The Impossible Clue (17 page)

I
spent the rest of the evening being wheeled in and out of rooms getting every inch of my body checked for damage. Apparently Mr Delgado was footing the bill, and he told them to spare no expense. They seemed to be taking him seriously. In fact, I think they may have invented some new tests just for me. By the time it was dark, I'd had more scans than I cared to count. And that is a lot of scans.

There was nothing much wrong with me. The doctor said that I had a mild concussion and some bruised ribs so they'd have to keep me in for a few days for observation. But it wasn't anything serious. I wondered how much ‘observation' cost Mr Delgado per hour. But from where I stood, a hospital bed beat another night on the couch.

When visiting hours were over, Dad didn't want to go
home. He kept insisting the nurses bring him some pillows and he would make himself comfortable on the floor.

‘How can I leave you? Something might happen. You might need me in the middle of the night.'

It was like being a three-year-old again. Not that I could get upset with him, not after everything I'd done. But sleeping on the hospital-room floor was going too far. Della stood waiting in the corner, holding her script and Dad's coat.

‘Dad, she's fine.'

‘If I need anything I'll press the buzzer for the nurse. I'm Mr Delgado's personal guest. I bet a whole team will come running.'

Dad didn't move.

‘What about the Sunday spread? Don't you want to get started on that?'

Still nothing.

Della pushed herself off the wall and took Dad by the arm.

‘Come on, Dad. There's a lot of stuff we need to do to get the house ready for Alice to come home.'

Dad gave a startled snort and turned to look at my sister. After that, she had him in the palm of her hand.

‘Think about it,' she said. ‘We need to go shopping and make sure there's food, and maybe some new maths books for Alice to read while she's resting or some DVDs to watch.'

Dad looked horrified that he hadn't thought of it himself.

‘And I was thinking.' I could tell Della was going to hit him hard with her encore request. ‘Maybe you should move your computer up to your bedroom.'

‘Move my computer?'

‘And your desk. Alice and I are getting a little old to be sharing a room.'

‘But you two always share when you come to visit. I thought you liked it.'

‘Well, it's fine for a weekend or so, but no one should have to sleep on an air bed for more than a week. And now that I've got a starring role I need my own space.' Della winked at me. ‘It's part of my process.'

Dad looked at Della, then at me, then at Della again.

‘So you see, there's a lot to do at home. We'll be able to help Alice more by letting her get a good night's sleep here while we go home and get things ready for her.'

Dad nodded thoughtfully. My sister was a magician.

‘You're absolutely right,' he said. ‘Are you sure you'll be OK by yourself, Alice?'

‘I'm sure, Dad. I'll be fine.'

‘All right. I'll be back to visit first thing in the morning. I love you, sweetie.' He kissed me on the forehead.

Della pushed Dad quickly out of the room before he could change his mind. She turned once she got him into the hallway and gave me one last wink.

I mouthed the words
thank you
.

Della smiled and nodded her head. A small bow to mark the end of a perfect performance. Then the door swung shut and I was alone at last.

After Dad and Della left, I laid the bed flat and stared back up at the ceiling. It was a lot earlier than I usually went to sleep, but it had been a very long day. I closed my eyes and tried to relax. Dr Learner was safe, Andrew was in custody, all was right with the world.

It shouldn't have taken me more than a minute to fall asleep, but for some reason my brain wouldn't stop whirring.
Sure
, it seemed to say,
you found Dr Learner, but you didn't solve the equation, not really. Show your work, Alice. How did Dr Learner get out of his office? And why? Is there an invisibility suit? And if there is, where the heck is it?

I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling. I told myself not to think about it. I counted the ceiling tiles in groups of ones, twos and threes, but it was no use. I needed to know the truth. I sat myself up and pulled my bag off the bedside table and on to my lap. One of the police officers must have brought it to the hospital with me.

I pulled out my Goldbach's Conjecture folder and flipped to the back.

They were gone.

All my notes and the copy I'd made of the Delgado file were gone. Dad must have taken them out while I
was unconscious.

I put the folder back in my bag and dropped the bag on the floor. I guess I couldn't blame him. I was just surprised he found it.

