‘Luck, who needs luck when you’ve got talent?’ said a tall boy with a Scandinavian accent, who was standing behind Max and Curtis.

  Kensy turned and realised he was the kid from the gardens who had been listening in on the twins’ conversation.

  ‘He’s kidding, right?’ Curtis whispered.

  ‘There’s always one,’ Max said.

  Across the way, a girl in casual clothes sneered at them. ‘I expect we’ll be taking the trophy home to California,’ she said, probably a little louder than she’d intended.

  ‘And sometimes there’s two.’ Curtis pretended to throw up.

  All of the students and staff nearby turned and glared at the girl. ‘I’m just kidding,’ she said, holding her hands up as if to surrender, but Kensy saw her roll her eyes and start whispering to the girls beside her.

  ‘Why do some people make themselves such easy targets?’ Kensy said to Autumn.

  Sedgewick Koh cleared his throat to focus everyone’s attention and proceeded to introduce several other men and women. Some of them were board members of the Wildlife Reserves, and others were in charge of the various divisions of the zoo.

  ‘Hey, there’s that guy who looks like your dad, Autumn – Heston Fong,’ Carlos said.

  ‘No, he doesn’t,’ the girl said, but Kensy didn’t miss the strange look on her face.

  At the podium, Sedgewick Koh was still speaking. ‘On behalf of the management and staff of Wildlife Reserves Singapore, who are responsible for this magnificent facility here at the River Safari as well as the Singapore Zoo, the Night Safari and the Jurong Bird Park, we hope that you have enjoyed a small taste of what is on offer. It is my honour to serve on the board and play an active role in ensuring the future of wildlife diversity, not only in Asia but around the world. Please enjoy the rest of your evening and I look forward to the contest tomorrow.’

  The man finished speaking and stepped down from the podium just as a siren began to blare. The children looked around, wondering if the sound was a fire alarm.

  ‘What’s going on?’ Magoo asked loudly. Similar thoughts echoed from other concerned guests.

  Sedgewick stared at the official party. ‘What is happening?’ he demanded.

  A man ran from the entrance gates towards him. ‘Mr Koh, Mr Koh, it’s Ah Meng!’ the fellow shouted.

  Heston Fong rushed to intercept the man. ‘What about her?’ he said.

  ‘Who’s Ah Meng?’ Kensy asked; to no one in particular, but it was Nicole who answered.

  ‘She is the granddaughter of the zoo’s most famous resident. Ah Meng Senior lived here for thirty-six years after she was rescued from private ownership. She passed away at the grand old age of forty-seven. Her granddaughter has been given her name and we hope that she will take over as matriarch of the family.’

  Kensy was still in the dark. ‘What is she?’ the girl asked.

  ‘An orangutan,’ Nicole replied.

  Kensy gasped. ‘Oh no,’ she muttered, just as the man who had rushed in shouted –

  ‘Ah Meng has been stolen!’

  ‘Are you all right?’ Autumn looked at Kensy, who had turned the colour of uncooked pastry.

  Kensy shook her head. ‘I need to talk to Mr Koh or someone in charge,’ the girl said. ‘I think I know who took Ah Meng.’

  Autumn frowned. ‘How? We’ve been here the whole time.’

  ‘It was that woman with the double pram. She didn’t have twins in there – it must have been Ah Meng. I’m pretty sure I saw the orangutan’s hand, but I just assumed it was one of her children with a second orangutan toy. Max and I sometimes had the same things. They left so quickly – I thought it was weird but . . .’

  ‘Oh, wow,’ Autumn said. ‘There must be cameras they can check and surely they’ll be able to find the van. Singapore’s not that big. Except that the border with Malaysia is super close to here – if they’ve managed to get out of the country, then that’s a whole other problem.’

  Kensy craned her neck, trying to see if any of the official party was still near the podium.

  ‘Come on, let’s go.’ Kensy grabbed Autumn’s hand and the pair made their way through the crowd. Everyone was standing around eating and talking, and some of the school groups had started to mingle, but the party atmosphere had become a lot more sombre. Kensy heard snippets from other guides explaining who Ah Meng was and why she was so important to the zoo.

