The Complete Ruby Redfort Collection. Lauren Child

am wondering where she is.’

      ‘You don’t believe me when I say that didn’t happen?’

      ‘I got no reason to believe you – a lot of weird things have been happening since you showed up.’

      Hitch shrugged. ‘So what do you know about HQ?’

      ‘I know HQ stands for headquarters,’ said Clancy.

      ‘OK, let’s try another one. How about Spectrum, you know anything about that?’

      ‘Well I know about the colour spectrum: red, orange, yellow, green…’

      ‘Smart, very smart – how about the Jade Buddha?’

      ‘Well,’ said Clancy, ‘I know that the museum is having a big launch because the Jade Buddha of Khotan is coming to Twinford, everyone’s talking about it.’

      ‘Kid, cut the choirboy act would you and just tell me what you know.’

      ‘I’m sorry,’ said Clancy shrugging, ‘but I am not sure what you are getting at.’

      ‘What I am getting at, is what do you know about this case, about Ruby’s undercover work?’

      ‘I guess we have our wires crossed because I don’t have a clue what you want me to say and I don’t know anything about any undercover stuff.’

      The boy’s face was a mask, it was hard to believe that Clancy knew more than he was letting on. ‘You got a problem with me kid?’ asked Hitch.

      But Clancy said nothing.

      Hitch looked the boy square in the eye. ‘Your dad has security cameras trained at the house and the road in front. Why don’t we take a look at the tape – see if that car was mine?’

      Clancy Crew got up slowly and led the way into the office where the security monitor was kept. He clicked the tape and rewound back to about eight o’clock the previous night. The image was grainy but it was easy to see the figure of Ruby cycling into the frame, and seconds later Hitch’s car pull up. He saw Ruby happily walking towards it, saw the window wind down and a hand appear. He couldn’t see the driver, nor could he make out Ruby’s expression, but… was that a little step back she took?

      Clancy paused the tape and looked hard at the car.

      ‘Does that look like my car? Look closely,’ said Hitch.

      Clancy looked closely; the car was parked at an angle and the vehicle plates were not in the shot but even so there were things about it that did not seem very “Hitch-like”.

      ‘Do you honestly think that I would drive a car with those hub caps?’ said Hitch. It was true, they were a little flashy, and now that he came to look closely, Clancy could see this car was no convertible.

      Suddenly he felt very cold and very unsure.

      Hitch turned to go. ‘When you’re ready to talk kid, call this number.’ He placed a card on the table and walked out of the house. All Hitch came away with was the knowledge that as far as Clancy Crew was concerned, Ruby had told the truth – the boy would take a secret to the grave.

       Chapter 35.

      Nine Lives

      AS SOON AS HE HEARD HITCH’S CAR drive away, Clancy grabbed his sweatshirt and the card and ran towards the front door. Then he turned and shouted, ‘Just off to meet Ruby, OK?’

      ‘Make sure you are back in good time for the museum party!’ called his mother. But Clancy was already out of the house. Climbing on Ruby’s bike he cycled off towards Amster.

      He made a right at Everglade until he got to the little green opposite the Double Donut Diner. He propped the bike against a fence and walked over to the oak tree. Clancy hadn’t checked it for a while but today he just had a feeling – call it a hunch.

      He looked around – no one was about, so he swung himself up on to the first branch and then climbed high into the tree. He reached into one of the hollows and felt around – something was there, when he withdrew his hand he was holding a little paper crane. It was the symbol for loyalty and when he unfolded it the note said:

      If anything happens to me, blab to the butler.

      It was hard to know whether Ruby had written this as a joke or if she had actually had some premonition that something dark was coming her way.

      But it was all he needed.

      Clancy ran to the nearest phone booth and dialled the number on the card – his call was answered after the first ring.

      ‘She told me about her work with you and Spectrum, she didn’t want to, but I wouldn’t let it go, she had to.’

      ‘It doesn’t matter about that, not any more,’ said Hitch. ‘Just tell me what you know – Ruby said something about a redhead, you saw this woman, right?’

      ‘Yes,’ said Clancy, ‘I did, we both did.’

      ‘Meet me at 101 Maverick Street,’ said Hitch. ‘Can you do that?’

      ‘I think I can find it,’ said Clancy.

      Clancy arrived at the Spectrum office twenty-five minutes later. He was out of breath and thirsty, but when Hitch answered the door Clancy forgot all about that.

      ‘It was me who spotted her,’ said Clancy.

      ‘We’re talking about the redhead?’ said Hitch.

      Clancy nodded. ‘When I spotted her in Twinford Square, I knew I had seen her some place before but I couldn’t think where.’

      ‘So you followed her?’

      ‘Yeah, we followed her to the Grand Twin Hotel and we managed to get into her room.’

      ‘What did you do then?’

      ‘Well, Ruby started going through a stack of photos she found on the desk.’

      ‘And you?’

      ‘Well, I noticed that the woman had all these glasses, huge glasses, tinted, sorta like sunglasses but not, ’cause you could wear them indoors.’

      ‘So?’

      ‘So,’ continued Clancy, ‘Ruby pulls out this photo from the stack of pictures and I remember where I’d seen the redhead – she was in the Redfort’s slide show, in the background of one of their vacation pictures.’

      ‘They didn’t know her?’ asked Hitch.

      ‘No, they didn’t. Anyway, then when we are outside the Double Donut, I see Ruby is staring at me because you see I have forgotten to take off the lady’s glasses.’

      ‘And Ruby recognises them?’ suggested Hitch.

      ‘Yeah,’ replied Clancy, ‘but she didn’t say why.’

      Hitch reached behind the file shelf and the bookcase slid to one side, revealing a passageway. ‘Come with me kid.’

      ‘Hey, that’s kinda corny!’ said Clancy.

      ‘Corny it may be, but Ruby never found it,’ replied Hitch.

      Hitch led Clancy down to the cinema room deep underneath the office. He switched on the projector and clicked though the slides until he got to the one of the woman stepping out of the jewellery store.

      ‘I know the picture’s black and white but could this be the woman?’

      Clancy looked up at the image: the woman in the photograph had the same elegance, the same style, the same mean look about her. The main difference was that this woman wasn’t wearing huge tinted glasses, so you could clearly see her heavily-lashed eyes.

      ‘It does sorta look like her,’ ventured Clancy, ‘but the woman I saw had a big