Chapter 16

When my Nanna Kate was younger, she travelled with her best friend all around the world. She told me that when they were in France, they went to a very famous museum to look at a display of rare gems and minerals. They were extremely valuable and heavily guarded. She liked them because they shone so brightly in the afternoon sun. She said it was like looking into the eyes of the moon. All types of people came to see the display—there were older people whose tired eyes were reignited by the dazzling display, there were students and parents and even a very young girl, maybe four years of age, who kept pointing at the shiny rocks with her eyebrows raised. Nanna Kate said the little girl dropped her doll and she picked it up for her and told her the doll’s eyes were as sparkly as the gems on display, which the little girl laughed about. But her mother scolded the girl for talking to strangers.

Nanna Kate said they were just about to leave when an alarm sounded and panic ensued. Two of the most valuable gems were gone from the display—despite the security guards, someone had stolen them. The security doors were closed and everyone was asked to show their bags. As the police and guards checked Nanna Kate’s bag, she saw the little girl and her mother leaving, the mother’s bag having already been checked. That’s when Nanna Kate realised. She told the guard, and, sure enough, they found the missing gems hidden in the head of the little girl’s doll, stuck behind the glass eyes so they didn’t rattle. That’s why the doll’s eyes had sparkled so much. The mother had planned the whole thing—nobody would ever have suspected the thief was a four-year-old child, you see.

And so, Nanna Kate always says, appearances can be deceiving.

I thought about this story as Grace, Zoe and I got ready to crack open this mystery. It was lights-out in the dorm and Violet was in her bed, fast asleep. We quietly crawled out of our beds and pushed our pillows and some jumpers under our blankets, to make it look like we were still sleeping. Violet couldn’t know we weren’t there, otherwise she might be suspicious and not try to sneak out herself.

Zoe, Grace and I only spoke in hand movements.

We slipped on our jumpers—even though it was a summer night, we wanted our hoods up to obscure our faces. And we made sure we were wearing dark colours all over our bodies, so we could sneak around in the night without being seen.

I quietly pulled on my sneakers, which are good for sneaking. Grace slipped her backpack over her shoulder—it had her digital camera in it, so we could take a photo as evidence. And we’d also packed a torch and some rope. I don’t know why we packed rope, really, but the spies in movies always seem to have rope, so we thought we’d better bring some just in case.

I slid my hood up over my head and gestured to Grace and Zoe to move towards the door.

Zoe opened the door, which creaked loudly.

We whipped around to check Violet was still asleep.

She was. Phew!

We snuck out into the hallway and tiptoed up the carpet. Every time we heard even the faintest noise, we’d plaster our bodies against the cool wall, trying to remain hidden.

Grace led the way down the stairs and towards the big front doors of the dormitory. This was going to be tricky. The doors were heavy and made a loud clunking sound when they closed, so we had to be extra careful.

Grace held the door while Zoe and I bundled out, then slipped out after us. She kept the door open and looked down at her watch.

‘Three, two, one,’ she mouthed.

Right on ‘one’, the clock in the hallway chimed 10.00 p.m. and she closed the door, using the chimes of the clock to muffle the clunk the door made.

We nodded at each other. Our plan was going flawlessly.

We padded up the path, winding our way back into the main part of the school. Everything looked so different at night. The tall, old fashioned buildings looked creepy under the moonlight and I half expected bats to come swooping down from the steeple.

But they didn’t. Of course.

We walked all the way up to the administration block, and only stopped once we were outside the foyer of the office, right under a window. Zoe gave me a boost up and I pushed the window open. I knew the window would be unlocked, because we had set it up earlier that afternoon.

Grace and I had gone up to the office and, while Grace distracted the secretary by asking for some forms she said she needed, I had quietly unlatched the window from the inside.

So it was ready and waiting for us now.

I slid my body through the open window and then helped Zoe and Grace lift themselves up and over. We were in.

We crept behind the secretary’s counter and along the short corridor to Mrs Sinclair’s office. Her door was shut. I wondered for a panicked moment if it was locked—that would spoil our entire plan!

I jiggled the doorknob and was relieved when the door creaked open.

Inside, Mrs Sinclair’s office was dark and cold.

I had a sudden sense of guilt. It felt like we were betraying Mrs Sinclair’s trust and invading her privacy. My cheeks flushed red with uncertainty. But I wanted to get her trophy back. And Zoe’s necklace. And find out exactly what Violet was up to.

‘OK, what now?’ Zoe whispered.

‘Now, we wait,’ I said solemnly.

We ducked down beside Mrs Sinclair’s desk. Grace turned her torch on, but I told her to switch it off—if Violet saw the light through the window of the office, she wasn’t going to come in.

Grace unzipped her backpack and pulled out her digital camera, ready to snap a photo when the culprit arrived. She also pulled out a pack of marshmallows.

‘Grace! That’s so unprofessional!’ I complained.

‘What? We need energy for a stake out. This could be a long night!’

I shook my head and, even though I disapproved, I took a marshmallow and ate it.

‘What’s going to happen to Violet when we expose her?’ Zoe asked softly.

I hadn’t really thought about that. I had a sudden feeling of remorse. That means deep regret.

‘What if she gets expelled?’ Grace asked.

I shrugged awkwardly. ‘But she can’t just get away with it either,’ I reminded them, pushing away my guilty feelings.

We sat in silence, thinking about the whole situation.

I leaned against the wall and a wave of tiredness suddenly took over my whole body.

‘Maybe we should take turns staying awake,’ Zoe suggested.

‘I’ll go first,’ Grace offered.

Zoe and I leaned on each other and closed our eyes. I wanted to stay awake, but the pull of sleep was just too strong. I felt myself drifting … swaying … falling.

Suddenly, a noise outside startled us all.

‘Grace, did you fall asleep?’ I hissed accusingly.

Grace shrugged guiltily.

‘There’s someone outside!’ I whispered.

There was another clang—someone was fiddling with the window! Grace, Zoe and I ducked down behind Mrs Sinclair’s desk, completely out of sight.

Then Violet appeared in the window—it was definitely the shape of a young girl, all in black, with a small backpack hugging her body. She wore a black jumper with the hood pulled tightly over her face. I couldn’t see her glasses, but I knew it was her.

She slithered in, like a snake slithers into its burrow, and landed on the floor with a thud.

I looked at Grace and Zoe and made a hand movement that meant ‘ready for our plan?’. They both gave a thumbs up. When Zoe gave the signal, I was to jump up and hit the lights so Grace could snap a photo of Violet, frozen in the act.

Violet stalked across the office like a cat. She was light on her feet and her sleek legs made soundless movements. She slinked over to the filing cabinet. When she was standing in front of it, she reached into her jumper pocket and pulled out a silver key. The moonlight bounced off the metal.

She pulled her backpack around to her front and very slowly unzipped it, careful not to make a sound. Then she pulled something out of her bag—something I couldn’t quite make out in the dark. But it looked like a rolled-up cylinder of paper. I craned my neck for a better view.

She unrolled the paper, which now looked more like a manila folder full of papers, and smoothed them out flat on top of the cabinet. Then she slipped the key into the lock.

The draw rolled open, smooth on its gliders.

Zoe made the hand movement.

I leapt up and hit the lights.

Grace took a photo.

Violet whipped around, her mouth agape and her eyebrows raised in shock and fear.

We all gasped in unison.

Because it wasn’t Violet at all.