Alice-Miranda in Japan 9 (13 page)

Kenzo shook his head. ‘I promise this will be a very relaxed evening in my private apartments.' He passed Hugh a card with his telephone number on it. ‘Please call me if you have any concerns.'

Kenzo shook Hugh's hand then bade farewell to the rest of the group and exited through a side door with his minders close behind.

‘Well, can you believe that?' Hugh said as he sat down beside Lawrence.

‘Great that you got to catch up with your old schoolfriend.'

‘Yes, and that's not all,' Hugh said. ‘Listen, everyone, I have a wonderful surprise.'

‘What is it, Daddy?' Alice-Miranda leapt up from her spot beside Mrs Oliver and rushed over to stand beside her father.

Millie and Jacinta were busy making sculptures with the leftover
dango
balls on the table. They'd made something resembling a sausage dog and were working on a squirrel with huge eyes.

‘We're going out for dinner tomorrow night,' Hugh said.

‘We're not going to one of those blowfish restaurants, are we?' Jacinta said cautiously. ‘Because I'm too young to die.'

Hugh shook his head. ‘No, Jacinta, I doubt there'll be a blowfish in sight. Although, on second thoughts, if anyone could afford their own blowfish chef . . . What do you think about dinner at the Imperial Palace?'

Jacinta's eyes almost popped out of her head. ‘What did you say?'

‘Jacinta, manners!' her mother scolded. ‘Hugh, did you really say that we're going to dinner at the Imperial Palace?' Ambrosia was tingling with excitement at the thought of it.

Hugh nodded. ‘I most certainly did. Kenzo asked us to join him – just an informal evening in his private apartments, but I gather he's hoping the Emperor and his family might dine with us too.'

‘That's amazing!' Millie gasped.

‘What will we wear?' asked Ambrosia. She was remembering the first time she'd met Queen Georgiana on the royal yacht
Octavia
. It was at Lawrence and Charlotte's wedding. On that occasion she'd had a whole army of assistants to help prepare her wardrobe for the trip but now she was completely on her own in the fashion stakes.

‘Ambrosia, dear, I really don't think it will matter terribly much,' Mrs Oliver said.

‘But of course it will. It's not every day one gets to meet a real live Emperor,' Ambrosia fussed.

‘Mummy, stop,' Jacinta ordered.

Ambrosia Headlington-Bear took stock. She was a sensible independent woman, not some easily impressed flibbertigibbet schoolgirl.

‘Yes, darling, of course you're right.'

‘I can't wait to tell Mummy,' said Alice-Miranda. ‘It's so exciting.'

Hugh glanced at the clock on the wall. It was just after half past three. ‘What do you say we take a quick visit to the Meiji Shrine? We've been trying to get there since yesterday afternoon. Do you want to join us, Dolly?'

‘I have to head back in for the panel in half an hour,' she replied. ‘And I suspect I'll be in a bit of trouble if I bunk out of that one.' She glanced around, hoping that Nobu from the Ministry hadn't re-entered the room without her noticing.

Alice-Miranda walked over and tugged on Dolly's sleeve. ‘But how will you know what they're saying?'

‘I'll just tell Nobu that I would prefer to speak English and use a translator this afternoon. I'm sure he'll understand that I haven't been feeling well.'

The group bade farewell to Dolly, and Hugh told her they'd pick her up on the way to the palace the following evening. She would still be at the conference for another couple of days yet.

‘And I can't wait until you come and stay with us,' said Alice-Miranda. ‘The futons are much more comfortable than you think.' She gave the woman a tight squeeze.

‘What was that for, young lady?' Dolly asked, leaning down to look Alice-Miranda in the eye.

‘Just because I miss you.' She grinned and pecked Dolly's powdered cheek.

‘And I miss you too, darling girl.'

 

During their visit to the Meiji Shrine that afternoon, Alice-Miranda, Millie, Jacinta and Lucas wrote wishes on little pieces of paper and tied them to the prayer wall, before watching Japanese men and women, young and old, toss some yen into the offering box near an enormous
taiko
drum. The children were entranced to see the people bow twice, clap twice and bow once more as they made their gift. Lawrence gave the children some money so they could do the same.

Unfortunately, just as Lucas was making his contribution, a young woman recognised Lawrence. Up until then he had been enjoying his anonymity. By the time they went to leave, a small crowd had surrounded the poor man. The admirers asked for photographs and presented pieces of paper for autographs. Fortunately there was a policeman in the area who was also a fan. On noticing the building hysteria, he called for two patrol cars to take the family back to the inn.

‘Thank you very much for that,' Hugh said as the cars pulled up outside the
ryokan
.

‘It is a pleasure,' the policeman said, getting out of the car to open the back door for Alice-Miranda and the girls. He looked at Hugh sheepishly. ‘Do you think I could have a picture with Mr Ridley?'

‘Yes, of course. I'm sure he won't mind at all,' Hugh said. Lawrence was in the car behind them.

