I Found an Early Draft of Detective Mo and Thought I’d Share It

I was sifting through my Google Docs files this morning, deleting all the unnecessary little bits of clutter I’ve got in there (there’s a lot, and they’re nearly all called ‘untitled’) when I stumbled upon this little relic: a partial first draft (might even bea zero draft) of Detective Mo and the Missing Prince.

It’s fascinating looking back on it. I didn’t really realise just how many changes I made to the initial story but even in this little excerpt it’s clear to see there’s loads.

Anyway, rather than just delete it outright, I thought I’d just leave it here for posterity. Enjoy.

‘How did the Prince get out of the Tower?’ Detective Molly said.

Can you work out how the prince got out the tower?

‘The window is too small and too high up to climb through. He must have left by the door…’

‘But how did he get past the guard?’ Molly wondered. ‘The door is always locked except when he has a visitor, which means…’

‘He must have left with Ms Scullery. She was the last person to visit the Prince before he vanished,’ Molly said. ‘But the guard said he saw Ms Scullery leave the tower alone carrying nothing but the empty serving tray she brought the prince’s lunch in. How did he escape without being seen?’

‘What have I forgotten?’ Detective Molly said, scratching her head. Can you remember anything about Ms Scullery that might explain how she snuck the Prince out of the Tower?

‘Good golly,’ said Detective Molly. The Queen’s frog had leapt from the table and onto her lap.

‘That’s it!’ Detective Molly cried. ‘Ms Scullery had a magic wand!’

‘She must have visited the Prince to bring him his lunch and when she was there, turned the Prince into a frog and snuck him out in her serving tray!’