Maybe after all of the fuss had died down I could convince him to give it back, or maybe I could talk to Dr Learner and he'd tell me how he pulled it off. Although I'd rather figure it out myself. Either way, I needed to know. Or I might never get a decent night's sleep again.

I was just getting comfortable when the door banged open and Kevin Jordan wheeled into my room. He had a vase full of flowers on his lap. Every time he moved, it looked like water was going to spill all over him.

I propped myself up in bed. I didn't even mind the interruption. It wasn't like I was getting to sleep anyway.

‘Hey,' he said. ‘You're finally out of all those tests. I like your outfit, by the way.'

I glanced down at my blue hospital gown.

‘Yeah.' I rolled my eyes. ‘I like yours too.'

I looked at Kevin sitting in the wheelchair, his left leg strapped into an aircast.

‘Wait, what happened to you? Don't tell me you jumped after me.'

‘No. I tried to run after you when you fell out the window with my ankle still taped to the chair. It went
crunch
.'

I winced. But it didn't seem to bother him that much, he
just kept right on talking.

‘Man, Mr Delgado is loaded, isn't he? My dad would have asked them to slap on a cast and call it a day. Delgado's got me staying overnight so the physiotherapist can assess me in the morning.'

‘He feels guilty we got hurt looking for Dr Learner.'

Kevin snorted as he wheeled himself over to the bed. I had to agree. Mr Delgado didn't seem like the kind of guy who felt guilty about much of anything. It was more likely that he was worried how it would look if he didn't take care of us. After all, we were great publicity.

‘Here,' he said, handing me the vase. ‘My mom brought them for me, but they stink. I thought you might want them.'

‘Thanks, I think.' I put the flowers on the bedside table. They were nice, but I was surprised Kevin's mom had got him something so girly.

‘You scared the crap out of me when you went over that railing. I seriously thought I was going to have a heart attack. You must be made of titanium or something.'

‘It wasn't that far down, and I think the rain softened up the ground.'

‘Whatever. It was pretty cool. I can't believe we solved the mystery. Do you think we'll be in the paper?'

‘I don't know. Probably.' When your dad's a reporter, being in the paper doesn't seem that exciting, but I didn't want to rain on Kevin's parade.

‘What's the matter? Why aren't you more excited?'

‘I don't know. I was hoping Dr Learner would tell me how he did it. Maybe I can get Della to bring me my file . . .'

‘Don't tell me you're still obsessing about how that guy got out of his office? It doesn't matter. You found him. End of story. Case closed.' Kevin snapped his palms together. Then he looked at me and grinned. ‘The more important question is, what are you going to do with your half of the reward money?'

‘Excuse me?'

‘You heard me. I got taped to a chair. I deserve half.'

I looked at Kevin. His angel-face smirked back at me. For the first time I kind of understood the charm. ‘Fine,' I said. ‘We'll split it. But you're buying your own bike.'

I
was eating breakfast when Mr Delgado and Sammy came to visit. Dad had gone out to find me some real coffee, and Della was sitting in the green chair by the window learning her lines.
Annie
rehearsals started next week and she wanted to be word perfect. I had a feeling I'd be reprising my role as Miss Hannigan before the day was over. But after the night before, I owed her.

‘And how is my little detective this morning?' Mr Delgado reached out and patted my head like I was a dog that had just performed a trick. ‘Receiving the best care, I hope? The director of the hospital is a personal friend of mine. I made him promise to keep a special eye on you.'

Mr Delgado handed me a large bunch of roses. They took up my whole lap and half of my face. Della looked at me and rolled her eyes. Then she took the flowers and
went to find something to put them in. I watched her walk out the door and wished I could escape too, but I was stuck in bed and Mr Delgado was waiting for an answer.

‘Everyone's been very nice to me.'

‘I should think so. This hospital owes me a lot of favours.' He rocked back on his heels, practically beaming. Sammy was beaming too.

‘I told you she'd do it, didn't I, Dad? Alice is amazing.'

I could feel my face turning red. How long did it take to find a vase for some flowers?

‘She is indeed,' Mr Delgado said. ‘Although I wish you'd called me instead of rushing out there all by yourself. If something serious had happened to you . . .'

It would have been very bad press
, I finished his sentence in my head.

