CHAPTER 7 – MONEY GONE, COOKIES GONE!
PANIC IN THE MORNING – DIN LOSES HIS SAHUR MONEY!
It was the 10th day of Ramadan, and the mystery of the missing cookies was still unsolved. But this morning, something new happened that made the Kampung Melayu Detective Gang even more suspicious—Din’s sahur money had disappeared!
“What? Your money is gone?” Aiman was stunned as he tied his shoelaces.
“Yeah, I put it in my bag, and when I checked before sahur, it was empty!” Din scratched his head. “Did a jinn take my money?”
“If it was a jinn, it would’ve taken just one or two notes. This time, the whole wallet is missing!” Johan joked.
Faizal, who still wasn’t officially part of their gang, but often hung around, asked, “Bro, where was the last place you put it?”
“In my school bag pocket. I planned to use it to buy drinks for sahur.”
Badrul frowned. “What does your wallet look like?”
“Black, with an Ultraman Tiga design. I bought it at Pasar Karat last month.”
Johan quickly took out his Sony Ericsson K300i and started typing notes:
- New mystery: Din’s wallet is missing.
- Color: Black, Ultraman Tiga design.
- Lost: Before sahur.
“But why just my wallet?” Din sighed.
Aiman leaned against the wall. “Maybe we should find out who was in your house last night.”
“My mom, my little brother, and me. My dad was working the night shift.”
“Could your brother have taken it?” Faizal asked.
“My brother is in Form 1. If he took it, he’d have already been caught buying an RM10 top-up card to text his crush.”
Johan smirked. “Well, we now have two cases—missing cookies and missing money. And I think they might be connected.”
*******
THE SEARCH FOR DIN'S WALLET
The gang headed to Din’s house to look for clues. They searched the living room, bedroom, and kitchen, but the wallet was nowhere to be found.
Suddenly, Faizal shouted, “HEY! WHAT’S THIS?”
Everyone turned to him. He was holding a small plastic bag filled with white powder under Din’s bed.
“What is that?” Aiman moved closer.
Din examined the bag. “This… is powdered sugar.”
Badrul gave a puzzled look. “Powdered sugar?”
“Yeah. My mom just bought some yesterday. She’s making Raya cookies.”
Johan immediately typed on his phone:
- Powdered sugar found under Din’s bed.
- Possibly fell from stolen cookie packaging?
“Din, does your family keep any cookies at home?” Johan asked.
Din shook his head. “No, but… oh wait. My mom bought some cookies from a stall near Badrul’s house yesterday!”
Aiman and Badrul exchanged glances. “Which stall?”
“The one run by that makcik who sells semperit.”
Johan’s eyes widened. “Semperit cookies?”
Aiman nodded. “Aren’t those the ones that have been going missing lately?”
“Yeah,” Din confirmed.
Faizal suddenly spoke up, “Bro… I think we need to spy on that stall.”
*******
INVESTIGATING THE RAMADAN BAZAAR – THE SEMPERIT COOKIE STALL
After breaking their fast and praying Maghrib, they went to the Ramadan bazaar near Badrul’s house. The makcik’s stall looked normal, but something about it felt off.
Johan nudged Aiman and whispered, “Bro, look over there.”
Behind the stall, a young man was opening a large box. The box had the words ‘COOKIE STOCK’ printed on it, but what caught their attention was something shocking—the box had the logo of the bakery that had reported missing cookies!
Badrul quickly took out his Nikon Coolpix digital camera and snapped a photo.
“This is definitely suspicious,” Johan muttered.
They pretended to be customers and approached the stall.
“Assalamualaikum, makcik. Do you make these cookies yourself?” Faizal asked casually.
The makcik smiled. “Yes, do you want to buy some? They’re delicious.”
Aiman picked up a box and inspected the label. It looked like it was printed on a home printer, not a real bakery sticker.
Johan nudged Aiman. “Bro, we’ve got evidence now.”
They bought a box for further investigation and quickly left before anyone got suspicious.
*******
A NEW CLUE – WERE THESE COOKIES STOLEN?
That night, at Aiman’s house, they opened the box of semperit cookies from the bazaar.
Faizal tapped the box. “No way these cookies stole Din’s money.”
Din rolled his eyes. “Obviously not, but—”
Aiman picked up a cookie and examined it. “We need to compare these with the ones from the bakery that reported missing stock.”
Badrul nodded. “Tomorrow, we visit the bakery.”
Johan added, “And we need to find out who’s supplying these cookies to the makcik’s stall.”
They were now sure—someone was stealing cookies, repackaging them, and selling them at the bazaar!
*******
CONFIRMATION AT THE BAKERY – EVERYTHING UNRAVELS?
The next day, after Asar prayers, they visited the bakery in Taman Suria that had reported missing stock.
Aiman handed over the box of semperit cookies to the bakery owner. “Bang, we bought these from the bazaar yesterday.”
The owner inspected the cookies carefully. Suddenly, he took a deep breath.
“Oh my God… these are my cookies! Look at the shape, it’s the same!”
Johan quickly noted:
- Stolen cookies are being resold at the bazaar.
- Packaging was changed with a fake label.
Aiman asked, “Do you know who’s supplying these to the stall?”
The bakery owner shook his head. “Not sure. But a guy came here last week, asking how to make semperit cookies in bulk.”
“What did he look like?” Badrul asked.
The owner thought for a moment. “He wore a brown shirt… short hair…”
Johan and Aiman exchanged glances.
“Bro… that’s the guy we saw at the 24-hour warung the other night!”
*******
THE BIG QUESTION: WHO IS THE REAL MASTERMIND?
Now, the Kampung Melayu Detective Gang was closer than ever to uncovering the real mastermind.
But some big questions remained…
- Who hired the guy in the brown shirt?
- How was Din’s missing money connected to this case?
- Were more stolen cookies being sold?
The mystery was getting deeper, and they knew… they were getting closer to the truth.