‘I love you, Daddy,’ Alice-Miranda said.

  ‘And I love you too, my darling girl,’ the man replied.

  Alice-Miranda nodded. But she couldn’t stop thinking about Ellie. Where had the girl gone and why? She really wanted to talk to her and Miss Wickham – there were just so many things on her mind.

  ‘Alice-Miranda!’ Millie shouted from where she and the rest of her friends were standing by the Christmas tree. ‘They’re about to turn the lights on.’

  The girl ran over to join the group while the countdown began.

  ‘Five . . . four . . . three . . . two . . . one!’ The crowd cheered as the Christmas tree in the centre of the village square lit up in a blaze of colour. Fairy lights sparkled in the surrounding trees and on the lamp posts. The place looked magical and then the most magical thing of all happened. Fat snowflakes began to fall, much to everyone’s delight.

  Millie was standing beside Alice-Miranda. ‘Beautiful,’ Millie gasped.

  Behind her, Sep said the same thing – though he wasn’t looking at the Christmas display.

  Millie turned around and he smiled. Her heart felt as if it was about to beat right out of her chest.

  With the village lights on and their stomachs full, Cecelia gathered the children together and they all set off for home. Hugh was going to meet them there and Dolly had decided she would go with him in the car, as her arthritis was playing up.

  Britt and Chessie walked ahead with Sloane – the three girls arm in arm. Neville and Sep were deep in conversation, while Jacinta held Lucas’s hand and rested her head on his shoulder.

  ‘Is everything okay?’ Millie asked Alice-Miranda, who was silently staring off into the distance.

  The girl nodded.

  ‘No, it’s not,’ Millie said. ‘You can’t put anything past me.’

  ‘I was just thinking,’ Alice-Miranda replied.

  ‘Care to share?’ Millie asked.

  Caprice appeared on her other side. ‘Yes – spill.’

  Within a few seconds, the girl was surrounded.

  ‘Has this got anything to do with the mystery note inside the mystery bottle inside the mystery teapot?’ Caprice asked. ‘I haven’t been able to stop thinking about that myself.’

  ‘That’s one thing,’ the girl said. ‘I’ve also been wondering about Ellie.’

  ‘Who’s Ellie?’ Millie asked.

  ‘The girl we met at the supermarket yesterday – the one whose mother works there,’ Caprice reminded her.

  ‘Oh – okay. Why?’ Millie said.

  ‘Because Daddy said that when he came home, she was standing on the veranda and she said that she’d come to see me. Then he gave her a lift to the light ceremony, but when I went to talk to her, she disappeared,’ Alice-Miranda explained.

  The snow was coming down much heavier now and starting to settle on the ground. Millie wiped some flakes from her eyelashes.

  ‘So what was she doing at your house, then?’ Caprice said.

  Alice-Miranda shrugged.

  The children reached the back entrance to the Highton Hall estate, where they said goodbye to the Bauers who had caught up to them.

  They trundled on past Rose Cottage, where Granny Bert used to live before she went into care at Pelham Park – her father’s old family home, which had been converted some years ago to an aged care facility. Granny Bert’s granddaughter, Daisy, lived at Rose Cottage but she was away at the moment, visiting her parents in Spain.

  The Greenings had headed home a few minutes before the others and the children could see Mrs Greening in the kitchen as they passed by their gatehouse home.

  Hugh’s car was already parked by the side entrance.

  ‘Hey, let’s look at the baubles – they’ll be covered in real snow now,’ Britt said.

  The children charged off around to the front of the house to see the display. But they were soon stopped in their tracks.

  ‘What?’ Millie exclaimed. Where only hours earlier the giant baubles and their reindeer friends adorned the garden, now there was nothing.

  ‘Oh my goodness, they’ve been stolen!’ Britt gasped.

  The children were all talking over the top of each other, speculating that it must have been the work of the gang that had been taking all of the other Christmas decorations.

  ‘Check for footprints,’ Jacinta urged.

  ‘I think the only ones are ours,’ Sloane replied.

  Further investigation revealed that the snow had covered any potential evidence – either in the garden or on the driveway.