‘She did try to call you, Dad, remember? She left a message with Andrew.'

Sammy should have kept quiet. At the mention of his traitorous Personal Secretary, Mr Delgado stopped beaming and started scowling.

‘Ah, yes. Andrew.' He said the name like it was poison. ‘I can't believe Chronos had the nerve to infiltrate my lab. Bribe my Personal Secretary. And kidnap our top scientist. Well, they'll be hearing from my lawyers, make no mistake about that.'

He was on a roll, but something he said didn't make sense.

‘But they didn't kidnap Dr Learner,' I said.

Mr Delgado stopped blustering and stared at me, hard. ‘What are you talking about? Of course they did. The police found them together in a car.'

My head started to pound. Dad needed to hurry up with that coffee. I reached up to rub my temples and tried to gather my thoughts. ‘Well, maybe they kidnapped him from the apartment. But until I called Andrew, they didn't know where he was, so they couldn't have kidnapped him the first time.'

Mr Delgado's eyes narrowed and he took a step towards my bed. For a moment, I thought he might actually bite me. Even Sammy looked a little nervous. But he didn't bite. Mr Delgado reached out his hand and put it to my forehead, then smiled.

‘You need to stop thinking so hard. Stop worrying. You'll get wrinkles.'

The door opened and Dad and Della came in before I could respond, Dad carrying a cup of coffee from the store across the street, Della carrying the roses in a large plastic jug. She put them on the bedside table next to the ones Kevin brought the night before. She didn't say anything, but she didn't need to. I could have seen her smirking from the other side of the hospital. She made sure to put Kevin's flowers closer to the bed, so they wouldn't be hidden by the roses.

‘Mr Jones.' Mr Delgado shook hands with my father. ‘I
spoke to the doctors. They agree there's no reason for Alice to stay in the hospital any longer. But they'll want her to take it easy at home for a while. Someone will come to speak with you soon.'

Dad smiled weakly. I wondered if he'd slept at all or if he'd stayed up all night working on his exposé.

‘I just want to take her home,' Dad said. And then his reporter instincts kicked in. ‘I don't suppose you have a moment to talk right now? I'd love to get a comment from you on a story I'm doing on one of your competitors.' Dad pulled his notebook out of his back pocket. It made me smile to see him back on his game.

‘Of course,' Mr Delgado said. I could practically see him rubbing his hands together getting ready to tell Dad all about Chronos's evil ways. ‘Actually, I've called another press conference for tomorrow, just a small one. I want to let everyone know that Adrian is safe. And, of course, I want to present Alice with her reward cheque.' He turned to me and smiled. ‘I understand you're going to share it?'

‘I had some help.' I didn't look at Sammy. I knew he'd hit me with the puppy eyes and then I'd feel guilty I wasn't splitting the money with him too. Although I don't think Sammy cared about the money. He only wanted to be my partner. But no matter how bad I felt about saying no, that was still the answer. Sammy was a nice kid, but his hero worship was exhausting. If I was going to have a partner, it needed to be someone who could stand up to me and tell
me when I was starting to act a little crazy.

‘Well, tell your helper to come with you.' He turned back to my dad. ‘But for now, Mr Jones, I'm happy to give you whatever information you like. Let me buy you a drink and I'll tell you everything you need to know about Chronos Research and Development.'

My dad followed Mr Delgado out of the room, notebook and pencil in hand, leaving Sammy standing at my bedside looking sheepish.

‘I
knew
you'd do it.' He beamed and handed me a small blue gift bag tied up with an elaborate mess of curling ribbons. ‘I know you don't need it any more, but I thought you might like it anyway.' Sammy leant a little closer. ‘I did my best to wash it. Sorry if it still smells.'

I peeked into the bag and shut it quickly. But all I needed was one glance to know exactly what was inside. It was an L-shaped piece of metal. The bracket from the security camera. Sammy had found his rainbow frog. And from his comment about the smell, it had been in the trash, just like Kevin had guessed.

‘Thanks Sammy,' I said.

I was pretty sure Mr Delgado wouldn't be too happy if he knew Sammy was giving me more clues. I understood. Things had worked out great for him. He had a new contract, his top scientist was back and his competition looked like they were about to get a one-way ticket up the river. He didn't want me rocking the boat. But there were
still so many things that didn't add up.

