The Satsuma Street Spies – First Chapter Books

Chapter 1: The Mystery Begins

Kim the cat was the smartest cat on Satsuma Street. Actually, scratch that. Kim was the smartest living thing on Satsuma Street AND on Lemon Lane.

She had solved the Mystery of Old Mrs Amin’s Missing Washing Line. She had solved the Riddle of Rupert Robinson’s Revolving Ornamental Rocks. She had even solved the Scandal of the Second Poo in the O’Sullivan family garden in just two days flat.

The gardens of Satsuma Street backed onto the gardens of Lemon Lane, and Kim liked to patrol the long fence which divided them and keep a careful eye on all the comings and goings on either side.

She observed Rupert Robinson from 2 Lemon Lane tending meticulously to every plant and pebble in his garden each evening and muttering disapprovingly about his neighbours’ disappointing standards. She spied Kevin Blaney from 40 Satsuma Street kicking his football up and down the streets (and quite often into gardens or through windows..) every day after school. She saw everything and she remembered everything. And if something was out of place or confusing, she knew exactly how to make everything tidy and make sense again.

Now, and for the first time ever, Kim was stumped. And she didn’t like it. She didn’t like it one tiny, little bit.

It was a chilly Tuesday afternoon at a quarter to two and Kim had already paced up and down the long fence three hundred and forty-nine times since lunch. She had gone over the facts of the case again and again and again. As she turned for the 350th time she stopped, flicked her tail in frustration and curled up on a fencepost into a small, ginger ball. She looked a bit like a satsuma with a big frown on its face.

“Why don’t you start again, right from the beginning?”, barked a gruff voice from behind Kim, making her jump. Through a gap in the fence loped a fox. He sat down in front of Kim and looked steadily at her.

“What do you think I’ve been doing Guy?”, she hissed indignantly. “Do you think I’ve just been-”.

Guy held up one paw. “I know you have.”, he replied, his amber eyes crinkling just a little. “I meant, why don’t you start again, but with some help this time?”.

“I don’t need help.”, Kim replied, utterly outraged (and a little bit hurt) at the suggestion. “I know about everything and everybody on these streets. I can solve this mystery and get everything back to normal again. And I will.”. 

“Well,”, Guy began, “It’s just that there’s been another biscuit burglary. This morning. The Blaneys.” Kim gasped. Another one!

Guy nodded soberly. “The Tesco order arrived as usual but by the time Mrs Blaney came downstairs to unpack it, all the chocolate biscuits were missing. Mrs Amin tried to make her a nice cup of tea to calm her down but then remembered her biscuits had gone missing too, so neither of them had anything to dunk. Kevin Blaney was so upset he stomped up to his room without finishing his breakfast. Even though it was Coco Pops.”.

Kim’s stomach dropped right down to the claws on her paws. That was the third biscuit burglary in three days, this was turning into a full-blown crime wave! Kim prided herself on knowing every face and every feathered and four-legged creature on her patch like she knew the whiskers on her face. That was how she had solved all the puzzles before. But now… could it be that she had missed a hardened criminal living among them?

Kim took a deep breath. Guy was right, she was going to need some help with this. But she didn’t know how to begin to ask.

“Who?”, she whispered finally. “Who could possibly help when even I can’t do it?”. 

Chapter Two: Uncovering Evidence

Guy raised an eyebrow. “Oh no.”, he murmured. “No offence taken.”.

Kim didn’t hear. She leapt down from the post and settled herself in front of him, ears cocked, back straight, ready to get started.

“Let’s start right from the beginning.”, Guy said calmly. “Burglary Number One: Sunday evening, at 6:25pm (just before her favourite TV show about dancing had started), Mrs Amin from 1 Lemon Lane discovered that the packet of Jammie Dodgers next to her teapot was missing.”.

“Burglary Number Two.”, Kim jumped in. “Monday night at around 11:30pm Molly Lawrence with the new baby from 34 Satsuma Street discovered her emergency stash of chocolate chip cookies next to the microwave was gone.”.

“Burglary Number Three.”, Guy continued. “Tuesday morning between 7:45am, when the Tesco delivery arrived at 40 Satsuma Street, and 8am, when Mrs Blaney entered the kitchen to unpack it, all the chocolate biscuits she had ordered (a multi-pack of three to last them until half-term) went missing.”.

Kim wiggled her whiskers thoughtfully. “Right, what links those three victims?”, she asked.

“Well, nothing. Apart from the fact that they all live on Lemon Lane and Satsuma Street.”, Guy shrugged. “But suspects.”, he continued, “We can figure out suspects by figuring out who likes biscuits.”. 

Guy and Kim stared at each other, brows furrowed in solemn concentration. Then they both cracked.

“Everyone.”, Guy chuckled. “Everyone likes biscuits.”. He stopped laughing and slumped down. “Which means actually we can’t narrow down the suspects at all….”. He stopped laughing and slumped down. “Which means actually we can’t narrow down the suspects at all….”.