Fashion Frightmare! (My Sister the Vampire) (11 page)

Time to try again.
Olivia turned away from Reiko to face the room and begin the process once more. But it wasn’t easy to empty her mind when it was so full of
bubbling worry. Panic kept trying to take her over every time she let herself wonder whether Tessa and Alex really
were
cursed – not to mention thinking about all the homework she
would have to
somehow
get through tonight –

Stop!
She shook herself.
This is the exact opposite of emptying my mind and finding my blank slate!

For the next few minutes, she needed to
not
be Olivia Abbott with all of Olivia’s personal worries and priorities. Instead, she needed to be a . . .
mysterious person
in
the converted break room.

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes.
I am a blank slate. I am a blank slate. I am . . .

When she finally opened her eyes again, she kept a silent stream of mantras in her head, blocking out all other concerns. She was a thief, looking for an opportunity. Just a thief. And . . .

Aha!

There had to be
something specific
that they wanted. No thief went to a museum thinking they might just
stumble
upon something worth taking . . .

They could have stolen something from the changing area, but they hadn’t – the thief had gone for something that was
on display
in the actual museum. Had they seen it worn
by Reiko and
then
sought it out?

Yes.
Following the chain of intuition, Olivia hurried out the door and through the museum hallways, towards the room where the pashmina had been displayed. Some part of her brain was
aware that Ivy and Reiko were following, whispering together, but she couldn’t afford to let those sounds distract her.

So, I’m a thief, waiting for my opportunity . . . but why am I stealing anything in the first place?

Olivia bit her lip miserably as she felt her grip on her ‘character’ loosen. There had to be an answer, but what
was
it? If she could just put herself in the mind-set of
someone who would steal, someone who wouldn’t care what the theft might do to other people . . .

She felt outrage rise within her, as she thought of Tessa and Alex’s anguished faces – but she tamped it down as she stepped into the display room, forcing herself to look around
with analytical eyes, moving from one historical outfit to another as Ivy put the fake pashmina safely into place.

Maybe I’m just someone with an interest in historical artefacts? A vintage fashion buff
 
? Or
–

‘Oh!’ Reiko gasped.

Olivia spun around, her blank slate falling away completely. ‘What happened?’

‘Look at this!’ Reiko was leaning over behind a display cabinet on the far side of the room, picking something off the floor. ‘It’s a receipt from One Planet – that
wonderful health food store you two took me to last Sunday! And the date on the receipt is from Wednesday.’

‘The day of the fashion show.’ Ivy narrowed her eyes. ‘The museum was not open to the public on Wednesday, and it’s been closed ever since then . . .’

‘Ohhh . . .’ Olivia turned in a circle, scoping out the whole room. ‘Yes!’ she breathed. ‘I can
see
it now. The receipt must have fallen out of the
thief
 
’s pocket as they crouched down to hide behind that display cabinet when you and Penny came into the room with the pashmina . . .’

‘. . . or maybe,’ Ivy finished grimly, ‘it fell out when they scrambled from behind the display cabinet, taking their chance when the lights went off.’

‘Can I see the receipt?’ Olivia asked Reiko.

‘Sure.’ Reiko passed it over.

‘Hmm.’ Olivia tapped the top of the receipt with one pale-pink fingernail. ‘This doesn’t just have a date – it also has a time. The thief was at One Planet just
before coming to the museum for the opening of Café Creative.’ Smiling triumphantly, she met her sister’s gaze. ‘Why don’t we head over there now and see if any clerk
remembers this particular order?’

Well, it
felt
like a good plan,
Olivia thought glumly, twenty minutes later.
Maybe if we hadn’t come with Reiko, it might even have worked!

Unfortunately, taking Reiko to her favourite health food store had been too much for the exchange student’s willpower. One Planet had been nearly empty when they’d first arrived
– which was perfect for their investigation – but the moment Olivia and Ivy had reached the counter and opened their mouths to start asking questions, Reiko had completely lost
control.

‘Oh, I can’t wait. I
need
one of your Vitali-Teas right now! They’re just so good, I’ve been thinking about my last one ever since Sunday.’

‘Aren’t they fabulous?’ The server, a blonde woman in her mid-twenties whose nametag read “Norah”, nodded vigorously, leaning across the counter. ‘I
don’t even feel awake before my shots of gotu kola any more! What I
really
love about it is . . .’

Olivia traded a horrified look with Ivy as the two health food fans launched into an endless discussion about gotu kola versus caffeine. Over the next five minutes, they moved on to raves about
tofu, sprouts, wheatgrass, and then some foods Olivia had never even heard of before! It was only when the bell over the door rang, signalling a whole crowd of new arrivals, that Norah finally
jumped back from the counter.

‘Oops! I’d better start making your Vitali-Tea. Looks like I’m about to be swamped!’

Olivia swallowed a groan as she looked at the crowd of over ten people already forming a line behind them. From the looks on their faces, they were impatient for their gotu kola, too . . . and
if she and Ivy held up the server by asking investigative questions, the impatient customers might just pelt them with bags of wheatgrass!

Olivia shook her head as she turned back to the server, who was facing away from them. Ironically, Norah wore a rather fabulous pashmina herself, although hers was sunflower-yellow.

‘We’ll need to plan this
very
carefully,’ Olivia mumbled to Ivy out of the corner of her mouth. ‘Can you do a good “indecisive”?’

‘Absolutely not,’ Ivy said. ‘I’m not the actress in this family, remember? How about
you
play the indecisive one, while I ask the hard questions?’

