At the clinic, Kensy and Max had stood with their father, watching as their mother and Dr Foster hovered over Cordelia, observing closely for any signs that their antidote was working. But it would likely be days before the woman woke up – if she did at all.

  ‘Pizza time,’ Magoo announced as he walked in and plonked four boxes down on the middle of the kitchen table.

  Max helped himself to a small piece but Kensy shook her head.

  ‘Come on, Kensington, you have to eat something. Your grandmother wouldn’t want you moping about going hungry. She’s a tough old bird. If anyone can survive an attack from the Russians, it’s her,’ the man said, tucking into a huge slice of pepperoni pizza.

  Kensy looked up from the empty plate in front of her. ‘How do you know it was the Russians?’

  Magoo thought for a moment. ‘I suppose we don’t,’ the man replied. ‘That’s just where the poison was created. These days I imagine it’s sold to the highest bidder, so in effect we could be dealing with anyone.’

  That was cold comfort, considering the number of miscreants who might want to harm the head of both Pharos and one of the country’s largest newspapers.

  Tippie MacGregor poured a glass of red wine each for herself and her husband and sat down to join them. Mr Pippin jumped off his chair and headed down the hallway.

  ‘How long have you known Sidney?’ Max asked.

  Tippie held her glass in the air. ‘Forever,’ she said.

  Magoo nodded. ‘As I understand it, the brothers began to work for your grandfather when they were all young men. Incredible agents, the pair of them, and they certainly brought a lot to the table when it came to training the younger generations. I hear Song has been instrumental in your skill development.’

  ‘He’s amazing,’ Kensy said. ‘And I don’t believe for one second that Sidney had anything to do with Granny’s poisoning.’

  Tippie looked across the table at her husband, a blonde curl escaping from the chignon at the back of her head. She pushed it behind her ear. ‘Innocent until proven guilty,’ the woman said. But there was something about the way her mouth twisted that made Max uncomfortable. It almost seemed as if she was trying to suppress a smile – which wasn’t charitable in the least.

  Max stared at a framed sign that hung above the old fireplace. The lettering on the piece made no sense. ‘What does that say?’

  Kensy glanced up and Magoo and Tippie swivelled to see what Max was looking at.

  ‘Oh, that’s just another one of Magoo’s coded messages,’ Tippie said with a grin. ‘He’s obsessed with them – has been since he was a boy, haven’t you, darling? I think he owns the world’s most comprehensive collection of books on the subject.’

  Max nodded. Of course it was. His mind went to the note he’d taken from Mr MacGregor’s study at school ages ago – the one that he and Kensy had been trying, and mostly failing, to decipher. So far they’d managed to make out their own names, the words ‘birthright’ and ‘Song’ and a rather troubling line at the end: ‘Romilly must be stopped’ – which they had worked out during their recent mission in Switzerland – though they still had no idea what it was she had to be stopped from doing. Max wondered where Mr MacGregor kept this incredible collection of coding books – maybe he’d get some more clues if he could take a look. There was something about the lettering on the wall that was vaguely familiar.

  ‘Perhaps you two can work it out,’ Magoo said. ‘You’re both already pretty accomplished code crackers. Actually, I can’t imagine you’ll get it. You’d have to be nigh on experts to break my ciphers.’

  Max took that as a challenge, while Kensy simply rolled her eyes. A heavy silence descended over the group for the next few minutes. The distant sounds of traffic were the only discernible noises other than Mr MacGregor chewing his food – which was grating on Kensy’s nerves. She stood up and pushed her chair back.

  ‘May I go to bed, please?’ she asked abruptly.

  Max frowned at her. He hadn’t managed to eat more than a small slice of margherita pizza, but his sister hadn’t touched her food at all.

  ‘Kensy,’ the boy berated. He didn’t like being here any more than she did, but there was no need to be rude.

  ‘It’s fine, Max. You’ve both had a terrible shock and it’s been a very long day. I’ll show you to your room.’ Tippie folded her napkin and set it on the table beside her plate then stood up. ‘I’m afraid our home isn’t palatial. You’ll have to share the spare bedroom.’

  ‘Yes, it would have been far more comfortable if we’d just come to stay with you at Ponsonby Terrace,’ Magoo said. There was something about his tone that sounded truly miffed.