As the girls got out, Alice-Miranda noticed another black van parked outside the house on the other side of the alley. Millie saw it too.

‘Look at that,' Jacinta gasped as she got out. ‘There's another body.'

Sure enough, a gurney was being wheeled out the front door.

‘Come on girls, hurry up,' Ambrosia called.

The children exchanged curious looks.

‘There's something weird going on over there,' said Jacinta.

 

Yuki sniffed and yawned loudly.

‘Sorry – am I keeping you up?' Yamato turned and looked at his partner from the driver's seat.

They'd spent the morning glued to the screen in the basement, encountering the same difficulties as the day before with the signal fading in and out more times than they cared to count.

Hatsuko had appeared just after midday, handed them a set of car keys and told them to find Kiko, no matter what.

It was proving far easier said than done. The busy city traffic frequently brought the car to a halt. The screen in the centre of the dashboard had blipped and blinked and just when they thought they were getting close, it disappeared for an hour, springing back to life miles away. They'd been to Shinjuku, then to the Meiji Shrine, and now they found themselves trawling the back streets of Asakusa.

Yamato guided the vehicle into the narrow street. The blip on the screen grew stronger.

‘Aha, she is here somewhere, for sure,' said Yuki, nodding. ‘Once we find her, we will not let her out of our sight. Then tonight we will take care of things.'

Yamato pointed. ‘The signal's coming from that inn.' He stopped the car and took out a small pair of binoculars.

‘How can she be staying in an inn? She has no money,' Yuki scoffed.

‘Perhaps she has been taken in by a kind citizen?' Yamato suggested.

‘Is there somewhere else we can park?' Yuki asked. The roads in Asakusa were narrow and their presence at the front of the inn would no doubt bring unwanted attention. ‘What about the alleyway?'

Yamato glanced across and saw what looked to be a dead end. He nodded.

Yuki's stomach let out a strangled whine.

Yamato stared at him.

‘What? I'm not allowed to be hungry? My stomach is so empty the sides are touching together.'

Yamato was starving too. ‘Then you'd better go and find us something to eat. I'll stay here and keep watch. At least it will be getting dark soon.'

 

‘I'm not being ridiculous. Since when do two people die in the same house on the same day?' Jacinta said dramatically. The girls were sitting on the floor in their room and discussing the strange events of the day.

‘I don't know. I'm sure it was just an unfortunate coincidence,' said Alice-Miranda. Privately she thought that two bodies coming out of the same house on the same day was unfortunate indeed. But she was sure there had to be a perfectly sensible explanation. ‘When we were there this morning, I noticed a lot of elderly people in the back hallway. Maybe it's an old people's home.'

‘Well, I say they're up to something,' Jacinta insisted. ‘That man tried to frame me for theft and now bodies are being carted out of their house left, right and centre.'

‘I should have taken some pictures so we had evidence,' Millie said with a grin. She was sitting on the floor flicking through the photographs she'd taken since they arrived. ‘That's a good one.' She leaned over and showed the girls a picture of the afternoon tea banquet with Jacinta pulling a face at the cakes.

‘No, it's not, it's awful!' Jacinta tried to snatch the camera away. ‘I'm deleting that.'

‘No, you're not,' Millie growled. ‘It's my camera and I'll keep whatever I want to.'

Alice-Miranda was absent-mindedly rubbing her finger over the front of her pendant and thinking about the secret Mrs Oliver had shared, when she felt something slightly rough. She pinched the chrysanthemum and, much to her surprise, the front sprang open.

‘Goodness!' she exclaimed.

‘What's the matter?' Millie asked.

‘My pendant is a locket.' Alice-Miranda held it out for Millie and Jacinta to see. She tilted it to see inside. ‘And there's a photograph.'

Alice-Miranda undid the clasp and took the locket from around her neck. She stared at the picture of an exquisite young woman. ‘She's beautiful.'

‘She sure is,' Millie agreed. ‘I wonder
who
she is.'

‘I don't know, but I'd love to find out,' said Alice-Miranda.

‘Maybe you should see if there's any writing on the back of the photo,' Jacinta suggested. ‘But I suppose it would be in Japanese, so it wouldn't do you much good.'

Alice-Miranda didn't want to take the picture out. It looked fragile and she hated the thought of damaging it. ‘Perhaps Daddy can take me back to where he bought it and we can ask them if they know anything about it.'

‘That's the best plan,' Jacinta agreed. ‘I'm going to get changed for dinner.' She walked to the wardrobe and pulled out a pretty white dress. She had it on in no time and began to brush her long blonde hair.

‘Aren't we staying here again tonight?' Millie asked as she jumped up and ran to the bathroom.

‘I think so,' Alice-Miranda said. She was still looking at her locket and thinking about the young woman inside.

There was a knock on the door. Jacinta put down her brush and answered it.

‘Oh, hello,' the girl said dreamily.

‘You look nice,' the boy said quietly.