‘OK.’ Olivia let out her breath. ‘You know, I’m actually more comfortable with that idea!’

Norah turned back, beaming and holding out a large cup of Vitali-Tea.

‘Ohh!’ Reiko snatched it out of her hands. ‘I’m so excited!’

‘And what would you two like?’ Norah asked, turning expectantly to Ivy and Olivia. Behind them, the line rustled as people prepared to shuffle forward.

‘Umm . . .’ Olivia tried to look anguished as she leaned over the glass display case set inside the counter. ‘I just can
not
decide. I’ve been looking at those
vegan truffles, and they look soooo amazing – but then those almond butter chews look so good, too, I think . . . I think . . . oh!’ She put her hands in her hair, tugging as if she
could force herself to think. ‘I just need one more moment . . .’

She leaned over until she was nearly pressing her nose against the glass, ignoring the huffs and groans of the crowd waiting behind her. She heard the rustle of paper as Ivy handed over the
receipt to Norah.

‘While she’s making up her mind, can I ask: does this receipt ring any bells for you?’

‘Excuse me?’ Norah sounded startled. ‘I’m not sure I –’

‘We’re trying to figure out who dropped it,’ Ivy explained. ‘They left behind something really important, too, along with the receipt, and we want to get it back to them.
But we need to figure out who we’re looking for . . .’

‘Well, in that case . . .’ Norah paused. ‘Let me think.’

Olivia slid a glance up out of the corner of her eyes to see Norah frowning over the receipt.

‘Oh,
wait
!’ Suddenly, the server flashed a bright smile. ‘There’s only
one
regular customer of ours who
always
orders oatmeal with avocado,
plus an extra-large serving of Vitali-Tea.’

She passed the receipt back to Ivy and nodded firmly. ‘I know exactly who you’re looking for.’

They all leaned forwards.

‘You do?’ asked Olivia, abandoning any pretence of ordering.

A tall man pushed up next to her at the counter. ‘One extra-large Vitali-Tea to go, please.’

Norah picked up a cup and then turned back to the girls. ‘Yes, that’s Maxie Richards,’ she said as she flipped on the Vitali-Tea machine. ‘Great kid.’ The machine
whirred into life, hissing and bubbling loudly. Norah was still saying something and Olivia strained her ears to hear, ‘. . . Wednesdays after art class . . . over from Lincoln Vale . .
.’

‘What does she look like?’ Ivy asked, over the noise.

‘What?’ Norah called.

‘Looks!’ Ivy pointed to her hair and face.

‘Oh! Well . . . about fifteen, I’d say . . . eyes and shoulder-length brown hair.’

Olivia could barely hear a thing. ‘I’m sorry, what –’ She could not finish her question, because more customers were pushing forward.

Norah shook her head. ‘Sorry, kids!’

Realising that this was all they were going to get, they turned away from the counter.

As they marched out of One Planet
,
Olivia saw Ivy fix an imaginary person with a death-squint. ‘OK, Maxie Richards with brown hair from Lincoln Vale . . . The Daring Detective Duo
are going to find you!’

Reiko made a show of clearing her throat, and Ivy looked sheepish.

‘I mean, the Daring Detective
Trio
.’

T
he next morning, Olivia stepped through the big glass doors of the Lincoln Vale and felt a sense of déja-vu. The last time she and Ivy had
come here with a friend, they’d been tracking another suspicious girl through the mall, just as they were today. This time, though, they were on the trail of a thief; and instead of Sophia
coming with them, they had Reiko, whose hair today was a rather “Altegular” chaos of pink and black streaks. Her trademark tennis racquet stuck up out of her backpack as she looked
around with cheerful curiosity.

I bet she wasn’t expecting this to be a part of her exchange programme!
Olivia thought. But she couldn’t spare any time to worry about that. She was too busy scanning left
and right, down the long, wide corridors of the upscale mall. They had figured that most Lincoln Vale teens could be found in the mall at the weekends and they hadn’t been wrong – but
the place was so crowded, they felt no closer to finding Maxie Richards.

Is Maxie short for Maxine, I wonder?

‘OK, we can’t just walk up and down all day.’ Ivy came to a halt, frowning. ‘We need a plan. I think we’re most likely to have success if we scope out the clothing
stores.’

Olivia nodded. ‘Well, we do know Maxie has a thing for clothing . . .’

‘And since this whole incident has been a fashion frightmare,’ Ivy added, ‘it makes sense that our thief girl would be the type to frequent a niche boutique or two. How about
Blue Skye’s?’

Olivia shuddered. ‘I don’t know . . . The last time we went, Blue Skye tried to get mall security to arrest us!’

‘Whoa!’ Reiko bounced on the tips of her tennis shoes. ‘Exactly what kind of trouble did you two get up to? And what kind of store
is
it, anyway?’

‘Oh, just New Age clothes.’ Ivy shrugged. ‘Lots of incense. You know, typical.’

‘But the owner is
not
typical at all!’ Olivia grimaced. ‘I mean, she’s very laid back about
most
things . . . but when it comes to customers “just
browsing”, she morphs from “Blue Skye” into “Red Skye”!’ She shook her head vigorously, backing away from Ivy. ‘Seriously, we had to run for our lives last
time we visited.’

‘I’m not thrilled to go back there, either,’ Ivy agreed. ‘But just think about it: if Maxie has such a liking for pashminas, doesn’t it make sense that she would
shop at Blue Skye’s?’

‘Ugh.’ Olivia groaned, dropping her head in defeat. ‘I
hate
it when you make sense . . . about something I
really
don’t want to do!’