One top music executive.
Two poisoned slices of Mississippi Mud Pie.
And four budding detectives . . .
Lauren and her three best friends can’t believe their luck when top boy band, 4ever, arrive at Mayfair Park to shoot their new video.
But the girls soon discover that there is a much darker side to the music biz – and there are some people who will stop at nothing to reach the top . . .
Alex Carter lives in London. The Case of the Poisoned Pie is her second 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
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
About the Author
Also by Alex Carter
Copyright
THE MAYFAIR MYSTERIES: THE CASE OF THE POISONED PIE
AN RHCP DIGITAL EBOOK 978 1 409 09870 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 9781849411721 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.
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: organising 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!
Also available in
series:
‘Time to get up, Lauren!’ called Mum.
Lauren Bond groaned and stumbled out of bed. She picked up her school skirt from where it was lying crumpled on the floor, and looked around for a shirt. She was just about to yell to her mum to ask for a clean one, when she remembered. It was the first day of the summer holidays! She could sleep all day!
With a yawn, Lauren went back to her comfy bed. Her head hit the pillow and her eyes closed.
‘Lauren! Rise and shine! There’s a surprise waiting in the kitchen!’ That was Mum again.
There was really nothing for it but to get up. Lauren pulled a dressing gown on over her nightshirt and opened the bedroom door. A blur in bright red robot pyjamas sped past, its nose in the air. This was Charlie, Lauren’s younger brother, acting like a dog following a scent. A few seconds later, the scent hit Lauren’s nose too – pancakes! Mum’s pancakes were famous in the Bond household – they were the American sort that came in huge piles with maple syrup and blueberries and cinnamon. If that was the surprise, it was worth giving up a lie-in for. Breakfast most days was toast and cereal as neither of Lauren’s parents had much time to spend on cooking. Her dad was manager of the Mayfair Park, a luxury London hotel, and her mum was the head of hospitality. Their jobs could go on from early in the morning to late at night, and on every day of the week too.
At least they didn’t have a long journey to work, though – the Bond family lived in their own flat in a wing of the hotel, complete with bedrooms, lounge, bathroom, and of course the kitchen that Lauren was now running towards, her sleepiness forgotten at the thought of food.
She stopped dead in the doorway.
There on the table were five enormous piles of pancakes. Charlie had already claimed one of them, and happily tucking into three of the others were Lauren’s best friends, Jas, Mia and Becky.
‘Surprise!’ said Mrs Bond, who was washing up an enormous frying pan.
‘Wow, did you lot forget it was the holidays too?’ Lauren asked, taking a seat behind the final pancake stack. ‘I mean, how early is this?’
Jas’s eyebrows shot up. ‘Wake up, Lols! Today’s the day!’
‘Yeah, first day of the holidays, I know—’
‘Lauren,’ said Becky pityingly, ‘it’s 4ever day!’
‘Oh!’ Lauren’s mouth dropped open as the others burst out laughing. Of course! The new boyband 4ever were filming their first video in the hotel!
‘Becky texted us all to wake us up, then her dad drove us here,’ Mia explained. ‘We didn’t want to miss any of it.’
‘I texted you too,’ Becky told Lauren.
Lauren wrinkled her nose. ‘Well, I expect my phone’s somewhere in my room . . .’
Becky groaned, as Lauren knew she would. ‘If only you’d let me tidy up a bit . . .’
‘Oh, Rebecca, I wish you could!’ Mrs Bond called over from the sink. ‘But Lauren’d mess it up again within minutes.’
‘Mum!’ Lauren cried, embarrassed. It was true, though. Somehow she just couldn’t keep things neat – and somehow she just couldn’t see that it mattered, really. Becky was a bit of a neat freak, but then she was used to tidying up after her absent-minded-professor father since her mother had died a few years ago.
The piles of pancakes in front of the four girls rapidly disappeared. ‘The video’s being shot in the spa,’ Jas told Lauren. ‘Your mum’s spoken to the director and she says we can watch, as long as we stay well out of the way and don’t bother anyone.’
‘And you must leave if they ask you to,’ Mrs Bond put in. ‘It’s my day off and I don’t want to be called down to deal with any problems.’
