The Impossible Clue (7 page)

‘How was he different? Did something happen?'

Sammy shifted uncomfortably in his seat and looked at his shoes like they were the most fascinating things in
the room.

‘Was he having trouble at work?' I tried again. ‘Was there a reason he'd want to run away?'

Still no response.

‘Sammy?' I said it more sharply than I meant to, and Sammy jumped.

‘No,' he said sheepishly. ‘I don't know about any trouble.'

‘Well, what about his invisibility research? You said you helped him. Can you tell me exactly what he was working on? Do you have any idea where it is?'

Sammy jumped again, his mouth open in a perfect O. I guess he'd forgotten he told me that.

‘I did help him,' Sammy said slowly, sitting on his hands to stop them from twitching. ‘But not in the lab. I mean I could have, I'm pretty good at science, but Dad doesn't like it when I visit the labs. He says I'm a nuisance.' He paused just long enough to take a breath and kept talking. ‘But I helped Dr Learner in a lot of other ways, like running errands and tidying up for him. Things like that.' He trailed off.

I didn't buy it. No one brags that they helped the guy accepting the award by keeping his room clean. And Sammy
did
say he'd helped in the lab before. Then again, this was Sammy. What did I know?

‘So he was just different. Maybe he was just busy?'

Sammy bit his lip and shook his head. ‘No, he wasn't just busy. He was different. He'd forget to do the things he
promised. He never used to do that. I think he must have been in serious trouble. And now he's missing. And all his research too. You need to find him, Alice.'

Sammy looked at me with big wet eyes, like somehow I was going to make everything all better. But this wasn't a squirrel hiding in a secret passageway, this was a real missing person.

‘Tell me about how your dad and Dr Learner met.' I didn't think it was important, I just wanted to change the subject.

‘Well, I think they met when they were in graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania. They were in the Physics department. My dad's donated money for a whole new science building, you know.'

‘So I heard,' I said.

‘They were always putting on shows together. Dad told me, this one time—'

I interrupted him. ‘Keep to the point, Sammy.'

‘Yeah, anyway, Dr Learner got some big prize and went to work at a lab somewhere in California, and when Dad opened his own company he hired Dr Learner to come back to Pennsylvania and work for him. Dad says they always dreamt of opening a science company together.'

Sammy wiped his nose with the back of his arm. He looked at me expectantly, like he'd just given me all the clues I could possibly need and all he had to do was sit back and let me solve the mystery.

I took the empty glass out of Sammy's hand. ‘OK, Sammy. Thanks for your help.'

‘Wait, is that it?'

‘That's it.' I knew I was letting him down, but it wasn't my fault Sammy thought I was some kind of hero.

‘But what about the lab? Don't you want to talk about what you found out there? Shouldn't we start chasing down leads?'

The questions rained down with no signs of letting up. And then I had a flash of inspiration.

When I was younger and asking my father endless questions, he used to send me on a treasure hunt. First he'd ask for something easy, like a white pillow or an apple. And then something harder and harder until he asked for the impossible and I was too into the game to stop looking. I remember one time he asked for a rainbow frog. I searched the park for three hours before my mother came and found me.

‘Actually, there is something you could help me with,' I said. Sammy's face lit up like the Fourth of July.

‘What? What can I do?'

‘I know you're not supposed to, but can you get into your dad's lab?' I asked.

Sammy grinned. ‘Sure, I go there all the time. But don't tell my dad, OK?'

‘OK, I won't,' I agreed. I took out the photos of Dr Learner's office. ‘Here. Look at this. Can you see the
surveillance camera?'

Sammy nodded.

‘Can you see this metal piece clipped to the side?'

He nodded again, so hard I worried he might shake his brain loose.

‘Is it a clue? Is that how Dr Learner got out of the office?' Sammy spoke excitedly, barely finishing one question before asking another. ‘What do you think it is? Some sort of jamming device? Like for radar? Or a hologram projector? Or—'

I stopped him before he bit his tongue.

