The Impossible Clue (13 page)

I
spent another night on the couch and woke up with a new set of lines decorating my face. Della hadn't actually locked me out of my room, but that was only because the bedroom doors didn't have locks. I snuck in and got clean clothes and pyjamas while she was in the shower. Dad had got someone to fit an extra set of locks until we could buy a new door. But we all still jumped at every sound out on the street. And every time I jumped I got a little angrier.

Della was practising her shuffle ball changes upstairs. It sounded like she was practising them on my face. She'd found the spot on my bedroom floor that was directly over the couch where I was sleeping. She must have moved the desk to do it. I needed coffee.

I pulled on the clothes I'd laid out the night before and
used my fingers to brush my hair. Dad was sitting at the counter eating a bowl of cereal and reading the paper.

‘Good morning,' I said. He didn't respond, and when I looked more closely I could see he had screwed up some paper napkins into makeshift earplugs. The white ends stuck out of his ears like some kind of alien antennae.

I poured myself coffee and cereal and tugged the entertainment section out from under Dad's arm. He jumped.

‘Morning Dad,' I said. He had dark circles under his eyes. I guess I wasn't the only one who'd had trouble sleeping. Upstairs, Della stopped tapping.

‘Is the band still playing?' He raised his eyes up to the ceiling.

I shook my head.

Dad sighed and pulled out the earplugs, then he took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

‘Good morning, sweetheart.' He put his glasses back on and passed me a pen so I could do the cryptic quip and the sudoku. Dad might not have liked giving them up, but he always kept his word. ‘I need to take Della to her callback today, so I won't be around. Is there anyone you can call to come over? I don't like the idea of you in this house alone.'

‘You want me to call a babysitter?'

‘You know that's not what I mean. If you don't have anyone to come over, why don't you come with us to the audition?'

I knew Dad was trying to help me and Della build
bridges, but it was a little too soon for that. I was about to tell him that I didn't think Della would appreciate my company just now when she came down the stairs and told him for me.

‘Dad, you can't be serious. I need complete positivity. Alice will poison the atmosphere if she comes.'

‘Della.' Dad's tone was stern, but I didn't want to go to Della's audition any more than she wanted me to be there.

‘Don't worry about it, Dad. I'll go to the library. There'll be plenty of people there.'

‘Fine,' he said. ‘But I'll have my phone with me the entire time. On vibrate,' he added quickly when Della opened her mouth. ‘You call me if you need me, understand?'

‘I got it.'

‘OK. I'm going to grab a quick shower, then I'll take you to the theatre. You two be nice to each other.'

I think Dad wanted to say something else, probably something about sisters getting along and our special twin connection, but decided against it. Instead he just put his bowl in the sink and went upstairs.

Della sat down at the counter. ‘Don't look at me, don't talk to me, don't even think about me. Until this audition is over, you do not exist.'

‘You know, Della, I've tried really hard to make you feel at home here. I gave you my bed and cooked your carbs. Maybe you could just try to be a little understanding. There are other people in the world, you know.'

Della sniffed and flipped her beautiful blonde hair at me, but she didn't say a word.

Fine,
I thought,
if she wants to play hard ball I can play that way too
.

I looked at Della and very calmly pulled my messenger bag over my head.

‘I'm going now. I'll be back tonight. Oh, and Della . . .' I think she knew what I was going to say before I said it. Maybe we had a twin connection after all. Her hands shot up to cover her ears, but she wasn't fast enough.

‘Good luck!'

I grabbed my bike and banged out the door, leaving Della screaming bloody murder over her cornflakes. It was the worst thing you could say to an actress before an audition. But it didn't make me feel any better. The only thing that was going to do that was solving this case. And that meant finding Dr Learner and proving he got out of that office without using an invisibility suit. Or seeing that suit with my own two eyes.

It was rush hour. The air was full of exhaust fumes and the sound of angry honking. Overhead the sky was dark. It looked like we were due another storm. I walked my bike along the pavement. There was no point in riding when the road was that full. It was like asking someone to run you over. The good thing was, with traffic this bad, it was impossible for the men in the silver Mercedes to follow me. At least, that's what I told myself. But it didn't stop me
from jumping when Kevin Jordan shouted at me.

‘Hey Numbers!'

I tried to stuff my heart back into my chest cavity where it belonged and turned around.

‘Whoa! Calm down there.' Kevin jogged after me, pushing his bike with one hand, and dragging Sammy Delgado Jr with the other. Sammy was holding a large bundle of balloons that trailed behind him.

