A. N. T. I. D. O. T. E. (9 page)

‘Switch it off,’ Ian ordered.

Rohan frowned at him.

‘SWITCH IT OFF!’ Ian said furiously.

Rohan used the remote control to comply.

‘What the hell was that all about?’ Ian demanded. ‘What fire is he talking about?’

‘Apparently, someone tried to set fire to the Shelby plant. The fire brigade had to be called out. It was a very small fire and it’s under control now but you know how the press loves to distort these things,’ Rohan explained.

‘How did they get hold of Marcus Pardela so quickly?’ Ian asked.

‘He was already in the Shelby building apparently,’ said Rohan.

‘It wouldn’t surprise me if that …’ Ian glanced at me and Nosh, and obviously changed what he’d been about to say. ‘If that
man
had started the fire himself, just to discredit us,’ Ian stormed.

‘He’d never do his own dirty work,’
Rohan
sniffed. ‘Someone in the crowd on our march obviously did his dirty work for him.’

I was very aware of Nosh by now as we made a concerted effort
not
to look at each other. That scenario was exactly what was going on in the ANTIDOTE office too. And maybe one of the two men before us already knew that. I placed my hands on my burning cheeks, trying – and failing – not to feel embarrassed because my mum’s name had been mentioned on the telly. Feeling guilty, I stuffed my hands deep into my pockets. I tried to decide what my next move should be. I’d met the leaders of ANTIDOTE, I’d seen the evidence against Mum. Now what? Ian and Rohan continued to rant about Marcus Pardela.

‘Nosh, maybe we should leave …’ I began.

But then I felt something in my left pocket – something that hadn’t been there before. Clasping it in my hand I took it out and stared at it. The moment I realized what it was, my fingers folded over it and I held it tight.

‘What’s the matter?’ Nosh asked me.

Ian and Rohan stopped their discussion to look at me curiously.

‘Er … I’ve just remembered, we’re meant to be somewhere else. Come on, Nosh.’ I grabbed Nosh by the arm and pulled him out of the office. It was only when we got to the bottom of the stairs that I took the item out of my pocket. It lay on my palm, glistening in the half light of the stairwell.

‘What is it?’ Nosh whispered.

‘It’s my mum’s wedding ring,’ I replied.

‘What’re you doing with that?’ asked Nosh. ‘You didn’t tell me you had that.’

‘I didn’t have it – at least, I didn’t have it this morning,’ I said. ‘Someone’s left me a present.’

‘I don’t understand.’

‘This ring wasn’t in my pocket this morning,’ I persisted.

‘Then where did it come from?’ asked Nosh.

‘That’s just what I want …’ I heard a noise coming from the landing above and quickly raised my head. Someone above us ducked out of sight before I could see who it was.

‘
COME ON, NOSH
. We have work to do.’ I pulled Nosh out into the street after me.

‘Elliot, will you please tell me what’s going on?’ Nosh said, exasperated.

‘Someone’s put this ring in my pocket.’

‘When?’

‘Some time between the march and me finding it just now,’ I said.

‘Who?’

I dug deeper into my pocket, hoping to find some clue. There was a tiny scrap of folded paper, so small I could’ve easily missed it if I hadn’t been deliberately searching my pockets.

‘What does it say?’ Nosh asked breathlessly.

‘21:15hrs – phone.’

‘Is that from your mum?’

‘It must be. I think it means she’s going to phone me tonight instead …’

‘But when did she get that note to you?’ Nosh
queried
. ‘I know! It must’ve been on the march.’

‘That’d be my guess,’ I said thoughtfully. I was still trying to figure out exactly when, though. Then I got it! ‘That old woman on the march, remember? The one who bumped into me? She must be the one who put the note in my pocket. That must’ve been
Mum
.’

Nosh frowned sceptically. ‘Nah! It couldn’t have been. You’d have recognized your own mum.’

‘But I wasn’t expecting to see her. And I never did get a very good look at the woman who barged into me. She was wearing a floppy hat and a scarf that covered most of her face.’

‘But even so …’

After a moment’s pause, I sighed. ‘Yeah, maybe you’re right. I’m just clutching at straws,’ I said, wondering if I’d caught Nosh’s disease of too much imagination. ‘Maybe it was Mum and maybe it wasn’t. I just wish I knew for certain.’

