CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

I left my family to battle with the guinea pigs because I was filled with a sense of extraordinary purpose and keen detective instincts. Now the game was well and truly afoot!

Fortunately I didn’t have to use up any of those detective instincts on tracking down Kip and Ingrid because at that very moment they were walking over the gravel path towards me.

“Kip! Ingrid!” I cried urgently, “I need to talk to you . . . RIGHT NOW!”

“Does it have to be right now, Poppy?” Kip groaned. “It is breakfast time after all.”

“Trust me.” I spoke in a hushed voice. “What I have to say is SO HUGE that you won’t even care about breakfast.”

Kip and Ingrid looked at me with awed expressions on their faces. That was big talk. I led them further down the drive and away from all the squeaking and crashing that was still coming from the dining room. We reached one of the comfortable oak trees and huddled underneath its red and orange parasol.

“What is it? What’s going on, Poppy?” Kip asked, looking into my face. “You’re bright red.”

“I think I have an idea about Scrimshaw’s gold,” I said, and it was like I had electrified them both.

“W-what?” said Kip. “You know where the gold is?”

“No,” I said, “but I think I’ve worked out the first clue!”

“That’s amazing!” said Ingrid. “I’ve been trying to work it out all night. I think I was even dreaming about it. What is it?”

“Well,” I said, “remember what Penny said, about Scrimshaw being a collector?”

“Yeah,” Kip nodded.

“Mr Grant said the same thing, about all Scrimshaw’s fossils,” Ingrid said, thoughtfully.

“Yes,” I agreed quickly, “and then Ingrid, your dad said he wasn’t interested in a load of old bones!”

Realization was spreading over Kip and Ingrid’s faces.

“You don’t mean. . .” Kip trailed off.

“Set a fire beneath my bones,” Ingrid breathed. “He meant his collection of bones?”

“I think so,” I said seriously, “but, wait, that’s not all.”

The seriousness of my voice wiped the growing smiles off their faces. “What is it, Poppy?” Ingrid asked, looking worried. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s what Penny said,” I replied, “about where Scrimshaw’s collection of fossils was.”

Ingrid’s face paled. “In the town hall,” she gasped.

Kip looked from me to Ingrid and back again. “So, what are you saying?” he asked. “That we might have solved the clue but that the next clue was burned up in the fire? We know that’s not true because somebody found the second clue, remember.” He slumped back against the tree trunk, his hands spread out in front of him like he was reaching for some sort of answer.

“I think it’s more than that, Kip,” I said slowly. “Think about it. The clue said, ‘Set a fire beneath my bones.’”

“You think . . . the town hall fire?” Ingrid shuddered, wide-eyed.

“Where did the fire start?” I asked wildly. “On the second floor. In the exhibition.”

We stood, staring at each other.

“I think someone was following the clue. I think that’s why the fire started.” I shook my head in disbelief.

There was a pause.

“But there’s even more,” I said solemnly. “And it’s bad.”

“What?” Kip asked as Ingrid clutched my arm.

“It’s what happened last night . . . to Penny,” I said. Kip and Ingrid looked at me in surprise. “Penny Farthing . . . she’s Phineas Scrimshaw’s last remaining family member.”

Kip looked confused but Ingrid’s face was horrified.

“You think someone’s . . . trying to get rid of Penny?” she whispered. “Because of the gold? That’s why they tried to get her to eat the cake with peanuts in?”

I nodded seriously. “The same person who dressed up as a waiter and gave Penny that cake also had the second clue,” I said. “If the person who had the second clue started the fire to get it then that means all of these things are the work of one person. You guys,” I said slowly, “I don’t think we’ve been solving two separate mysteries at all. The fire and the gold, they’re joined together. It’s been a double mystery all along.”