When I called over to Kate’s place the next morning, it was so early that she was still in bed. While her dad went up to get her, I chatted to Zoe, and played with Simon, who luckily didn’t seem to have any lasting bad effects from Zoe’s disastrous singing exploits.

When Kate came downstairs, she was dressed, but her hair was all messy and she was rubbing her eyes.

‘This had better be important, Eva,’ she said. ‘I need all the beauty sleep I can get.’

‘It is important,’ I said. ‘Really important. Now, do you want to go to Jeremy, and I’ll tell you all about it?’

We were headed for the door, when Kate’s dad called her back. ‘You’re not going anywhere without breakfast, young lady,’ he said. ‘Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.’

Kate rolled her eyes, grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl, and then we ran from the room before her dad had time to protest.

‘I’m guessing this has something to do with Daisy?’ said Kate, as we got to our favourite place on the grass near the trunk of the huge tree.

‘Yes,’ I said, as I pulled the diary from my jacket pocket. ‘It’s about Daisy. Now make yourself comfortable while I tell you the saddest story in the whole wide world.’

Kate rested her back against the tree, and stretched her legs out in front of her.

‘I’m ready,’ she said. ‘So start talking.’

‘As you know, in the beginning, Daisy’s life was kind of boring,’ I began. ‘A day of collecting blackberries was like an amazing event, and finding a new kind of seaweed was the most exciting thing ever. Mostly she just went to school, and hung out with her friend Rose, and helped her mum and dad around the house.’

‘That sounds a bit like my life,’ said Kate.

I grinned. ‘Maybe. Except without TV and a computer and a phone and useful stuff like that. Anyway, all of a sudden, things changed. Daisy’s life got a whole lot more exciting – and not in a good way.’

‘What happened?’ Kate asked, edging closer to me.

‘I’ll let Daisy explain in her own words,’ I said, as I carefully flicked through the pages until I found the one I wanted.

Kate lay back on the grass and I began to read.

‘That doesn’t sound too serious,’ said Kate when I stopped reading.

‘That’s what I thought – and that’s probably what Daisy thought too, but unfortunately we were all wrong.’

‘So did you find out what the crime was?’

‘Yes. Somebody broke into a church in Newtown and stole a chalice.’

‘And was that such a big deal? It’s not like he held up a bank or something!’

‘The chalice was really old and really valuable, but that wasn’t the only reason it was a big deal. People were very religious back then, and stealing a chalice was like a super-big crime. The teachers in Daisy’s school got the kids to say prayers every morning, so that the chalice would be found and the thief sent to jail.’

‘But surely Daisy’s dad wasn’t involved?’

‘That’s what I thought too, and at first things went on pretty much as before. Then, a few weeks later, Daisy’s dad was charged with the crime, and he had to go to court. This is what she wrote:

Now Kate sat up. ‘You said it was a sad story, so I’m guessing things didn’t turn out the way Daisy hoped.’

I shook my head. ‘The trial only lasted for one day.’

‘And?’

‘And Daisy’s dad was found guilty and sentenced to five years in jail.’

‘Ouch!’ said Kate. ‘That’s awful. So what happened to Daisy?’

‘Some of the next entries are kind of rushed and untidy – like she was too upset to concentrate properly. Whole days go by and she doesn’t write anything at all. The kids in her class gave her a hard time because her dad was in prison.’

‘And didn’t the teachers step in?’

‘It doesn’t sound like it. Remember they were the ones who were organising prayer meetings for the safe return of the chalice. I’m guessing they gave Daisy a hard time too. Soon she stopped going to school altogether.’

‘But what about her scholarship?’

‘The scholarship was the least of her worries,’ I said. ‘Listen to what she wrote a month after her dad went to jail:

‘OMG,’ said Kate. ‘The poor girl. She didn’t do anything to deserve this. None of it is her fault, and yet her whole world is collapsing around her. People must have been really mean back then.’

‘I know,’ I said, wondering if people would act differently nowadays. ‘It’s totally unfair.’

‘So how did Daisy survive like that until her dad got back?’

I sighed. ‘I’m not finished yet. I’m afraid things got even worse. Daisy’s mum couldn’t cope at all. In the end, she was so bad that she had to go to some kind of a psychiatric hospital.’

‘And did they make her better?’

I shook my head. ‘No. I don’t think psychiatric hospitals made people better back in the olden days. It sounds like they locked poor Florrie up and threw away the key.’

‘And Daisy?’