  Several uniformed police officers had arrived and one of them was speaking with Sedgewick Koh, taking notes on a flip pad.

  ‘Excuse me, Mr Koh,’ Kensy said.

  The man looked at her. ‘Not now, miss. I am busy,’ he said.

  But Kensy was undeterred.

  ‘Mr Koh, I must speak with you – or someone in charge,’ she said. Autumn hovered behind her. ‘I have some important information.’

  The man sighed. ‘I will be back in a moment,’ he said to the policeman, who walked away to interview other members of the official party.

  Sedgewick turned to the girls. ‘What is it?’ he asked.

  ‘I think I know who took Ah Meng,’ Kensy said.

  The man frowned at her. ‘Are you sure?’ he said.

  Kensy nodded, then explained everything about the beautiful woman with the pram and the toy orangutan and how she and the van literally disappeared.

  Sedgewick nodded and ummed and ahhed before he shook his head. ‘I’m afraid you are mistaken,’ he said.

  Kensy wondered how he could be so certain. ‘But it makes sense. I saw the orangutan hand, even though I thought it was another toy. Don’t you believe me?’ Kensy said.

  ‘I believe you think you saw something, but the keeper has told me that Ah Meng was still in her enclosure when the zoo closed. The time frame does not work,’ Sedgewick said.

  This time it was Kensy’s turn to frown. In the background, she could see the police speaking with other officials and staff.

  ‘Maybe my friend should talk to the police anyway – just in case something comes up later,’ Autumn suggested.

  Sedgewick Koh shook his head. ‘It would be a waste of their time and you need to get back to your team. You have a busy day tomorrow.’

  Kensy and Autumn exchanged glances. It seemed like they were being given the brush off. If Ah Meng was really that precious, why wouldn’t the authorities investigate every avenue? It didn’t make any sense.

  ‘If you would excuse me, please.’ Sedgewick Koh turned and headed back to the officer he had previously been speaking to.

  ‘I know what I saw,’ Kensy said. ‘He’s only going on what some zookeeper told him. People get things wrong – we know that from our studies. Adults get things wrong all the time.’

  ‘Yeah, but we’re only kids. Adults tend to believe adults,’ Autumn said. She gave Kensy’s hand a squeeze.

  ‘Maybe I should talk to someone else,’ Kensy said.

  But Autumn shook her head. ‘I think we’re going.’

  Lots of the teams were leaving. Obviously the police were satisfied that none of them had been anywhere other than the River Safari, so it would have been impossible for them to have anything to do with Ah Meng’s disappearance.

  The officer in charge of the investigation had asked that no one speak to the press as this was a matter of state importance. Kensy thought about what had happened with the pangolin sighting this afternoon, and wondered if anyone really wanted to solve the mystery of the missing animals at all – maybe the authorities were embarrassed and didn’t want the truth getting out.

  ‘Good luck keeping that quiet,’ Romilly Vanden Boom said, a little more loudly than she had intended. The news was likely already doing the rounds on social media.

  The woman turned to Nicole. ‘Thank you for the tour. It’s certainly turned out to be an interesting evening.’

  ‘It was my pleasure,’ Nicole replied. She glanced at the buffet tables and had a thought. ‘Oh, children, please take some dessert with you. We don’t want it going to waste.’

  The students raided the buffet, using napkins to wrap their treats.

  ‘What do you make of all this?’ Max asked Curtis and Carlos. As trainee agents, it was par for the course that the children were going to start making connections. ‘How many animals have they lost now in the past week?’

  ‘Enough to suggest that there’s some sort of black market trade going on,’ Curtis said.

  ‘Yeah, I bet it was an inside job,’ Carlos said.

  ‘Why do you think that?’ Curtis asked.

  ‘It would be easier to access the cages if you knew your way around the zoo,’ the boy replied, and Curtis nodded.

  ‘Why were you talking to Mr Koh?’ Max asked Kensy as they exited the front gate and headed for the bus.

  ‘I saw something,’ the girl said. ‘But it doesn’t matter because he said that the timing was wrong.’

  ‘You’ve got my attention,’ Max said.

  ‘I’ll tell you on the way back,’ Kensy said. Her stomach grumbled and she suddenly needed an urgent trip to the toilet.

