that?â
âJosh,â said Nancy, âwhat happened to Julia was terrible. But you mustnât let it push you off the edge.â
âNo, well, no, youâre right. Youâre absolutely right. But Iâd still like to know what that rhyme means. And
Jack be nimble, Jack be quick.
What was that all about? Why do I have to be nimble? Why do I have to be quick?â
âBecause weâve arrived, sir,â put in PC Smart, pulling up in front of their hotel. It was beginning to rain, and a few large spots were measling the sidewalks.
âHave a good evening, sir. Detective Sergeant Paul will be in touch with you tomorrow. Oh, and just a word of advice. I know youâve probably seen all these TV programs where an American comes over to London and sorts out a crime that the poor old British woodentops canât make head nor tail of. But the team weâve got on your sisterâs case, theyâre absolutely shit-hot. So thereâs no need to try any amateur detective-work of your own. Just relax while youâre here, and enjoy the sights, if you get my drift.â
âWere you specially instructed to tell me that?
PC Smart nodded. His cheeks were bright pink and he only shaved in two small patches on either side of his chin.
âNo amateur detective-work?â Josh retorted. âThis is the city of Sherlock Holmes!â
âSherlock Holmes was a story, sir. This is real. And the point is, if you did find something, you might compromise valuable evidence without even realizing what you were doing.â
âAll right,â said Josh, as he climbed awkwardly out of the car. âDrift got.â
All the same, he and Nancy went to collect 200 posters of Julia from the Kall-Kwik copy shop, as well as two boxes of thumbtacks, and they spent over two hours fastening them to fence posts and gates and the scabby gray-green trunks of plane trees. They stopped for half an hour at Pizza Express, and for once the coffee was tolerable and the pizzawas marginally tastier than they would have been served in the States.
Nancy said, âI want to make sure that you stay balanced, Josh. I know you have to grieve, but donât let your grieving drive you crazy.â
Josh was coping with a mouthful of hot pepperoni. âI wohmp.â
âLike, if we find out anything, we tell the police, OK? We donât try to follow it up on our own?â
Josh swallowed, and wiped his mouth. âWe havenât found out anything yet, and I donât think weâre likely to.â
âBut if we do.â
âEven if we do, how are we going to be able to tell if itâs serious or not? They donât speak English here, they speak Sarcastic. âWordsworth went home and wrote itâ â haw, haw, haw. No wonder they lost the Colonies.â
By the time they had finished their pizza it had stopped raining and a sick, watery sunlight was shining down the Earlâs Court Road. They fastened their âHave You Seen This Girl?â posters of Julia on to the front of their windbreakers with safety pins and stood against the railings right outside the station entrance. Rush hour was approaching, and every time a train arrived another surge of people came hurrying out, all elbows and umbrellas and grim, tired, determined faces. At the same time there was a sluggish cross-tide of people walking up and down the sidewalk in front of the station, and people stopping to buy copies of the
Evening Standard
from the newsstand, and people just milling around as if they had nothing to do and no place to go.
Josh and Nancy stood there for three and a half hours, until the rush hour subsided and the streetlights came on. They had almost given up when a black mongrel with a pointed nose came trotting out of the station entrance. It wore bells around its collar and a little sheepskin coat. It seemed to be on its own, and Josh immediately stuck two fingers in his mouth and gave it
Julie Buxbaum
MAGGIE SHAYNE
Edward Humes
Samantha Westlake
Joe Rhatigan
Lois Duncan
MacKenzie McKade
Patricia Veryan
Robin Stevens
Enid Blyton