Duty Free

Fourteen year-old Sam travels to China with her mum, Dr. Lee - a scientist and tour guide for Experts Anonymous. While Sam loves the food, the people and the Great Wall,she finds that China has many hidden faces. Sam's Mum believes it helps world peace to share scientific knowledge,but carrying dissident proof of atomic testing to Western media is dangerous. That's spying. Sam must choose to help or ignore. What is her duty and is anything free.

'Usually I’m proud of my Mum but I’m not sure about this. Should I help Mum smuggle out the messages? Taking out love letters or baby photos is all right— but smuggling out maps showing atomic bases is a crime. Spying.'

Sam starts suspecting the others, especially Green Shirt who keeps hanging around. When Sam is pushed off the great Wall, is that to do with black market $US currency deals? Are some of the ‘Experts’ illegally trading $US on the black market? Are they trading anything else? Why does Kim the chemist suddenly look fatter?

Returning through Australian Customs, Sam pieces together the clues and there’s a chase in the Customs Hall. No duty to pay on the anti-wrinkle cream which Sam buys for her mother at the Chinese Medicine shop, but maybe scientific ideas are not duty-free?
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Hazel Edwards has travelled extensively in Asia, including China, and has even gone on a scientific expedition to Antarctica to research her books. She enjoys criminal plotting and plans more plots, but not a life of crime!

Lothian published the original print edition in the Crime Waves series in 2002.