The next day at school the Secret Mystery Club meet at recess under the big peppercorn tree in the playground.

Billie told Alex and Mika before school that she had something very exciting to show them.

‘What is it?’ Mika asks, sitting close so she can see what Billie has brought.

Billie smiles as she pulls the crumpled slip of paper out of her schoolbag. She opens it up and smooths it out so the others can see. ‘It’s a secret note,’ Billie says.

‘Wow,’ says Alex peering down at the dark squiggly lines. ‘Where did you find it?’

‘On my front step,’ Billie says.

‘It was addressed to the Secret Mystery Club,’ Jack adds. ‘And it’s written in code!’

‘No, it’s not,’ says Mika, turning the page the other way around. ‘It’s in Japanese!’

‘What?’ says Billie. She’s not sure if she feels happy or annoyed that Mika has cracked the code so easily. ‘Are you sure?’

Mika rolls her eyes. ‘Of course I’m sure. I can read Japanese, you know.’

‘What does it say, then?’ Alex says.

Mika takes the paper from Billie and peers down at the scribbly characters. ‘It’s a haiku,’ she says.

‘What’s that?’ Jack asks.

‘I know!’ Alex says. ‘It’s a Japanese poem. It has three lines and it doesn’t rhyme. That’s right, isn’t it, Mika?’

Mika nods. Then she reads aloud slowly, translating the Japanese into English.

‘Children look for clues
In the red fruiting berries
When the sun is new.’

She looks up at the others.

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ Billie frowns. ‘Why would someone send us a poem that makes no sense?’ She feels a little disappointed.

‘Don’t you see?’ Jack says. ‘We’re the children. And we’re looking for clues. It’s about us!’

‘So we have to look for clues in red fruiting berries…’ Alex adds.

‘Strawberries!’ Mika says. ‘I have strawberries at my house. My mum is growing them.’

‘It could be apples. We have an apple tree,’ Billie suggests.

‘Nah, it says berries, Billie,’ says Alex. ‘The next clue must be at Mika’s house!’

‘Let’s go this afternoon!’ Jack says excitedly.

‘Wait,’ says Alex. ‘It says when the sun is new.’

‘Well, when’s that?’ Jack says.

‘I don’t know,’ Alex says.

‘This poem doesn’t make any sense!’ Billie huffs.

‘I think it means the morning,’ Mika says. ‘It’s a Japanese expression.’

‘Oh!’ says Alex, laughing.

‘Of course! So there will be a clue for us in Mika’s strawberry patch tomorrow morning. I get it! Make sure you bring the clue in to school tomorrow then, won’t you, Mika?’

‘Of course!’ says Mika, grinning.

Just then the bell rings and they all stand up to go to class. Billie holds out her hand for the note.

‘I’d better hold onto it,’ Mika says importantly, ‘seeing as I’m the only one here who can read Japanese.’

Billie shrugs and slips her hand into her pocket.

As she walks back to class she feels a jumbled-up mix of feelings bubbling away in her tummy. She is excited about the mysterious letter but she also feels a little bit annoyed that she couldn’t work it out herself.

What’s the point of writing a note to the Secret Mystery Club if only one of us can read it? she thinks grumpily.