Katherine Woodfine - The Midnight Peacock

First published in Great Britain 2017

by Egmont UK Limited

The Yellow Building, 1 Nicholas Road, London W11 4AN

Copyright © Katherine Woodfine, 2017

Illustrations copyright © Karl James Mountford, 2017

The moral rights of the author and illustrator have been asserted

First e-book edition 2017

ISBN 978 1 4052 8290 1

Ebook ISBN 978 1 7803 1749 6

www.egmont.co.uk

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Stay safe online. Any website addresses listed in this book are correct at the time of going to print. However, Egmont is not responsible for content hosted by third parties. Please be aware that online content can be subject to change and websites can contain content that is unsuitable for children. We advise that all children are supervised when using the internet.

For Anna and Sara –

Three Amigos forever!

The Sinclair’s Mysteries

The Clockwork Sparrow

The Jewelled Moth

The Painted Dragon

The Midnight Peacock

CONTENTS

Cover

Title Page

Copyright First published in Great Britain 2017 by Egmont UK Limited The Yellow Building, 1 Nicholas Road, London W11 4AN Copyright © Katherine Woodfine, 2017 Illustrations copyright © Karl James Mountford, 2017 The moral rights of the author and illustrator have been asserted First e-book edition 2017 ISBN 978 1 4052 8290 1 Ebook ISBN 978 1 7803 1749 6 www.egmont.co.uk A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Stay safe online. Any website addresses listed in this book are correct at the time of going to print. However, Egmont is not responsible for content hosted by third parties. Please be aware that online content can be subject to change and websites can contain content that is unsuitable for children. We advise that all children are supervised when using the internet.

Dedication For Anna and Sara – Three Amigos forever!

Front series promotional page The Sinclair’s Mysteries The Clockwork Sparrow The Jewelled Moth The Painted Dragon The Midnight Peacock

PART I: The Mystery of the Haunted Mansion PART I The Mystery of the Haunted Mansion ‘Who goes there? Show yourself!’ declaimed Montgomery Baxter, the courageous boy detective.

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

PART II: The Case of the Hidden Passage

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

PART III: The Body in the Library

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

PART IV: The Clue in the Secret Plans

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

PART V: Murder at the Ball

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

PART VI: Montgomery Baxter’s Casebook

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

AUTHOR’S NOTE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Back series promotional page

PART I

The Mystery of the Haunted Mansion

‘Who goes there? Show yourself!’ declaimed Montgomery Baxter, the courageous boy detective.

CHAPTER ONE

Tilly knew quite well that there were no such things as ghosts. She said so, very plainly – much to the annoyance of Lizzie Hughes, who had come rushing into the Servants’ Hall, eager to pour out her tall tale.

Some people would do anything to get out of a spot of dusting, Tilly thought.

‘The East Wing’s not haunted,’ she said, from where she was sitting at the table, finishing off a bit of mending. ‘That’s just a lot of old nonsense.’

Lizzie turned on her at once, hands on hips, nose in the air. ‘That’s all very well for you to say. You weren’t there. I’ll have you know I heard it myself – with my own ears!’

Sarah and Ella, the scullery maids, were both staring at Lizzie. ‘What was it?’ Ella asked.

Lizzie lowered her voice to an important whisper. ‘ The sound of the ghost’s footsteps! ’ she announced.

‘Oooh!’ they exclaimed together.

‘What did they sound like?’ gasped Sarah. Her eyes were as big and round as the plates in Her Ladyship’s best dinner service.

‘Loud – and echoing – and coming closer and closer by the minute! Then the most terrible chill swept over me. It was as if my blood froze ! I dropped my duster and ran away as fast as my legs could carry me!’ Lizzie collapsed into a chair, as though the very memory of it would make her swoon. ‘It didn’t half make me feel peculiar!’ she finished up.

Tilly rolled her eyes. ‘You didn’t actually see this “ghost” at all, then?’ she demanded.

‘I was hardly going to go looking for it, was I?’ exclaimed Lizzie indignantly. ‘Who knows what might have happened to me?’

‘So how can you be so sure that what you heard was a ghost? There’s bound to be a completely ordinary explanation,’ said Tilly. ‘Maybe it was mice.’

‘It couldn’t possibly have been mice! No mouse could have made a sound like that!’

‘Well, then, it was probably one of the under-footmen playing a trick. I’ll bet it was Charlie. He thought it was a great lark to put salt in William’s tea last week – remember? Pretending to be a ghost to give you a fright is just the sort of stupid thing he’d do.’

But Lizzie shook her head. ‘It couldn’t have been a trick. That terrible chill – why, I’ve never felt anything like it in my life!’

The other two looked awestruck, but Tilly just snorted. ‘It’s December , Lizzie. It’s cold – and the East Wing is freezing. I think that probably explains your terrible chill .’

Lizzie turned her back on Tilly and addressed her next remarks to Ella and Sarah: ‘I s’pose you’ve heard the old story about the ghost that walks at night in the East Wing?’

‘No – do tell us,’ Ella urged.

In a low voice, Lizzie began: ‘Hundreds of years ago, the old Lord who lived here at Winter Hall had a daughter that he loved like no other. She was good and sweet and as beautiful as the day. But then, on her sixteenth birthday, she fell ill and died. The old Lord went mad with grief. He locked himself up in the East Wing and never came out again .’ She paused and then went on: ‘When they finally managed to break through the doors, they found that he was dead – as dead as a doornail. And ever since then his ghost has walked up and down the long passage of the East Wing. If ever a young girl is to go alone to the East Wing at night, the ghost will lure her to her death, as vengeance for his own lost daughter,’ she finished up with a flourish.