The Bluefin Tuna Mystery
The Mystery of the Stolen Iberian Lynx
Three remained.
The Mystery of the Phantom Bodyguard
The Mystery of the Intruder on the Roof
The Mystery of Why the Swanns Are in Bluebell Bay
Then she noticed something interesting. Seven of the mysteries were also connected to Hamilton Park. That got her thinking about the Order of Dragons, whose members were said to be rich and powerful politicians, businessmen, celebrities and judges – exactly the sort of people who visited Hamilton Park.
Freya had described how Sir Haslemere, one of Britain’s wealthiest men, had insisted on having dozens of clocks ticking and blinking in his room during his stay, even though he was recovering from an operation on his last visit and needed his sleep. Yet each morning he’d appeared at breakfast ‘looking as if he’d spent a month at a health spa’.
What if the reason he was so obsessive about punctuality was because he had to take dragon’s teeth tonic at precisely noon and midnight every day?
What if Sir Haslemere was Patient X? He’d been staying at Hamilton Park on the day she’d overheard the coded conversation. Could he have been the person buying Blue Shoelace Man’s tiger skins and ivory?
FaceTime trilled on her phone. Harper nearly had a heart attack when Kai’s name came up. Was he telepathic?
His dimples and glasses sharpened into focus. ‘I have a confession,’ Kai began.
‘Never a great opener,’ Harper said drily, propping her phone against the arm of the sofa.
Bailey pecked at the screen, startling Kai. ‘I’m getting cuter by the minute!’ he shrieked. ‘Cuter by the minute!’
Harper put him on her shoulder. ‘What’s this confession?’
‘If I tell you, you have to promise not to hate me.’
‘Even if you’ve made everything up and there was never any tall, dark stranger with blue laces wanting dragon’s teeth—’
‘All of that’s true,’ said Kai.
‘Then the worst that’ll happen is I might hang up and never speak to you again,’ Harper said cheerfully.
‘That’s what I’m afraid of, especially when you and Kat are our only hope.’ Kai took a deep breath. ‘OK, here goes. My dad blew up the cliff.’
‘What cliff?’ said Harper. ‘Ohhh – the cliff.’
‘The Jurassic Dragon cliff, yes. And before you judge him, he did it for me,’ Kai said defensively. ‘Dad put himself through medical school working on a construction site, so he knows about explosives. He also knows how to get hold of them and how to launch them remotely. With our fossils running low, he decided that the only way to get dragon bones with strong energy was to find them himself. So he hired a camouflage kayak . . .’
That solves that mystery, thought Harper.
‘. . . and worked out every detail – the tide, the weather, when the beach would be closed, and where to do it so nobody would get hurt. He’d rehearsed it the day before and had chosen the exact spots he’d need to target in order to set off a landslide. Everything went to plan until he triggered the second explosive from his kayak. At that moment, he saw some kid playing with a dog on the cliff.’
Kat, Harper thought incredulously. He saw Kat. ‘What did he do?’
‘He yelled at them to get off the cliff, but it was already collapsing and the waves capsized his kayak. He almost drowned. He did see the kid scramble to safety, but he was pretty messed up when he got back to London. As a doctor, he’s taken an oath to save lives. But by trying to save my life, he almost killed someone else’s child. The worst part was, it was all for nothing. He never got his hands on a single fossil. The next morning, your dad found the dracoraptor and the whole world descended on Bluebell Bay.’
On-screen, Harper watched Kai take off his glasses and polish them nervously. ‘Are you going to give up on us, now that you know that my father could have killed some kid, or destroyed the Jurassic Dragon your father has spent years hunting for?’
Harper debated whether to explain about Kat and Pax but decided there wasn’t enough time. ‘Of course we’re not going to give up on you, and definitely not after you’ve been brave enough to tell the truth. No one would blame your dad for doing what he did. Kat and I are going to keep trying our best to identify members of the Order of Dragons. If we can do that, we might also find Patient X.’
She brought Kai up to speed with their investigation, pinging him links to the photos of Lucian Rigley and Sir Haslemere. ‘Could Lucian be the masked man who came to your father’s practice?’
Kai frowned. ‘Hard to tell from a headshot. He looks as scary as the stranger sounded, but I couldn’t say for sure.’
