Crowns and Codebreakers Read Free Page B

in the street outside and some older boys were sitting on it. Minnie felt herself blush as she walked past them and heard them comment. She was basically Church Barbie. It was a nightmare.
    She kept her head down all the way to St Michael’s, barely glancing at the theatre or shops as they walked.As far as she was concerned, the ground outside Ahmed’s Cleaners could happily open up and swallow her.
    They all trooped into the church and found a row of seats together. The hall was warm, cosy and very modern, with a PA system to make the sermon easier to hear. After they sang a few hymns and listened to the pastor, Gran’s wide-as-anything grin was back.
    Andrew sang the loudest of anyone there. Piotr mumbled the words so softly that barely a murmur came out. Minnie just tried to stay in tune. Once the service was done, Dad treated everyone to a roast dinner in a family pub. Minnie got mint sauce on her dress accidentally-on-purpose.
    Gran led the way back to the flat in a much brighter mood. Minnie swung her arms as much as she could against the tight lace, and raised her face up to the sun. The world might have been made from the dirt in a snail’s shell, but some days, she felt, it was very nice dirt.
    The feeling didn’t last.
    Something was wrong inside the salon. She could sense it as soon as they stepped inside.
    It was too cold. A breeze was blowing through.
    Mum and Dad paused. Gran looked confused. Where was the breeze coming from?
    ‘Stay here,’ Dad said.
    Minnie, Piotr and Andrew waited.
    He went to the back of the salon, then reappeared. ‘The back door is wide open,’ he said to Mum. ‘The lock’s been forced.’
    Mum looked around. Burglars? What had they taken?
    The salon looked pristine. Nothing had been touched.
    She ran upstairs. Her heels clattered on the tiles. Minnie and the others followed slowly. The door to the flat had been forced open too, the wood around the lock splintered like firewood.
    Mum dashed from the living room, to her bedroom, to the kitchen. ‘Nothing’s missing,’ she said. ‘Why would someone break in and take nothing?’
    Minnie’s skin prickled. She remembered the strange postcard in the wrong case, the missing eyes, the juju. She went into her bedroom.
    When they’d left for church that morning, the small black case had been propped against the wardrobe. It was gone.
    ‘They were in my room,’ she said softly.
    Mum was at her side, then Gran, then Dad. It felt squished, hard to breathe.
    Gran sat down heavily on her bed. ‘While we were atchurch,’ she whispered. ‘While we were at church .’ She held her hand to her chest.
    Dad sidestepped the bed and sat down beside Gran. ‘It’s OK, Mama,’ he said. ‘It’s OK.’
    ‘How is this OK? Strangers in our house! Bad people. In our room.’ She rolled her eyes to heaven. ‘Who would do such a thing? And why would they not just ask for their case? I would have returned it. I am not a criminal!’
    All very good questions.
    Minnie caught Piotr’s eye and flicked her head towards the hallway. He and Andrew followed her out.
    They could still hear Dad’s soft whispering, Mum’s soothing and Gran’s rock-solid unshakable belief that they would be murdered in their beds next.
    ‘Is nothing else gone?’ Piotr asked. ‘No jewellery, or money, or computers?’
    Minnie whisked through the rooms, but Mum was right – there wasn’t a drawer open, a cupboard ransacked, a single knick-knack out of place. The black case was the only thing missing.
    ‘What’s the big deal about the black case?’ Andrew said.
    Minnie explained quickly about the mix-up on the carousel.
    ‘So it wasn’t even your gran’s case?’ Andrew sounded confused.
    Dad came out of the bedroom. He looked at the three of them standing in the hallway. ‘You look like hatstands,’ he said. ‘Why don’t you go and watch some TV or something? I’m going to call the police to report the break-in.’
    Minnie led the way into the living room.