Four best friends.
One priceless necklace.
And an actress with two personalities . . .
For Lauren and her friends, living in a luxury London hotel definitely has its perks . . .
Like getting to meet the glamorous Isabella Duval.
But it seems there are two sides to their famous guest and so the girls turn detective.
Can they solve the mystery of which is the real Isabella – and which is the act?
Alex Carter lives in London. The Case of the Ruby Necklace is her first book.
Cover
About the Book
Title Page
Acknowledgements
Characters
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
About the Author
Also by Alex Carter
Copyright
THE MAYFAIR MYSTERIES: THE CASE OF THE RUBY NECKLACE
AN RHCP DIGITAL EBOOK 978 1 409 09867 6
Published in Great Britain by RHCP Digital,
an imprint of Random House Children’s Publishers UK
A Penguin Random House Company
This ebook edition published 2011
Series created and developed by Amber Caravéo
Copyright © Random House Children’s Books, 2011
First Published in Great Britain
Red Fox 9781849411714 2011
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
RANDOM HOUSE CHILDREN’S PUBLISHERS UK
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THE RANDOM HOUSE GROUP Limited Reg. No. 954009
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Also available in
series:
With special thanks
to Narinder Dhami
Eye colour: blue
Hair: auburn – like the rest of the family – cut into a bob
Style: jeans, T-shirts and Converse
Siblings: Charlie, an annoying little brother
Likes: anything sporty, especially swimming in the lush hotel pool
Dislikes: tidying her room
Prize possession: mobile phone, for keeping the other girls up to date with all the action at the Mayfair Park
Dreams of: running her own chain of luxury hotels, one in LA, New York, Paris, Dubai . . . a home on every continent!
Eye colour: brown
Hair: shoulder length Afro-Caribbean curls
Style: glam and wild! Favourite items include super-sparkly shoes and anything with animal print
Likes: spending time with her BFFs
Dislikes: sitting still, Maths lessons, sitting still in Maths lessons . . .
Secret talent: impressive acting skills – useful in getting the girls out of several sticky situations with The Snoop
Dreams of: becoming the next Beyoncé or Tyra Banks – Jas is definitely the diva of the group!
Eye colour: brown
Hair: very long, very dark, shiny and straight
Style: eclectic – Mia mostly wears bright colours, layered with one of her mum’s vintage Spanish scarves
Siblings: two geeky older brothers
Likes: all animals, especially those in need of some TLC
Prize possession: a top-of-the-range laptop – Google can help solve almost any mystery!
Dreams of: working for the United Nations, or becoming a vet
Eye colour: grey
Hair: blonde, shoulder-length curls
Style: pretty and girly . . . floaty skirts, floral tops and high heels
Likes: organizing things for everyone, especially her forgetful dad . . . and chocolate!
Dislikes: untidiness – the total opposite of super-messy Lauren!
Prize possession: her collection of celeb memorabilia. The Mayfair Park is the perfect place for celeb-spying . . .
Dreams of: being a high-flying celebrity agent – Becky was born super-glam and super-organized!
Hurry up and get round here as fast as u can – got a gr8 big surprise for u all!!! Lauren x
Her blue eyes dancing with mischief, Lauren Bond hit the SEND button on her phone and forwarded the mysterious text to her best friends, Mia, Becky and Jas. Her mates would be dying to find out what was going on, Lauren thought gleefully. She’d hardly been able to believe it herself when her parents had told her earlier that morning. Now she couldn’t wait to see the looks on her friends’ faces when she told them the amazing news . . .
I bet Jas is first to get here! Lauren thought, smiling to herself. Her phone beeped, signalling that she had a text, and she flipped it open and read the message.
Ooh, can’t stand the excitement! Tell me!!! Jas x
Typical Jas – she was always in a rush and could never wait for anything!
No way! Not until you get here! Lauren texted back, adding a kiss and a smiley face.
Lauren curled up more comfortably in a corner of the squashy black leather sofa and glanced around the huge hotel reception, its interior tastefully decorated in cream and blue. It was Saturday morning and the hotel was busy with weekend guests. Some were checking in, others were checking out, and the smart glass-and-chrome café-bar on the far side of reception was full of people enjoying breakfast. Although it was still quite early, the hotel spa, swimming pool and gym were already busy. Lauren had been for an early-morning swim, and the spa had already been filling up with guests relaxing in white robes.
Lauren sighed with contentment. She’d been absolutely thrilled when her parents had come to work at the Mayfair Park, a luxury hotel in London. Her dad was the hotel manager and her mum was head of hospitality, and although most of the staff lived off the premises, Lauren, her younger brother Charlie and their parents had a flat in a wing of the hotel.
