"Have you seen this?" Mouselet squeaked, as she dragged a flyer into 221B. "There's a rival publication, which is trying to muscle in on the Marylebone Monthly Illustrated!"

"Just let them try it," the Ferret exclaimed, flexing his own muscles.

"You could do better than that," Aemelia Vole whispered to Poley the Moley and they both giggled.

The Ocelot looked up from the papers he and the Sloth had been pawing through. "Don't worry," he said. "Our Christmas supplement will be much better than their offering. We've been taking pre-orders since Michaelmas and that's without the reminder in the current issue."

"But," the Sloth added firmly, "it does mean you all need to finalise your copy in the next few days. And I'd like it without crumbs, drool or chemical or blood stains. There's enough to do at this time of year without being unable to read what's been written."