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something into Fish’s ear the boys couldn’t make out, but Fizz got the feeling it was an apology.
    And then the show was over.
    The Admiral, the sea lion and Philip the otter stood in front of the little curtain and took a bow, and then they all left, and the only sound was the gentle slurp and splash of water on the poolside tiles.
    ‘That was Fish,’ Fizz said confidently.
    ‘Definitely,’ said Wystan. ‘I’d know his nose anywhere.’
    ‘That was his waistcoat.’
    ‘Boys,’ said the Doctor. ‘There is more than one sparkly waistcoat in the world.’
    ‘Not sparkly ,’ corrected Fizz. ‘ Spangly .’
    The Doctor slapped his knees as if it were some sort of answer. ‘I think,’ he warbled, raising a finger in the air, ‘it’s time to go back to the circus. We’ve been away long enough. A good afternoon’s work will take your minds off things.’
    With the two grumbling boys in tow the Doctor led his way back through the Aquarium and to the park where the gaily coloured Big Top welcomed them all back home.
     
    Despite what the Doctor said, Fizz and Wystan were decided. They knew their sea lion friend better than anyone. If they couldn’t recognise him then who would? He was missing and that Admiral character had been lurking round the circus with his pet crocodile. Everything made perfect sense. His fish had been stolen and so he’d had to steal a Fish of his own.
    As they sat with the Doctor in his caravan, they tried to convince him one last time.
    ‘But Fish hasn’t been stolen,’ Dr Surprise said, stroking Flopples, his white rabbit, who lay in his arms gently snoring. ‘He’s just wandered off somewhere. He’ll be back. He’s probably back already. Before you start accusing people,’ he went on, ‘you must be sure of all the facts. You know that, Fizz. You have to trust me, I looked closely at the Aquarium and that sea lion wasn’t Fish. I’ve known him for years, ever since he first arrived at the circus, long before either of you got here. He was a young sea lion then, of course, sneaking fish from behind Cook’s back. Oh, it was a big mystery at the time. No one knew where all these fish were going, you see. And Cook was getting angrier and angrier.’
    ‘Like last night?’
    ‘Yes, but this was a different Cook. It was after he left that the chap you know as Cook took over. Before our Cook was Cook, he was just Terry Trapp the escapologist’s son. Terry’s shuffled off to the great old circus in the sky now, but it’s good to have a Trapp still in the circus, as it were.’
    ‘Dr Surprise, what about Fish?’
    ‘Oh, yes, these fish kept going missing. It went on for days. At first Cook blamed the clowns and he banned them from the Mess Tent. They were angry about that, and there are few things worse than angry clowns. They filled his caravan with custard. Got on the roof and poured it through the air vents until it was full. He had to eat his way out. It was definitely not funny at all. But the fish still kept vanishing. Then he blamed young Miss Tremble. He thought he’d overheard her ask Unnecessary Sid to get her “some kippers for breakfast”. Oh, you should have seen the tears when he accused her. She was mortified. That night the clowns filled Cook’s caravan with horse manure. His tastebuds were never the same after that. The funny thing was it turned out she’d actually asked Unnecessary Sid to buy her some slippers in Belfast , because he was about to go on holiday you see. To Belfast. And then—’
    ‘Dr Surprise,’ Fizz said quietly, adding a cough and lifting his hand as if he were a schoolboy asking a question (which in a way he was).
    ‘Yes?’ said Dr Surprise.
    ‘We don’t care about all that stuff. We only care about Fish today ,’ Wystan snapped. ‘We need to rescue him!’
    ‘Rescue him?’
    ‘Yeah, from the Aquarium. Remember?’
    ‘He’s been kidnapped, Doctor,’ prompted Fizz, in a more friendly tone than Wystan. (Fizz knew it