‘What do you want?' I asked. I didn't like being stopped on the side of the street. Every time a silver car drove past, my heart beat a little harder. But none of them were the Mercedes.

‘I saw this kid sneaking around outside your house and I thought you might be up to something interesting.'

‘I wasn't sneaking, I'm helping Alice on a case,' Sammy said, starting loud and then biting back his words when Kevin looked down at him.

‘Sorry Sammy, I'm off the case. Didn't your dad tell you?' I felt bad lying, but I didn't need Sammy shouting his mouth off and word getting back to my dad that I was still looking into things.

Sammy blushed. ‘I know. Here, I brought you these.' He held out the balloons.

‘What are these? I'm-sorry-someone-broke-into-your-house balloons?'

He shrugged and nodded at the same time, like a sheepish turtle. I couldn't believe it, but that was Sammy
all over. His heart was in the right place. His head was somewhere else altogether. It actually made me smile.

‘Wait, someone broke into your house?' Kevin asked. ‘Why didn't you call me?'

I turned to look at Kevin. I didn't know which was weirder, Sammy's balloons or Kevin's question.

‘Why would I call you? I called the police.'

We all stood in the middle of the pavement, staring at each other. A man in a smart suit and trainers shoved past us and swore under his breath. I pulled Kevin and Sammy up against the wall.

‘Look, it was a rough night. I don't have time for games right now, so what do both of you want?'

Sammy looked at me and then at Kevin. He made a move like he was going to whisper in my ear.

‘Whoa there,' I said pushing him gently back. ‘Kevin knows about the case. You don't need to play spy.'

Sammy looked at me like I'd stabbed him.

‘Fine,' he said, sulking. ‘It's about that thing you asked me to look for. I couldn't find it. I checked the whole building. Sorry.'

‘What thing?' Kevin asked. We were all standing over a subway grate. Somewhere below us a train went by and the hot, stale air blew up. It felt like hot dog breath on my legs.

‘Sammy, it's not a secret,' I said. I was pretty sure it didn't even matter. ‘There was a metal clip on the security
camera in one of the photos. It wasn't there when I went to look at the real thing. Sammy was trying to find it for me.'

Sammy puffed his chest out like a peacock. ‘That's right. I checked Dad's office, and Dr Learner's lab. And I snuck into Graham Davidson's office while he was on his lunch break. I even checked all of the conference rooms upstairs. But it wasn't anywhere.'

‘Someone probably threw it out,' Kevin said. ‘Did you check the bins?'

Sammy went quiet. For a minute I thought the poor kid was going to cry. Watching him made my chest ache.

‘I need to go,' he said. ‘I just remembered there's something I need to do. Not this. Something else. I'll see you later.'

He shoved the balloons into my hand and ran off, looking backwards and tripping over his feet. I was pretty sure that the black town car was parked somewhere nearby. Sammy didn't seem like a big walker.

‘Weird kid,' Kevin said.

‘Look who's talking.'

Traffic was starting to move again, and the pavements were clearing. I climbed on my bike and started to pedal towards the library.

‘So a break-in, huh? That must have been pretty scary. Are you OK?'

‘I'm fine.' I didn't feel like sharing. Especially not with
Kevin. Not after I told him all that stuff about Della and Dad and how I felt about my family. I was playing it safe and keeping my mouth shut.

‘Is your dad OK?'

‘He's fine.'

‘What about your sister? Doesn't she have her audition today?'

I squeezed the brakes so hard my back wheel popped off the ground. I lost hold of the balloons and they floated up, seven red circles disappearing into the heavy grey sky. I didn't even try to catch them.

‘Why are you following me?'

‘I'm not following you. We're just going in the same direction.' Kevin showed me his most angelic smile.

‘I'm going to the library,' I said. ‘Where are you going?'

‘I'm going to the library too.'

‘You're going to the library? During the summer? You?'

‘Yep. Look up and watch the pigs flying.'

K
evin needed to fill in a library card application, so I left him at the mercy of the surliest librarian this side of the Ben Franklin Bridge and disappeared into the stacks.

I followed the Dewey decimal system to the 510s, the maths section. It was quiet there and I liked the books. My favourite spot was a window ledge between Arithmetic (511) and Analytical Geometry (516). Other, taller buildings had been built up around the library so the window looked across an alley on to a brick wall. It made that corner of the library feel like a secret hiding place, somewhere in the city where no one could see me. Dust motes speckled the air, catching the summer sun. I checked one more time to make sure no one had followed me, and then I got out my Goldbach's Conjecture folder.