I desperately tried to remember the face of the woman who’d barged me, but all I could recall was the woman’s back, stalking away from me. And besides, why all the cloak-and-dagger stuff if it was Mum? She wouldn’t do that. She’d come up to me and tell me what was going on – wouldn’t she? I still couldn’t make head nor tail of what was going on. Thank goodness for the school holidays. I don’t think I could’ve gone to school and tried to carry on as if nothing was happening and everything was as normal. I felt like I was in a
computer
game with lasers and rockets and missiles firing at me from all directions so that I didn’t know which way to turn to get away from them. I needed to sit down alone, in peace and quiet, and just consider what to do next. At the moment I was rushing around like a headless chicken. Lots of things had happened – and were still happening – but I wasn’t giving myself enough time to sort through them or work them out. It was a question of stepping back and taking it more slowly.

Someone at ANTIDOTE had been listening when I showed Nosh Mum’s wedding ring – only I didn’t know who.

Think, Elliot. Think! What should I do next?

Mum had warned me off going to Uncle Robert’s house but really, what choice did I have? The police said he’d be released on bail soon. Maybe he was at home already? I glanced down at my watch. Uncle Robert lived quite a distance away. If I went to see him, I’d never be back at Nosh’s house by the time his mum had specified. I gritted my teeth. That couldn’t be helped. I didn’t want to go against Nosh’s mum’s wishes, but what choice did I have?

I looked around.

‘What’re you looking for?’ Nosh queried.

‘A phone box. I thought I’d phone my uncle and see if he’s at home yet.’

‘A phone box?’ Nosh’s eyebrows shot up. ‘That’s a bit
last
century, isn’t it? Why not just use your Mum’s mobile?’

‘I’m not sure – but the police could’ve put a trace on it or something.’

‘Oh,’ nodded Nosh. ‘Well, what if your Uncle is in?’

The look on my face gave him his answer.

‘Elliot, you can’t go to see your uncle now. He lives kilometres away,’ Nosh protested.

‘You don’t have to come.’ I shook my head. ‘I don’t want to get you into trouble, so you’d better go home now.’

‘No way.’

‘Suit yourself. Just don’t tell your mum and dad I dragged you with me,’ I told him, ungraciously.

We walked back up to the main road, and even then it took a good few minutes to find a phone box that took ordinary money and not phone cards. I phoned my uncle, not really expecting much. To my surprise, the phone was picked up within three rings.

‘Hello?’ said a man’s wary voice.

But it wasn’t my uncle …

‘Can I speak to Uncle Robert, please?’

There was a long pause.

‘He’s not here,’ the voice replied gruffly.

‘When will he be back?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘Who am I speaking to?’ I’d barely got the words out before the phone went dead. I made up my mind in a
moment
. ‘Nosh, I’m going to my uncle’s house.’

‘Why? From the sound of it, he’s not even in.’

‘But
someone
is. And besides, Uncle Robert might return home at any minute.’

‘Elliot, I know you’re worried about your family and you want to feel you’re doing something, but rushing around like a drunken fly won’t get you very far.’

‘You go home. I’ll see you later,’ I said stubbornly.

Nosh sighed. ‘I’m coming with you – and don’t bother arguing.’

I didn’t. Truth to tell, I didn’t want to argue with him. I was glad of the company.

One tube ride, two bus journeys and a ten-minute walk later, we were outside Uncle Robert’s house. I rang the doorbell for the umpty-umpth time but there was no answer.

‘It’s OK. I’m not going to say I told you so!’ Nosh folded his arms across his chest.

I scowled at him and tried the doorbell one more time for good measure. Nothing.

‘Well, someone was here an hour ago,’ I said.

I bent down to peer through the letterbox. Had I really come all this way for nothing? The hall looked exactly the way I remembered it. There were a couple of unopened letters on the hall table next to the phone but that was it.

‘Elliot, don’t look now but I think we’ve got company,’ Nosh whispered.

‘Where?’ I straightened up immediately, my head turning every which way like some kind of nodding dog.

‘Elliot! I said
don’t
look!’ Nosh glared. ‘Very subtle – I don’t think.’

‘Sorry!’ I said and immediately kept my head still.

But I’d seen them. Two men across the street. Was it the same two men who’d been across the street from our house the night we’d been burgled? I couldn’t tell, but they looked very … shall we say, similar. One of them had close-cropped hair, the other one was thinning on top but had a short pony-tail. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the two men talking to each other with a kind of studied nonchalance that I didn’t believe for a second.