  Alice-Miranda led the charge inside, where Mrs Oliver had just put the kettle on and Mrs Shillingsworth was busy making hot chocolate for the children. Hugh was there too.

  ‘Daddy, the Christmas bandits have struck again. We’ve been robbed,’ Alice-Miranda said, as the rest of the group spilled through the door behind her. ‘The baubles in the garden and the reindeer – they’re all gone.’

  Hugh jumped up and led the charge back outside to the front garden.

  ‘Good heavens – who steals Christmas decorations?’ Hugh said, shaking his head.

  Alice-Miranda looked at her father. ‘Do you think Ellie could have had anything to do with it? I never got to talk to her in the village. She disappeared.’

  Hugh frowned. ‘She’s a teenager – I hardly think that likely. I’m sure that it must have happened after Ellie and I left. The baubles aren’t heavy and neither are the reindeer. It wouldn’t take long for them to be whisked away – though whoever took them would need a van or a small truck.’

  ‘Do you have cameras, Uncle Hugh?’ Lucas asked.

  ‘We do, but I’m afraid they’re currently being upgraded – we hardly ever think about them. Being out here, there’s always someone around,’ the man replied.

  ‘Except tonight. I wonder if anyone else was robbed and if they’re planning to nick the lights from the village too?’ Neville said.

  ‘I’ll call my police contact and let them know – we need to make sure that there’s no chance of Highton Mill losing their display as well,’ Hugh said.

  ‘It’s not right,’ Shilly said, shaking her head. ‘What are they planning to do with all those lovely decorations anyway? They must surely be Grinches.’

  ‘I think we should set a trap,’ Caprice said. ‘A really good one so that they get caught and go to jail. And I agree with Alice-Miranda that Ellie probably had something to do with it.’

  ‘How?’ Millie asked.

  ‘Well, I don’t know the details. I haven’t worked them out yet, but if we could come up with a plan to catch them, wouldn’t that be amazing?’ the girl said.

  Everyone nodded.

  ‘Come on – let’s get back inside and have some hot chocolate before bed,’ Cecelia said. ‘Remember we’ve got Mr Turner’s Christmas party tomorrow night and we’ve still got to get all your outfits sorted for the party.’

  ‘Oh, yes,’ Britt clasped her hands together. ‘I can’t wait. You know I live for fashion.’

  ‘Me too,’ Sep said.

  All eyes turned his way.

  ‘Oh, right,’ Sloane said. ‘You’re being ironic.’

  Sep looked wounded. ‘No. I thought I was pretty stylish these days.’

  ‘Stylish? You?’ his sister teased.

  ‘You always look great as far as I’m concerned, Sep,’ Millie said, earning herself some raised eyebrows.

  ‘Thanks, Mill – at least I can rely on you to make me feel better,’ Sep said.

  Millie’s face turned the colour of her hair and she bit her lip.

  ‘Oooh – do I detect some chemistry?’ Caprice whispered.

  ‘As if,’ Millie retorted and shook her head.

  But no one was buying it. Maybe there was a new Christmas romance on the horizon – but in the meantime, there was a gang of thieves to catch – two in fact. The Kennington’s crims and the bauble bandits.

  Alice-Miranda was lying in bed, staring at the canopy above her.

  ‘Millie, are you awake?’ the girl whispered.

  ‘No,’ Millie grumbled and buried her face in her pillow.

  Alice-Miranda rolled over and tapped her friend’s shoulder. ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘I wasn’t but I am now,’ Millie replied, wriggling to sit up then stretching her arms above her head. She yawned loudly. ‘What’s the matter?’

  ‘I can’t stop thinking about Ellie,’ Alice-Miranda replied. ‘I need to talk to her.’

  ‘Why?’ Millie asked.

  Alice-Miranda explained about the charity box and how she had her suspicions concerning the way it ended up in her bag. And the boys she saw standing near the counter at Kennington’s yesterday – the same ones who were outside Hoxton Manor on the afternoon they arrived home from school. ‘But I don’t want to accuse Ellie of anything until we’ve had a chance to talk. Perhaps we can go and see her before the others are up.’

  Millie closed her eyes and nodded vaguely. ‘Do you know where she lives?’

