Davina Dupree Catches a Crook Read Online Free

when she picked up my amazing new present from my old nanny, Carrie Whepple. It’s a phone but has loads of other cool functions, like you can write essays on it and print them off on its mini printer, you can watch television programmes from any country around the world, you can even programme it to smell like a particular place, for example if you press the seaside button wafts of suntan lotion, salty sea, fish and chips and hot sun come out of the phone’s speaker. If you press the mountain air button, a crisp, flowery, light scent comes out, it’s SO cool.com , # so please don’t break my phone Arabella!
    ‘Actually,’ I said, thinking fast. ‘Can you pass me the phone, no don’t chuck it just pass it over, I think Carrie would be gutted if it got broken.’
    Arabella sighed and passed it to me, then came and sat down on my enormous bed. I’ve got my most FAVOURITE duvet cover on at the moment, one with a large photo of me and Arabella on our school trip to Ni Island printed on it. We look really happy but very cold, standing on a desert island in the middle of winter with strange little animals sitting on our feet!
    I opened up a new blank typing sheet on my phone. For short bits of writing I like to use my phone but don’t worry, dear Diary, it will never replace YOU!
    ‘Right,’ I said. ‘Let’s go through the case so far and I’ll write down everything we know. Then it’ll become clear what we need to do next to help Mrs Fairchild, Diya and Angel.’
    ‘Good idea,’ Arabella grunted, looking slightly more cheerful. She rolled on to her back. ‘I like having a plan. You’re so good at keeping calm in a crisis, Davina, I don’t know how you do it. So, as far as we all know, this whole thing started on Saturday morning when Mr Portly found Mrs Fairchild. We know that Diya and Angel were probably the last ones to see her and that for some reason Dr Aardvark was very keen for them to be questioned about the poison in his study. To be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was HIM who poisoned poor Mrs Fairchild. Everything was fine until he came to the school and then suddenly our headmistress collapses!’
    ‘Yes, but Mr Portly’s new too,’ I reminded her, tapping away at the phone’s keypad, recording everything she said. ‘If we are suspecting new people surely we should include him?’
    ‘Fine, put him on the suspect list,’ Arabella said. ‘But he seems pretty harmless if you ask me.’
    I stared at the screen, taking in everything I’d written. It said:
Suspects so far: Dr Aardvark, Mr Portly, Diya and Angel, (although we don’t really think it was them)
.
    ‘I reckon we need to do a bit of snooping around in Mrs Fairchild’s study,’ I said, scratching my head. ‘So far we don’t have any clues to go on, just a few facts and if we’re going to prove Angel and Diya were just in the wrong place at the wrong time and had nothing to do with the poisoning we need hard evidence to back up our claims.’
    ‘Mrs Fairchild’s study is being kept locked at the moment and Mr Portly has the key on a big bunch that he attaches to his belt,’ Arabella said. ‘I saw him locking it up the other day, sniffing and dabbing his eyes. He really is
such
an emotional man.’
    ‘I’ve just remembered that my old art sketchbook is still in Mrs Fairchild’s study,’ I said slowly, feeling a plan forming. ‘Do you remember Mrs Fairchild borrowing it last week to show to parents who were looking round the school?’ Arabella nodded. Mrs Fairchild always asks for a selection of books to show visitors so they can see the kind of work we do here. ‘We can go and find Mr Portly and I’ll explain that I DESPERATELY need my sketchbook back as there are plans in it that I need to look at for my new art project, which is
kind
of true although I
do
have photocopies, and we can offer to take the key and get the book ourselves as we know how much going back into her study upsets him!’
    ‘I like your