‘What about Sir Haslemere? Could he be Patient X?’
‘No way,’ said Kai. ‘This photo you’ve sent over was taken last week. He’s much too healthy.’
Harper was starting to despair. With every step forward, they took five back.
‘Where’s Kat?’ Kai was asking. ‘Do you think she’d forgive us for this cliff business?’
‘Course she would. She was here earlier, grooming Ethan Swann’s horse.’
‘You’re kidding? That’s so cool. I read about Ethan being in Bluebell Bay. I’m a massive fan of his.’
Harper was astonished. ‘You are?’
‘He does all his own stunts, you know. Ever seen The Warrior’s Way? He plays this college football star whose career is ended by a car accident. He goes to a kung fu master in the mountains to learn to walk again. My favourite scene is where he does a running leap off a building. You think he can’t possibly survive, but next thing you know he’s abseiling down the side. Ethan spent a year in China training for the part.’
And just like that, Harper connected the dots.
She pulled up the spreadsheet on her laptop. The only mystery she hadn’t yet linked to Extinction or Hamilton Park was the question of why the Swanns were in Bluebell Bay.
If the couple were the glamorous holidaymakers they made out they were, there was no mystery. But if they’d come to Bluebell Bay for the Jurassic Dragon (i.e. Extinction), the picture changed dramatically.
It was impossible to believe that a Hollywood actor would drive all the way to Buckinghamshire to steal the paintings of Kat’s dour, fox-hunting ancestors. If it was him using his kung fu skills on the roof of the manor house, why was he there?
To snatch a rare ivory carving from the man with blue laces? Or could he be an undercover spy or assassin, there to target the Minister of Defence? After all, it was the Dark Lord’s bodyguard who’d fought the intruder off. And, the following day, Ethan had greeted Kat with a black eye and a swollen cheek.
‘Great look for a movie actor, huh?’ he’d joked, blaming it on an ‘argument with the corner of the wardrobe’.
Then something else occurred to Harper. What if Kat’s grandfather was already investigating the possibility of a ring of illegal wildlife thieves under his roof? He loved animals as much as she and Kat did, and yet he’d not responded to Kat’s message about the overheard conversation. That was curious, unless of course he already suspected that Lucian Rigley was up to something. Maybe the reason the Order of Dragons sent Ethan to Hamilton Park was because the Dark Lord was getting too close for comfort. Maybe they wanted him assassinated.
‘I can’t find any information on whether Lucian Rigley is tall or short,’ reported Kai, who’d been scrolling through government websites. ‘The masked man was at least two metres.’
Harper said, ‘Kai, do you know anything about code-breaking? I have a theory that Johnny Roswell left some trace of his investigation somewhere – maybe even using The Hobbit to create a cipher.’ She held up the hardback.
Kai squinted at it. ‘Was he a tech wizard?’
‘I doubt it.’
‘Then he might have used an old-fashioned hiding place. Check the flaps. He could have slipped a piece of paper under the inside cover and glued it down.’
The fla
ps were stuck fast, but Kai had given Harper an idea. She fetched a torch and shone it down the hollow between the cover and the spine. Inside, a USB stick gleamed like a pearl.
‘Kai, you might just be a genius. We’ve hit the jackpot, I think. I hope.’
A cushion chirruped. Harper lifted it to discover Kat’s forgotten phone. A message lit the screen.
Me again, honey. Tina and I have been called out to a foaling emergency. Back around 4 p.m. – in time to greet Tiny and Pax! Mum xx
If Kat had cycled straight home, Dr Wolfe would have seen her by now. Where was she?
Before Harper could decide what to do, she noticed another unread text. It must have come in, unheard, while the parrot was shrieking. Her stomach gave a queasy flip. The message was from herself, Harper. Positive that she hadn’t messaged Kat that day, she clicked on it.
Hey, Kat. I’m at Starfish Cove and I’ve twisted my ankle. I can’t get hold of my dad and I need help urgently. Please hurry! H xx
Harper dropped the phone as if she’d been electrocuted. She knew now how Johnny had been lured to disaster two years ago by the Order of Dragons – with a cloned phone number just like this one.
