Millie and Alice-Miranda decided to give Sloane another chance to confess. At the final dress rehearsal, they told Jacinta, Sep and Lucas what they suspected. Lucas said that it all made sense. Sloane had made him take her for a walk around the school a few weeks ago, and she had particularly wanted to know about the classrooms and the teachers and where they kept their marking. He’d told her everything he knew and left her alone after she made the excuse that she needed to go to the toilet and insisted he go back to the rehearsal.

“If she admits it, then we can go to Professor Winterbottom and stop the school being closed,” said Sep.

“Have you talked to your father about any of this?” Alice-Miranda asked.

“No, he’s away overseas working. I’ve tried to get in touch with him, but the phone just rings out,” Sep replied. “Dad might try and put a stop to it all. But I don’t really know. Like I said, sometimes I think I was born on another planet and the aliens decided to leave me with the Sykeses as a bit of a sick joke.”

Alice-Miranda smiled. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to feel as if you didn’t belong in your own family.

“I say we confront her today,” Millie decided.

They all agreed.

Right then, a scene with the dwarfs returning home from work was being rehearsed and Alice-Miranda, Millie, Sep and Lucas weren’t required. Jacinta had to stay back; being the narrator meant she didn’t really get a break the whole time. The others watched as Sloane walked away from where she had been sitting and wandered upstairs to the foyer. Seeing a perfect chance, the children followed her. As she emerged from the ladies’ toilet, they surrounded her.

“What do you lot want?” Sloane stared through narrowed eyes.

“Sloane, you need to do the right thing about the tests,” Sep told her.

Sloane rolled her eyes and folded her arms in front of her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yes, you do. You stole the tests and changed the answers. I bet that the first time, you decided to use my paper to copy from because you’re always telling me how stupid I am. It must have upset you when everyone scored one hundred percent.”

“You haven’t got any proof. I didn’t change your stupid tests. Anyway, it’s too late to stop things now. Mummy said that she’s already got a buyer for the place,” Sloane spat.

“You’ll get what’s coming to you,” Millie threatened.

Sloane laughed. “And what’s that, millions of dollars, you little twit?” She pushed her way through the children and strutted back to the hall. Sep and Lucas followed her.

Millie was grim. “She’s had her chance.”

Alice-Miranda agreed.