About this episode
Someone is taking things all over town — and leaving a LEAF behind every single time! Join Bobo & Pim, the woodland detective duo, as they follow a trail of leaves in this fun animated mystery for kids!
Pim puts one fresh flower on the office desk — and a moment later the flower is gone, with a little green leaf sitting exactly where it stood. Then Ollie's ball disappears from the park, and there's another leaf! Bobo is certain there is a Leaf Thief about, and when his very own magnifier vanishes right in the middle of his big speech, he decides it must be a whole GANG. Milo is small and quick and carrying something, so he must be the one... mustn't he? Follow the leaves from the office to the park to the alley, and see if YOU can work out who has been leaving them.
In this episode
- Bobo
- Pim
- Milo
- Ollie
- Fern
- Poppy
Read along with the story (this gives away the ending)
- Narrator Every Tuesday, Pim tidied the office. And every Tuesday, she put one flower on the desk.
- Pim There. One flower.
- Pim Now it looks like somebody lives here.
- Narrator Did you see that? Pim didn't.
- Pim My flower! It was right here!
- Pim And now there's a leaf where it was.
- Bobo A flower, gone. A leaf, left behind.
- Bobo Somebody put this here, Pim. On purpose.
- Pim It's a leaf, Bobo. Leaves fall.
- Bobo Not INDOORS they don't.
- Narrator And right there, inside Bobo's head, a bad guy was born.
- Bobo We are hunting... the LEAF THIEF.
- Pim We are hunting somebody who left us a leaf.
- Bobo That is what a thief WANTS you to think.
- Ollie Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. A perfect morning.
- Bobo Ollie! Hide your things. There is a thief about.
- Ollie A thief? What does he take?
- Bobo Flowers. So far.
- Narrator Behind them, the perfect morning got one ball smaller.
- Ollie My ball! It was here one second ago!
- Bobo And ANOTHER leaf. He leaves one every single time!
- Bobo He is too quick to be one thief. There must be TWO of them.
- Pim An hour ago there was one.
- Bobo That is how fast they are.
- Bobo Ollie. Think hard. What did you see?
- Ollie Something small.
- Ollie And quick.
- Ollie And small.
- Narrator The witness had finished. The witness was very pleased with himself.
- Bobo Small. Quick. Carrying something that isn't his.
- Milo It IS mine! I collect acorns!
- Milo Acorns, Bobo. Not flowers. Not balls.
- Pim He does only ever have acorns.
- Bobo ...You may go, squirrel.
- Milo Thank you, squirrel.
- Bobo He's in on it, Pim. Squirrels are always in on it.
- Pim Write that down, shall I?
- Pim Bobo. There's another leaf over here.
- Pim Nothing is missing from this bit.
- Pim It's just lying there. Pointing that way.
- Bobo Then we follow the leaves. To the alley!
- Fern Two detectives in my alley. Lovely. What have I done?
- Pim Nothing, Fern. We're following leaves.
- Fern Of course you are.
- Narrator Now Bobo made a speech. Remember this speech. It matters.
- Bobo Friends. These two thieves are quick. But they are not quick enough.
- Bobo Nobody sneaks up on ME. I would spot them a mile away.
- Bobo A mile, Pim. Maybe two.
- Pim Bobo. Your magnifier.
- Bobo They took my MAGNIFIER!
- Narrator They had robbed the detective. During the detective's speech about not being robbed.
- Bobo Three things taken. One of them MINE.
- Bobo This is not two thieves, Pim. This is a GANG.
- Pim An hour ago it was a leaf.
- Fern Or it's one small somebody.
- Fern Behind those crates there's a burrow. It was empty last week.
- Fern It isn't empty now.
- Pim Look. A leaf. Then another leaf. Then another.
- Pim They go all the way to the crates.
- Bobo Then that is where the gang lives. Quietly, everyone.
- Narrator The gang's secret hideout was small, and round, and smelled like leaves.
- Bobo The flower. The ball. My magnifier.
- Ollie It's all here. It's a little house.
- Pim Bobo. The magnifier is propped up like a window.
- Pim Detectives, let's go through it.
- Pim A flower gone. And a leaf left behind.
- Pim A ball gone. And a leaf left behind.
- Pim Bobo's magnifier gone. And a leaf left behind.
- Pim Nothing was broken. Nothing was hidden.
- Pim So what do YOU think our leaf thief was really doing?
- Poppy Hello! Do you like my house?
- Bobo ...Are you the gang?
- Poppy I'm Poppy! I moved in on Tuesday.
- Bobo Poppy. Did you take a flower, and a ball, and my magnifier?
- Poppy Yes.
- Poppy And I left a leaf for every one. That's a fair trade.
- Narrator Nobody had ever just SAID it before. Bobo had a whole speech ready and nowhere to put it.
- Pim Poppy. A trade only works if the other person says yes.
- Poppy Oh.
- Poppy I thought the leaf did the asking for me.
- Poppy I didn't know that rule. I'm new.
- Poppy My burrow was all empty.
- Poppy I only wanted it to look like somebody lives here.
- Pim Poppy. That is exactly what I said about my flower.
- Pim So keep it. This time I'm saying yes.
- Ollie Have the ball. I have three at home.
- Bobo The magnifier is mine. A detective needs his magnifier.
- Bobo ...But a house needs a window.
- Poppy May I borrow it? Please?
- Bobo NOW that is how you make a trade.
- Poppy Was I really a thief?
- Pim No. You're a neighbour.
- Bobo Case closed. Our thief lives at number four.
- Narrator The Leaf Thief was never seen again. Poppy was, though. Nearly every day.
- Narrator She always knocked. And she never once left a leaf.