By all accounts, the young nature writer had been a loyal friend. If his buddy had messaged him saying that he’d twisted his ankle and needed help, Johnny would have rushed to his aid immediately. He’d have been scrambling around the wet, fragile cliffs searching for Harry who was safely indoors, oblivious to what was happening. When the landslide happened, the monsters who orchestrated it would have been miles away from the scene.
Harper was beside herself with fear for Kat’s safety, but in a panic about how best to help her. Nettie was away in Somerset and Professor Lamb had called earlier to say his train was delayed. She could ring the police, but not even Sergeant Singh would believe her. She was on her own.
Or was she?
‘Harper, what’s happened?’ Kai asked anxiously from her screen. ‘You look as if you’ve seen the Ender Dragon circling.’
‘Someone’s texted Kat from a clone account, pretending to be me. She isn’t here, so she hasn’t received it, but whoever sent it may have a back-up plan. Kai, I think she’s in danger.’
Kai didn’t hesitate. ‘Tell me how to help and I’ll do it. Should I ring emergency services?’
‘No, call this number and ask for Lord Hamilton-Crosse. Tell him Kat’s in trouble. Tell him to send urgent help to Starfish Cove.’
Fat drops of rain splattered Harper’s bare arms as she ran through the orchard. The cherry trees squeaked and strained in the gale.
‘The things I do for you, Kat Wolfe,’ she muttered out loud, in the vain hope that Kat’s easy courage and horse-whispering skills might settle about her shoulders like fairy dust. It didn’t work. One look at the whites of Charming Outlaw’s eyes and her nerve failed her. A bin clattering around the yard had left him in a fever of agitation. He was snorting and sweating and spinning in his box.
Terror hit Harper like an ocean wave. She’d not ridden the chestnut since she broke her legs falling off him, and she knew then that nothing would induce her to ride him now. Not even the thought of Kat in peril.
Orkaan chose that moment to arch her head over her stable door. Her black ears were pricked, her breathing regular. There was something imploring in her gaze, as if she yearned to be out galloping in the stormy weather she was named for; as if she were longing to show that she could be bold and daring too. A bloom of courage swelled inside Harper. With Orkaan’s help, Mission Impossible suddenly became Mission Possible.
In record time, she was swinging Orkaan’s Western saddle onto the mare’s back, tightening the cinch and clambering aboard. The wind tore at Harper’s jacket as they trotted out of the yard, Orkaan’s black mane flowing.
Charming Outlaw gave a piercing whinny, but Harper never looked round. As a consequence, she never saw a figure slip into the storeroom behind her and take a bridle from a hook. Minutes later, Outlaw – and a new, strange rider – left the yard.
‘What makes you think that Xena came down here?’ asked Kat.
If wishes were horses, she’d have a herd. She wished she’d brought a jumper, for starters. A cruel wind whipped at her T-shirt, making it hum. The heat of the past few days was a distant memory. She wished she’d checked when the storm was arriving, too. The sky and sea had lost their friendly blue and the waves were gun-barrel grey.
If only she’d cycled straight home, as she’d told Harper she would. Instead she’d gone in search of Robyn. Passing the deli, she’d been surprised to see her new friend’s sleeping bag on the step, together with a folded shirt and two mismatched socks.
Kat did a double take. One had purple stripes.
Margo had emerged from the deli then. She’d bundled up Robyn’s belongings before she’d noticed Kat. ‘Sweetie, I’m so sorry for the misunderstanding on Monday. You did us all a favour, you know.’
‘I did?’
‘You did,’ Margo said warmly. ‘In our zeal to make Bluebell Bay the ideal seaside town, we forgot that we once prided ourselves on welcoming strangers. When the Jurassic Dragon made us rich, we forgot how to be open-hearted. It took you, a slip of girl, to remind us. Err, have you seen Robyn? I want a word with her.’
‘I thought you were going to be more welcoming,’ Kat accused.
‘Oh, I am. It’s just that ever since Robyn stopped vandals from destroying a historic statue one day and put a notorious shoplifter in an armlock the next, she’s become so popular that the shopkeepers are squabbling over her. Everyone wants her to guard their business.’
