Emily was sitting at her study table, home alone, on a cold and stormy night. Her parents had taken a flight earlier in the morning to Australia as her grandmother had passed away. She had wanted to follow her parents but she had an important English examination the next day which she could not miss.

The storm was getting heavier by the minute and the wind was howling outside. All this noise made it very hard for her to concentrate. She was on the verge of dozing off when she was shaken alert by a sudden "THUD!" She dismissed it as a window which had been slammed shut by the wind.

She tried to concentrate on her books when she heard faint footsteps. Emily got out of her room and looked around when suddenly, without warning, she was grabbed by the neck. She tried to scream but it came out as a mere whimper as the intruder was pressing hard against her throat with his arm. She tried to free herself from his grip but to no avail.

"Give me all your money!" growled the man who had grabbed her from behind.

"Th-there is none h-here! Please ll-let me go!" cried Emily.

"Don't LIE TO ME!" screamed the increasingly agitated man. She felt the man strengthen his grip around her neck. She said nothing and a few seconds passed by in silence. Suddenly the phone rang which alerted both of them.

"People will get suspicious if I don't answer the phone," said Emily, with a controlled voice. The intruder let her go.

"Alright, but NO funny business, or ELSE!" said the nervous intruder. Emily walked toward the phone. She took a deep breath and calmed herself. She picked up the phone.

"Hey Em! How's the revision going?" said the caller.

"Hey Anna. Thanks for the call. Hey you know those Science notes I lent you last week? Well I really need them back. It would be a great help to me. It's an emergency, so if you could give me them tomorrow it would be great. Please hurry in finding the notes. I need to get back to my books now. Bye," Emily said. She hung up the phone.

"It was wise of you not to say anything," said the intruder, although he was more than a bit confused by her conversation.

"Now TELL ME WHERE THE MONEY IS KEPT!" screamed the thief.

"It...it's...in my dad's room. The first room on the right. Third drawer," said Emily.

"SHOW me!" said the man, and removed his grip around her neck. She took a big gulp of air and nearly fell. She swallowed hard and said a silent prayer. She walked slowly, in silence, toward her father's room. All of a sudden, they heard police sirens. The intruder froze in his footsteps. He ran to the nearest window and jumped out of it.

Emily ran outside in time to see the intruder being escorted into the car. She saw Anna and she ran toward her and hugged her.

"Smart kids," said the policeman.

What had happened?