Three Pickled Herrings Read online

  “There you are,” said Lettice, as Buster walked in. “You deserve to have your wings back, deary. Though still eleven, hmm. Never mind.”

  “I think I’m stranded at eleven,” said Buster.

  “Maybe one day you’ll catch up,” said Lettice. “But for now—”

  “What are your plans, Lettice?” asked Emily quickly.

  “After Pan’s wedding, my tea trolley and I are out of here, deary. I’m not hanging around a day longer. I have places to see, fairies to visit, and”—she looked at Elvis—“an elf to return home to his mum and dad before he gets into another pickle.”

  “What about the magic lamp?” said Buster.

  “What about it, deary?” asked Lettice.

  “You can’t leave me like this in my fragile state,” said the lamp. “I mean any goblin, witch, or wizard might decide to stuff another genie in me and then what would happen?” It raised a hand to its lid. “I must be my own lamp with a lid that never opens.”

  Lettice hummed and hawed for a moment.

  “I suppose you have a point, deary.”

  “It has, after all, been a very brave and noble lamp,” said Emily.

  “Noble! Oh, sweet mistress, how kind of you to say so,” said the lamp.

  Lettice took off her thick knit cardigan and found her wand once more.

  This time she transformed her quiet gray dress into a silver gown. A diamond tiara sparkled on her head.

  “That’s amazing,” said Emily.

  “Yes it is, isn’t it, deary?” said Lettice. “Now, lamp, are you ready?”

  The magic lamp stood up, looking very solemn. Then it nodded. A whiz of light came from Lettice’s wand, and the lamp seemed to judder and shake. It was done.

  The lamp shone like new.

  “At long last I am my own master!” And so saying, it kicked its legs up in the air. “Oh, sweet mistress, what joy—my Happily-Ever-After has arrived!”

  Chapter Twenty-six

  There is nothing like a wedding for a happy ending. Pan Smith wore her rainbow-colored wedding dress the day she married her sweetheart, Derek Lowe. Pan’s mother, Pauline Smith, felt years younger since her hair had turned pink and her figure all apple-y. Her husband, Harry, couldn’t have been more delighted.

  As for Mr. Rollo, he was over the moon. The strangest thing had happened to him the day after he arrived home. He had received a lottery ticket in the post. Not just any old lottery ticket—it was the winning ticket for the Golden Jackpot. In short, Mr. Rollo was back in business.

  Sergeant Litton hadn’t been quite so lucky. He had discovered that the five bags in fact contained not gold but horse poo, so the case was quietly closed and the horse poo was used on the town hall flower beds.

  As far as the sergeant was concerned, the murder of Sir Walter Cross would remain an unsolved mystery.

  Only Emily, Buster, and Fidget knew what had really happened in the case of the Three Pickled Herrings.

  Fin

  Don’t miss Wings & Co.’s first case

  OPERATION BUNNY

  Look for the Wings & Co. fairy detectives’ next case

  The Vanishing of Billy Buckle

  The giant Billy Buckle is missing, and his daughter comes to Wings & Co. for help. She is desperate to find him—and so are the detectives, because living with a young giant isn’t half as exciting as it sounds. Add a murdered pianist and a vanished fortune-teller, and Wings & Co. has never been busier. It is up to Emily, Fidget, and Buster to get to the bottom of it all!

  Sally Gardner is an award-winning novelist from London. Before finding her true passion as a writer, Sally attended art school and worked as a theater designer. She is now the successful author of more than thirty books for children, including Operation Bunny, the first mystery about the Wings & Co. Fairy Detective Agency.

  sallygardner.net

  David Roberts is a British artist who has illustrated many beautiful books for children, including Operation Bunny. He holds a degree in fashion design from Manchester Metropolitan University and worked at various jobs before becoming a children’s book illustrator.

  davidrobertsillustration.com

  Text copyright © 2013 by Sally Gardner

  Illustrations copyright © 2013 by David Roberts

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

  ISBN 978-0-8050-9914-0

  First published in the United States in 2014 by Henry Holt and Company, LLC.

  Originally published in Great Britain in 2013 by Orion Children’s Books.

  eISBN 9781627792905

  First hardcover edition 2014

  eBook edition September 2014