Remember everyone; this story comes after the time paradox! So I recommend you read that first!

Holly Short woke up on Christmas day feeling nothing. Adult Fairies rarely celebrated Christmas day – they didn't care much for the exuberant parties held by mud men. Nor did they look forward to getting presents. The only Fairies that seemed to take Christmas seriously were the younger ones. So Holly woke up feeling fairly unexcited. The only thing that sparked the slightest bit of interest was Artemis's party – and she was still in two minds about going anyway. Disguising as a human would be no problem after the mysterious package that had arrived a day earlier. Upon opening it – god knows how it got from Fowl Manor to Haven – was a pair of fake rounded ears constructed by memory latex and a pink-and-silver party invitation. So when boxing day had come around she was still undecided. Recon has been pretty quiet lately, reasoned one side of Holly.

But criminals don't work around schedules, Another part of her said.

She slipped on her standard Recon Jumpsuit and regulation boots, checking her hair in the mirror. Another thing was bugging her too. It was just a little thought niggling at the back of her mind, but there nevertheless. It had been puzzling her for ages, ever since the pixie had been buried under the debris of the seventh Kraken and miraculously escaped.

What happened to Opal Koboi? Where is she now?

Holly grabbed a Pip n' co Supa shake ™ and charged out the door. The Supa Shakes had only been on the market for a few weeks, but had already built up an excellent reputation as the best way to make you energetic, strong and wide-awake. Holly had been sceptical at first, but she had to admit they tasted good. And oddly enough, she swore they had made her taller.

Ten minutes later she arrived at police plaza, to find Trouble Kelp standing by the front door. He looked worried.

'Captain Short, you're late again and we have a psycho dwarf wandering around Shanghai. Suit up now and get to the surface. Foaly will fill you in'

'Yes, commander sir. Right away, sir,' Holly wasn't surprised by the urgency in his voice; Shanghai was so busy a dwarf running about the place could be noticed by thousands of people. She hurried down the narrow corridor towards Operations. Foaly was sitting there, looking out of character, chewing his bottom lip.

'Ok, Short, suit up. Don't worry about wings – they're built in.' While Holly slipped on the shimmer suit Foaly brought up a 3-D virtual diagram of a shanghai shopping mall. 'Ok, you've got only one chance at this. The situation in a nutshell: A lone dwarf is heading towards the food court of-'

'What?'

'Some Chinese name...anyway, it translates as 'big mall''

Holly burst into peals of laughter. 'Big mall! Trust the mud men to point out the obvious!'

'Yes, but that's beside the point. Anyway, this mall seems to be in the middle of a grand opening at the moment, and the stupid dwarf is going to tunnel right into the middle of it!'

'That sounds a bit like Mulch Diggums. But it can't be – he turned good'

'I agree, last time I heard from him he was catching criminals with Doodah Day'

'Hmmm...' Holly said thoughtfully. 'Is there any way to find out?'

'Of course,' snorted Foaly. 'What do you take me for?'

'A pompous Centaur' Grinned Holly. 'A very unfit pompous Centaur.'

'I know that,' He said, a little hurt. 'But luckily for us, that unfit, pompous Centaur updated the underground sensors while you were chasing demons in limbo. Every one is now equipped with a tagging device, a miniature seismograph, a DNA and particle scanner and a wireless, impossible to intercept connection right to the LEP operations mainframe' He gestured around him.

'Just in case you don't remember, we don't have much time'

Foaly continued, not fazed by Holly's interruption. 'Anyway, this dwarf accidentally swallowed one and...well, ejected it out the other end. So the sensor is still buried in the earth, where it should be, and picked up the dwarfs DNA when it was swallowed. So now we have the DNA which can be cross-referenced with anyone we want. So, I compared Diggum's DNA with the collected DNA and voila'

'And...Is it Diggums?'

'I'll explain as you go. Now...Fly!'