‘I don't know what it is,' I said mysteriously. ‘But when I was there today, it was gone. I don't know if it's important or not, but if you could find that piece of metal it might be a big help.'

Sammy's eyes sparkled. His mouth opened and then closed and then opened again.

‘But make sure you don't let people know you're looking for it. If it
is
connected to all this, then it might be dangerous.' I couldn't resist making the job seem more important than it was. With any luck Sammy would be out of my hair and searching for that metal ‘rainbow frog' for the rest of the summer.

O
nce I got Sammy out of the house, I shut myself in Dad's office. I wanted to look up the name of the company that had been emailing Dr Learner. It was the only solid lead I had.

Chronos R&D. The R&D stood for Research and Development, apparently.

They were based in upstate New York. Really upstate, where there are forests and farms and it snows in feet not inches. Their website said they were ‘an independent research facility working with the world's top scientists to solve the world's top problems.'

The Google news feed said they weren't very nice.

I found three lawsuits against Chronos R&D, and that was just on the first page. The lawsuits were still ongoing, so no details were published, but from what I could see
Chronos was accused of misappropriating research. Which is a fancy way of saying they stole it. Chronos would find out what project a competing company was working on and then they'd start working on the same thing. And they'd usually get results first. If they were doing all the work on their own, well, there was nothing you could do about it. But if they were getting ahead by ‘peeking' at the other research first? Then they were in big trouble.

If Chronos R&D were emailing Dr Learner, did that mean they were after his research? Did they really want him to work for them, or did they just need to get close enough to steal his results? Dr Learner's invisibility suit would have to be pretty amazing if they were willing to take that kind of risk. If they got caught there'd be huge fines. They might even end up in jail. Dr Learner and Mr Delgado were friends, so I didn't think Dr Learner would leave and take his invisibility suit to another company. Still, it was hard to tell what people would do for the right amount of money. I should know. I once saw a kid eat a worm for ten dollars.

I should have asked how much those diamonds in Dr Learner's office were worth. Graham Davidson said they were industrial, but they were still diamonds. It made me wonder if the ten I saw were the only ones there.

The front door slammed.

I turned off the computer and followed the sound of chaos. Della thundered past me and ran up the stairs, her
arms full of sheet music. I heard my bedroom door slam, then open again. Dad came in behind her. He looked a bit like he'd been hit by a cement mixer.

‘What's going on?' I asked.

‘Della got a callback. They want her to see her again. She's trying to decide if she should dye her hair.'

‘A callback is good news, isn't it? Why does she look so upset?'

Della came back downstairs, looking around like she'd forgotten something.

‘All the other girls who got called back have red hair,' she said. ‘I want them to know I'm committed, but I don't want them to think that I'm . . .'

‘Desperate,' I finished her sentence.

Della looked hurt.

‘I don't mean you
are
desperate, I just mean it would
look
like it if you went and dyed your hair for a callback.' I'm no good at pep talks. I tend to say the first thing that comes to mind. And apparently the first things that come into my mind aren't very tactful. I wondered if Della was always like this at auditions, or if it was just because Mom wasn't here to hold her hand.

‘Well, to be honest, I am a little desperate. I'm twelve. It's probably the last year I can play Annie.'

‘But you're a young twelve,' Dad said soothingly. ‘You could pass for ten.'

Della must be the only twelve-year-old in the world who
was happy to be told she looks younger. But Annie was a dream role, even
I
knew that much.

‘I think you should stay blonde,' Dad said. ‘If everyone else has red hair, it will make you stand out more. You can always dye it later if they want.'

‘I think so too,' I said quickly.

Della tilted her head to one side, to emphasize the fact that she was thinking it over.

Dad snuck a look at his watch. It was one in the afternoon, that meant he had five hours before they put the paper to bed. He was probably worried about getting his follow-up story on Dr Learner's disappearance finished on time.

It didn't look like Della was going to make up her mind any time soon.

‘Why don't you call Mom?' I asked. ‘It's around dinner time in Italy now. It's the perfect time to talk.'

