Read Online The Baker Street Boys - The Case of the Stolen Sparklers by Anthony Read - Free Book Online Page B

brown-paper parcel.
    The woman looked around the shop to make sure no one else was inside, then waddled across, locked the door and pulled down the blind. Gertie, who had ducked out of sight, turned back and found that she could just see the shop counter through the narrow gap between blind and door. She held her breath as the shopkeeper unwrapped the parcel to reveal what was inside. Would it be the tiara?
    The brown paper still hid the contents of the parcel, but whatever it was, the woman looked very pleased. However, when she lifted it out, it turned out to be a smart lady’s dress, trimmed with lace. She unfolded it and held it up against Violet, examining it carefully. Then, satisfied that it was not marked or damaged in any way, she nodded and said something to Violet, who shook her head and said something in return. Gertie could not hear what they were saying, but she had been to enough horse sales with her father to know that they were haggling over money for the dress. After a few more exchanges, they obviously agreed a price and shook hands. The woman pressed a key on the ornate brass cash register, and when it opened with a sharp
ting
she took out a handful of coins and gave them to Violet, who slipped them quickly into her handbag.
    When she came out of the dress shop, Violet went straight back to Mountjoy House. She did not stop, apart from calling at a little sweet shop to buy a paper bag of chocolate drops – which made Gertie’s mouth water as she watched. When Violet got back, she hurried down the steps into the kitchen, where Queenie was on her hands and knees scrubbing the floor.
    “Oh, look – you’ve made dirty footmarks all across my nice clean floor!” Queenie cried as Violet walked past her.
    “So I have,” Violet replied, not looking at all sorry. “You’ll just have to do it again, won’t you?”
    Just then, Mrs Ford came into the kitchen. “What’s going on here?” she demanded.
    “She’s walked all over my clean floor,” Queenie told her.
    “That’s not very nice, young lady!” Mrs Ford chided Violet, wagging a finger at her. “And where have you been, may I ask?”
    “Running an errand for her ladyship,” Violet replied. “Is she back yet?”
    “No, she ain’t,” Mrs Ford said, clearly not believing her. “So you ain’t been missed.”
    “That’s all right, then,” said Violet with a cheeky smirk. “I’ll go and take my hat and coat off before she comes back.” And she trotted off into the house.
    “She’s getting too big for her boots, that one,” said Mrs Ford, shaking her head in annoyance.
    Queenie sighed and began to wipe up Violet’s footprints. She looked down at her hands, which were red and sore from all the scrubbing and cleaning and washing-up she had been doing. Being a skivvy was no fun at all, she decided. She couldn’t wait to get back to the Boys and HQ.
    Gertie had returned to HQ to tell Wiggins and Beaver what she had seen.
    “I thought it was gonna be the jewels,” she said, “but it was only a frock. Mind, it looked like a very nice frock.”
    “Worth a bob or two?” Beaver asked.
    “Yeah, I reckon it was. Real posh, if you ask me.”
    Polly frowned. “Violet don’t have no real posh frocks,” she said. “What was it like?”
    Gertie was not much good at describing dresses, since she never wore one herself and wasn’t very interested in them. But she did her best.
    “It was made of shiny stuff. Sort of a bluey-greeny colour…”
    “You mean like turquoise?” Polly asked.
    “No, I don’t reckon it was Turkish.”
    “If it was Turkish,” said Beaver, “it would have had baggy trousers and a tunic – oh, and a veil. I seen a picture once of a Turkish princess, and—”
    “Beaver!” Wiggins interrupted. “It ain’t Turkish, it’s tur
quoise
. Turquoise is a colour: bluey-green, or greeny-blue, if you like.”
    “Yeah, that’s it,” said Gertie. “And it had lots of lace down the front.”
    “That’s one of