‘What should we do?’ Nosh asked.

I took a last look at my uncle’s house, which was swathed in darkness, before answering Nosh’s question. ‘Let’s go home.’

‘Thank goodness for that.’ Nosh breathed a sigh of relief.

‘Don’t look at those men. Pretend we haven’t seen them,’ I suggested.

‘You don’t have to tell me that,’ Nosh said indignantly. ‘I’m not the one who practically ran over to them and asked to see their driver’s licences!’

‘I wasn’t that bad, was I?’ I protested.

‘You were worse,’ Nosh told me.

We set off down the road towards the bus stop.

‘What’re they doing?’ I asked, dying to turn round.

‘When I sprout eyes at the back of my head, I’ll tell you,’ said Nosh.

Sometimes he can be a sarcastic ratbag! But this time I knew that most of it stemmed from being afraid. And he wasn’t the only one. We were both a long way from home. I bent down and pretended to re-tie the shoelaces of my trainers. The two men were on the opposite side of the street but they were almost level with us. When I stopped, they stopped and started talking to each other again. I straightened up and Nosh and I carried on walking.

‘They’re following us,’ I whispered to Nosh.

‘Are you sure?’

‘Well, when we stopped, they stopped,’ I informed him. ‘And they’ve both started walking in the same direction as us now.’

‘What’re we going to do?’ Nosh asked, an anxious edge to his voice. ‘Make a run for it?’

‘Why? We haven’t done anything!’ I frowned.

‘What’s that got to do with the price of corned beef?’ Nosh said, exasperated.

And he had a point.

‘All right then, after three. One … two …’ I never made it to three.

A hand appeared from nowhere to grip my shoulder. Each finger dug into me like a steak knife. I was turned
round
and then the hand immediately let go. It was the guy with the pony-tail. If he hadn’t let me go, I would’ve fought like a cornered rat. From the tense, wild look on Nosh’s face, he was going to do that anyway! But when the man released me, the surprise held me still.

‘Are you Elliot – Robert Gaines’ nephew?’The man smiled at me. ‘I saw you ringing his doorbell.’

I glanced across the street. The man’s friend was crossing the road now. I took a cautious step backwards.

‘I’m a friend of your uncle’s,’ the man continued. He held out his hand. ‘My name is Allen.’

I kept my eyes on his face, ignoring his hand.

‘Your uncle was released on bail this morning. He’s very worried about you.’ The man with the pony-tail glanced at his friend, who had now joined us, before turning back to me, his smile wider than ever. ‘In fact, he asked me to look you up, just to make sure you’re all right.’

‘Where is my uncle?’ I asked.

‘He had to go away for a few days. I’m going to see him next week,’ said the smiler. ‘So can I tell him you’re doing OK?’

‘I’m fine,’ I replied.

I didn’t like the way that smile seemed to be plastered on his face. I didn’t like Smiler or his friend. I took another slow step backwards, wishing Nosh would do the same. He was very close to them. Too close. Just an arm’s length away.

‘Have you seen your mother recently?’ asked Smiler.

I shook my head.

‘But you have something of hers. Something your Uncle Robert wants you to give to me,’ said Smiler.

‘I don’t have anything …’

‘Oh, I think you do. It’s your mum’s telephone. Your uncle needs it to show to the police. Apparently it has some kind of proof on it that your mum and uncle didn’t break into Shelby’s?’

‘I don’t have my mum’s phone. We were burgled. The burglars must have taken it,’ I denied.

Smiler shrugged. ‘That’s a shame ’cause according to your uncle it’s the only thing that can prove his innocence.’

‘What was in it?’ I asked.

‘I have no idea. Your uncle just asked me to get in touch with you and ask you to hand it over to me so that I could then give it to him. He didn’t go into too many details,’ said Smiler.

‘Why can’t he get in touch with me himself?’ I asked. ‘What’s wrong with him?’

Smiler and his friend exchanged a glance. ‘There’s nothing wrong with him. He’s just keeping his head down for the time being – that’s all.’

‘How did you know I was his nephew?’

‘What other boy would be knocking on his door on a Saturday afternoon?’ Smiler grinned.

Yeah, right! If I had any lingering doubts, that last bit
cleared
them away. These two had to be the same two men who were watching our house. For all I knew, they might be the burglars as well.