  Alice-Miranda realised that she didn’t but maybe Mrs Oliver would. Her father would definitely be able to find out, given he had access to all of the Kennington’s staff records. She didn’t want to invade the family’s privacy, but Mr Turner had looked like he’d seen a ghost when he spotted the girl last night and there was just something that didn’t sit right. She’d spent the other half of the night thinking about the message in the teapot and when she’d be able to talk to Miss Wickham about that.

  ‘Highton Mill isn’t that big and her mother did mention that they lived in the village,’ Alice-Miranda said as she pushed the covers back and dropped down to the floor. ‘I’ll get dressed.’

  Millie nodded. ‘Where did you leave the charity box?’

  ‘It’s on the bookcase,’ Alice-Miranda said. She walked over and was perplexed to find that it wasn’t there. ‘You didn’t move it, did you?’

  Millie shook her head. ‘Not me.’

  ‘I wonder if Mummy or Shilly saw it and one of them has taken it – though surely they’d have said something,’ Alice-Miranda said. She scanned the length of the shelves and realised that two of her books had been removed and were sitting on the bench. A Little Princess and The Secret Garden. ‘Millie, did you take these out?’

  ‘Again, not me,’ the girl replied.

  It couldn’t have been a coincidence. Alice-Miranda was sure that Ellie had been in her room. There were so many more valuable things she could have taken, so why only the charity box? It didn’t really make any sense at all.

  ‘Okay – let’s get a wriggle on,’ Alice-Miranda said as she dashed into the bathroom.

  Alice-Miranda and Millie arrived in the kitchen minutes before seven and were surprised to see Hugh Kennington-Jones sitting at the table with Detective Inspector Fenella Freeman. Mrs Oliver had just delivered the pair some tea and toast.

  The girls had first met the detective a few years ago when they were at a school camp that turned out to involve much more than just the usual high ropes and orienteering challenges. At the time, Fenella had mistakenly arrested Hugh and his brother Ed for art theft. With the children’s help, the mystery was solved and all charges against the pair were dropped. Surprisingly, the detective had gone on to become good friends with the Highton-Smith-Kennington-Jones family. The woman’s elderly father lived at Pelham Park.

  ‘Hello, girls,’ Fenella said with a smile. ‘It’s lovely to see you both.’

  ‘Good morning, Inspector,’ Alice-Miranda replied. ‘Has there been a breakthrough in the Kennington’s case?’

  The woman frowned and chewed her lip. ‘There’ve been some developments.’

  Millie poured herself a bowl of muesli and sat down while Alice-Miranda scooped some porridge from the saucepan on the stove, then walked to the table where she added a drizzle of honey.

  ‘That sounds promising,’ Alice-Miranda said.

  ‘Not exactly, darling,’ Hugh said.

  ‘Why not?’ Millie asked, as she raised the spoon to her lips.

  Fenella set her teacup down. ‘I wouldn’t normally discuss things but, given it’s you girls who helped crack the case that got me promoted in the first place, I can tell you a little bit. Unfortunately, our man on the inside is missing – we need him to corroborate the evidence he’s collected about the manager of Freightliners and those higher up the food chain.’

  ‘That’s terrible,’ Alice-Miranda said. ‘And you have no idea what’s happened to him?’

  ‘One of our team intercepted a radio message but it was incomplete, and we haven’t heard from him since,’ Fenella said.

  ‘Do you know how they’re stealing the goods?’ Millie asked.

  Fenella nodded. ‘We have a pretty good idea that there are two fleets of trucks – one where the vehicles are legitimately owned by Freightliners and then there’s another smaller number of lorries supplied by the criminal gang in charge of the operation. They’re dressed up to look like Freightliners and driven by Freightliners drivers – but the records of what they’re hauling are fake and the destinations too. The manager of the trucking company orchestrates all the deliveries, making sure that goods are diverted from the legitimate trucks to the gang trucks and the goods are taken to docks all over the country for redistribution on the black market overseas.’

  ‘That sounds complicated,’ Alice-Miranda said.

  ‘We believe it’s been going on for a while now – the man in charge has gotten sloppy and if he doesn’t watch himself, we have fears for what the people at the top will do to him too. And before you ask – no, I can’t tell you any names.’