  She spotted a sign for some facilities near the entrance and made a run for it. ‘I’ve got to go to the loo.’

  Max shouted that he’d make sure they didn’t leave without her.

  Kensy ran inside the building, past the man from the bird park, Heston Fong, and into the ladies. She was relieved to make it in time and thought she must have eaten something that hadn’t agreed with her.

  Kensy washed her hands and was about to leave when she heard voices. They were coming from just outside.

  ‘Excuse me, Mr Fong, could you come with me, please?’ a man said. His voice was authoritative and while he’d asked a question, it sounded as if it was more of an order than a request.

  Kensy realised there was a window high in the wall. She pulled herself up onto the top of the toilet door and peered outside. Heston Fong was following a policeman down a path. There was another man behind him.

  Kensy watched as they walked inside a dark building, but strangely no one put on the light. She heard a loud thud right before a woman entered the toilets and she dropped noiselessly to the ground, beating a hasty retreat to the park entrance.

  ‘Hurry up,’ Autumn called from the gate.

  Kensy looked behind her, wondering what had just happened.

  ‘One second!’ Kensy called back, and turned around. She ran down the path to the building where she’d seen the men take Mr Fong. Kensy peered inside but the place appeared empty.

  She was just about to leave when she heard footsteps.

  ‘I’m glad we didn’t have to go,’ a voice said.

  ‘Me too. I hate Blakang Mati – there are too many hungry ghosts,’ a second voice replied.

  ‘But it is clever to use a place of Peace and Tranquillity,’ the first man said. ‘No one would ever think . . .’

  Kensy needed to get to the bus. She could hear Autumn calling her. She stumbled out of the bushes, pretending to be disoriented.

  ‘Hey!’ one of the men shouted.

  ‘Oh, thank goodness,’ Kensy said. ‘Could you please show me the way out? Someone told me I could find a toilet down here and I must have taken a wrong turn.’

  Kensy looked carefully at the men, imprinting their features in her mind. One was tall and had a scar on his chin while the other had a pronounced birthmark on his left hand. They were dressed in police uniforms and she was sure that one of them had been with Heston Fong a few minutes ago.

  ‘You should not be here,’ the taller man said, narrowing his eyes at the girl.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. Kensy looked up and saw Autumn at the gate. ‘There’s my friend. Thank you.’ She made a run for it.

  ‘Are you okay?’ Autumn asked.

  ‘Yes. But I’m not so sure I can say the same about Heston Fong,’ Kensy replied.

  Autumn’s eyes widened. ‘What do you mean?’

  Kensy quickly explained, which only served to make Autumn more anxious.

  ‘I really hope you’re wrong,’ the girl said, her eyes filling with tears.

  Kensy nodded. ‘Me too. But I think it’s time we had a proper talk, don’t you?’

  Autumn nodded. ‘As soon as we get back to our room.’

  Kensy squeezed her friend’s hand and the pair charged to the bus.

  Mrs Vanden Boom ordered the children straight to bed as soon as they arrived back at the hotel. Kensy had filled Max in on what happened with Mr Koh and the orangutan on the bus, but there was nothing more they could do tonight. She didn’t say anything about Heston Fong – she wanted to talk to Autumn first.

  ‘Please make sure that you set your alarms and be at breakfast, in uniform with your lab coats, safety glasses and day packs, by seven,’ Romilly instructed. ‘It’s lights out at half past nine.’ Given that it was already quarter past, there wasn’t much time to get organised.

  The group charged to the lifts and everyone was in their rooms within minutes.

  ‘So.’ Kensy turned and looked at Autumn, whose bottom lip began to tremble before she burst into tears.

  For a second Kensy didn’t know what to do or say. She hesitated for a moment, then rushed at the girl, hugging her tightly. ‘Oh, Autumn, what is it?’ Kensy asked. The girl was racked with sobs. Kensy wished Max was here. He knew how to handle these things much better than she did.

  After a solid minute or so of crying, Autumn stepped back and grabbed a tissue from her pocket.

  ‘I’m so sorry. I think that’s been building up for quite some time,’ Autumn said, wiping her eyes and blowing her nose.

