had told her to to send messages to an old friend in Denmark if she needed urgent help. So, she quickly scribbled a note saying the Chief Inspector Carlsen was bullying Uncle Hans and trying to get him sacked. She was able to post it in a post box next to the school.

CHAPTER 9: SVOSTRUP SCHOOL: TROLLS AND GOBLINS top

To school Everyone was up early on Tuesday morning to get dressed and ready in time for school. Eric and Gerda were looking forward to the visit of Dr Ulrich Balsey, a local expert on local history. Uncle Hans remembered that he had been present when Red Christian’s body had been dug out of the ground. Auntie Helga had baked delicious fresh brown bread rolls for breakfast, they were eaten with slices of cheese and ham, washed down with milk and apple juice. Uncle Hans put on his police uniform, he was looking forward to what Dr Balsey said about the body from the bog. 

The pony and trap Jane had been thinking carefully about all the clues. As the pony and trap sped along the earth road towards school she talked about the clues with Eric, Gerda and Sam. Each in turn said what they thought might have happened to Red Christian and why. By the time they had got to school a clear story had emerged about what went on when he had died. Gerda remarked,
‘Will Dr Balsey be able to throw more light on the ghastly crime? Dad knows him well, he should be able to tell us if the body is likely to be that of Red Christian or some other villager who died in the bog.’

The history lesson The children sat in a semi circle facing their history teacher Miss Ericson. In turn she asked the whole class if they had heard about the body found in Nebelgard Fen, and what questions they had about it. All of the class had seen the local newspaper stories. Soon the blackboard was full of ideas, information and questions. The class then looked at the photos and heard about the clues that Uncle Hans and Jane had found. They talked about them in pairs, and as a class pooled their ideas. This was how Miss Ericson ran her history lessons: full of argument, debate, discussion, drama, drawing, team work, imagination, modelling, looking at clues, problem solving and speculation.

Dr Balsey By her side sat Dr Ulrich Balsey who listened with interest as the debate raged. Dr Balsey was going to tell them all about legends of trolls and goblins and the lives of people who lived in the area thousands of years ago. All of the pupils had forgotten about the trolls and goblins, they wanted to ask him about the Red Christian mystery. Dr Balsey looked at the list of questions and said he would try and answer as many as possible. Inga put up her hand and asked,

‘Who was the man in the bog?’
Dr Balsey cleaned his glasses, coughed and looked up,
‘I am not too sure myself. There are lots of clues that suggest that he might have been Red Christian. The body is well preserved, as you know we can even see fingerprints. It seems likely that it has been in the bog for less than a hundred years. Peat preserves things for years.
On the other hand experts argue that he is from the Iron Age.’
A second’s silence until Freda’s hand shot up,

‘When was the Iron Age?’ 
Dr Balsey grinned, he knew the answer,
‘The Iron Age was around 2000 years ago, from 500 years before Jesus was born to 500 years after he died, that is from 500 BC to 500 AD. In around 500 BC man first began to use iron instead of bronze for tools, weapons and pots and pans. During the Iron Age the Romans ruled most of modern Western Europe, but not Denmark. Their armies almost got this far, and they knew about the tribes that lived here.’ 
Frederick asked the next question,

‘How did they live?’
‘They lived in villages of about ten houses built from timber, mud, wooden slats and reeds. The single room houses were oblong shaped and stood on each side of a paved stone street. In each dwelling lived people, animals, dogs, cats, goats, cows and sheep. This is why the houses were so large, from 15 to 30 metres long and from 4 to 8 metres wide. The door’s faced east, away from the wind. A strong fence kept each village safe from attack. The villagers grew crops in small fields and looked after animals and chickens, ducks and geese.’ 
Gretel raised her hand, 

‘Please, did they live in tribes?’ 
‘Yes, The villages all belonged to a tribe with a tribal chief or leader. The tribesmen were all fierce warriors. The tribe also had priests who worshipped ancient gods: Odin, the god of war and Nerthus, Mother Earth. They worshipped in wooden temples and sacrificed animals and people to their gods.’ 

Again there was a moment’s silence. A forest of hands shot up to ask the next question, Inga was the lucky girl,

‘Would Dr Balsey be able to throw more light on the ghastly crime?’
Dr Balsey took off his glasses,
‘You have seen all the evidence we have so far. What we do know is that peat cutters have found a large number of Iron Age bodies in bogs. We are not yet sure that this body is one of them. If it is a bog body, then we can learn about it from what the Roman writers Tacitus and Strabo tell us and from looking at a cauldron that was found buried in pieces. I have a copy of what Tacitus and Strabo said. Tacitus wrote in about 100 A.D.. Would you like me to read out?’

As one the class chorused, ‘Yes, please, Yes.’

Tacitus Dr Balsey opened a book he had brought with him. 
‘As I read I will explain difficult words and ideas. He lived in Rome and wrote his account from what travellers told him and books he read. He tells us about the Iron Age tribes of Germany and Denmark, one lived in this area:

“They hang traitors and army deserters from trees, cowards, poor fighters and plunge famous evil doers into the muddy waters of marshes.

