The Impossible Clue (12 page)

O
n the way home, I found out that the chauffeur's name was Ellis. He had a wife and three kids and obviously didn't get the chance to talk to a lot of people. By the time we got to my house, I knew about eighty per cent of Ellis's life story. He parked the car and I climbed out. I liked Ellis, but not enough to stick around and hear the last twenty per cent.

‘Thanks for the ride.' I ran up the steps before he had a chance to reply.

I gave Ellis one more quick wave goodbye, then I turned around and froze.

The door was open.

Not unlocked. Open.

It wasn't even latched. I could see a small slice of kitchen between the edge of the door and the frame. It
was propped open by the mat Dad insisted we wipe our feet on. It must have been kicked up when someone left in a hurry. At least I hoped they had left. Deep gouges cut into the wood where somebody had used a crowbar to pry the door open.

My hands were shaking as I pulled out my phone.

‘Come on, Dad. Pick up.'

I pushed the door open slowly. Someone had been through our house, and they hadn't been careful about it. All of the kitchen cupboards were open, the couch cushions were on the floor. The few family pictures that were still hanging on the walls were crooked. I stepped inside.

‘Hello?' Dad's voice on the other end of the phone made me jump.

‘Dad, someone broke into our house.'

‘What? Are you OK? Where are you?'

‘I'm fine. I just got home. I don't think they're still here.'

‘Get out of the house. And call the police. I'm coming.'

‘But Dad, what about Della?'

‘I'll call her. But she said something about some extra vocal coaching at the university. I think she's there. Just get out.'

I did what he said. I got out of the house and called the police. Whoever I talked to kept telling me to calm down. Eventually they said they'd send someone over. When I hung up, there was a text from Dad saying Della was fine. She was at her music lesson in the city. I was so relieved I
almost cried.

I waited on the other side of the street for the police, just staring at the door to our house. It was the way I'd stared at my cupboard door at night, back when I was a kid and still believed in monsters. As if the second I stopped watching, the door would open and something evil would come out. It was ninety degrees in the shade and I was shaking like a leaf.

It was the men in the silver car. They were from Chronos R&D. They had to be. And that's why they didn't follow me that morning. They were waiting until I left the house. I hugged my messenger bag to my chest. They were looking for the Delgado file. Police sirens sounded in the distance and then moved closer. I don't think I've ever heard anything so sweet.

The squad car pulled up, its blue lights flashing, and two officers climbed out. A young man and a middle-aged woman.

‘I'm Officer Ross, this is Officer Tulley. Are you the one who reported the break-in?' the woman asked. Her dark hair was pulled back tight against her skull, but her eyes were warm. I started breathing again. Officer Tulley stayed next to the car. He looked like the kind of guy who wasn't comfortable dealing with kids.

I nodded and pointed to our house. ‘It's that one.'

‘Is anyone inside?'

‘I don't know. I didn't go all the way in. No one's come
out, though.'

‘OK, you stay here while we clear the building. Are your parents here?'

‘My dad's on his way.'

I watched the two of them go into our house.

Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.
That's how Einstein explained it anyway. I finally understood what he meant. Every second I stood there alone felt like a year. Putting my hand on a hot stove would have been a picnic.

My dad pulled up about a minute after the cops went in, but it felt like a lot longer. He parked on the wrong side of the street, pulling up on to the curb so he didn't block traffic completely. He was out of the car and had me in a bear hug in two steps.

‘Are you OK?' Dad kept his arm around my shoulders and held me tight against his side.

‘Yeah. The cops just went inside. What about Della?'

‘She's fine. She's on her way home too.'

Officer Tulley stuck his head out of the door and waved for us to come over.

‘The house is empty.' The words should have made me feel better, but they didn't.

‘Can you see if anything's been stolen?'

Dad started to move, then stopped and turned to me.

‘I'm fine, go check.'

Dad looked in his office and then went upstairs to check the bedrooms. My knees felt like jelly.

‘Is it all right if I put the cushions back on the couch? I need to sit down.'

Officer Tulley shrugged. ‘Sure. We can't get fingerprints off corduroy anyway.'

Dad came back a few minutes later. ‘I don't think they took anything. The computer's still here, and the TV. Besides that, we don't have anything worth stealing.'

‘Whoever broke in did a pretty thorough search. Can you think of anything someone might have been looking for?'

Dad shook his head.

‘I think I might know.' I opened my messenger bag and pulled out the Delgado file. It was everything Delgado had given me, plus the pictures I'd taken at Dr Learner's apartment and all of my notes. ‘It doesn't say where Dr Learner is, but the guys who were following me don't know that.'

Dad took the file and flipped through it quickly before handing it to Officer Tulley.

‘Wait, someone's been following you? Why didn't you tell me?'

‘Sorry Dad, I meant to tell you about the car this morning, but you were gone before I had a chance. I didn't think they'd break into the house. I mean, there's not even anything in the file really.'