She glanced at the scudding black clouds. ‘I do hope she comes back before the storm hits. I thought I’d bring in her sleeping bag, just in case. Not, I suppose, that she’d care. I offered her the room above my deli rent free in return for her keeping an eye on the place at night. You won’t believe what she said: “Thanks, but I don’t do walls.”’
V doesn’t do walls.
Kat started to laugh.
‘What’s funny?’ bristled Margo.
‘Nothing. If you see Robyn, would you mind telling her I’m looking for her?’
‘Will do.’ Margo paused on the step. ‘You’ll be sorry, no doubt, to say goodbye to that ginger menace and your starry clients.’
‘What ginger menace?’
‘Alicia Swann’s Pomeranian. Haven’t you heard? The Swanns are leaving town. Better hurry if you want to catch them.’
Kat had pedalled furiously in the direction of the hotel, wondering why the actors hadn’t told her they were checking out. Surely they weren’t planning to skip town without paying their pet-sitting bill? She didn’t mind so much about her own fee – she had a soft spot for Xena, and taking care of Orkaan had been pure pleasure – but she’d object very strongly if the Swanns did a bunk without reimbursing the Lambs for the hay, horse feed and broken bridle.
As she rode, Kat’s head swirled with the revelation that V and Robyn were one and the same person. Had her grandfather sent his ‘phantom’ bodyguard to protect her because he was concerned about unscrupulous Jurassic Dragon hunters in Bluebell Bay? Or had V come on a mission of her own?
Lost in thought, she’d very nearly crashed into a ragamuffin of a boy. He’d popped up in front of her, making aeroplane arms.
‘Are you the pet-sitter kid? That actress, Alicia Swann, needs your help. She’s freaking out because she’s lost her dog on the coastal path.’
Now, Kat wished she’d paused to ask, ‘Why me? Why not you, or Ethan, or the emergency services?’ but all she’d thought about was the miniature Pomeranian being blown out to sea as a gale moved in.
It was only when she skidded to a halt that she realized she’d left her phone at Paradise House. That meant she couldn’t tell her mum where she was, or ask if she or Tina could assist with the search of Starfish Cove, a place so secret that even the Jurassic Dragon crowds had failed to discover it.
Instead, she sensed she’d soon have the
answer to the question she’d been wanting to ask since the Swanns arrived in Bluebell Bay.
Which of their many faces was the real one?
‘What makes you think Xena came down here?’ asked Kat, staring at the path that wiggled down to Starfish Cove. In a weak moment, she’d told the actress about her favourite bay, revealed to her by Edith on condition that she never spoke of it to anyone but Harper. But Alicia had been looking for a private sunbathing spot and somehow Kat had found herself recommending it with the enthusiasm of a travel agent.
Alicia was a wreck. Beneath her black baseball cap, her eyes were puffy from crying and her usually blemish-free skin was a mottled maroon. Twice, she staggered, as if she might faint. Kat wished again that she had her phone in case they had to call a doctor. Alicia did not look well at all.
‘Sorry, Kat – it’s this wretched cold. I can’t seem to shake it. My husband and I came to Bluebell Bay for a vacation, but we’ve had one disaster after another. I’m sure Xena cursed us by digging up that stupid skull. Why, only yesterday, a clumsy maid at the Majestic broke my special herbal tonic, the only thing that makes me feel better. Now we’re leaving, and I won’t have time to get another.’
Kat was shocked to hear poor Johnny dismissed as a curse, but she put it down to the stress of losing Xena and Alicia’s cold, which had fogged up her brain.
‘My friend, Mario, has a drawer full of herbal tonics at the caravan park near Durdle Door. He might be able to help. He’s staying in the dark grey motorhome nearest the sea.’
Kat did now think of Mario as a friend and had even had a chance to ask him about the picture. In between searching for the lynx, he had done some coasteering and had posed for a photo on a kayak his instructor had found washed up on the shore. No one had come forward to claim it.
Alicia rallied at the mention of Mario’s herbal medicine store. ‘Do you think Mario might sell me one or two? Maybe Ethan and I could swing by the campsite on the way out of town. We’ve left your money at the front desk, by the way. You didn’t think we’d leave without paying, did you, Kat?’
Kat Wolfe Takes the Case Page 17
