The children helped carry Mr Frizzle’s haul up to his room on the second floor before he suggested they’d best go and get ready for dinner – it was already twenty to six. But the kids had other ideas. They were dying to see the photo Kensy had taken, and it also occurred to Autumn that they hadn’t yet told the police about the pickpockets either.

‘See you soon, sir.’ Carlos gave a wave and the four of them flew upstairs to Kensy and Autumn’s room. They would most likely be left alone up there, although the hotel did seem unusually quiet. Perhaps the rest of the teachers had taken their groups out too – either that or they were all having a siesta.

Once they were safely inside, Kensy pulled out her watch and projected the note onto the wall above their beds. Max quickly copied it down on a piece of paper. At first glance, it looked like gobbledygook, but Max soon realised it was a code. Except this time it wasn’t as simple as the Caesar cipher.

‘I’ll work on it until we have to go to dinner,’ Max said.

‘I’ll help, if you like,’ Autumn offered. She and Max had both tied for first place in their code-breaking class during training last week.

‘That would be great, thanks,’ Max said. ‘I’ve never seen anything quite like it before and you’re brilliant, so, between the two of us, I’m sure we’ll crack it.’

Autumn could feel the blush rising to her cheeks. ‘We can only try.’

Kensy was jiggling from one foot to the other. Her brain was in overdrive, thinking about what the Prime Minister had said in her prayers. ‘Do you think Nico could have been kidnapped?’

‘Anything’s possible,’ Carlos replied. ‘I mean, he is the son of one of the most important people in the country.’

There was something scratching away at the back of Kensy’s mind, but whatever it was refused to focus. ‘Maybe there’s a clue in that note.’ She looked at Max and Autumn, who were already hard at work. ‘Can you hurry up and solve it?’

‘We’re doing our best,’ Max grouched. ‘Perhaps you could find something useful to do and stop distracting us.’

Kensy tapped her foot. ‘What if Carlos and I report the pickpockets to the police?’

Carlos nodded. ‘Yeah, let’s do that.’

Autumn looked up. ‘Yes, we have to tell the authorities – it’s horrible to think about all those people who’ve lost their belongings. Hopefully, the police can raid the building and return everything to their owners.’

‘I’m not sure it’s a good idea,’ Max said. ‘If Frizzle knows you’ve gone outside without him, he’ll be furious and we just managed to avoid getting into trouble with him before – more by good luck than good planning.’

Kensy ran to the window and peered into the piazza. She could see three uniformed officers right below them. ‘Then I’ll call to them from the doorway.’

‘If you think that will work,’ Max said, returning to the code. ‘Go for it.’

Kensy and Carlos flew down the stairs. Wherever the others had been before, they were back now, as the floors were squeaking, doors were banging and they could hear voices. As they reached the entrance foyer, Mrs Vanden Boom walked inside with Misha, Lola, Graham and Alfie traipsing after her.

‘And where are you two going?’ she said sternly, glancing at her watch. ‘It’s almost dinnertime.’

‘I dropped my itinerary outside,’ Kensy said. ‘I saw it from the window, and Carlos is coming with me – it will only take a second.’

The woman nodded. ‘Straight out and back again. If you can’t find it, I think I’ve got a spare.’

Misha looked at the pair. There was something in her eyes. Kensy would talk to her later in private – if she could get rid of Lola for longer than ten seconds.

Kensy and Carlos spotted a policeman at the rear of the crowd and raced towards him. In her best Italian, Kensy explained exactly what they had seen in the lane behind the orphanage. The man smiled and told her that she must have been imagining things. Sister Maria Regina’s orphans were good children and they were so well cared for that they would never resort to that type of behaviour.

Kensy tried again and told him about the three thugs that had chased her and her friends, but the man shook his head.

‘Come on, Kensy, it’s obvious he doesn’t believe you,’ Carlos said, guiding her by the arm. He glanced at the other side of the fountain and froze.

Kensy pulled away. ‘Maybe I’m not explaining things properly.’

‘We have to go,’ Carlos insisted. ‘It’s dinnertime and someone is watching us.’

Kensy’s eyes skimmed the crowd of tourists.

‘Just turn around and we’ll head back inside,’ he continued. ‘We can’t stay out here. It’s too dangerous.’

Kensy grudgingly thanked the policeman and walked with Carlos to the hotel door, her heart pounding. She wondered if they should have gone somewhere else because now the brute knew where they were staying.

The pair charged up to the top floor, where Max and Autumn had scattered sheets of paper all over the bed in an effort to decipher the code. Kensy and Carlos ran to the window and looked down into the piazza, but what they saw was even more disturbing than the sneer on that horrible man’s face. The young policeman Kensy had been speaking to and the thug were standing together, laughing.

Kensy turned to Carlos. ‘I hope we’re not the joke,’ she said.

Carlos bit his lip. ‘I have a bad feeling that we are.’