‘Yes, Mum,’ said Lauren, and ‘Yes, Mrs Bond,’ chorused the others. They knew they were lucky that Lauren’s mum and dad let them hang around the hotel so much – to the dismay of Mrs Stoop the housekeeper – and were careful not to make a nuisance of themselves.
Lauren checked she’d managed to scrape every last drop of maple syrup from her plate, then jumped up. ‘Come on, then,’ she said. ‘To the spa! What are we waiting for?’
The others didn’t move. ‘Er, I think we’re waiting for you to change out of your nightshirt?’ suggested Mia, grinning.
Ten minutes later, the four girls were heading down in the staff lift, Lauren now dressed in shorts and T-shirt. ‘Lauren, we’re going to meet a band!’ said Jas. ‘What’d it take for you to put on something a bit girlie?!’
‘I dunno – a blue moon or something?’ suggested Lauren.
Jas shook her head in disbelief. She loved getting dressed up and couldn’t understand why it didn’t interest Lauren at all. She and Becky had spent ages choosing their band-meeting wardrobes – a pink strappy top and a short layered skirt made out of cream lace with strappy pink sandals for Jas, and a blue and white stripy dress with a belt and embroidered pumps for Becky. Jas thought that if she lived somewhere as elegant as the Mayfair Park Hotel, she’d have to wear her best clothes every day!
On the ground floor of the hotel was a large heated swimming pool, a curved swirly shape that looked a bit like a chubby question mark with a round Jacuzzi pool making the dot at the bottom. The blue tiles on the floor of the pool and the potted palms around the sides – as well as the always balmy atmosphere – gave the place a Mediterranean feel. Normally there would be at least two or three guests either in the water or relaxing on the blue-and-white-striped loungers that surrounded the pools, but today a RESERVED notice at the entrance meant that it was empty.
The far wall of the pool room was all glass, with glass doors leading into the reception area of the spa. This was a large, wooden-floored space, normally full of comfortable armchairs and low tables where guests would sip at healthy mineral waters while waiting to be ushered into one of the individual treatment rooms for a massage, a manicure or a mud-pack.
Today, however, the chairs and tables had all been cleared. The marble-topped desk, normally manned by either Marie or Judith, the spa receptionists, stood empty. The leafy palms in their terracotta pots, however, were still in their places – and had been joined by about a hundred more. There were vines hanging from the domed roof, and the floor was carpeted with flower petals of red, pink and yellow. Tall lamps threw out a bright golden light.
From the pool room, the girls gazed through the glass wall into the spa.
‘Wow,’ gasped Jas. ‘Is that London or Hawaii?’
‘It’s beautiful,’ said Mia.
‘Stunning,’ added Becky.
Lauren just stared, open-mouthed.
Even though the girls were used to the luxurious surroundings of the Mayfair Park, this was something else. It was just like a tropical rainforest. Jas wouldn’t have been surprised to see parrots flying from tree to tree, or a monkey swinging through the vines.
They pulled four of the pool-room loungers closer to the glass wall so they could see what was going on in the spa next door. They didn’t have a brilliant view because of all the plants dotted around, but at least they wouldn’t be in anyone’s way.
‘It’s like being a spy,’ said Mia, peering round a potted palm at the cameramen setting up their equipment.
‘You sound like Charlie!’ said Lauren.
‘Is he still introducing himself to people as Bond – Charles Bond?’ asked Becky, putting on a deep voice that made the others laugh.
Lauren nodded. ‘Yes. It’s sooo embarrassing.’
‘Anyway,’ put in Jas, ‘we’re not spies – we’re detectives.’
Mia looked surprised. ‘Is there something to detect, then?’
‘Well, no – but we did solve a huge mystery last term, didn’t we? That officially makes us detectives.’
‘“Schoolgirl detectives”, they said in the papers,’ Becky pointed out.
‘And they called it “The Case of the Ruby Necklace”,’ Lauren said. ‘That sounds so cool. I’ve been reading loads of detective stories, and you always have to give each case a cool name.’
‘Well, how about “The Case of the Gorgeous Guys” for this one?’ Jas said, nudging Lauren hard. ‘Look! Is that them?’
Four young men had just arrived. Sadly for the girls, they hadn’t entered the spa through the pool room, but had come through a separate door on the far side of the reception area. They wore swimming trunks and brightly patterned Hawaiian shirts.
