The Impossible Clue (18 page)

A
fter we ate lunch, Dad grabbed his water bottle, told Della and Kevin to keep me out of trouble and headed upstairs to put the final touches on his exposé before the Sunday paper's deadline. I sighed. It was going to be a long time before Dad let me out unattended.

Della waited until the door to Dad's bedroom/office slammed. Then she turned her million-dollar eyes on Kevin. ‘How would you like to help a star prepare for her Philadelphia debut?'

Even Kevin Jordan couldn't say no to my sister.

Della had already made copies of the pages she wanted us to practise with her. She handed them out with a professional air and led the way to the couch. Della sat on it like it was a throne. Kevin propped his leg up on the arm.
That didn't leave a lot of space, so I took the floor.

It should have been easy. But no matter how much I tried to concentrate, all I could think about was Dr Learner's impossible disappearing act.

The room was sealed. I'd been over the whole office and I was certain there was no way in or out besides the one door. And the security camera showed that Dr Learner went in that way, but he never came back out.

(one exit) + (security camera footage) + (disappearing man) = x

I'd gone over the equation again and again, but I wasn't any closer to solving it than when I started. Della nudged me with her toe and I read my next line. I could feel my eyes glazing over before I got to the end of it.

If I could just find the right combination of variables, and move them into the right place, everything would be clear.

(one exit) + (disappearing man) = x – (security camera footage)

Maybe Dr Learner had figured out some way to fake the security camera footage. He was a scientist who worked with lasers and light. Maybe he figured out a way to fool the camera or hack into the security system?

Or maybe it went more like this:

(one exit) + (security camera footage) = x – (disappearing man)

Dr Learner used his invisibility suit to disappear, just like Graham Davidson said. Maybe he knew Chronos was after him and he wanted to escape. Although that didn't explain why he didn't tell Mr Delgado. It didn't explain why he acted so strangely when we found him, either.

‘Alice? Alice!' Della shouted and I jumped in my seat. ‘It's your line.'

‘Sorry, I was thinking.' I shook myself back into the room. Kevin gave me a look, begging me to save him. I guess reading Daddy Warbucks wasn't his idea of a great night in.

‘Where were we?'

Della crossed her arms and tipped her head to the side. ‘It's no use, is it?' she said. Then she knelt down next to the couch. ‘I'm only doing this because you won't be any use to me until you get that stupid mystery out of your system.'

She reached under the couch and pulled out a plastic wallet filled with papers. I caught a glimpse of the first page and my heart skipped a beat. It was the Delgado file.

‘Here,' she said. I reached out to take it, but Della snapped it back. ‘Don't let Dad catch you.'

‘Cross my heart and hope to die.' There was no way I'd let him know I was still looking into the case. But there was also no way I'd be able to rest until I knew how Dr Learner had got out of that room.

‘You have to help me run my lines all week.'

I nodded so hard my neck hurt.

‘And,' Della held the folder just out of reach of my fingers, ‘I want roses on opening night.'

‘Yes, yes, anything you want. Now give it to me.'

I snatched the wallet and shook out the pages. Everything was still there, even the mirror from Mr Delgado's office. Della must have taken it all out of my Goldbach's binder before Dad had a chance to search it. She was amazing.

‘Pass me that bag, the blue one,' I said.

Kevin handed me Sammy's gift bag and I pulled out the metal frame. The mirror slotted into the empty space perfectly.

‘What is that?' Kevin asked.

‘It was hooked to the security camera outside Dr Learner's office. It's the key to the trick, I know it. I just haven't figured out how.'

‘Let me see it.' Della put out her hand and I gave it to her. She held the frame up to her face and peered into the mirror, pushing her hair back behind her ear.

‘It's like a magic box.'

‘A what?'

‘It's an old stage trick.'

Della launched into a tale about some off-Broadway production of
The Wizard of Oz
that she was in. About how the theatre didn't have a trapdoor for the Wicked Witch of the West to use, so they'd rigged up a mirror onstage to make it look like she appeared out of thin air.

I closed my eyes and tried to remember. Hadn't Mr Delgado said something about magic before? No, it was a photo. He and Dr Learner had been in a magic act together.

‘It took them forever to get the angle right,' Della rambled on. ‘On opening night it looked like there were two Wicked Witches of the West. It was a disaster.'

That was it.

I shuffled through the folder until I found the floor plan of Delgado Industries. I lined up the mirror on the page, centring it over the security camera. I couldn't get an accurate angle with the paper spread over the carpet, but it was close enough. The mirror changed the angle of the camera. I remembered the first time we went to the lab and Andrew was complaining about the nameplates. But they'd needed to take those off in order to make all the doors look the same. The security camera had been filming the sealed door next to Dr Learner's door the whole time.

I sat back on my heels and took a deep breath. It was like coming up for air after spending too long at the bottom of the pool. Everyone else had been so convinced the suit was real, I'd almost started to believe it myself. It was a relief to finally have proof that my suspicions were right all along. There was no high-tech invisibility suit, it was all done with smoke and mirrors.

Well, not with smoke. But definitely with a mirror.

Someone had stood out of view of the security camera and waited for Dr Learner to go into his office. Once he was inside, they carefully slid the mirror into the bracket that was fastened to the camera. With the right calculations, the mirror would change the view of the camera, creating a blind spot in the security footage. Once the mirror was in place, Dr Learner could walk out of his office and no one would ever know. Then all they needed to do was wait until Dr Learner was behind the camera, take out the mirror and
Poof!
Dr Learner had vanished without a trace.

And now that I knew how the trick was done, I knew who was behind it.

The mirror might have gotten Dr Learner out of his office unseen, but it couldn't get him out of the rest of the building. At least not out the front. The only way Dr Learner could have exited the building was though Mr Delgado's office. And the only person who had a key to Mr Delgado's office was Mr Delgado.

