Hey Pandas!

We’ll go ahead and get right to the point. You remember our clue, don’t you? It’s a riddle:

To find me, look for the tower that chimes.

(Just so you know, the rest of this clue rhymes).

You could be eating some cake, some crumpets, or tea,

But don’t be surprised if you bite down on a key!

The next day, as Big Ben struck 12:00 noon, we realized that this was part of the clue! We knew we had to get to that clock as fast as we could, so we ran like the wind. Good thing I wasn’t wearing my wooden shoes from Holland!

When we got there, we saw a street vendor putting together his stand.

Max gave him a funny look.

I didn’t know what to ask him.

But it wasn’t really necessary. The street vendor knew what we were up to and addressed us himself: “Ahhh…you’re the two detective Pandas, eh? I have something for you. Hope you like it!” He gave Max a piece of chocolate cake and disappeared.

I hadn’t eaten anything all day and my stomach was grumbling like mad. The cake looked so delicious and I just had to take a bite. Right when I was about to sink my jaws in, I heard Ella yell: “Max! No! What if it’s poisoned? Don’t you know never to take food from strangers?”

But it was too late – the lovely chocolate was melting in my mouth and I felt like I was in heaven. I chewed a bit when suddenly – CRUNCH – I but down on something hard and spit it out immediately. It was a key. Ella thought it might open up the Big Ben tower, so we went over to give it a try.

We went to the tower and started climbing the stairs to the top – no easy feat! There was a locked door, so we put in the key and turned it slowly, not knowing what awaited us. The door unlatched and we went in. We entered into a giant, empty room. In the middle there was a package with a note on it: “For Max and Ella”. It was wrapped like a present. Ella’s eyes widened and she got excited: “Oh! A present! For us?”. She pulled on one end of the bow, and then POP – out jumped a clown doll with the black notebook in its hands!

That was all a bit creepy, but we were glad to have found the book. We went back to Scotland Yard to report of our success. We told them all about the clown, the key, the cake, and the clues. They said that the thief was a well-known riddler that liked to cause people problems and send them around all of London looking for clues. The man to whom the notebook belonged was overjoyed: “Thank you two so much! The secret address of my daughter is in this book! She lives in Mexico and I would not be able to contact her without it. Hey…aren’t you two going on a trip around the world right now? If you happen to end up in Mexico, could you give this letter to my daughter? I don’t want to send it in the mail – that’s too dangerous. I trust you two. She’s a rather messy-looking girl who goes around all day eating chilied grasshoppers.”

Of course we took the letter and agreed to fulfill our duty. We hadn’t planned to go to Mexico, but I’m sure it’s nice there. As long as we don’t drink the water.

First we’ll travel to Spain to work on our Spanish a bit. We’re going by boat, so it might take a while.

Have you found the postcard from England yet? Hint: Look in the foliage.

Be good Pandas,

Max and Ella