Free Tokyo Surprise by Alex Ko Page A

doors,” Granny told the rest of Team O as the lift whirred up to the third floor. “Thanks to
Josh and Jessica, now we know what Yoshida’s up to.” Josh felt his face flush with pride as Sachiko and Nana both grinned at them. “If we do not find Kiki within an hour and a
half, Yoko will take her place on her new music show – and we do not know what will happen to Kiki after that.”
    The wax museum was impossible to miss – the doorway was painted bright yellow and the president of America was standing outside with three members of the Beatles. A sign on the wall said
“Apologies – John Lennon removed for cleaning.”
    Granny hobbled up to the counter and bought a group ticket for them. “I am here with my English grandchildren,” she told the girl at the counter.
    “Awww – kawaii! ” The girl beamed at Josh and Jessica.
    “Yes,” Granny said, looking every bit the sweet, twinkly-eyed grandmother. “They are kawaii , aren’t they?”
    Josh wasn’t sure about being called kawaii – it was like “cute”, but with an extra veneer of sickly sweet adorableness.
    They went into the museum through a group entrance. Nana pulled a shiny gadget from her pocket. “There are twelve surveillance cameras in this museum,” she whispered to the others.
“So there will be certain times when we need to tread carefully – we will almost certainly be watched.”
    “Let’s make sure our cover holds up,” Mimasu added under her breath. “Plenty of shuffling. I’ll be stone deaf; Nakamura-san, you can be nearly blind.”
    A young lady in a red blazer met them in front of the first room.
    “ Ohay ō !” she chirruped, handing them all leaflets about the museum. “I am Mandi! I will be your guide for today!”
    Sachiko immediately engaged her in conversation.
    She’ll keep her occupied , Josh thought, while we investigate .
    Mandi led them through a set of doors into a room full of European royalty, including a wax sculpture of England’s crown jewels. The room was almost empty of other visitors. Josh supposed
the museum might be winding down for the night. It would be shutting soon. Josh looked around for anything that could be suspicious – hidden doors, obvious security cameras, roped-off areas
– but he couldn’t see anything. Mimasu beckoned him over to take a picture of Mr. Yamamoto with the Queen.
    Josh sidled up to Jessica, who was examining a slightly wonky version of Prince Philip. “See anything?”
    “Nothing,” she said. “Except that I think the prince’s wig might be on the wrong way round.”
    They kept their eyes open, but after a few more rooms, Josh started to get jumpy. There seemed to be nothing here except waxworks and tourists. Where’s Kiki? he thought. If they
didn’t find her soon... Josh felt an involuntary shudder pass over him. He only hoped that their new friend’s life wasn’t in danger.
    They passed through rooms celebrating the ancient emperors of Japan, the Japanese space programme, and Hollywood movie stars. The crowds of visitors got bigger and noisier. A loud group of
American teenagers was gathered in the Hollywood room.
    “Oh, take my photo with James Bond!” one of them cried.
    “Ewww, Clark, quit kissing Superwoman; that’s disgusting,” shrieked another.
    “Everything seems normal,” Granny said to Nakamura, the noise of the teenagers covering their conversation.
    “For a waxworks museum, anyway,” Jessica added to Josh.
    “And this is our music celebrity room,” said Mandi, leading them into the biggest, loudest room yet. “Very popular, come inside and meet the stars.”
    People were forming queues to get their photos taken with their favourite singers, and a crowd had gathered around a large exhibit in the middle of the room. It was a four-poster bed, draped in
silk and gauzy fabric that swayed gently as people passed by. And lying on the bed, as if she was fast asleep, was the waxwork of Kiki that she mentioned on the plane.
    “ Oh