Lauren adored living at the Mayfair Park. She never got bored with people-watching because there was always so much going on. Lauren loved everything, from the huge, noisy kitchens where Louis Henri, the temperamental French chef, ruled with a rod of iron and produced mouth-wateringly delicious meals for the hotel restaurant, right up to the exclusive luxury suites on the top floor. She just couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. Mia, Becky and Jas loved hanging out at the hotel too, so whenever the girls got together out of school, it was always at the Mayfair Park. Lauren’s parents were very laid-back about the girls being in the hotel and using the facilities, as long as they didn’t annoy any of the guests or get in their way.
At that moment Lauren’s dad popped out of his office near the reception desk to shake hands with a group of departing American guests.
‘What a fabulous hotel you have, Mr Bond,’ one of the women in the party said in a Southern drawl. ‘We’ve enjoyed our stay so much.’
‘It’s been a pleasure,’ Lauren’s dad replied. ‘We look forward to seeing you again in future.’ As the guests left, he waved at Lauren and then disappeared back into his office.
A few minutes later Lauren spotted her mum on the other side of reception. Mrs Bond looked brisk and efficient in her dove-grey trouser suit with her wavy auburn hair, the exact same shade as Lauren’s short bob, tied neatly back. Clipboard in hand, she was deep in discussion with a couple of her assistants. There was a big medical conference taking place at the hotel over the weekend, and Lauren’s mum was in charge of organizing it.
Lauren felt a rush of enormous pride. It was her parents who between them kept the hotel running smoothly and efficiently, and they were brilliant at it . . .
Suddenly Lauren sat up as Jas, long legs flying, came dashing up the marble steps between the stone columns that flanked the entrance to the hotel. Lauren giggled quietly to herself. Jas never walked anywhere if she could run. She watched Jas say a breathless hello to the doorman, James, looking very smart in his blue and gold uniform, and then hurry into reception, weaving her way between guests and their suitcases.
Lauren waved. Jas’s face lit up when she spotted her and she rushed straight over.
‘Hi, Lols,’ she said, plonking herself down on the sofa next to Lauren. ‘So, come on, spill it! What’s going on?’
Lauren shook her head tantalizingly. ‘I couldn’t possibly say until Mia and Becky get here,’ she replied.
‘Nooooo!’ Jas groaned, ruffling her shoulder-length black hair in frustration. She dived into her jeans pocket and pulled out a bar of chocolate. ‘Not even for this?’
‘Bribery and blackmail won’t get you anywhere,’ Lauren said firmly, her eyes twinkling.
‘Then I’ll just have to eat it myself,’ Jas sighed, unwrapping the chocolate. But, with a grin, she broke it in two and gave half to Lauren.
‘It must be something to do with the hotel,’ Jas speculated knowingly as they ate the chocolate. ‘Can’t you just give me a teeny-tiny little clue?’
‘No,’ Lauren retorted. ‘No, no, NO! No clues!’
‘I guess that’s a no, then,’ Jas said with a pretending-to-be-offended sniff.
‘You won’t have to wait much longer,’ Lauren went on. ‘Here’s Mia now.’
Mia was coming up the steps. She smiled shyly at James and then slipped quietly through the glass doors, stopping to pick up a newspaper and hand it back to the guest who’d dropped it.
‘I thought you’d be here first, Jas,’ Mia remarked with a smile as she joined Lauren and Jas on the sofa. ‘Have you been attempting to bribe Lauren with chocolate?’
‘Ooh, as if I’d do such a thing,’ Jas said with mock-indignation, breaking off some of her own chocolate and handing it to Mia. ‘What a totally suspicious mind you have, Mia Lopez.’
‘She tried, but I didn’t give in,’ Lauren added, winking at Mia.
‘That figures!’ Mia laughed, flicking back her long shiny waterfall of dark hair. Mia was so pretty, with her gorgeous hair and big brown eyes, Lauren thought, as she’d done a million times before. But Mia was so quiet and unassuming, she didn’t even seem to realize. ‘Look, Becky’s just arrived.’
Becky was strolling confidently up the steps, blonde curls bouncing. She smiled at James and walked into reception, looking around until she spotted the other girls waving madly at her.
‘Sorry I’m late, guys. My dad decided to cook bacon and eggs this morning, and managed to set his tie on fire!’ Becky rolled her eyes. ‘Honestly, how can a Professor of Environmental Biogeochemistry be so useless in the kitchen?’
‘I don’t even know what Biogeochemistry is,’ Mia said.
‘Neither do I!’ Becky confessed as Lauren handed her some chocolate.
‘Oh, never mind about bio-whatcha-ma-call-it!’ Jas said impatiently. ‘Now we’re all here, can you please tell us what’s going on, Lols?’
‘She doesn’t need to,’ Becky butted in, amusement in her wide-set grey eyes. ‘I’ve already guessed!’
Lauren stared at her, amazed. ‘You can’t possibly know, Becks,’ she declared. ‘It only happened this morning.’