‘In a way, she was lucky. She had a great aunt who lived in America, and arrangements were made to send Daisy to live with her.’

‘And she left her diary behind?’

‘Yes, but not by accident. This is her last entry:

I stopped reading and wiped the tears from my eyes. It might have been kind of embarrassing, except that Kate was crying too. We hugged for a bit, and then we sat back on the grass. It was weird, crying about something that had happened so long ago, to someone we had never met. It was almost like crying at a movie.

‘The poor girl never came back?’ said Kate in the end.

‘That’s what it looks like. This diary was really important to her, but she never wrote in it again.’

‘So I’m guessing it’s been lying in the shed, untouched, since 1947,’ she said. ‘It’s like it was waiting for her.’

‘No,’ I said, feeling suddenly excited. ‘Maybe the diary wasn’t waiting for Daisy. Maybe it was waiting for us!’

Much later we were still discussing it.

‘It’s obvious,’ I said for the tenth time. ‘Daisy said she wouldn’t come back until her dad’s name was cleared. She never touched her diary again, so that must never have happened.’

‘It’s not obvious at all,’ said Kate, who loves a good argument. ‘Maybe Daisy’s dad was cleared. Maybe he was released from prison, and her mum got better and they went off to America to live with Daisy, and the three of them lived happily ever after.’

I shook my head. ‘I wish I could believe that, but I can’t. It’s been years and years and years. Daisy loved Seacove as much as you and I do. If her dad’s name had been cleared, I know she would have come back at some stage. She’d have found a way to come home.’

‘But––’

I didn’t let her finish. ‘Can’t you see, Kate? When I read that diary, I felt like Daisy was talking to me. I felt like she was sending me a message from the past.’

‘And her message is?’ asked Kate, looking at me like I was an idiot.

Now I felt embarrassed. ‘I know it sounds totally weird,’ I said. ‘But I can’t help that. I just think that we should try to discover what really happened. I think we should find out more about the crime.’

‘The Case of the Stolen Chalice,’ said Kate, giggling. ‘Sounds like a Famous Five book.’

I ignored her. ‘I wonder if we could find a way to prove that Daisy’s dad was innocent. Then we should track Daisy down and let her know – if she’s still alive, that is.’

Kate didn’t look convinced. ‘There are two kind of big ‘ifs’ in that sentence, you know, Eva,’ she said.

‘I know,’ I said. ‘But shouldn’t we try anyway, for Daisy’s sake?’

Now Kate was serious. She reached over and took my hand. ‘Eva, there’s one important thing you’re not considering, isn’t there?’

‘What?’

She spoke slowly and carefully, like she was afraid of offending me.

‘Maybe Daisy’s dad really was guilty. Maybe he did break into that church. Maybe he did steal the chalice. Maybe justice was done – only not in the way Daisy was hoping.’

I shook my head. ‘No way,’ I said. ‘Daisy’s dad would never have done a thing like that.’

‘And you know that how?’

‘Because Daisy said he was innocent.’

‘She would say that, wouldn’t she?’ Kate squeezed my hand tightly. ‘He was her dad,’ she whispered. ‘She loved him. She wanted to believe the best of him – but that doesn’t necessarily mean that he was innocent.’

I didn’t like what she was saying. ‘But––’ I began, before she interrupted me. ‘Even axe-murderers probably hug their kids at night, and tell them bedtime stories. I bet lifelong criminals have kids who believe they’ve never done a single bad thing in their lives. Love makes people do funny things.’

‘So now you’re an expert on love?’ I said crossly.

‘Actually I am,’ she said. ‘When my dad left, I was really, really angry, but I never stopped loving him, not even for one second. Abandoning me was a bad thing to do, and it messed up my life for years, but when Dad came back, I forgave him. That’s what love does to a person.’

I gave her a quick hug. ‘I’m really glad your dad came back,’ I said. ‘But this is different, isn’t it?’

She shook her head. ‘Not really. Maybe Daisy’s dad really was a bad person, but because she loved him, she couldn’t face up to it. She couldn’t deal with the truth.’

I sighed. ‘What you say makes sense,’ I said. ‘But let’s not give up so quickly. How about we do a bit of research and see what we come up with?’

‘You’re going to do this whether I agree or not aren’t you?’ she asked.

‘Yes,’ I said, already planning my next move.

She jumped up. ‘OK,’ she said. ‘Count me in. Time for the Kate and Eva Cold-Case Detective Agency to set up for business.’