Molly Moon & the Morphing Mystery

“Thank you,” Molly as Lady Storkhampton said, her accent clear and posh. As Molly drank some water, she got her bearings. Like a person standing in a landscape looking at the surroundings, Molly looked about Lady Storkhampton’s mind to see who she was.

She was the daughter of a very wealthy shipbuilder. She was married to an even richer man who owned vast swathes of land in England. She bred miniature horses and kept an aviary full of exotic birds. She spoke four languages—French, Italian, Spanish, and Russian—and she loved to ski. Her body felt very healthy, Molly thought. This was because she practiced martial arts every day.

“Lady Storkhampton, this really is exceedingly generous of you!” Black was saying. “Five hundred thousand pounds!” I don’t think we have ever had such a generous donation! The children’s homes will be hugely helped by this.” Black folded the check that Lady Storkhampton had just written to him and slipped it into the inside pocket of his green velvet jacket.

Molly was appalled. So Black was tricking people into giving him money for children’s homes that didn’t exist! This made Molly really angry. She knew about children’s homes firsthand. She’d lived in an orphanage until she’d been ten and a half. She knew just how decrepit and run-down they could be. Hers had been the worst of all. It made her furious that Mr. Black was skimming off this generous woman’s money—money that might have gone to real orphanages. If this was how Black used hypnosis, she thought, what might he do once he’d learned to morph? She looked down at the shrimp on her plate and felt sick. Now wasn’t the time to argue. Her main objective, her absolute number-one job now, was to get the hypnotism book off him. She tried to judge whether Black had hypnotized the rich heiress or not, but Molly found it difficult. She couldn’t feel the woman’s will at all, since it was buried underneath her own.

With huge control of her temper, Molly as Lady Storkhampton looked up and smiled sweetly.

“It’s my pleasure,” Molly said, her new voice crisp, each word flowing from her mouth perfectly formed. Then she nudged her handbag so that it fell on the floor. Before Black could offer to get it, she dived below the table to retrieve it.

“Got it!” she exclaimed.

Underneath the tablecloth, Molly saw Black’s bag. It was close to his leg, near the window, its strap hanging loose on the ground. Molly retrieved her handbag and came up for air.

“That was a lightning move!” Black commented admiringly.

“The martial arts keep me alert,” Molly replied. She took another sip of water and tried to think of a clever way to get Black’s bag.

“I’m visiting the queen tomorrow,” Black said conversationally.

Molly felt her eyebrows rise.

“The queen!”

“Yes. She’s a close friend of your mother’s, isn’t she?”

“Indeed.” Molly edged her silk-stockinged leg across the floor to try to hook the strap handle of Black’s bag with her foot. In doing so, her body slipped slightly down in the seat. She hoped that, to Black, her change of posture would simply look like she was relaxing.

“She’s given me a morning appointment. Eleven o’clock. I am hoping she will get involved with my children’s charity, too.” Black smiled.

Molly couldn’t believe it! So Black was going right to the top to get rich. It was well known that the queen of Britain was one of the richest women in the world!

Then the toe of her shoe caught hold of the bag’s strap. Without letting Black know what she was doing, Molly began to pull it across the floor toward her.

Black’s cell phone went off. He ignored it.

“Don’t you think you ought to answer that?” Molly suggested, eager to have Black’s attention diverted. “I don’t mind if you do.”

Black shrugged. “I suppose I should. I have been ignoring it for the last twenty minutes.” He pulled a slim black phone from his outside jacket pocket.

“Theobald Black speaking.”

Molly felt the bag’s weight as she tugged it toward her. She shifted herself more upright on her seat to haul it up.

“You were where?” Black was saying into the phone. He looked very concerned. “What were you doing in there?” The person on the phone was now gabbling away, and as they spoke, Black’s expression changed. He glanced worriedly from the waiter, to the other customers in the room, to people on the street outside. Then his eyes fell upon four cats sitting in front of a mailbox. Oddly, the animals appeared to be looking directly at him.

“Cats?” he said disbelievingly. His eyes came back to his table and Lady Storkhampton. She seemed to be squirming in her seat.

On the other end of the line, Lily was frantic.

“Why didn’t you answer your phone? You are just so stupid. You probably saw it was me and ignored the call like you always do. I’ve been trying to get you for ages. I didn’t follow you to start with because I was scared you’d be cross with me. And I was scared of the children. But then I realized it was important. They’re after the book. They disappeared. And those cats were spooky! And who knows where they are now? Don’t trust anyone! Do you hear me?”

Black nodded. “I can’t chat now, Lily. Thank you,” he said as calmly as he could. “I’ll meet you at the hotel later. Thank you. Good-bye.”

Now on high alert, Black automatically reached for his bag. The strap slipped off Molly’s foot.

Micky the headwaiter, who had been hovering nearby, saw Black lift his bag onto the banquette beside him. He’d noticed a sudden change in Black—he’d seen how, after his telephone call, he’d glanced nervously about the