  Millie frowned. Pity, she thought to herself. This was just getting good.

  ‘What about the bauble bandits?’ Millie asked.

  ‘Probably locals having a laugh at everyone’s expense, but they shouldn’t be too hard to track down,’ Fenella said.

  ‘We’ve got some ideas,’ Millie said, earning herself a glare from Alice-Miranda.

  Hugh looked across at the red-haired girl. ‘Care to share?’

  ‘We’re off to do some investigating and we’ll let you know if we find anything,’ Alice-Miranda replied.

  Fenella nursed her teacup. ‘Please don’t go getting yourselves into any trouble. It’s the last thing I need.’

  ‘We won’t,’ Millie said.

  Fenella raised her eyebrows. ‘You do remember I know how you two operate.’

  ‘We promise,’ Alice-Miranda said. She finished her last bite and stood up to take the bowl to the dishwasher. ‘We’re just off to visit Ellie – I didn’t get to talk to her last night. You don’t happen to know where she lives, do you, Daddy?’

  ‘It’s a bit early, darling,’ Hugh said. ‘And no, I don’t.’

  Dolly Oliver interjected. ‘Is that Juliette’s daughter, Ellie?’

  The girls nodded.

  ‘I can tell you her address. I saw that poor woman walking home in the rain the other day with her young son,’ Dolly replied. ‘You can take her a cake too. I don’t think she has an easy time of it. I was going to ask if we could have Mr Greening deliver her a load of firewood, Hugh – I didn’t see any smoke coming out of her chimney and those terraces are terribly cold.’

  ‘Of course,’ the man replied. ‘I’ll organise it this morning.’

  Dolly bustled away to the pantry and returned with a slab of cake wrapped in cellophane and tied with a bow. ‘And you can take one too,’ she said, looking at Fenella who grinned.

  ‘It’s no wonder I gain weight every time I come through the door here.’

  The girls put on their coats and hats and gloves and scarves.

  ‘We won’t be long,’ Alice-Miranda said. ‘I’ve left a note for Jacinta to keep everyone entertained until we get back.’

  ‘Good luck with finding your man,’ Millie said to the detective.

  The woman nodded gravely. ‘Thank you, Millie – and remember what I said about your sleuthing. If you discover anything, call me – immediately.’

  The girls nodded and trotted out the door.

  Millie drew her scarf up around her neck and thrust her gloved hands into her pockets. Alice-Miranda was carrying Dolly’s cake in a Kennington’s bag.

  ‘It’s really cold this morning,’ Millie said as she and Alice-Miranda crunched their way across the snowy ground. The flakes had stopped falling during the night, but the temperature was so low that none of the snow had melted.

  ‘What exactly are you going to say to Ellie?’ Millie asked as they walked down the avenue of poplar trees towards the main gates of the estate. ‘You said yourself, you don’t want to accuse the girl – makes it a bit awkward.’

  Alice-Miranda bit her lip. The more she thought about it, the more she realised that she wasn’t actually sure either.

  ‘I’d like her to tell me the truth about why she was at our house,’ Alice-Miranda said.

  ‘You already know that – she stole the donations box,’ Millie replied. ‘It’s pretty obvious – seeing that it was there yesterday and gone this morning.’

  ‘I want her to tell me,’ Alice-Miranda said, then realised the likelihood of Ellie confessing was probably not very high. The girls walked on for a way before they reached their destination. ‘Is that it?’ Millie asked.

  ‘Mrs Oliver said it was the end one,’ Alice-Miranda replied.

  The row of Victorian terrace houses looked pretty in the snow – even with their patchy paintwork and crumbling exterior details.

  Millie glanced at her watch. It was just after eight thirty. A dull glow lit one of the front windows but there was no smoke coming from the chimney.

  Alice-Miranda opened the squeaky front gate and walked onto the porch. An ancient scooter stood at the end beside some moving boxes.

  ‘I hope we’re not too early,’ the child said as she raised her hand and grabbed the rusty doorknocker, giving it three sharp bangs.

  She could hear someone shuffling about inside and then the door swung open.

  ‘Oh, hello,’ the woman said, obviously surprised. ‘Alice-Miranda, what can I do for you?’