The mirror I'd taken from Mr Delgado's office was still at the bottom of my bag, a thin layer of pencil dust clouding the surface. I wiped it clean on the front of my shirt and tucked it into the plastic pocket at the front of the binder. Then I flipped through the pages looking for where my copy of the Delgado file started. Dad might have told me to leave the case alone. But that was like trying to make one plus one equal five. Still, I wasn't stupid. I wasn't going to go running around the city searching for Dr Learner. I had all the information in the file on my lap. If I found a clue or figured out a lead, I'd call Mr Delgado. He could handle it from there. I'd make sure he gave Dad an exclusive story too.

I paused for a moment on the last page of my notes on the Goldbach's Conjecture. I'd planned to spend a quiet summer working on a proof. I'd also planned to spend a couple of nights sleeping in my own bed. That hadn't worked out for me either. I turned the page over with a sigh and started reviewing the case.

I tapped the end of my pen against my cheek, counting as I thought. I was sure the key to the case was the way Dr Learner had disappeared. If I could just figure out the trick, the rest of the equation would fall into place. Unlike Graham Davidson, I refused to believe Dr Learner had built an invisibility suit without proof. Then again, I didn't know Dr Learner. And everyone did say he was a genius. I shook my head. No, even if Dr Learner was the smartest
guy on the planet and he had built a working suit, the case still didn't make any sense. Why would he use it to disappear? What was the point?

I turned to a clean page and started writing down all the possible reasons I could think of for staging an impossible disappearance.

Maybe he was trying to hide from someone. I could understand that. I might not have seen the men in the silver Mercedes that morning, but they were out there somewhere. Being able to disappear sounded pretty nice. Still, inventing a million-dollar invisibility suit was a pretty drastic way to make your escape.

Maybe he was trying to prove that the device worked. But if he wanted to do that, he could just show someone. Maybe he
had
shown someone. Sammy seemed pretty sure that the suit was real. Then again, Sammy probably still believed in the tooth fairy. But if the suit didn't exist, what was this all about? And how had Dr Learner pulled that Houdini from his office? It was a classic paradox, leading me round and round in a strange loop. I closed my eyes. Paradoxes were fine in theory, but this was the real world. There had to be a logical explanation, I just hadn't found it yet.

I took out my phone and flipped through the pictures I'd taken at Dr Learner's apartment, hoping to spot something I'd missed. But no matter how hard I looked at the scraps of equations taped to Dr Learner's refrigerator or
the cluttered floor, nothing jumped out at me. I stared the longest at the photo I'd taken in Dr Learner's bedroom. There was something about that one clean square of space that bothered me. But I couldn't put my finger on what it was.

‘There you are. This place is huge.' Kevin came around the corner of the stacks speaking way too loudly for a library. I shoved my phone back into my pocket.

‘Quiet. This is a library, you know.'

Kevin rolled his eyes. ‘I'm not actually an idiot,' he said.

‘You could have fooled me.' I said it under my breath, but we were in a library. Under your breath is the same as shouting. I cringed. ‘Sorry.'

If the apology surprised me, it gave Kevin a heart attack.

He staggered backwards clutching at his chest and gasping for air, sliding down the shelves into a twitching heap on the floor.

I laughed in spite of myself. It started as a giggle and then it got out of hand. I laughed so hard the patrolling librarian came to shush me. Me. Even then I couldn't stop. Kevin looked worried, and the thought of Kevin Jordan worrying about me made me laugh even harder.

Kevin grabbed my arm, scooped up my stuff and pulled me out of the stacks. He dragged me past the librarian and all the staring library patrons. Maybe it was their shocked looks, or the fact that I was running out of air, or maybe it was the tightness of Kevin's fingers around my wrist that
shook me back to my senses. Maybe it was all three. But I knew I needed to get a grip.

I took some deep breaths and counted prime numbers. When that didn't work I switched to the Fibonacci Sequence. By the time we got outside (and I'd got to F14 = 377) I'd managed to calm down. I bent over, bracing my hands on my knees, and tried to catch my breath. My stomach ached. I couldn't remember the last time I'd laughed that hard.

‘Here.' Kevin handed me a bottle of water from his bag and I gulped it down.

‘Thanks.'

I sat down on the marble steps. The storm was getting closer, I could almost feel the weight of the water in the clouds pressing down on us. I scanned the street, still no silver Mercedes. Most of me felt relieved, but a small part wondered: if they weren't following me, where were they? And what were they up to? They hadn't just given up, I was sure of that.