  ‘We’re used to it,’ Max said. ‘Before we came to live in London, Kensy and I shared a room everywhere that we lived. You should have seen some of the shoeboxes we squeezed into. Alpine accommodation isn’t always the most generous – especially not for staff.’

  ‘Except Granny’s chalet in Zermatt,’ Kensy said. ‘That’s incredible, but I suppose you’ll get to go there one day.’

  Magoo’s lips puckered. ‘Why would you think that, Kensington?’ the man asked.

  ‘She lets agents stay in her houses, doesn’t she?’ Kensy said.

  Magoo raised his eyebrows at his wife and the pair grinned. ‘Let’s just say that not all agents are created equal,’ he replied.

  Kensy wondered what the headmaster meant. Mrs Vanden Boom had said something to her a while ago about there being others in Pharos who curried more favour. At the time she’d thought the woman was talking about Tippie’s close relationship with her grandmother, but now it sounded like that might not be true at all.

  Max’s eyelids were getting heavy and he was having a hard time concentrating on chewing his food. The boy stood up.

  ‘Sorry, but if you don’t mind, sir, I think I should go to bed too. We’ve got to be up early for school. Thank you for dinner,’ Max said.

  The twins picked up their overnight bags that they’d stowed in the corner of the kitchen and followed Tippie upstairs.

  She pointed things out on their way. ‘The bathroom’s just off the landing and Magoo and I are there.’ She gestured at a closed door. ‘Don’t worry – we have an ensuite, so you won’t run the risk of bumping into your headmaster in his pyjamas during the night. I imagine that’s not a savouring thought.’

  They walked to the other side of the upstairs hall. ‘This is yours,’ she said, and pushed open the door to a small bedroom where a double bed took up most of the floor space. A built-in wardrobe, a chest of drawers and one bedside table occupied the rest of the room.

  ‘I really don’t understand why your father was so adamant that you should come here to us. Not that we mind having you, of course, but it would have been far more comfortable for you at home – and I’m sure your parents must have a lovely guestroom,’ Tippie said.

  ‘It’s fine,’ Max said, ‘thank you.’ He noticed Kensy roll her eyes and turn away. She’d been doing a lot of that since they arrived. Ed had told the twins exactly why he didn’t want Magoo and Tippie in their home, and although the twins would rather have slept in their own beds, the last thing they needed was to be worried about their headmaster poking his nose where it wasn’t welcome.

  Sedgewick Koh walked through the sitting room into the entrance foyer, thankful for the cool breeze that had come on the heels of a particularly animated thunderstorm.

  ‘Good evening, Mr Koh.’ Mae Lyn bowed as she placed a tray of drinks down on a side table, having just buzzed the first of the man’s guests through the gate.

  ‘Good evening, Mae Lyn,’ the man replied. ‘Is Vera helping you this evening?’

  The woman shook her head. ‘Vera is not feeling well.’ They both knew that was a lie. Vera was holed up in her quarters watching her favourite soap opera – her adoration of the show verged on obsessive. But Mae Lyn was fine with her absence. All of the food was ready and she was well prepared for her duties. Vera would only have spent the evening picking everything apart.

  The crunching of tyres on the gravel driveway alerted Sedgewick to the imminent arrival of his guests. Mae Lyn still had no idea who he was entertaining this evening, but every dinner party she had served thus far had proven interesting and she had learned something new on each occasion.

  Sedgewick opened the double doors onto the covered portico. A shiny red midlife crisis was the first vehicle to arrive. Mae Lyn spotted the driver, a man who had to be nudging sixty-five if he was a day. He had come alone and was greeted by her boss with much hand shaking and back slapping. The man swept in, remarking on the grandeur of the mansion and its colonial architecture, and that he’d recently missed out on a lease on a similar property in Chatsworth Park. Singapore’s famous black and white houses were largely leased via a bidding system. Mr Koh’s was one of very few in private hands.

  Mae Lyn offered the man a drink from her tray. He took a gin and tonic and she directed him towards the sitting room just off the entrance hall while Sedgewick waited to greet the rest of his party.

  ‘Hello, I’m Miss Polly.’ the bird introduced herself as Mr Koh’s first guest entered the room. ‘What’s your name?’

