Spies in St. Petersburg by Katherine Woodfine

Author:Katherine Woodfine [Woodfine, Katherine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781780317991
Publisher: Egmont

Taylor & Rose Detective Agency Sinclair’s Department Store, London

‘Telegram for Taylor & Rose!’ Mei accepted the envelope from the uniformed Sinclair’s porter as he hurried into the Taylor & Rose office, before rushing off to deliver his next message. It was another busy day at Sinclair’s and, as always, London’s most famous store was full of eager shoppers and admiring tourists. As the door swung shut behind the porter, Mei caught a glimpse of visitors outside the office door, keen to peep in and see what might be happening inside. There were rumours that the young lady detectives of Taylor & Rose had many important clients – from aristocrats to West End stars like Mrs Kitty Whitman, who had recently been spotted paying them a visit, to the delight of London’s gossip columnists. Now, they lingered hopefully on the threshold, hoping to catch a glimpse of some illustrious personage going in or coming out.

Of course, to these excited visitors Taylor & Rose was just one of the unusual attractions they could see at Sinclair’s. A detective agency run by young ladies was simply another intriguing feature of the store, to go alongside its glamorous Beauty Salon, its exotic Pet Department where you could purchase anything from a poodle to a python, and its famous Marble Court Restaurant, where the crème-de la crème of London society could be seen enjoying one of the chef’s famous ice puddings.

Most of the time, Mei was far too busy to pay any attention to the watchers outside the office and today was no exception. The telephone bell had been ringing all morning, and she had a stack of reports and letters to type. But she forgot all about the work she had to do when she saw the telegram, and quickly ripped open the envelope.

Inside was exactly what she had hoped for. The message might look like no more than a string of incomprehensible numbers, but Mei knew what it was at once. They’d planned that Lil would send a coded telegram as soon as she arrived in St Petersburg. They’d agreed a secret code in advance, which would make it impossible for anyone to decipher her message, unless they had the pre-arranged key word.

Now, Mei quickly took out a pencil, and began working out the solution, starting with writing out the alphabet in full. The key word they had agreed was MONTGOMERY after Billy’s favourite fictional detective, Montgomery Baxter. She wrote it down carefully in capital letters, removing any repeated letters: MONTGERY. Then after it she wrote the rest of the alphabet, leaving out the letters she’d already used. Underneath she wrote the numbers 1 to 26 in order, so that the number ‘1’ was positioned directly beneath the letter ‘A’.

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