Tales From Deepdean School for Girls

The Case of Lavinia's Missing Tennis Racket

This isn't a proper mystery, like the murders Daisy and I have already discovered, but Daisy said to write this in my new notebook anyway. She says it'll be useful one day, when we're famous detectives and people want to know our story.
    It was another term at Deepdean, and our lives were once again filled with new books, bunbreaks, sleeping altogether again and arguments with the other dorm. It doesn't sound like much, but I love it, and to Daisy it's all she's got now, after what happened in Fallingford. Her brother, Bertie, is at Maudlin College in Cambridge, and they send eachother letters each week. I smile whenever I see the happiness on Daisy's face when an evenlope appears in her pigeonhole, but it reminds me how her family has shrunk so much. It's just her and Bertie now, really, and they aren't even together all the time.
    But anyway, of course Daisy does not let anything like that get in the way of detecting. Yesterday she told me this term would be perfect with a murder, but I wasn't too sure. I do like detecting murders with Daisy, of course, but Deepdean has already had two murders, and I was rather hoping for a relaxed term.
    This little case means Daisy is happy (well, as happy as Daisy is without a murder to detect), but it also means I get a nice term. Sometimes I don't like looking at death, especially dead bodies. It reminds me of our very first murder case, in the third form at Deepdean, and when I found Miss Bell's body on the gym floor.
    Now I have written all the things that have happened, I can continue on with the actual mystery.

Three or so weeks into the term, Miss Talent (our games mistress) pinned a notice up on the noticeboard.

As you know, St. Hilda's school will be coming to play a tennis match against Deepdean in five days, and I have decided who will be playing. The girls' names are below, and there will be no changes unless I see fit.

Alice Saunderson
Martha Grey
Lavinia Temple
Clementine Delacroix
Rose Smith
Amber Ackhurst-Jones
Julie Booker

We were all very excited about this announcement, because St. Hilda's are a very strong team so the match is quite exciting to watch, but also because Lavinia, a girl in our dorm, was playing. At Deepdean we care a lot about dorm pride, especially against the other dorm in our form, who also had one of their girls playing; Clementine. All of my dorm hate Clementine, but I suppose she's good at tennis.
    I was surprised that Daisy was not on the list, because she is quite good at tennis, but I have noticed she's been slacking off a bit lately.
    She nudged me as we stood by the noticeboard, staring at the names. 'Come on Hazel,' she said, turning to me, her eyes very blue. 'Let's go. Kitty and Beanie are with Lavinia.'
    'Go where?' I asked, but Daisy was already pulling me away. She took me up the stairs of House, to our dorm. It was completely silent, except the little squeaks from Beanie's mouse hidden in her tuck-box.
    'Daisy, tell me what's wrong!' I protested as she pulled me sharply towards her, spun around and swiftly let go of my arm, causing me to flip down on her bed.
    She sighed and I looked up at her. 'This term is awfully boring, isn't it, Watson?' she said. She sat down next to me. 'No murders! Not one!'
    'Well, murders aren't very common, Daisy-' I said.
    'Yes, for normal people, but not for great detectives like us! You should know this by now, Hazel. Do keep up.' Daisy interrupted. 'We've detected seven murders now!'
    'I know,' I said. 'But it isn't going to happen, Daisy. Why would there-'
    I was interrupted again by a crash at the door, and our dorm mates, Lavinia, Kitty and Beanie, burst in.
    'Emergency!' cried Kitty, and Daisy looked at me with sharp eyes. I instantly knew what it meant - our conversation would be finished later. But now there was an emergency of some sort.
    'What is it?' I asked at the same time Daisy exclaimed, 'Murder?!'
    'No, not a murder, thank goodness,' said Beanie, shuddering at the thought of it. 'But we do have a mystery for you.'
    Daisy grabbed a tin of squashed-fly biscuits and we sat on the floor in a circle, ready to hear this mystery. Daisy glared at Kitty to begin.
    'After we saw Lavinia had been chosen to play against St. Hilda's, we went to the gym to get our tennis rackets so we could do some practice during lunch with her,' Kitty said, taking a biscuit. Daisy doesn't usually let us have any of her squashed-fly biscuits because they're her favourite, and even when she does it's only when we're talking about something exciting. That's how I knew Daisy was hoping a murder would tie into this.
    'Get to the point,' Lavinia grumbled. 'Someone's taken my tennis racket, and it was during lunch because I saw it after games.'
    'Who?' I asked foolishly.
    'That's what they want us to find out, Watson. Surely you should realise that!' Daisy said scornfully, but I could see she was hiding pure excitement under her serious face.
    'This case will be easy to solve,' she bragged. 'Because it must be one of our form.'
    'How do you know that?' Beanie exclaimed. 'It could've been anyone in the school! They could easily just slip in and take it.'
    'At bunbreak, yes, but not at lunch. Miss Talent watches the gym doors like a hawk, and barely lets anybody through.' Daisy said.
    'What about a window?' I said.
    Daisy shook her head. 'They're always firmly locked, you know that.' she said. 'Anyway, it could only be a fourth former because we just had games before lunch, and it would be easy to make up a fib to tell Miss Talent so she'd let you inside. Forgotten your pullover or something. That would be believeable because we were all just in there, but would you really believe a shrimp if they said they'd left their pullover in there when they haven't been there all day?'
    'She's got a point, Beans.' Kitty said. 'But I still think Hazel has one too. We should check the windows.'
    'Fine.' Daisy said. 'You three do that while Hazel and I question our suspects. It must be one of the girls in the other dorm.'
    'We should question Miss Talent first,' I said. 'She can tell us if anyone went into the gym.'
    'Brilliant, Watson!' Daisy cried. 'Although I was just about to suggest that myself, so slightly less brilliant. Anything else anyone has to say?'
    'I've got something,' Lavinia mumbled.
    'Detective Temple!' Daisy exclaimed. 'What is it you want to say?'
    'Well, I just thought that the other girls in different forms could get into the gym, just getting their tennis rackets like I did! We saw the Mary's while we were there. '
    Daisy bit her lip. 'I suppose that's true,' she said. 'We'll investigate that too.'