  The man almost jumped through the ceiling. Clearly he wasn’t expecting a talking African grey parrot to entertain him while he waited for the others to arrive.

  Mae Lyn watched out of the corner of her eye. The bird was sitting on a beautiful perch in the far end of the room.

  ‘Richard,’ he replied, somewhat cautiously.

  ‘What do you do, Richard?’ Miss Polly asked.

  ‘I’m in shipping,’ he said.

  ‘Boring,’ Miss Polly replied, to which the man laughed.

  ‘Are you real?’ he asked the bird.

  ‘Are you real?’ Miss Polly leaned forward and danced up and down on her perch.

  ‘I’ve heard of birds that can mimic before, but not ones that partake in conversation. Are you a robot?’ he asked.

  Miss Polly began making jerky movements as if she was some kind of remote-controlled toy.

  ‘I thought so. You’re a fake,’ Richard chuckled.

  Mae Lyn couldn’t help herself. ‘Sir, I can assure you that Miss Polly is real. Her intelligence is extraordinary.’

  Richard bent down to look at the parrot more closely.

  Miss Polly shook her head. ‘I am no fake. Tell me a secret,’ she said, leaning towards him and using her left foot to point to her ear.

  ‘You want to know a secret?’ he said.

  The bird nodded. ‘Something no one knows.’

  ‘But you’ll tell,’ the man replied, unsure of this new game.

  Miss Polly shook her head. ‘I won’t. I promise. I know everyone’s secrets.’

  ‘Not mine.’ Richard shook his head and walked away to inspect an antique gong in the opposite corner.

  Mae Lyn was disappointed that the man wouldn’t be drawn into Miss Polly’s game. She’d learned several interesting titbits about Sedgwick’s guests this way and had been coaching the bird to ask some very specific questions of late.

  ‘Party pooper.’ Miss Polly pouted and blew a raspberry.

  Richard turned and frowned at the intriguing creature.

  Mae Lyn was distracted as the remaining four guests entered the house. She knew they hadn’t come together because she’d seen three more vehicles pull up – all expensive, but none quite as showy as the one Richard had arrived in.

  Mr Koh directed his guests to the drinks tray and Mae Lyn kept her eyes low. It wouldn’t do for her to be too familiar. There were two extremely glamorous women – one Chinese, the other Caucasian. Their dresses and handbags would have cost more than a year of Mae Lyn’s salary.

  Mae Lyn was about to return to the kitchen to replenish her tray when she looked up. She nodded ever so slightly at the fourth guest, a man who stared at her momentarily before blinking his eyes slowly.

  ‘Good evening, Heston – welcome,’ Sedgewick Koh shook hands with the man. ‘I trust you have had a good day.’

  Heston nodded. ‘There are some very exciting new acquisitions at the bird park. I hope that you will come and see them soon.’

  ‘Yes, of course. Mae Lyn, a drink for my friend, Mr Fong, please.’ Sedgewick nodded his head at the woman before turning back to Heston. ‘Richard Liang is here. I am sure that he will be interested to hear about plans for the park – he told me he has a considerable wildlife collection of his own that he is looking to expand.’

  Heston Fong took a tall glass of champagne and smiled at Mae Lyn, a calculated look in his eye. He and Sedgewick drifted away to the sitting room, where the rest of the party was now interrogating Miss Polly. The bird was holding her own and there was much laughter and frivolity.

  Tonight’s dinner party was shaping up to be a very interesting gathering and while Mae Lyn might learn something later from Miss Polly, this evening she had her own listening devices in place. Perhaps she would finally garner some valuable information.

  Early the next morning, Tippie MacGregor dropped the twins outside their home in Ponsonby Terrace, where they swiftly disappeared through the front door. Though Mr MacGregor had earlier said that his wife would wait while they collected their things then drive them the short distance to school, Tippie had asked if they were okay to walk, as she had some urgent jobs to do. Kensy and Max didn’t mind. At least if they walked it would appear as if everything was normal. Not that they expected anyone was watching.

  They’d spoken to their father before they left the MacGregors and he’d reported no change in their grandmother’s condition. He’d also said the investigation was still very much in its early stages when Kensy had asked for more information on who was responsible. So things were still pretty much as they’d been fourteen hours ago when everything unfolded: absolutely awful.