I looked down at the little metal clip like maybe it had the answers. But if it did, it wasn't talking.

‘Sammy?' I asked without looking up. ‘Do you think Chronos kidnapped Dr Learner?'

Sammy danced from foot to foot. I could feel him jiggling the bed. ‘I don't know,' he said, shrugging his shoulders. ‘But it doesn't matter any more. Dr Learner is back.' Sammy sounded happy, but he sounded something else too. He sounded relieved.

‘Sammy, what did you think I was going to find in Dr Learner's apartment? Dr Learner said something similar. He said he needed to go back. That it must still be there.'

Sammy didn't answer. Or he
couldn't
answer. He just licked his lips and stood there.

‘Was he talking about the invisibility suit?'

‘No. I don't know. It doesn't matter.' Sammy tried to back away naturally, but he didn't do a great job. ‘Dad's right, you worry too much. Dr Learner is back. Everything is fine now.' Sammy reached the wall with a bump. ‘I need to go. I'll see you tomorrow at the press conference. Dad said I could have my picture in the paper. It'll be great!'

And with that, he opened the door and fled.

Even though the doctors said I could leave, we had to wait three hours before someone finally came and signed the discharge papers. They gave me a prescription for
painkillers I didn't need, but we went to the hospital pharmacy anyway.

Dad went to gather up my flowers and Get Well Soon cards while Della and I waited in the pharmacy queue. Della said she was staying with me to make sure I didn't faint, but I was pretty sure she just wanted a break from Dad's story fever.

‘The typing, Alice. I couldn't sleep a wink. How can he make so much noise typing?'

‘I like Dad's typing. I think it's soothing.'

‘Well, then I want the downstairs bedroom, you can have your old room back.'

‘Sounds good to me.' I handed my prescription to the pharmacist. ‘And thanks. About the separate rooms, I mean.'

‘I don't know what you're talking about. I need my own space. Didn't you hear? It's part of my process.' Della smirked beautifully.

Behind the counter were three giant towers of shelves. Each shelf spun around so the pharmacist didn't have to move. He found the pills that matched my prescription and began counting them out into a small orange bottle.

It was just like the pill bottles I'd found in Dr Learner's apartment.

‘Have you ever heard of Zelcore?' I asked.

He frowned. ‘No.'

Della pinched the back of my arm. ‘Why are you asking
him about that?'

I ignored her and tried again.

‘Really? Maybe I'm pronouncing it wrong.' I pictured the letters on the bottle in Dr Learner's apartment and sounded out the word again. He still didn't know what I was talking about, so I spelt it.

The pharmacist shook his head. ‘I'm afraid I can't help you.' He put my pill bottle in a white paper bag and handed it to me across the counter. ‘You could try looking it up online. It might be an experimental medication. We don't get any drugs here until they've been fully tested and approved.'

‘Thanks. I'll try that.'

‘Alice,' Della said as we walked away from the counter, ‘why were you asking him about some mystery drug?'

‘I saw a bottle in Dr Learner's place. I thought it might be a clue. Maybe I got the spelling wrong. I took a picture, but the police still have my phone.'

‘Oh my God, Alice. You just can't let it go, can you? You and Dad are as bad as each other.'

Dad was waiting for us by the exit. Kevin sat next to him trying to balance his wheelchair on its back wheels.

‘Hey, Numbers. Check it out. The physiotherapist gave me a lollipop.'

‘How old are you?'

‘I got extras. You want one?'

He held out a handful of lollipops. Della and I both
helped ourselves.

‘Is there anyone you can't sweet-talk?' I asked.

Kevin grinned. ‘Nope.'

‘Kevin was going to be stuck here until his mother finishes work, so I offered to bring him home and feed him. That OK with you?' Dad asked, taking a lemon lollipop for himself.

I shrugged. Why not? Another hour with Kevin wasn't going to kill me, was it?

I regretted it when I realized driving home with Kevin meant sitting in the back seat with his broken foot on my lap and listening to Della giggle about it from up front. I think Dad was giggling too, he was just better at hiding it. It was the only time in my life I felt like Dad's driving was too slow.