Della hit me with her megawatt smile. ‘You're a genius, Alice! I'll be upstairs. Don't interrupt me until dinner. We'll be dancing at the callback, so I'll need something carb heavy. Pasta, around six.' And with that she turned around and went back upstairs.

Dad lifted his glasses and massaged the bridge of his nose. ‘And now that that crisis is over, I need to get back to the office.'

‘Did they approve your story?'

‘Not exactly,' he sighed. ‘A corporate espionage story
has to be vetted by the legal team. There's no way they could do that in time.' Dad walked over to the fridge and got himself a fresh water bottle. ‘The editor said I could keep working on it, but he needs something to fill the news hole for tomorrow. So now I have until the end of today to write a heart-warming tale of a man doing whatever it takes to find his friend.'

Puff pieces always made Dad cranky. They didn't fit his Arthur Jones Crusader for Truth persona. Plus we both knew Mr Delgado was anything but heart-warming.

‘I'm sorry Dad,' I said. ‘Is there anything I can do to help?

I saw the trap as soon as the words were out of my mouth, but it was already too late.

‘I'm so glad you asked. Yes, Alice, there
is
something you can do. I need you to get down to Dr Learner's apartment and interview his neighbours. Get me some background details, you know, sniff out a personal angle.'

Overhead, Della started tap-dancing. I think she was showing Mom her kick-ball-change. It sounded like a million angry neighbours pounding on the ceiling. Or maybe that was me having a premonition. Dad took my momentary distraction as a chance to make his escape out of the front door. I only just managed to catch up with him.

‘Are you serious? You want me to go to Learner's apartment building alone and interview the neighbours? What do you think I'm going to find?'

Graham Davidson's voice popped into my head:
He even took his notes home in a locked briefcase every night
.

‘Do you think I'll find Dr Learner's top secret research? Wouldn't the police have searched his apartment already?

‘Dr Learner's only been missing for twenty-four hours. There's no way the police have been to his place yet. At least not to do more than check and see that he's really missing. Go on, have a look. Maybe you'll get lucky.' Dad smiled. ‘Just get me something sympathetic. Who was the man behind the scientist? That sort of thing. The neighbours will open up to you. No one wants to tell things to a reporter. It makes them feel bad.'

He climbed into the Plymouth and started the engine.

I ran down the steps and stood in front of the car with my hands on the bonnet, blocking him in.

I wanted to ask him why he didn't get Della to go do his interviews; she is way more likeable than I am. But I didn't. I knew why Dad asked me. We were a team. We had been since the day I came back to live with him in Philadelphia.

‘Come on Alice, we're on a deadline. If you're worried about going alone, call a friend.' Dad leant out of the window and wiggled his eyebrows at me.

‘Don't be ridiculous. Who's going to go on such a crazy errand?' I asked. ‘And don't say Sammy. I just got rid of him.'

I could tell Dad wasn't going to give up. When there was
a story at stake, he was a man on a mission. I had about thirty seconds before he'd start nudging me with the front bumper to get me out of the way. But just because I was going to help him didn't mean I had to make it easy.

‘All right,' I said. ‘I'll do your background research for you. But I want something in return.'

‘Name it.'

‘The killer sudoku puzzle in the paper is mine for the rest of the summer. And the cryptic quip. I get to do the whole thing, and I don't want you peeking over my shoulder making suggestions.'

Dad looked appalled, like I'd asked him to give me a kidney. ‘How about a month?'

I leant forward and stared him down through the wind-screen. ‘The rest of the summer, take it or leave it.'

‘You drive a hard bargain, Alice.' He sucked on his teeth. I couldn't believe he had to think about it. ‘OK, fine,' he said. ‘It's yours, but I want detailed notes and photographs of the scene.'

‘Deal.' I stepped back on to the pavement and Dad cranked the wheel and started to drive away. He slammed on the brakes while he was still halfway in the parking spot and leant out of the window again.

‘Find out if he has a cat. People love a pet angle.'

And then he hit the accelerator and disappeared up the road.