Yuki rushed out the door into the alley, almost bumping into Yamato, who was scratching his head with a bewildered look on his face.

‘Where did she go?’ Yuki demanded.

Yamato pointed to Millie, who was standing with Jacinta. ‘That girl said that she saw the boy leaving the house with a backpack hours ago.’

‘But the old woman said that she had just run away,’ Yuki explained. ‘Someone is lying.’

Jacinta pulled on Millie’s kimono sleeve. ‘Let’s go and find Alice-Miranda.’

Millie shook her head. ‘No. If we go inside they’ll know that the princess is still there. We should wait until they leave.’

‘Girls,’ Mrs Oliver called as she caught sight of Millie and Jacinta. She’d been inside the limousine waiting for her tablet to take effect. Fortunately it had worked very quickly and she’d been able to explain to the driver exactly what was going on. The man had been visibly shocked and passed the telephone to Mrs Oliver, who had explained everything to Kenzo. At the moment she was having no trouble switching between English and Japanese.

Yuki and Yamato spun around as Mrs Oliver walked towards them.

‘Your game is up,’ she said calmly in Japanese. ‘The authorities will be here any minute.’

‘What are you talking about?’ Yuki looked at Yamato and gulped. ‘You’re just a silly old woman.’

A sharp noise exploded in his eardrum. It was Hatsuko telling him much the same thing.

‘Well, what are you waiting for?’ Mrs Oliver could hear the woman’s screeching through the earpiece. ‘If I were you I’d get out of here quick smart.’

Millie nodded. ‘Kidnapping a princess must be one of the worst crimes you can commit. I’ve heard that Japanese prisons are harsh places,’ she said in Japanese.

‘What are you two talking about?’ Jacinta whined. ‘I don’t understand.’

Over by the dumpster, Tatsu and Taro were hiding as best they could and trying to work out exactly what was going on.

‘Are those the men from the government?’ Taro whispered to his father.

Tatsu shrugged. ‘I’m not sure.’

‘It sounds like they want Yoshi,’ Taro said. ‘Maybe you burned all the papers for no reason.’

His father clipped him over the ear. He had been thinking that too.

There was another hissing sound in Yuki’s ear. The two men looked at each other. ‘Let’s go!’ Yuki shouted.

He and Yamato ran towards their car and leapt in. The wheels spun as Yuki attempted to reverse down the narrow road. But his efforts were in vain as several cars sped towards him, blocking the car in. Yuki switched gears and drove forward, but between the limousine from the palace and another car which had entered the road from the other direction there was no escape.

 

Back inside the house, the doorbell rang again.

‘What now?’ Obaasan called. ‘What is going on around here?’ The old woman shuffled along the back hall towards the front entrance. She opened the door and squinted.

‘I beg your pardon, Obaasan.’ A man dressed in a dinner suit bowed deeply. ‘Please may I come in?’

The old woman wrinkled her nose and stared. She pulled her thick glasses from her apron pocket and put them on.

‘Please let me introduce myself,’ the man said.

Obaasan leaned forward. She looked up and tried her best to focus. ‘Oh! It is not possible!’ she gasped. ‘What are you doing here?’