  Max charged upstairs with his sister hot on his heels. Kensy immediately began to tear her room apart looking for the science book she needed, while Max simply consulted the neat pile of books on his desk to find exactly what he was looking for.

  He was about to head out when he spotted his journal, which contained Magoo’s note. He stuffed it into his backpack on the off chance they would have to stay with the headmaster again. It couldn’t hurt to ask if he could take a look at Mr MacGregor’s collection of coding and cipher books, given Tippie had bragged about them and Magoo had issued that challenge about solving the sign above the fireplace. Maybe he’d finally make some headway.

  Max hurried to Kensy’s room, which now looked like it had been ransacked. He was standing in the doorway shaking his head when Kensy spotted something poking out from under her bed and made a dive. ‘Yes!’ she exclaimed, having finally found what she was looking for.

  ‘Mum will have a fit when she sees this mess,’ Max said. He began to pick up some of the books she’d thrown on the bed and put them on the shelf. He was about to tell her he was taking the coded note with him when the doorbell rang.

  ‘I’ll get it,’ Kensy said.

  ‘Shouldn’t you clean this up?’ Max asked.

  ‘Not when I have you for a brother, Mr Everything in its Place,’ she shouted, already halfway down the stairs. ‘It’s probably Curtis.’

  But Max had just received a message from the boy saying that he was already at school, since he’d knocked earlier and when no one had answered he’d gone ahead on his own. He’d also asked Max if the twins were on their way, because they had a STEM team meeting to talk about the trip to Singapore before class.

  ‘It’s not Curtis,’ Max called out, grabbing his bag and heading down to join his sister.

  He reached the bottom of the stairs and looked around. Kensy had disappeared and so had whoever had been at the door.

  ‘Kensy, come on, we have to get to school. We’ve got a meeting with Vanden Boom first thing. She’s not going to be very happy when we tell her she’ll have to rustle up some reserve-reserves,’ Max called, then realised he hadn’t discussed anything with his sister about bunking out of the trip. He wasn’t sure whether they were on the same wavelength about that or not, but he certainly wasn’t going – not with Granny so sick.

  Max waited a second before he cried out again. ‘Kensy! Hurry up!’

  ‘Max!’ the girl shouted. ‘Could you help me for a second? I’m in the kitchen.’

  Max dropped his backpack to the floor, wondering what was so urgent. But when he reached the room there was no sign of her.

  ‘Kensy, we’ve got to get moving,’ the boy said as he looked around. ‘This isn’t funny.’

  ‘I’m in the pantry,’ she called.

  Max walked towards the butler’s pantry at the end of the kitchen and pushed open the door. ‘What are you doing in –’

  ‘Run, Max, run!’ Kensy yelled from where she lay on the floor. Max stumbled backwards as an arm lashed out towards him. But while the boy was fast, the man was faster and managed to get a solid grip.

  ‘Song!’ Max gasped as the thick fingers closed around his arm. ‘What are you doing?’ The shock of being attacked by the butler almost laid the boy flat – that and the sight of his sister, her hands and feet bound by cable ties, lying doubled over in the corner.

  Max tried to wrestle out of Song’s grasp but the man was far too strong.

  ‘Song! What are you doing?’ Max demanded again, before a wad of cotton was shoved into his mouth. The butler snapped cable ties around Max’s arms and ankles and pushed him down next to Kensy. He made a move to gag her too, but Kensy was having none of it. She bit down hard, her teeth breaking his skin. Song jumped back, and right then Max knew for sure their assailant wasn’t Song at all.

  The intruder went for Kensy again and she kicked out, sending him off kilter. He landed hard on his back and Kensy rolled over and sat on his chest. Max managed to get to his feet and jumped towards the bench, pulling open the top drawer to look for the pair of scissors that were usually there. He fumbled to pick them up and set to work, snipping the tie on his wrists then the one around his ankles. Meanwhile, the man flung Kensy away before attempting to gag her again, but he hadn’t counted on Max getting free. The boy jumped on the fellow from behind and the man spun around, trying to pry Max off his back while Kensy made her escape.