“You put a dab of glue on the end of some fine thread,” explained Rupert. “Really fine, so that you wouldn’t spot it if you weren’t looking for it. You just need to get the gluey end of the thread on the object, and let it stick. Elodie could have done that when she touched the diamond. She leaves the room, and then she yanks the thread, while Le Goff is busy with Marguerite. By that time, it’s stuck to the diamond, like a spider’s web. Voila – the spider trick.”

“Rupert,” growled Ester, “will you stop saying that word.”

“What word? Spider?”

“What’s wrong with spiders?” said Marguerite.

“Spiders are useful,” Salem remarked.

“Really,” said Klaus earnestly, “if you could all stop staying ‘spiders’, Ester’s very—”

“ENOUGH!” bellowed Ester. “You should be planning. Not upsetting a poor old woman.”

“I think I have a plan,” said Max.

Everyone looked at her. Max was suddenly reminded of her family all turning to stare at her, when she had asked to go to Istanbul. But this time, no one was looking at a little girl known only for armchairs and daydreams. They were looking at Max Morel, who had climbed on trains and spied on jewel dealers and found stores of secret diamonds. Even if she had been homesick and afraid for most of that time – she had done it anyway. They leaned in. The candle flames flickered and dimmed, as if they too were huddling close.

“We need the police to see that it’s my great-aunt who has the diamond, right?” said Max, lowering her voice. “And the alarms bring the police? Maybe we need to copy the Phantom break-in at Fort. We do a big loud break-and-enter, a distraction. It brings the police – and then we show them where the heartbreak diamond is.”

“But mon lapin,” said Sister Marguerite, “we don’t know where it is. How will we find a two-inch diamond in that enormous house?”

“We’ll have to get my great-aunt to show us.”

Salem shook his head sadly. “But Max, why would she show that to any of you – a con man, a jewel dealer, a gang member, a detective, and a detective’s apprentice?” The others all murmured their agreement, and Rupert sneezed despairingly.

Max smiled. She liked “detective’s apprentice”. “That isn’t how Suzanne and Great-Aunt Elodie see us,” she said. “Rupert’s just Suzanne’s spurned admirer, as far as they know. Ester’s their bitter rival; Klaus is her suspicious friend. Sister Marguerite’s the ‘real menace’ – those were her words. Between those four people, I think I know how we can crack this.”

“And you, Max?” said Salem softly. “Who does this great-aunt of yours think you are?”

Max smiled. The candles flickered and straightened, tall and bright.

“Who, me? Oh, I’m just a child.”

13. The Admirer, the Rival, the Menace and the Child