On an island in the ocean is a holy place and in it is a godly chariot. A priest looks after the chariot where he meets the goddess Mother Earth or Nerthus. The priest helps the goddess ride away from her holy shrine in the chariot drawn by cows. Then there are many days of feasts and holidays. All is peace and quiet, they put their weapons away. 

The priest returns to the temple and washes the goddess, the chariot and her robes in the lake. Slaves help, they are at once drowned and swallowed up by the lake.” 

Strabo The reading from Tacitus was over, now Dr Balsey picked up a second book. 
‘Here is a short piece from Strabo a Geographer, he wrote when Jesus was alive about Iron Age tribes.’
Sam winced at the word Geography, something even more boring than Miss Woodhead’s history lessons, if that was possible. 

The sacrifice Dr Balsey read in a loud voice

“Priestesses went with the army. They were old and grey and wore white clothes and over these metal belts and cloaks. They were barefoot. The women would enter the army camp, approach the prisoners and lead them to a huge bronze vessel. One of them would climb a step, lean over the cauldron and cut the throat of a prisoner held over the vessel’s rim.”

The Gundestrop Cauldron As the class sat in stunned silence, Emma’s hand shot up. 
‘Are there any pictures from the Iron Age that can tell us what happened to sacrificed men and women?’

Dr Balsey smiled, lent down and took out a pile of pictures from his bag. The pictures were shared out in the class. Dr Balsey said,
‘The picture shows the sacrifice of a man, he was held over a cauldron. A tree of life grows out of the cauldron, can you see its leaves? The dog of death is leaping up. Soldiers holding shields look on while soldiers on horse back ride away.’

The debate Miss Ericson felt that the class had seen and heard enough. Now was the time to debate if the man in the bog was Red Christian, to try and answer other questions and to recreate what might have happened on the day he died. She quickly organised the class into two teams, one for and against the motion:

The man in the bog was Red Christian.

The class argued to and fro, all of the children had a say. At last a quiet little girl, Freya, put up her hand,
‘Please miss, my Mum said we could find out the truth if we used the new scientific approach, Carbon 14 dating. It never lies about the age of an object.

Carbon 14 dating Jane knew that this was the chance to use her archaeological mind spell. She got out her seeing mirror, tapped in an order asking for a Carbon 14 dating of the seeds in the man’s stomach. The mirror clouded over, ten seconds later a message flashed up:

No Carbon 14 dating possible because of Atomic Bomb testing since 1949

Without this vital clue it was almost impossible to prove that the man in the bog was or was not not Red Christian. Just before the bell went the class voted on whether it thought that the man in the bog was Red Christian, some other person from the recent past or from the Iron Age. As the children trooped out they were still arguing about who he was, only time could tell. It would be years before an accurate Carbon 14 date would arrive from the laboratory.

CHAPTER 10: THE MYSTERY IS SOLVED top

The report Next morning Uncle Hans and Jane spent an hour in Uncle Hans’s study writing a report for Chief Inspector Carlsen. The report looked at all the evidence, Jane and Uncle Hans had agreed on their conclusion. They knew that they had solved the Red Christian mystery. Uncle Hans typed two copies: one for Chief Inspector Carlsen, the other for the head of the Police Force, its Chief Constable. When he had finished he turned to Jane and remarked,

Uncle Hans and the Chief Constable Turning to Jane, Uncle Hans said,
‘Yesterday the Chief of Police rang me. He said that he had had had several letters complaining that Chief Inspector Carlsen is a bully who threatens members of the police force. The Chief Constable told me he had read my file and the reports I had written on crimes I had solved. He congratulated me on my excellent work. So, I am sending him one of the two reports on Red Christian. We can post them on the way to Aarhus before I put you on the boat to visit Sam’s relatives in Norway. They live in the capital, the city of Oslo. I will write to you in England to tell you if my report is believed as you will be going straight home after your visit on a boat from Oslo.’

Farewell Uncle Hans, Aunt Helga and Eric and Gerda stood on the quay at Aarhus as the steam ship left for Oslo. Sam and Jane waved and waved until they had disappeared out of sight as the boat sailed from the harbour. It was not only time to leave Denmark, they needed to return to 2, Aelfred Rd. Jane turned her disappearing ring, a second later she and Sam found themselves back at 2, Aelfred Rd. Nothing had changed. Uncle John sat in his rocking chair, he and Dad had demolished one bottle of wine and started on a second. 

The letter Uncle John rocked back in his chair,
‘Welcome back, I hope you’ve had a great time and solved a real history mystery. I am sure that Miss Woodhead will be really pleased to hear what you say. It will be interesting to hear what the History Inspector thinks.’

At that point Jane noticed that Uncle John had put an old letter down on the table. On the letter were a Danish stamp and date mark, 5th May 1952. 

The letter was addressed to 

Miss Jane Uverlander, 
2, Aelfred Road, 
Alchester,
Devon

Uverlander was the name of Jane’s Danish grandmother. In his letter Uncle Hans thanked Jane for her help, and told her that the Chief Constable had promoted him to Inspector as a reward for solving The Red Christian Mystery.

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