‘Tell us, Becky,’ Jas demanded eagerly.
Becky shrugged. ‘Well, I reckon Lauren has finally tidied up her bedroom and she’s invited us all round here to admire it!’
Lauren burst out laughing. Whenever Becky came to the Mayfair Park, she was always desperate to get her hands on the (admittedly terrible) mess in Lauren’s bedroom and tidy it all up. Becky was the queen of organization and efficiency. Secretly Lauren really admired her friend because ever since Becky’s mum had died a few years ago, she’d been left on her own with her absent-minded-professor dad. Somehow Becky was managing to cope very well.
‘If that’s all it is, I’m afraid I shall have to get extremely angry, and shout and throw things,’ Jas said sternly. She threw Lauren a beseeching glance. ‘It’s not that, is it, Lols? Please tell me it isn’t.’
‘As if!’ Lauren laughed.
‘OK, then, I think I know what it is.’ Mia flashed Lauren a cheeky grin. ‘Lauren has finally gone all girlie and bought herself a dress! Or maybe some lip-gloss?’
Lauren looked horrified, and this time it was Jas, Mia and Becky’s turn to burst out laughing.
‘No way!’ Lauren exclaimed. She wasn’t into stuff like clothes and make-up at all. ‘Come on, let’s go up to our flat, and I’ll tell you there. Charlie’s gone for a swim with his mate Joe, so at least we won’t have him hanging around, annoying us.’
‘OK, but I think we’d better hurry,’ Becky said, ‘otherwise Jas is literally going to burst with excitement, and that could get very messy!’
The girls jumped to their feet and headed across reception, Lauren leading the way. There were six lifts close by, and the girls summoned one to take them up to the first floor, where Lauren’s flat was.
‘Mia, I hate to worry you, but your bag appears to have a life of its own,’ Becky remarked as they stood in the lift. Lauren and Jas both stared down at Mia’s embroidered Indian bag and saw that a corner of it was bulging and twitching.
‘It’s Dillon,’ Mia explained as they piled into the lift. ‘He’s a bit off-colour, so I’m keeping an eye on him.’
‘And who is Dillon?’ Jas enquired as the lift zoomed upwards.
‘One of my gerbils,’ Mia replied solemnly. She opened her bag and Lauren, Becky and Jas peeped in. A tiny, furry gerbil was settling down in the corner, next to a handful of seeds.
‘Hi, Dillon,’ Lauren said, stroking the gerbil gently with her finger. Mia loved animals and had a whole menagerie of pets – gerbils, rabbits, cats, dogs and guinea-pigs – at the home she shared with her parents and two older brothers.
‘Can Dillon breathe OK inside that bag?’ Becky asked.
‘Course he can!’ Mia replied a little indignantly. ‘Dillon really enjoys coming everywhere with me!’
‘Remind me never to visit London Zoo with Mia,’ Jas said as Mia closed her bag again. ‘Who knows what kind of animal she might try to smuggle out? Enormous, hairy-scary tarantula, anyone?’
The girls laughed as the lift drew to a halt and the doors slid open. Lauren’s heart sank, though, as she saw the tall, thin, upright figure of Mrs Stoop, the hotel’s housekeeper, standing outside.
‘Good morning, girls,’ was all Mrs Stoop said as she stepped into the lift. But she didn’t smile, and Lauren could see that she looked distinctly annoyed. Mrs Stoop – or The Snoop as the girls called her – was excellent at her job, but she’d never approved of Lauren, Charlie and their friends hanging out at the hotel. She had often complained to Lauren’s dad about it.
‘I know The Snoop is just dying to catch us doing something naughty so she can tell my parents,’ Lauren grumbled as they went down the corridor towards the Bonds’ flat. ‘Thank goodness she doesn’t know Mia’s carrying Dillon around in her bag! Can you imagine her face if he’d popped his head out?’
Jas, Becky and Mia giggled.
‘She’s such a busy-body,’ Lauren went on. ‘Some day I’m going to walk right up to her and tell her to leave us alone—’
‘Ssh, she just got out of the lift again and she’s right behind us!’ Jas hissed in Lauren’s ear.
With a horrified gasp, Lauren whipped round. But the corridor was empty. Jas, Mia and Becky collapsed in hysterics.
‘Jas, you big fat liar!’ Lauren squealed, her shoulders sagging with relief.
Jas was almost helpless with laughter as Lauren grabbed her arm and gave her a shake. ‘Serves you right for not telling us the secret!’ she gasped through her giggles.
‘Maybe I won’t now,’ Lauren teased, unlocking the flat door. Her bedroom was just inside the front door, off the hallway, and she led the girls inside.
‘Yes, I can see now that a tidy bedroom definitely isn’t the surprise,’ Becky remarked, looking around at the unmade bed, the clothes piled everywhere and the untidy heaps of CDs, books and magazines on the desk around the computer.