11

6 P.M.

The handwriting on the paper was in neat copperplate, all squiggles and wiggles, so that Jonny actually had to squint to see what it was saying behind all the decoration as he read the verse out.

‘Pickle’s our most pompous president,

But to bet for much longer I’m hesitant.

If he doesn’t retire,

He’ll attract our ire

And soon in his coffin be resident.’

Jonny uncrossed his eyes with a conscious effort.

‘So it wasn’t just the cyanide note. This one basically says that if he doesn’t step down, it’ll make them angry and he’ll end up dead.’

President Pickle had plucked a wad of letters from an inside pocket, neatly wrapped in a ribbon, and handed it over before Cynthia could escort him away from the table, still doubled over and gripping his stomach as if ferrets were gnawing away at it from inside.

The Young Magicians were now back in their room, commencing their investigation in the brief pause between the banquet and the Gala Show.

‘Maybe they’re just trying to starve him out,’ said Zack. ‘Make him too afraid to eat. Listen to this one.’

‘I say, I say, I say, what’s the difference between arsenic and Pickle’s neckties?’

‘I don’t know! What is the difference between arsenic and Pickle’s neckties?’

‘There isn’t one – they’re both completely tasteless!’

Hope you’re watching what you eat, Pix.

‘So more poison,’ Zack finished.

‘There’s a definite theme here, isn’t there?’ Sophie said, trying not to sound sarcastic. ‘He gives up being president, or he gets poisoned to death. Talk about a Magician’s Choice! There’s slightly more at stake here than chocolate or carrot cake. Even if they’re only bluffing about the poison.’

She shivered, like she had when she read the first note. There was something in these notes, like an echo hiding behind the words that only certain people could hear. Whoever wrote this really did not wish President Pickle well.

‘It’s certainly done the job of scaring him,’ agreed Alex, thinking of Pickle’s rumpled figure. Once, the man had filled his clothes so successfully that every button had been replaced at least twice a year, but now his dark blue suit hung on him like a malnourished scarecrow.

‘You can see why Cynthia was upset,’ Sophie said, ‘and why he didn’t want us involved.’

‘Hmm, yeah,’ Zack grunted.

Of the four of them, he had the least reason to like President Pickle. The man deserved to have his picture in the dictionary under ‘pig-headed’. For once he had an idea in his head it was there to stay, and the more you tried to show him that he was wrong, the more convinced he became that he was right. Zack had suffered from being labelled a thief for a whole year, all because of President Pickle’s stubbornness. So it followed that the more anyone tried to force President Pickle into resigning, the more he would put his foot down and stay.

Maybe putting him off his food was the cleverest thing to do, Zack thought. It was hitting him in the one place he could be hurt without actually finishing him off. But it was conniving, torturous and calculated and – to that extent – Zack didn’t like the sound of whoever was behind these threats one bit. Even if they did share a common dislike of President Pickle.

‘So, now we’re authorized to do this, where do we start?’ Sophie said with a twinkle in her eye that officially marked the start of their next mission. ‘I know who my money would be on, if I had to guess.’

‘Eric Diva,’ said the other three in unison.

‘He looked like he’d just been dropped into a cold bath from one thousand metres when President Pickle said he wasn’t going to retire,’ Jonny added, immediately realizing that such a fall wasn’t survivable. (Or maybe it was? Given the right gear and set-up … Jonny’s mind immediately began to weigh up the possibilities and he quickly pulled it back to the matter in hand.)

‘But, if it’s him, why save President Pickle’s life from that sword?’ Alex whispered. Alex was too used to being on the receiving end of unpleasantness from kids at school twice his height and half his intellect not to feel President Pickle’s humiliation and pain, but then something about all this just didn’t add up.

‘I mean,’ he went on, ‘if Eric Diva doesn’t want President Pickle to be president, then a tragic accident would be the way to do it. No one would ever suspect him. Why go to such great lengths otherwise?’

‘Maybe he just wants to scare President Pickle into resigning.’

‘Well, in that case, we’ve got a little over thirteen hours to work it out,’ Sophie said. Everyone looked at her.

‘Thirteen hours?’ Zack remembered the Crown Jewels case taking much longer than that. He hadn’t realized there was time pressure. ‘How do you work that out?’ he asked.

‘Because that’s when the AGM is,’ Alex reasoned. ‘If he resigns, they’ll need to elect a new president – and the AGM is when all the Magic Circle officials get elected.’

‘Well then, we should get cracking!’ Jonny took a single step towards the door – which, with his legs, took him most of the way there, if not a notch further – before he realized they didn’t actually have a plan yet.

‘There’s the Gala Show coming up,’ Alex said. ‘We need to be there, and we need to keep our eyes peeled. Maybe someone will try something, or maybe someone will just give themselves away –’

‘But this time … the Young Magicians will be there to stop them!’ Zack vowed with a huge grin.

The others looked at him oddly.

‘No offence, mate, but President Pickle hates you, and you know it …’ Jonny began.

‘So why are you so eager to help all of a sudden?’ Sophie finished. Zack smirked, and began to tick things off on his fingers.

‘One, I just don’t like whoever’s sending those letters. They’re mean, and I hate mean people. Two, it’s a mystery and I love mysteries. And three … Oh boy, three! Three …’

They waited eagerly, and Zack’s smile grew impossibly wider.

‘Three, it will so tick him off if we solve it!’ He beamed at them, hands held out like he’d just pulled off the most amazing trick and was now waiting for the applause, just as a formality.

‘That does make sense,’ Jonny agreed, ‘in a bizarre, Zack-like sort of way. I mean, Zack-logic doesn’t always follow everyone else’s …’

‘I do use a superior system,’ Zack agreed.

If they saved President Pickle’s life, he would never live it down!