Half Moon Investigations - Eoin Colfer [0]
‘A huge hit’ – Guardian
‘Fast-paced, tongue-in-cheek, with some laugh-out-loud jokes. Smart and page-turning’ – Sunday Times
‘Wickedly brilliant’ – Independent
‘Folklore, fantasy and high-tech wizardry… Hugely entertaining’ – Observer
‘Artemis is a brilliant creation’ – Anthony Horowitz
Praise for The Supernaturalist:
‘A dystopian thriller that reads like The Matrix crossed with Oliver Twist1 – The Times
‘A headlong techno fantasy… As ever, Colfer’s story rattles along at a tremendous pace with a cast of eccentric and explosive characters’ – Guardian
‘It’s full of the gadgetry fans expect of Colfer… action-packed’ – Telegraph
‘Eoin Colfer’s best book yet’ – Mail on Sunday
Books by Eoin Colfer
ARTEMIS FOWL
ARTEMIS FOWL AND THE ARCTIC INCIDENT
ARTEMIS FOWL AND THE ETERNITY CODE
ARTEMIS FOWL AND THE OPAL DECEPTION
ARTEMIS FOWL AND THE LOST COLONY
HALF MOON INVESTIGATIONS
THE SUPERNATURALIST
THE WISH LIST
For younger readers
THE LEGEND OF SPUD MURPHY
THE LEGEND OF CAPTAIN CROW’S TEETH
PUFFIN
PUFFIN BOOKS
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA
Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3
(a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)
Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd)
Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia
(a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd)
Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi – 110 017, India
Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand
(a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd)
Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa
Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
penguin.com
First published 2006
Published in this edition 2007
1
Text copyright © Eoin Colfer, 2006
All rights reserved
Love Me Tender Words and music by Elvis Presley & Vera Matson
© Copyright 1956 Elvis Presley Music, USA. Carlin Music Corporation.
Used by permission of Music Sales Limited.
All Rights Reserved. International Copyright Secured.
The moral right of the author has been asserted
Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN:978-0-14-192538-7
To Liam and John: The Thursday Night Think Tank
Chapter 1: The First Rule of Investigation
Chapter 2: Moon Gets a Stick Man
Chapter 3: Moon on the Case
Chapter 4: Making an Impression – on Moon’s Forehead
Chapter 5: Doctor Brendan’s Bedside Manner
Chapter 6: In the Public Eye – and Not in a Nice Way
Chapter 7: Jailbreak
Chapter 8: At Home with the Sharkeys
Chapter 9: Proof or Results?
Chapter 10: The Young Students
Chapter 11: The Power of Magnetism
Chapter 12: The Promis
Chapter 13: A Giant’s Trail
Chapter 14: Larry and Adam
Chapter 15: Moon Sees Things As They Really Are – Finally
Epilogue
THE FIRST RULE OF INVESTIGATION
My name is Moon. Fletcher Moon. And I’m a private detective. In my twelve years on this spinning ball we call Earth, I’ve seen a lot of things normal people never see. I’ve seen lunch boxes stripped of everything except fruit. I’ve seen counterfeit homework networks that operated in five counties, and I’ve seen truckloads of candy taken from babies.
I thought I’d seen it all. I had paid so many visits to the gutter looking for lost Love Hearts that I thought nothing could