The party had finished right on eight o’clock as scheduled, with the contestants leaving via a long queue of buses on Nassim Road.

‘I need a shower,’ Alfie moaned. Having danced up a storm, the boy’s hair was plastered to his scalp and his clothes were wringing wet, but he’d made friends with just about everyone. Alfie was now the proud owner of at least twenty of the pins the contestants had been swapping as souvenirs of the event. And he was happily regaling the rest of his team with stories of his outrageous dance moves – a favourite being the sprinkler, which had been going well until he hit one of the German team members in the head with his elbow and the poor kid went down like a sack of spuds.

The atmosphere on the minibus was celebratory, if a touch on the sticky side.

‘Where did you get to?’ Kensy asked Autumn.

‘I was going to ask you the same thing.’ Autumn turned to her friend. ‘I couldn’t find you after I did the modifications to my dress. Then I just went and looked around the garden and watched a bit of Alfie’s mad dancing.’

Kensy lowered her voice. ‘We heard some interesting things – about Heston Fong.’

Autumn’s eyes widened. ‘Did you tell the boys?’

Kensy shook her head.

Autumn desperately wanted to say something about seeing her mother, but she’d promised. The knowledge sat like a stone in her stomach.

Romilly Vanden Boom announced that as soon as they arrived at their hotel, the children were to go to their rooms, shower and then it was lights out by nine at the latest. She outlined what was happening tomorrow – breakfast at 7 am, the bus would pick them up for the convention centre at 7.45 am and the competition would commence at 9 am. At 3 pm they’d come back to the hotel to get changed for the dinner and presentation, which was taking place at the ArtScience Museum – the lotus-shaped building just by the convention centre. Romilly had wondered why the teams were spread across hotels all over the city – it was a bit tricky with Central London Free staying all the way uptown – but they weren’t paying so she couldn’t really complain.

Max yawned. He suddenly felt as if he’d been run over by a bus. Maybe his father was right – they should just enjoy the day tomorrow and then their last opportunity for sightseeing before they flew home on Thursday night. Although what Curtis had heard in Sedgwick Koh’s study was another troubling piece of information he couldn’t quite let go of.

The bus ride took no time at all and soon the children were being herded into the lifts.

‘Man, you really need a shower, Alfie.’ Dante fanned his hand across his face. The boys had taken one lift while the girls had gone for another opposite.

‘I don’t think he’s alone,’ Mr Nutting said. ‘You all stink.’

Fortunately the bell tinged to indicate their arrival at the 19th floor. The doors opened and the boys spilled out.

‘I’d wait for the next one if I was you,’ Max said to a man and woman who were just about to step in. Then he realised that could have been interpreted as something else, which was far more embarrassing.

On the floor below, the girls bade one another goodnight and began to turn in.

‘So what did you hear?’ Autumn asked Kensy as soon as they were in their room.

Kensy launched into the story of her great escape from Mr Koh’s bathroom, then listening to him talking to the police.

‘He said that they think Heston Fong might have had something to do with the robberies. He didn’t turn up for work today and they haven’t been able to find him,’ the girl said.

Autumn felt sick. Her mother had said that her father was fine, but maybe the woman was lying because she didn’t want Autumn to worry.

‘The police said there was no sign of any forced entry at his house and his passport was missing. They think he might have skipped the country. But I don’t think that’s true,’ Kensy said, biting her lip.

Autumn wished she knew how to contact her mother.

‘Did they mention anything about Cameron Lu or Honesto Huang?’ Autumn asked.

‘No, but maybe Heston Fong, I mean your father, has been working for them – undercover – trying to bust things open from inside. He’s in the perfect job to provide information.’

Autumn tapped her finger against her cheek. ‘So is Sedgewick Koh.’

Kensy thought for a moment. ‘I know. I’ve been thinking about that. I heard him on the phone before the maid came to tell him the police were downstairs. He said “the jaguars will be available tomorrow”. What’s that supposed to mean?’

Autumn shook her head.

‘We need to talk to Max and Curtis,’ Kensy said, grabbing the key card from the bench.

‘Where are you going?’ Autumn asked. ‘Mrs Vanden Boom will be here to check on us any minute.’

There was a knock on the door.

Autumn raced into the bathroom and Kensy jumped into bed, pulling the covers up to her chin.

‘Lights out, girls,’ the teacher called, before opening the door. She had armed herself with key cards for all of the girls’ rooms in case of emergency (and for the benefit of making sure that her charges were exactly where they were meant to be).

‘Just brushing my teeth,’ Autumn called from the bathroom.

Kensy yawned. ‘Ah, goodnight, Mrs Vanden Boom.’

‘Goodnight, girls. Sleep well,’ the woman said, and closed the door.

As soon as she was gone, Kensy jumped out of bed and Autumn raced from the bathroom.

They waited ten minutes before heading up to the floor above, where their lift opened to reveal Mr Nutting in his gym clothes. Fortunately, he had his back to them, facing a lift that had just arrived, but the girls still pressed themselves against the shiny elevator walls until he disappeared. Then they quickly dashed out.

Kensy knocked on Max and Curtis’s door, hoping they weren’t already asleep. She could have called their room first to be sure, but never mind that now.

Curtis answered, dressed in his pyjamas.

‘We need to talk,’ Kensy said, before she and Autumn hurried inside.