Jacinta's heart fluttered and she smiled.

‘Is that your boyfriend?' Millie called from the bathroom.

Jacinta turned her head and yelled, ‘No, it's Lucas.'

‘Yeah, your boyfriend. I could tell because your voice went all weird,' Millie called back.

‘It did not,' Jacinta said.

Alice-Miranda ran to the door. ‘Hi Lucas. What are you doing?'

‘Dad said to meet us for dinner in five minutes.'

‘I'm ready now,' Jacinta said. ‘Do you want to go downstairs?'

‘I'll come too,' said Alice-Miranda, and raced off to grab a cardigan.

‘It's okay, you don't have to hurry, little cousin,' Lucas said. ‘Why don't you wait for Millie?'

‘Yeah, didn't you want to go and ask your father about your necklace?' Jacinta added.

Alice-Miranda nodded. Jacinta and Lucas disappeared, leaving her standing on her own.

‘Something strange just happened,' she said as Millie came out of the bathroom.

‘What?' the flame-haired child asked.

‘Jacinta and Lucas got rid of me,' Alice-Miranda replied.

‘What do you mean they got rid of you?' Millie asked.

‘They told me I should wait for you even though I was ready to go,' Alice-Miranda said.

Millie nodded. ‘You know, I thought he'd started to look at her differently. Before when she used to moon all over him, he'd turn the colour of a beetroot and look as if he was ready to take out a restraining order, but lately he looks quite pleased with himself.'

Alice-Miranda giggled. ‘I think it's adorable.'

‘Really? Imagine if they get married one day. Jacinta would be your cousin-in-law,' Millie said. ‘That would be terrifying.'

Alice-Miranda gave Millie a gentle shove. ‘I think it would be lovely.'

 

The family and friends were seated together on a long lacquered table in the dining room. Hugh and Cecelia had decided that the girls should have a quiet night after their busy day and Charlotte said she was exhausted and wasn't going to go out anyway, regardless of what the others decided.

‘I think we might explore a bit more of Asakusa tomorrow morning, girls,' Hugh said over dinner. ‘And maybe we can go to the National Gardens after lunch.'

‘That's a good idea,' Alice-Miranda agreed. ‘Perhaps we could go back to the market and see about my necklace.'

‘What about your necklace, darling?' her father asked.

‘I was fiddling with it earlier and I discovered that it's a locket.' Alice-Miranda got up to show Hugh. She squeezed the pendant as she'd done earlier and the front sprang open.

‘That's a lovely surprise,' her father said.

Her mother leaned in to have a look. ‘What a beautiful woman.'

‘Yes, that's what we all said too. Wouldn't it be wonderful to find out who she is,' said Alice-Miranda. ‘Maybe the man at the store could tell us.'

Hugh thought for a moment. ‘Hmm, I doubt it. He told me that he'd only just purchased the locket that morning and I suspect he may not have realised it had hidden treasure. I don't know if I want to go back and ask him. He might want to charge me more – or take it back.'

Alice-Miranda shook her head. ‘Oh no, I don't want that to happen. It will just have to be a delicious mystery.'

Charlotte smiled at her niece. ‘That's a lovely way to look at it.'

Alice-Miranda knelt down beside Charlotte and looked at her bump. ‘Do you have any names picked out?'

The woman ran her hand protectively over her growing stomach. ‘Mmm, well, Lawrence is quite keen on Peach for a girl and Melon for a boy,' Charlotte said, straight-faced. ‘Of course, we'll have to come up with two girls' names and two boys' names just in case.'

Millie's ears had pricked up at this conversation. ‘They're fruity,' she said politely. She whispered to Jacinta behind her hand, ‘It sounds like they were inspired by the greengrocer section at Kennington's. Don't tell me they've gone all Hollywood. It sounds like those poor kids are going to have names that will haunt them for the rest of their lives.'

Lawrence grinned at her. ‘I heard that, Millie. And of course we're going to do everything in our power to make sure that our children are embarrassed by their parents from birth.'

Alice-Miranda looked at her aunt and shook her head. ‘I don't believe you.'

‘Why, darling? They're perfectly lovely names.'

‘Well . . . they're not exactly what I expected. You're just trying to trick us,' Alice-Miranda said.

Lawrence and Charlotte looked at one another and burst out laughing.

‘Oh, they're dreadful – and the first thing that came into my head,' Charlotte chuckled.

‘But we had you going, didn't we?' said Lawrence.

Millie snorted and Alice-Miranda rolled her eyes.

‘As if,' Jacinta said. ‘Lucas would disown you two if his little brothers and sisters were called anything that awful.'

‘Don't worry, girls. There'll be no Dweezils or Boo Boos on our watch.'

‘Thank goodness for that. But just in case you're stuck, we could give you a list,' Millie suggested.

‘Thanks, girls. That's a great idea,' Charlotte laughed. ‘We have a few that we like, but we'd love some more.'