SOMEBODY’S HOT ON THE FiSHES’ TALE
‘Wow, Mrs Fish, your garden is really beautiful,’ Lisa Chadwick said, her voice dripping with so much honey it was in danger of attracting bears. ‘What are those little blue flowers called? They’re so lovely.’
Nanna Fish flushed with pride. ‘Those are forget-me-nots. They’re my favourites. And you’re a schoolfriend of Frankie’s, you said?’ asked Nanna. ‘It’s funny, I don’t remember him mentioning you before.’
Lisa shrugged. ‘Oh no, we are practically BEST FRIENDS.’
‘Well, you are most welcome here any time, Lisa,’ Nanna said politely. ‘Frankie was just here, actually, but he had to – uh – run a couple of errands with his grandad and his friend Drew.’
‘Of course!’ Lisa said, with a grin like a snake. ‘Drew, Frankie and I spend a lot of time together. I know all about … well, you know … the big secret about the suitcase!’
Lisa gave her a big wink, and Nanna stared in astonishment.
Of course, Lisa didn’t actually know ANYTHING about ANYTHING. All she had was a hunch that something was going on with that suitcase, and that Frankie, Drew and Lou were stealing stuff from school. But what were they doing with it after that? Was it somehow connected to Frankie’s grandad?
One way or another, Lisa Chadwick was determined to find out everything. Then she planned to do a massive exposé on Frankie Fish on her YouTube channel. She even had a title planned: Frankie Fish – Tried and Fried.
Nanna Fish looked very surprised. ‘I thought the suitcase was supposed to be hush-hush.’
‘He’s only told me,’ said Lisa, quickly. ‘Because I’m such a trustworthy friend, you see. I think he really wants me to be his GIRLFRIEND. He knows I would never dream of letting anyone else know about what they’re up to.’
Nanna Fish nodded. ‘That’s good to hear,’ she said, relieved. ‘It’s not the sort of thing that most people would understand. I tried it once myself and it was quite thrilling. But once was enough for me – especially after we ended up in jail.’
Lisa’s eyes boggled. She couldn’t believe that this sweet-looking old lady had just confessed to being a thief! ‘You actually went to jail?’ she said, doing her best to keep smiling.
Nanna Fish nodded. ‘It was awful! We escaped in the end but still, it made me realise I didn’t want to be involved in that sort of thing again. But Frankie and his grandad seem to love it. It’s a bonding thing for them, I think. And now that Lou’s getting involved as well it will hopefully bring them all closer.’
It was all Lisa could do to stop herself from calling the police. If she did that, then Frankie – and quite possibly his entire family, by the sounds of it – would be arrested on the spot. But Lisa wanted to break the news on her YouTube channel herself. Her subscriber numbers would go through the roof!
What she really needed, she decided, was some footage of where the rotten Fish family stored all the stolen goods. She had her phone ready to go in her pocket. She just needed some hard evidence.
‘Mrs Fish,’ she said in her most sugary voice, ‘where are their headquarters? Frankie was telling me about them, but I can’t remember where he said they were.’
Nanna Fish laughed. ‘Headquarters! My, that sounds so official! You mean, where all the top secret things are stored?’
Lisa nodded, trying not to look too eager.
‘Well, then, I suppose the shed must be their headquarters,’ said Nanna, pointing to the Forbidden Shed.
‘Great!’ said Lisa. She couldn’t believe how easy this was all proving to be. ‘Could you let me in? I’d be so interested to see it all. I’ve heard so much about it, you see.’
Nanna hesitated. ‘Hmm, I don’t think I should do that, dear. You see, dear Alfie is very protective of his shed. No-one’s allowed in there without his permission – not even me. It’s COMPLETELY forbidden.’
Of course, hearing this just made Lisa more determined than ever to get in there. ‘I promise not to touch anything,’ said Lisa, putting on her most persuasive voice. ‘And Frankie already said it would be OK for me to take a quick look.’
Nanna Fish looked doubtful for a moment, and then suddenly she smiled. ‘I’ll call them! I forgot that I have a special doo-dad I can call them on while they’re – you know – on a mission,’ she said.
‘Oh, that’s really not necessary,’ said Lisa hastily. ‘You don’t need to disturb them.’
‘It’s no problem, dear! I’m interested to hear when they’ll be back anyway.’ She pulled out the earpiece Frankie had given her, which she’d carefully stored in her pocket.
‘I’ve never used this before,’ she confided, fumbling a little with the little switch on the side. ‘It’s all a bit whiz-bang for me, but I’ll figure it out.’ She beamed at Lisa. ‘Won’t they be surprised when they find out that you’re here!’
‘Oh, yes, they will be very surprised,’ Lisa Chadwick said, forcing a smile. ‘Very surprised indeed.’