‘So let me get this straight – you think Sedgewick Koh might be behind the thefts?’ Max said.

Autumn nodded.

‘But I don’t understand why. Just because Kensy heard him say something about jaguars being available tomorrow? It doesn’t really mean anything. Maybe they’re available for some photographs at the zoo, or some publicity thing,’ Max said.

Autumn bit down on her thumbnail then mumbled. ‘There’s something else but I’m not supposed to say.’

Kensy looked at her friend. She thought Autumn was about to tell the boys about Heston Fong.

Curtis sat on the side of his bed with Kensy next to him and Max opposite. Autumn was pacing the floor.

‘My mother was there tonight at Mr Koh’s,’ the girl blurted as she spun around to face her friends.

‘What?’ The other three recoiled in unison.

‘Why didn’t you say something?’ Kensy demanded. ‘Did you tell her we saw your father?’

Max and Curtis frowned at the girls, then at each other.

‘What are you talking about?’ Curtis asked.

‘Heston Fong is Autumn’s father. Carlos was right about the resemblance,’ Kensy said. ‘We worked it out last night. Well, Autumn did. And I think I saw something bad happen, but I wasn’t sure and now the police have said he’s missing.’

The boys were stunned to hear it.

‘So your parents are undercover?’ Curtis said.

Autumn nodded. ‘They’ve been gone for months. In the past I’ve coped really well when they’ve been away but this time . . . I don’t know. I just haven’t, and now I might have jeopardised everything.’

Max slid off the bed and walked over to her, putting his arm around her shoulder.

‘It’s perfectly understandable that you’re worried,’ Max said.

Autumn nodded.

‘Who is your mother pretending to be?’ the boy asked.

‘She’s working as a maid. She didn’t tell me, but I suspect it’s about the animal trafficking and that Mr Koh is under investigation. I’m not supposed to say anything, and I wouldn’t have, except Kensy told me what the police said about Heston Fong – that they can’t find him and we wondered if he might have been helping the smugglers from the inside. If that’s true, he’s put himself in grave danger to try and find the real bad guys. I’m so worried about him. If the baddies know he’s been playing them . . .’

‘We need to talk to Dad. This is too big for us to handle on our own,’ Max said, and opened his laptop. He logged in and initiated the call. It was almost 2.30 in the afternoon in London so he thought there was a good chance his father would be at his desk.

‘Max,’ Ed said when he accepted the call. ‘Is everything okay?’

The boy quickly filled his father in on what they knew about Irene and Fletcher Lee, and their suspicions about Sedgewick Koh.

‘So much for the Lees being undercover,’ Ed said. ‘Sedgewick Koh is a highly respected member of the community, but yes, we think he’s been aiding and abetting the traffickers via his contacts at the zoos and the bird park. We’re not sure how many people are on his payroll, but the network is extensive and may have even infiltrated the police force at some level. Trouble is, we still have no hard evidence on him – we don’t know how he’s doing his business.’

‘But why would he?’ Curtis said. ‘The man lives in a mansion – surely he doesn’t need the money.’

Kensy clicked her fingers. ‘Miss Polly – his bird – she said he was a loser then something about chips. Tonight he was cross with her for telling everyone he had no money. Is he a gambler?’

Ed nodded. ‘He’s been on a losing streak for more than a year. We think he’s trading wildlife to pay his gambling debts, but up until now we’ve not had any idea who he’s selling to and how he’s getting the animals out of the country. Though with Huang on the scene, it’s likely there’s a link.’

‘What about Sidney?’ Max asked. ‘Is there any news?’

‘They think they’ve pinpointed his location to a compound near the Malaysian border – an abandoned fort. Fitz, Song and Rupert are planning to make a move tomorrow. They’ve intercepted chatter from Huang that he’s going to be out in the afternoon. We’re not sure where he’s off to, but it’s a solid window.’

‘Are you sure that’s where they are?’’ Kensy said.

‘Well, we hope so,’ Ed said. ‘Why? Is there something else?’

Kensy wasn’t sure, but there was a thought scratching around in her mind. ‘Dad, the other night when I saw Heston Fong – I mean Fletcher Lee – with the police officers, well, just afterwards I heard two of them saying they were glad they didn’t have to make the delivery. They were talking about somewhere called Blakang Mati and Serapong. I meant to look them up and see what they are, but we’ve been really busy and I couldn’t be one hundred per cent sure that they’d taken Mr Lee.’

‘Blakang Mati is the original name of the island that’s now Sentosa,’ Max said without any hesitation. ‘And Fort Serapong sits right in the middle of some thick jungle on the island. I was reading The Straits Times the other day and saw something about it being off limits to the public these days as it’s part of a private company that’s taken over the area.’

‘I knew I should have just asked you,’ Kensy said.

‘Would Huang be bold enough to set up his operation in the middle of Sentosa?’ Curtis asked. ‘Isn’t it super popular with tourists?’

Max nodded.

‘The other day, on the boat, those men said they were dropping off at the Serapong reef,’ Autumn said, quickly filling Ed in on the sighting of the albino pangolin.

‘I’ll get word to Song and they can check it out. But for now, children, I need you to attend your event as planned and do absolutely nothing else. We have things in hand. If Fletcher Lee is missing, we’ll find him. And I’m afraid, kids – that’s an order,’ Ed said.

The children looked at one another and then back to Ed, all of them nodding even though it was the last thing they wanted to do.