Author/Uploaded by Katherine Woodfine
Also by Katherine Woodfine Peril in Paris Spies in St Petersburg Secrets on the Shore (ebook) Villains in Venice ‘Woodfine’s crisp prose is instantly evocative, and her quick-moving plots will appeal both to newcomers and long-time devotees.’ Guardian ...
Also by Katherine Woodfine Peril in Paris Spies in St Petersburg Secrets on the Shore (ebook) Villains in Venice ‘Woodfine’s crisp prose is instantly evocative, and her quick-moving plots will appeal both to newcomers and long-time devotees.’ Guardian The Clockwork Sparrow The Jewelled Moth The Painted Dragon The Midnight Peacock ‘Utterly enthralling’ Abi Elphinstone First published in Great Britain in 2021 by Farshore An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF farshore.co.uk HarperCollinsPublishers 1st Floor, Watermarque Building, Ringsend Road Dublin 4, Ireland Text copyright © 2021 Katherine Woodfine Illustrations copyright © 2021 Karl James Mountford The moral rights of the author and illustrator have been asserted E-Book ISBN 978 0 7555 0127 4 Printed and bound in the UK using 100% renewable electricity at CPI Group (UK) Ltd 1 Typeset by Avon DataSet Ltd, Alcester, Warwickshire All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher and copyright owner. Stay safe online. Any website addresses listed in this book are correct at the time of going to print. However, Farshore is not responsible for content hosted by third parties. Please be aware that online content can be subject to change and websites can contain content that is unsuitable for children. We advise that all children are supervised when using the internet. This book is produced from independently certified FSC™ paper to ensure responsible forest management. For more information visit: www.harpercollins.co.uk/green For the next generation: Rose Frank & Lil PART I CHAPTER ONE 10 Downing Street London, England It was midnight in London. Lights were being extinguished; the theatres and restaurants were closing their doors. Street lamps glowed and on Piccadilly Circus, illuminated advertisements glittered. The windows of Sinclair’s, London’s most elegant department store, shimmered gold in the dark. In Covent Garden, people slept huddled on the doorstep of an old church, under the yellowing sheets of yesterday’s newspaper. In Soho, a lone policeman strode down a narrow, cobbled passage. At the Inns of Court, all was silent – but on Fleet Street, the printing presses clattered through the night, churning out the papers that tomorrow the newsboys would be hawking on every corner. In Westminster, Big Ben chimed midnight, slowly and solemnly. The policeman on duty outside 10 Downing Street heard it, and was glad. CHAPTER TWO Taylor & Rose Detectives Sinclair’s Department Store Piccadilly, London The clock was striking eight, as Sophie opened the door with the gold letters reading Taylor & Rose Detectives. It was early, but she’d already been awake for hours. At last, she’d given up tossing and turning, got out of bed, and come to the office. If she couldn’t sleep, she might as well work. The office of Taylor & Rose Detectives looked just as usual. There was the desk where Mei Lim, who worked as their receptionist, welcomed clients. There was the waiting area, with its comfortable chairs and illustrated fashion-papers. Beyond was the office that belonged to Billy Parker, the office manager, and then the little room — not much more than a cupboard really — where their technical expert Tilly Black spent