Kevin sat down next to me. ‘That's the first time I've seen you laugh.'

‘Really?' I thought back over the year. He was probably right. School wasn't exactly a comedy club.

‘You only ever smile when you're writing in that.' He nodded towards my Goldbach's Conjecture folder. ‘What's in there?'

I looked at Kevin and tried to imagine a world where I
could explain Goldbach's Conjecture without a blank look or a snide remark. I could almost see it. All that laughing must have shaken something loose in my brain.

‘It's just a maths problem I like working on. It's not important.'

Kevin raised an eyebrow like he didn't believe me, but he didn't push it.

‘So why did you come to the library today?' I changed the subject.

‘Ah. I needed your help. With this.'

Kevin pulled a thick stack of papers out of his bag. They were stapled in the top corner and slightly damp from where his water bottle must have leaked. ‘Principal Chase wasn't happy about me running off without seeing her on the last day of school.'

‘I can see how that might have upset her.' I wasn't sure where Kevin was going with this, but I had a feeling it involved asking me for a favour.

‘She went mental. She called my house. Luckily I got to the phone before my parents. It took everything I had to calm her down.' The idea of Kevin charming Principal Chase almost made me start laughing all over again. ‘She said if I turned in all of these workbooks before summer detention starts next week I don't have to go.'

‘So?' I said. ‘Fill them in.'

‘I need to get over ninety per cent.' He looked at me, practically batting his eyelashes.

‘You must be joking. I'm not doing your homework for you.'

‘Aw, come on. I didn't say that. Just help me. It's your fault, you know. If I hadn't run off trying to save you, I wouldn't be in this mess.'

‘Why didn't you just tell her what happened?'

‘What, about the two gorillas in black suits who shoved you into a car and drove off? I tried. She didn't believe a word of it. Come on, you're smart. Just help me out here. I'm an idiot, remember?'

I looked at the workbooks and back at Kevin.

‘Come on,' Kevin said. ‘I'll buy you a pretzel.'

‘Fine. I'll help. But I'm not giving you the answers.'

I helped Kevin with his maths workbook and it was like pulling teeth.

‘It says right here
show your work
! Half of the marks are for showing your work.'

‘Who cares how you get there if you get the right answer?'

‘Because maths isn't all about the answer. It's about the process. If you just write down the answer, you might as well have just looked it up in the back of the book.'

‘Wait, the answers are in the back of the book?' Kevin flipped through the pages and then sighed. ‘I knew it was too good to be true.'

I pressed the heels of my hands against my eyes. We
were getting nowhere fast. I could understand if Kevin wanted the answers so he could work backwards and figure out the solutions, but he didn't. He didn't get that half the joy of maths is figuring out
how
to solve the problem.

I stopped.

It was me all over. How had Dr Learner escaped? The problem had taken up so much space in my brain, I hadn't stopped to think about anything else. About the real problem. Where was Dr Learner now? I didn't need to solve the problem of Dr Learner's mysterious disappearance. I needed to solve the problem of Dr Learner's current location. That's what the men from Chronos R&D were doing. They hadn't just given up following me. They'd probably found a new lead, something I hadn't thought of yet. And I refused to let them find Dr Learner first. This was
my
case, not theirs.

‘Kevin, you're a genius,' I said. He was too shocked to reply.

I got out my phone and did a search for Dr Adrian Learner. Most of the results were news reports of his disappearance. I saw the one my father had written near the top of the page. He'd be happy about that.

‘I don't want news, I want a biography.' I scrolled down. There.

It was an article from the University of Pennsylvania's Alumni magazine:
Penn's Science Success Stories
. Dr
Learner and Mr Delgado were both heavily featured. I skimmed through the page.

‘He won the Beakman Fellowship . . .'

‘Whoa, check out those sideburns!' Kevin pointed to a picture of a young Dr Learner in a lab coat with what looked like a group of other graduate students. They were standing in front of a large window in one of the university buildings, the Philadelphia skyline sparkling in the background. I looked more closely. Standing next to Dr Learner was a younger, skinnier version of Mr Delgado.

Dr Adrian Learner will join his former classmate Mr Samuel Delgado to help us open the new Delgado-Learner Science Building in September. The building features offices for new science faculty, eight classrooms and four state-of-the-art laboratories.

And there it was, finally. A lead.

Everyone I'd talked to said Dr Learner was a brilliant man, absolutely devoted to his research. He'd never willingly leave in the middle of a project. That's why Sammy was so worried. But what if there was somewhere he could keep working in secret?