THE PRESIDENT'S MURDERER

The First Day

Alex Dinon hide in the trees.'Find him! Three months ago this man—Alex Dinon—killed the President of our country. He's a murderer.Twenty-four hours ago he escaped from prison, and our new President wants him back in prison—today! Now! At once!'the Chief of Police Eva Hine said to the inspector Felix.Ten minutes later Felix was back in his office, and Adam came into his room.Adam usually worked with Felix on important jobs.Felix and Adam worked on, late into the night.

The Second Day

The next morning Alex Dinon was forty kilometres south of the prison.At midday he found a quiet field and lay down under some small trees.At about three o'clock Alex opened his eyes, and saw an old woman in front of him.'Come back to my house and have some food. And you can have some of my husband's old clothes.'she said.The old woman's name was Marta.Her house was very small, but she put some wonderful hot food in front of Alex.'How did you escape from prison?' Marta asked suddenly.Alex stared at Marta and said nothing.Felix and Adam stayed in the office and slept between telephone calls,but in the morning there was no news of Alex Dinon.Late in the afternoon the Chief of Police telephoned. 'Come to my office in half an hour,' she told Felix.Twenty minutes later Felix stood in front of Eva Hine's desk.The telephone rang on the Chief's desk. She picked up the phone. 'Eva Hine here.' Then she smiled. 'Yes, Mr President,' she said. She listened for a minute or two. 'Yes, of course, Mr President. I understand. Yes. Goodbye.'Eva Hine put the phone down and looked at Felix angrily. 'Forget Dinon's escape from prison. Get out there and find him. And bring him back dead or alive!Dead men can't talk. Now go!'There were a lot of questions in Felix’s head, and he did not know the answers.

The Third Day

The next morning Marta to Alex talked.'Somebody saw you at the window this morning. It was that woman from the post office. The police give her money, and she tells them all the secrets of the village.'she said.Alex left the house quickly.He went through Marta's back garden, and out into the fields again.At eight ο'clock in the morning of the third day the telephone rang on Felix's desk. Felix listened, then put the phone down quickly.'Adam!' he shouted. 'We've got him! He's in a village up north. In an old woman's house. Come on. Let's go!'Felix, Adam and the policeman went into the Marta's house.Felix asked question after question, but Marta told him nothing.'I can tell you one thing.The new President,He's got a murderer's face.'Marta said.

The Fourth Day

Alex hid in some trees for an hour or two, then he went on south. Always south. To his home town.He came to a small town on a river, and found a food shop in a quiet street.Then a woman with her young son came into the shop.The boy came up to Alex. 'There are two policemen in the street,' he said very quietly, 'and they're coming here.'Then the shopkeeper called to him, 'Hey, you!' he said. 'Quick! Go out through the back.'Alex ran through the back of the shop.Three kilometres from the town Alex came to a road.A lorry slowed down and the driver called out to him, 'Where are you going?'Alex said the name of his home town, and the driver said, 'Come on. I'm going near there. You can come with me.'Then policeman came to town.Felix and Adam talked to a lot of people and asked a lot of questions in that small town, but they learned nothing.

The Fifth Day

Alex came back the home.He met his wife Olivia.He told Olivia everything but he didn’t told her the name of the murderer.Alex ate some food and changed his clothes.Then he slept.At 9.05 p. m. the telephone rang on Felix's desk. He listened, then called to Adam. 'Dinon's in his home town,' he shouted. 'He's in his old teacher's house.'Felix phoned the Chief and told her the news.'Don't go into the house. Wait in the road and watch.Dinon can't stay in the house. He's going to come out later in the night, when the streets are quiet. He can't escape.The army is going to help you.They're putting three hundred men in all the roads near the house. I want Dinon tonight.'she said.'They want him dead. And I want to know why!'Felix said.The police car took Felix to Dinon's home town, an hour away, and Felix found Adam in a quiet street behind the house.

The Sixth Day

At three ο'clock in the morning Alex left the house quickly and went out into the dark night.Suddenly there were soldiers with guns. Alex began to run, but he did not run far. There was a shot... two, three, four, five shots... And Alex did not move again.Felix ran across the road and looked at the body.Felix's face was angry. 'The soldiers killed him,' he said.Later that day Felix went back to the Chief's office.Felix looked at Eva Hine. 'A lot of people think...' He stopped. Then he began again. 'They say... Alex Dinon wasn't the President's murderer.Who murdered the President?'Eva Hine's face did not change.After a long time Eva Hine said, 'Perhaps you need a new job, Felix.''I'd like to know the murderer's name,' he said quietly. 'And I'm going to find it.' He opened the door. 'Goodbye, Chief.'