Sleuth on Skates Read Online Free PDF

down. It’s going to start.”
    He followed his own order by sitting down and getting his laptop out. I sat down a few rows up, wincing at the cacophony coming from the orchestra pit. When it failed to stop, I realized it was actually the beginning of the ballet. A dozen tutu-waggling ballerinas came onstage in a pointe walk that was so noisy it sounded like someone was enthusiastically hammering a bunch of nails into a tambourine. After a great number of what I’m assuming were grands jetés and pas de chats, someone tiptoed onstage whocould only be Stacy Vance. She was so swan-like I wouldn’t have been surprised to see her fly.
    After ten minutes of this frilly rigmarole, I started to tire. There’s only so much tulle tulip-shaped tutu twirling one can take. So I left my seat and skipped out of the concert hall and into the wings.
    In the wings, there were more wings: a huge stack of feathery wings. As I wondered what on Earth these wings could be doing there, I heard the hammering noise again and quickly jumped behind an old piano, peering around the side of it. The army of ballerinas had emerged from the dark curtains that led on to the stage, and each stopped to pick up one pair of wings, which they clipped to their backs and ironed out with their fingers like a strange flock of coquettish cockatoos.
    â€œWhat do you think?” whispered one of them to another one of them.
    â€œAbout what?”
    â€œStacy, of course!”
    â€œShe’s good enough.”
    The first girl nodded, and looked around. The others were busy ruffling each other’s feathers. “What the hell is up with Jen? Everyone’s so cool about it. Seems to me like no one actually cares where she’s gone.”
    â€œShe’s so unstable, Kim. You’ve only been here this term, you don’t know. Jen’s just the sort of person who’d run away from a stressful situation.”
    â€œReally? She seemed strong enough.”
    â€œIt’s all fake. She’s a bundle of nerves. If you ask me, it was too much pressure. This part, plus her exams, plus
UniGossip
 . . . No wonder she couldn’t cope.”
    The first girl looked unconvinced, but suddenly the music changed and they had to leave again, fluttering to the stage like skinny angels. I relaxed a little, and sat down against the back of the piano.
    And then realized I wasn’t the only one there.
    â€œNice to meet you,” said the other one, “I’m Jeremy Hopkins.”
    I shook his hand. “How do you do? I’m SesameSeade. Do you come here often?”
    â€œIt’s my first time, but I won’t come back, the service is terrible.”
    â€œI’m glad I’ve finally bumped into you behind this piano. I had a few questions to ask you. What were you and Jenna Jenkins going to talk about during your meeting at Auntie’s Tea Shop that she never went to?”
    â€œWait a minute,” he said. “What’s all this about? How do you know about Jenna Jenkins?”

    â€œIt’s not going to work if we keep asking each other questions. The basic rule of a dialogue is to alternate questions and answers.”
    â€œRight-o, smartypants. I’ll answer your question. Jen and I were supposed to meet up at Auntie’s on Friday afternoon. She vanished that very morning. We were going to be talking about
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.”
    â€œShe was going to ask you to investigate something. What was it?”
    â€œI have no idea. We can’t discuss things like that by email or text—only face to face. She’d only told me that it was something big. Very big.”
    â€œYou don’t know what it was about?”
    He rubbed his fingers together. “Money. What else? Anyway, what brings you here?”
    â€œI also happen to be investigating the mysterious disappearance of Jenna Jenkins.”
    â€œSplendid. Let’s compare notes.”
    He actually got his notebook