‘Still, you should have said something.'

‘This is about that missing scientist?' Officer Ross took the file from Officer Tulley and shook her head. ‘What a mess.'

The door opened again and I jumped, expecting the two men from the Mercedes to storm in and rip the file out of Officer Ross's hands. But it was just another group of officers wearing dark-blue shirts with ‘CRIME SCENE TEAM' written on the back instead of the regular police uniform. Officer Tulley went to show them where to dust for fingerprints.

Officer Ross ignored them and kept talking. ‘We'll have a patrol car drive by every hour tonight. There's a chance they might try to come back if they didn't get what they were after the first time. If I were you, I'd find somewhere safe to keep that file. And try to let people know it isn't here any more. Make sure you use the deadbolt and the chain. They had an easy time popping the door open because the only lock used was the Yale lock.'

That was Della. She lived in an apartment building with its own security in New York. She probably just let the door shut behind her when she left this morning. I kept reminding her she needed to lock the deadbolt, but she was used to doing things her own way.

‘Call us if you see anything suspicious,' Officer Ross said. She handed Dad the file and gave each of us a card. ‘That's my direct number.'

And with that, Officer Ross and Officer Tulley left. Dad and I stood on the front steps for a long time after they drove away. I don't think either of us wanted to go back inside, especially while the Crime Scene Team were there. It didn't feel like home any more. Those men had broken it.

I counted up in primes and tried to figure out my next move. It took me until eighty-nine to calm down enough to think straight. Everything Sammy had said made me believe that Dr Learner had nothing to do with Chronos. If he was on the run, it was because he was hiding from those jerks, not working for them. I kept counting. I was in triple digits now: 101, 103, 107, 109. If Chronos thought they could use me to find Dr Learner, they had another think coming. 113. I was going to find Dr Learner first. 127. I was going to keep him safe for Sammy. 131. And I was going to make Chronos R&D sorry they'd ever messed with a Jones.

I could tell by the way Dad was tapping his fingers against my shoulder that he was thinking the exact same thing.

W
e finally went back inside when Della came home. A taxi pulled up and Della got out, demanding Dad pay the driver.

‘Are you OK? I came back as fast as I could, but tons of the roads on the university campus are closed because of that stupid new science building they're constructing. Did they take anything?' She was wearing a long embroidered dress and had sunglasses on top of her head. My sunglasses. I knew I should be happy that she was all right, but all I felt was angry. I bit my tongue and let Dad do the talking.

‘It doesn't look like it,' Dad said.

‘I'd better check. You might not notice if they took some of my stuff.'

When we stepped back inside, I didn't recognize the
place. Every smooth surface was covered in a fine layer of grey powder, like someone had crawled up a chimney and sneezed.

‘Ah, we're just about done here,' said a bald man who I assumed was the chief technician. ‘We just need the prints of the people who live here for elimination purposes.'

‘That's us,' I said.

They took our fingerprints with an electric scanner. First Dad, then Della, then me. As soon as Della had her fingers free, she ran upstairs. She opened the door to my bedroom so hard the house shook.

‘Thank you for your cooperation. Here.' The technician handed Dad a lint roller. ‘It's the best way to get the dust off.'

Dad shut the door behind the Crime Scene Team and locked it. It didn't make me feel any safer. I could see daylight through the gouges the crowbar had left in the frame. I didn't realize I was shaking until Dad wrapped his arm around me. I couldn't tell if it was because I was scared or angry. Probably a little of both.

I tilted my head back against my dad's chest. He looked tired and worried, his skin pale and stretched tight across his cheekbones. I hadn't seen him look like that for a long time.

Upstairs Della was getting louder and louder, banging drawers open and closed. I think I heard her move the bed. I glared at the ceiling. If Della had remembered to
lock the deadbolt, none of this would have happened.

Dad looked up at the ceiling, then back down at me.

‘All right, Alice. Give me the file.' He let me go and held out his hand.

‘What?'

‘The file those men came looking for. You're off this case. I'll call Mr Delgado and tell him you can't help him any more. Why didn't you tell me there were men following you? What were you thinking?'

‘But Dad,' I started, but before I could explain the door to my room slammed open and Della came tearing back down the stairs.

‘They're gone,' she wailed. ‘They stole my lucky earrings. Call the police, get them back here right now.'

‘Della, calm down,' Dad said. He strode across the room to where Della was taking deep breaths, like she was trying not to hyperventilate. ‘Are you sure they're missing? Maybe they're on the floor.'

‘I'm not an idiot. I checked the floor. I checked everywhere. I had them laid out on the table ready to wear tomorrow. And now they're gone. I can't believe this is happening to me. I need those earrings for my callback.'

‘Sweetheart, calm down. I'll get you another pair of earrings. What did they look like?'

Della shot him a look so cold it could stop global warming.

‘They were diamond studs. Mom bought them for me
when I got my first role on Broadway. They are my LUCKY earrings. You can't just go out and buy another pair. You don't understand. You never understand.'

