All of the children had gathered in Alice-Miranda and Millie’s room for the slumber party. To make space, Hugh and Hamish had pushed the beds back against the walls and Caprice’s foldaway had been removed. Everyone was dressed in their pyjamas, sitting in a circle on the floor, on top of a mountain of fluffy duvets and pillows.

‘Seriously, I can’t believe the Baron is selling the hotel to Grouchy Doerflinger,’ Millie said, shaking her head. She took a sip from her mug of hot chocolate.

‘Me either,’ Alice-Miranda said.

‘Who is this woman?’ Caprice asked, exasperated. ‘Everyone keeps saying bad stuff about her, but what did she ever do to you?’

‘She’s … tricky,’ Lucas said diplomatically.

‘Her nose is too skinny,’ Sloane said, wrinkling her own.

‘Really?’ Sep stared at his sister. ‘That’s what you think is wrong with her?’

‘Well, it is,’ Sloane said, sticking her tongue out at her brother. ‘It’s so sharp she could probably cut cheese with it.’

‘What does she look like?’ Nina asked.

‘She walks around like this,’ Sloane said, getting up and stalking around the room. ‘She’s pointed and skinny, unlike her husband who’s really, really –’

‘Sloane, you don’t have to be unkind,’ Alice-Miranda chided. ‘Herr Fanger is very sweet.’

‘I don’t know what he sees in her,’ Jacinta said.

‘Hang on, I think I have a photo of her presenting the trophies at White Turf.’ Millie picked up her camera from the bedside table and switched it on. She walked over to show Caprice and Nina. ‘That’s her, there,’ she said, pointing at the screen.

Caprice made a face. ‘Sloane’s right. She’s ugly.’

Nina peered at the picture and frowned. ‘I’ve seen her before.’

‘Yes, she was staying here this week,’ Alice-Miranda said. ‘She went home this morning.’

Nina shook her head slowly. ‘No, not just here at the hotel. I’ve seen her visiting Valerie. She lives in the flat next door to my piano teacher.’

Millie and Alice-Miranda’s eyes widened. ‘Aunt Delphine!’ they exclaimed in unison, then quickly relayed their encounter with Valerie in the powder room.

‘How long has Valerie worked here?’ Sloane asked.

‘She wasn’t here last time we came and that was probably about a year and a bit ago,’ Alice-Miranda said.

‘And when did the hotel start losing business?’ Millie asked pointedly.

Alice-Miranda nodded. ‘I was just thinking the same thing. I should talk to Mummy and Daddy.’

‘Am I missing something?’ Lucas asked.

Sep slapped his forehead. ‘Do you think Valerie has something to do with there being no guests?’

‘Well, Frau Doerflinger is going to buy the hotel …’ Alice-Miranda said, her thoughts racing a million miles a minute.