Mr Badger and the Missing Ape (3 page)

‘Yes, well, where should we start?' said Mr Badger, scratching his furry head. ‘I searched the foyer thoroughly this morning, before any of the guests arrived, and didn't find a single clue.'

‘How could a big ape just disappear?' asked Miss Pims. ‘Who might have carried him away and why?'

‘And how could they have lifted him anyway?' said Mr Badger. ‘How could they have moved him out of his glass case?'

‘So many questions and, as yet, no answers,' sighed Miss Pims.

It certainly was a mystery. One which was
completely
baffling Mr Badger. Miss Pims made two lists: one for herself and one for Mr Badger. Miss Pims was to search the main hotel rooms, and Mr Badger the more out-of-the-way places.

CHAPTER 5
The Search

M
iss Pims moved from room to room.

She peered behind curtains in the Boubles Grand Hotel Ballroom, then looked for clues beneath tables and sofas in the dining room where morning tea was being served. She even asked some guests if they wouldn't mind lifting their feet.

Miss Pims looked everywhere.

‘Just housekeeping,' said Miss Pims, with a smile, every time a guest appeared slightly alarmed as she ticked off her ‘rooms inspected' list. Of course, she didn't tell them what she was
really
looking for.

Meanwhile, with his torch and magnifying glass, Mr Badger climbed up stairs, tapped on walls, probed in dusty storerooms, and opened long-lost doors. He was searching all the hidden, out-of-the-way places he could find.

The Boubles Grand Hotel wasn't just grand ballrooms and marble columns. There were lots of tiny rooms too, easily overlooked and sometimes even boarded up.

The hotel was very large. In fact, there were many parts that Mr Badger hadn't explored for years, parts he had not seen since he was little. At this time, he would follow his father about while he fulfilled his duties as Head Waiter at the Boubles Grand Hotel.

There were rooms full of untouched Boubles Grand Hotel towels and tablecloths, and shelves of ancient Boubles Grand Hotel china jugs and glass vases. Mr Badger found a pantry with abandoned pots and pans from the hotel kitchens and another room full of nothing but broken clocks.

Alas, nowhere was there any sign of … Algernon.

CHAPTER 6
The Secret Room

A
fter hours of searching, Mr Badger came across a door with a handwritten sign saying:

‘TOP SECRET…DO NOT ENTER.'

Mr Badger opened the door and crept in.

The walls were covered with framed photographs. He looked carefully, his eyes adjusting to the dim light. At first he thought he was seeing things. These were old photographs, of a very young Sir Cecil Smothers-Carruthers.

Sometimes Mr Badger had to ignore instructions.

In fact, they were
all
of Sir Cecil – well, Sir Cecil was certainly
in
all of them. They showed Sir Cecil on safari. Mr Badger could tell this was so, as not only was Sir Cecil wearing a pith helmet, but in one photograph he was sitting on top of an elephant, and in another he was chasing butterflies with a net. There were also quite a few of him peering through binoculars at wild animals in the distance.

Resting on a shelf were the very same binoculars and pith helmet which appeared in the photographs. Next to them was a pair of hiking boots and a rucksack. Mr Badger was amazed, to say the least.

However, he was about to get an even greater surprise, for on the wall opposite were yet more photographs. And these had another familiar face in them.

Mr Badger moved up close and gasped. Looking back at him was Sir Cecil Smothers-Carruthers, but he wasn't alone. For with him was a slightly smaller, but still instantly recognisable, and even then very big, Algernon.

There they were, sitting in the jungle with a plate of scones and jam between them, sharing a pot of tea and a banana cake. Next to that was a photograph of them shaking hands, laughing and looking at the camera. In another, Algernon was wearing a pith helmet – Sir Cecil's, no doubt.

Mr Badger had always known Sir Cecil was terribly fond of Algernon, even if he was stuffed and standing in a glass case. ‘Outrageous!' Sir Cecil would mutter whenever Lady Celia suggested a complete hotel clean-out and major redecoration, starting with the tossing out of Algernon.

‘What good is that old ape anyway?' she would say. ‘That flea-bitten beast in the foyer sends a very poor message to our guests. It makes them think that they're staying in a zoo. As well, it frightens our dear little granddaughter, Sylvia.'