Mia followed Jas’s gaze and nodded. ‘That’s 4ever!’ she said. ‘I looked them up on the Internet. The one on the left with blond hair is Pete – he likes travelling and chocolate. Then that one’s Jason and he likes scary films. Niall is the one with red hair, and he likes football, tennis and swimming, and the one on the end is Robin, who has three horses and goes riding whenever he can.’
‘That is so spooky!’ said Jas.
The others frowned. ‘What is?’
‘Well, they’re just like us! Becky is blonde and likes chocolate—’
‘We all like chocolate!’ put in Mia.
Jas wasn’t put off. ‘Lauren is sporty, and she has red hair—’
‘Auburn!’ said Lauren.
‘Well, reddish, then.’ Jas continued, ‘Mia loves animals, and Jason and I have really similar names, Jason and Jasmine.’
‘And you like scary films – all that ghost rubbish!’ added Becky.
‘Uh-huh,’ agreed Jas – she was too excited to argue with Becky about her lack of taste. ‘Well – what d’you think? I reckon we should form a rival girl band!’
The others laughed. ‘I think you have to be able to sing as well,’ Lauren said, ‘and my singing sounds like one of Mia’s cats caught in the rain.’
‘Talking of cats,’ Becky said, turning to Mia, ‘how are the kitten twins?’
Mia beamed happily. ‘They’ve both got new homes!’ she said.
The others smiled too. Animal-loving Mia had rescued two orphaned kittens whose mother had been run over. Not only had she taken them to a shelter, she’d kept visiting and helped to feed them with bottles of milk until they were ready to be re-homed.
‘You’ll miss going to the shelter now the kittens have gone, won’t you?’ Lauren asked.
Mia looked a bit sheepish. ‘Well . . .’ she said, ‘there’s this little dog at the shelter, he’s called Tumble . . .’
Becky, Jas and Lauren almost forgot about 4ever in their eagerness to find out more about Tumble. They always loved hearing about Mia’s latest rescue project, even though none of them were quite as animal-mad as their friend.
Mia explained that Tumble had hurt his leg, but now it was healed he needed to get lots of exercise, so she was taking him for walks. ‘The worst thing is,’ said Mia, ‘that even when he’s better, he’ll probably never get a proper home, because he might always have a limp and he’s quite old, and people only want to adopt cute puppies. But he’s the most loveable dog in the world – apart from Benjie, of course.’ Benjie was Mia’s own dog.
‘Can’t he live with you?’ asked Jas.
Mia shook her head. ‘Mum says one dog is enough. And anyway, Tumble doesn’t really get on with cats – he barks his head off whenever he sees one.’ As well as Benjie the Labradoodle, Mia had two tabby cats, Arthur and Guinevere. She also had several rabbits!
There was a shout from the spa: ‘Quiet please, everyone!’ Although the girls were pretty sure they couldn’t be heard from where they were sitting in the pool room, they all stopped talking. Anyway, they were too excited to speak. Filming was about to begin!
Hours went by. The girls were hot and thirsty, but none of them dreamed of leaving. It was still so exciting – they were only a few metres away from 4ever, even if there was a glass wall between them! Luckily the music was loud enough for them to hear everything clearly. They were enjoying themselves so much that hearing the band sing the same tiny bit of the song again and again and again while the director shot it in different ways and from different angles didn’t bother them in the slightest.
In fact, Becky suddenly noticed that even Lauren was humming along with the chorus. ‘I thought you didn’t sing!’ she said.
‘I don’t,’ Lauren answered. ‘I didn’t realize what I was doing! It’s just so catchy!’
Just then Tom, one of the hotel’s waiters, walked past them. He was carrying a tray with four tall glasses of fresh lemonade, each one full of ice cubes and with a slice of lemon floating on top. ‘Oh, please let those be for us . . .’ Jas said, sticking out her tongue and pretending to be dying of thirst. Becky agreed – she felt like she really was in a tropical rainforest!
‘’Fraid not,’ said Lauren, laughing, as Tom went through the glass doors into the spa and handed out the drinks to the 4ever boys. As he came back into the pool room, Lauren beckoned to him from round a potted palm. He spotted her and changed course, coming over to them.
‘Tom! Tom! Did you speak to them?’ demanded Jas.