Della turned away from our dad in disgust. And then she saw me.

‘This is all your fault,' she said, jamming her finger into my chest.

‘My fault? I'm not the one who forgot to lock the deadbolt this morning.'

‘Maybe if you had a normal hobby and didn't go running around looking for criminals, people wouldn't break into our house.'

‘Oh, shut up, Delores,' I snapped back.

Della took a deep breath and turned to Dad. She hated when I called her by her full name.

‘I'm not talking to her. Call the police and tell them to come back. I need those earrings for my callback tomorrow.'

I wasn't going to let her get away with that. ‘Stop making this all about you, Della. Why don't you just go to Italy with Mom already? You'd be happier there anyway.'

‘Alice!' Dad yelled.

Della took off up the stairs.

Great
, I thought, as the door to my room slammed again.
Where am
I
supposed to run off to?

Dad scowled down at me. He's a good foot taller than me, and at that moment he really loomed.

‘Don't you move,' he said. ‘I'm going to talk to your sister and when I come back down I want that file and everything you have on Dr Learner's disappearance. Do you understand?'

I nodded. I understood all right. But if Dad thought I was going to roll over just like that, he didn't know me as well as he thought he did.

A soon as he was out of sight, I grabbed the file and took it into Dad's office. I guessed I had about ten minutes before he came back down, more if Della decided to turn on the waterworks. The computer would take for ever to boot up, but fortunately I didn't need the computer. Dad had one of those 4-in-1 printer/fax/copy/scanner machines. I copied the entire file twice. I hid one copy by putting it back in the printer, at the bottom of the paper tray. I stuffed the other copy into the waistband of my shorts. I put the originals back in the folder and ran into the living room just as Dad came back down the stairs.

‘Your sister is very upset.'

I said nothing. He sighed.

‘She's on the phone with your mom.'

Well, that was just great. Now Mom would be mad at me too.

‘Look Alice,' Dad took his glasses off and looked at me wearily, ‘I know it hasn't always been easy living apart from your sister. But it's really important that you two get along. Your mom and I won't always be around. I thought
this summer would be a chance for the two of you to reconnect. You should go and make peace with her.'

Dad looked at me hopefully. But if he thought I was going to go upstairs and apologize, he was going to be disappointed. Della was just as much to blame as I was, and this time she could apologize first.

‘Fine,' he sighed. ‘You'll deal with it on your own. I got it. Now,' he put his glasses back on and held out his hand, ‘the file.'

‘But Dad, it's got all my notes and ideas. I'll be more careful. I swear. And I'm close to figuring something out. I can feel it.'

‘Tough cookies, kiddo.' He wiggled the fingers of his waiting hand.

I made a show of reluctantly handing him the originals.

‘What are you going to do with them?' I asked.

‘I'll take them to work. There's security there, so your notes will be safe if anyone comes after them.'

‘Dad?'

‘Don't worry. I'll use all the information in my exposé on Chronos R&D. I don't care how long legal takes to approve it. No one breaks into my home and gets away with it. They won't know what hit them.'

I smiled.

Dad smiled back at me. ‘Besides, once I print whatever is in here, there'll be no reason for anyone to come back and try to steal it.' He tucked the file under his arm and
held his hand out again.

‘Now give me the other one.'

‘Other what?'

‘Alice Jones, you're my daughter. Don't think I don't know what you were doing in my office. Now give me the copy you made.'

We stared at each other, hard. Then I let my eyes fall to the ground.

‘Fine.' I pulled the dummy file out from under my shirt and handed it over. ‘But I still think you should let me keep it. I'm so close to figuring it out. And if I find Dr Learner for you, you could get the story printed even faster. I bet he'd give you an exclusive.'

Dad took the file and whacked me softly on the top of my head. ‘No deal. Any others?'

I shook my head, but Dad did a search anyway. I guess he did know me pretty well. He checked my bag and all my notebooks. He opened all the drawers in his office. He even looked under the black plastic mat that protected the carpet from his wheelie chair.

‘I guess this is the only one then,' he said. ‘Alice, I know you hate to leave anything unsolved, but I'm serious.
This
is serious. For some reason those men broke the law to try to get that file. Don't go near it. Got it?'

‘Yeah, I got it.'

‘OK, I'm going to take this to the office now, and see if I can get someone to come and fit a new door. I want you to
lock up behind me, and put the chain on. Call me if anything happens. I mean
anything
.'

I locked the door behind him, deadbolt and chain, and waved through the window as Dad drove away. Then I went back into his office and got the second file out of the printer. I felt a little guilty. But not enough to make me stop. If Dad was going to protect us by writing the truth, I was going to help him figure it out. There was no way I was letting those jerks from Chronos find Dr Learner and his invisibility suit before I did.

I hole-punched the file and stuck it in the folder where I kept my Goldbach's notes and ideas. I didn't think anyone would look for it there.