  Kensy frowned. She’d never seen Autumn like this – ever. Not even when she’d been thumped at training or the victim of someone’s barbed tongue. She didn’t often share her feelings either, unlike Kensy, who mostly wore hers on her sleeve. Especially the cranky ones.

  Autumn sat down on the end of her bed and looked at her friend.

  ‘You were right,’ she said. ‘About Mum and Dad.’

  ‘It’s perfectly understandable that you miss them, Autumn. It must be really hard that they live half a world away. Maybe they could still come over to Singapore for a couple of days,’ Kensy said.

  ‘I don’t think so,’ Autumn replied.

  ‘Really? Surely they’re not that busy,’ Kensy said. ‘I know Granny’s a bit of a slave driver but . . .’ She paused, immediately feeling bad for saying so, knowing that her grandmother was still not completely out of the woods.

  ‘I haven’t heard from them since just after Christmas,’ Autumn said.

  Kensy faltered. ‘Wait, what? That was almost six months ago and you’re just telling me now? Do you know where they are? Why haven’t they called? We need to tell Dad and Fitz. I hope it doesn’t have anything to do with Sidney – he’s missing too.’

  Kensy clamped her hand over her mouth, realising she’d just said way too much.

  Autumn looked at her.

  ‘Forget I said that last part,’ Kensy said.

  Autumn frowned but didn’t ask.

  ‘It’s not the first time it’s happened. You do remember what line of work they’re in,’ Autumn sniffed.

  Kensy’s eyebrows jumped up. She’d never really thought too much about the Lees’ role at Pharos. She’d assumed it was pretty much administrative – but then, why would it be? Her Uncle Rupert spent his life racing around the world tailing bad guys. Surely there were other agents who did the same.

  ‘Do you have any idea where they could be?’ Kensy asked.

  ‘Well, I didn’t until yesterday, but I’m pretty sure I know where Dad is – or at least where he was until an hour or so ago,’ Autumn said.

  Kensy gasped as the penny dropped. ‘Heston Fong?’

  Autumn nodded. ‘It’s a good disguise, but I am his daughter.’

  Kensy’s heart sank. ‘Oh my word. We have to tell Dad.’

  Autumn shook her head. ‘No. I’ve already told you too much. I’m never supposed to mention when they’re AWOL, and they’re obviously in the middle of something big.’

  ‘Heston Fong is in charge of the Jurong Bird Park . . . Do you think your father is here because of the animal thefts?’ Kensy asked.

  ‘That would make the most sense. I wish I’d talked to him. I would have told him about the pangolin that the police didn’t seem that concerned about,’ Autumn said. ‘But then I can’t risk messing up their mission.’

  Kensy bit her lip. ‘I get it, and I’m sorry too. And you seriously do have to forget what I just said about Sidney – Dad would be so mad.’

  Autumn nodded and the friends hugged each other tightly.

  ‘Do you really think something has happened to my dad?’ Autumn asked.

  Kensy bit her lip. ‘It was dark. I didn’t actually see anything bad so he might be perfectly okay.’

  She’d been thinking about what those police officers had said. Maybe she could look up the name of that place they mentioned, because Kensy had a horrible feeling – the same sort she’d had when she realised that the man she’d let into their house in London wasn’t Song. For once, Kensy really hoped she was wrong.

  Alfie stood in the corner of the convention centre foyer, slightly away from the rest of his team. He was remembering what Mr Nutting had told him about ways to keep calm, and was breathing deeply in and out while counting the flower motifs on the vibrant red carpet.

  Carlos spotted him and wandered over. ‘How’s the anxiety this morning, Alfie?’

  ‘I think I’m just a bit overwhelmed. Hard to imagine we could be world champions by tomorrow night if we play our cards right,’ the boy replied.

  ‘Yeah, imagine that,’ Carlos nodded.

  Neither of the boys had noticed the lanky kid from last night, who’d made it clear that he thought his team was a shoo-in, standing nearby.

  ‘Seriously, you will be the world champions?’ he scoffed at the boys. ‘I don’t think so.’

  ‘Why not?’ Alfie said. ‘Although you’re obviously a world champion already – at eavesdropping on private conversations.’