He'd set up the whole thing. I just didn't know why.

‘Della, can I use your phone? The police still have mine.'

I typed in Zelcore. There was one result. A paper posted by the University of Pennsylvania's medical school.

Zelcore is a new class of cholinesterase inhibitor currently undergoing phase two clinical testing at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital. Zelcore has shown promising results in delaying the worsening of symptoms
of Alzheimer's disease from between nine to eighteen months. Preliminary results from the phase one and two studies indicate that Zelcore will be significantly more effective than existing medications.

I finally knew what Dr Learner was running away from. He was running away from himself. I shuddered. I couldn't imagine anything worse than having a disease that would slowly erode my mind. It explained why Mr Delgado wanted him out of the way too. No one is going to sign a multi-million dollar contract with a company whose top scientist is losing his ability to invent.

All the pieces fitted into place, the equation balanced and I had my answer. I just had no idea what I was supposed to do next.

T
he morning of the press conference, Della did her best to make me camera-ready. She vetoed my usual summer uniform of cargo shorts and a T-shirt and marched me to the wardrobe to pick out a dress.

‘You've got to be joking,' I said, looking at the row of flounces and frills hanging in front of me.

‘Alice, you're going to be on TV. Either you pick one, or I'll pick one for you.' Della grabbed the corner of an especially pink and sparkly number and waved it at me menacingly.

‘All right, all right,' I said. ‘But I'm not wearing heels.'

I pulled out the hangers and picked the least ruffley dress I could find. It was light green and made out of soft fabric that bounced on the hanger. I didn't like it, but at least I'd be able to breathe.

When Della finally let me downstairs, I'd been painted and polished until I could barely recognize my own face. Dad's jaw hit the floor when he saw me.

‘You look so grown-up,' he said. And he actually started crying.

‘Keep it together, Dad.' The powder Della had used was making my face itch. But that wasn't the only reason I felt like snapping. I'd spent the whole night trying to decide what to say to Mr Delgado. I still hadn't figured it out.

Dad's Plymouth looked as out of place as ever as we pulled up to the Delgado Mansion. Kevin and his family were already there, waiting near the front steps. Kevin was wearing a suit.

‘Listen,' Kevin said when he saw the face I was making. ‘If you don't say anything, I won't say anything.'

I took a quick look down at the dress Della had lent me. ‘Deal.'

As we walked up the steps, Sammy came out to meet us. He was wearing a suit too, but on him it looked natural. He probably got his first suit when he turned one. I smiled at him and then I remembered I still needed to talk to Mr Delgado and I felt my smile turn to stone. My fingers tightened on the strap of my messenger bag. Della had tried to make me carry one of her purses, but I'd put my foot down. I needed something big enough to hold all my notes.

‘Come on in, it's a little hectic.' Sammy held the door open for us.

The large white entrance hall was full of people standing in small groups and looking slightly lost. This time I counted three different TV crews. There was even a group from the national news. I guessed Mr Delgado and I had different definitions of the word
small
. Bruno and Brutus were there too, holding back the reporters as me, Dad, Della, Kevin and Kevin's mom and dad walked through the room.

‘This is so great!' Sammy said. ‘Here, follow me.' He led us into the study, past the corralled reporters and their questions. When the heavy wooden door shut behind us, the sudden silence made my ears ring.

‘This is very nice, Sammy. Did you help set all of this up?' Dad asked.

Sammy could barely contain himself. ‘No, Dad's got a new PR company. He hired them after Andrew was, um, fired. And a new Personal Secretary, she's really nice. I like her.'

It looked like Mr Delgado had big plans for Delgado Industries. I wondered how long ago he'd hired that PR company, but it didn't really matter. I already knew everything I needed to know.

‘Does anyone want a drink? Or some snacks? I can go and get them. Dad said I needed to be a good host.'

‘Wait, Sammy.' I grabbed his sleeve before he bolted. ‘Where's your dad? I need to talk to him.'

‘He's through there.' Sammy pointed towards the door
behind the large desk at the back of the room. The same door Mr Delgado had walked through the first time I laid eyes on him. I told my family I'd be right back. Dad made a move like he wanted to follow me, but I waved him back. I had to talk to Mr Delgado alone. He'd been behind the whole thing, but I wanted to give him a chance to come clean on his own. I owed Sammy that much.

‘Mr Delgado?' I knocked on the door and let myself into a small office. It must have been where Mr Delgado did his business when he wasn't trying to impress people.

‘Ah, Alice, the star of our show. Come in, come in.' He had a circle of paper towels tucked into his collar and a dark-blue cape of thin fabric over his front, the kind you wear when you get a haircut. A young woman with bright pink hair was brushing powder across his large flat face.

‘Well, well, well. You clean up very nicely when you make an effort, don't you? Although, you might want just a touch more powder. Those lights the TV crews brought can be very unforgiving. And no one wants to look bad on TV. Have a seat. Sylvia can touch you up once she's finished with me.'

Sylvia smiled at me, but I shook my head. ‘I'm fine, thanks.'

‘Suit yourself.' Mr Delgado shrugged. Sylvia held up a mirror for Mr Delgado to check her handiwork. He nodded thoughtfully. ‘Maybe just a touch more off the brows, I don't want to look like an old man.'

He leant back and closed his eyes while Sylvia brushed his eyebrows with some sort of mini-comb, nipping off the ends with a pair of nail scissors. When he opened his eyes, he seemed surprised that I was still there. He seemed a little annoyed too, but I wouldn't want someone watching me get my eyebrows trimmed either.

‘Was there something you wanted, Alice?' he asked absently while checking his eyebrows in the mirror again.

‘We need to talk,' I said. It seemed like the only way to start.

‘What do you want to talk about?'

‘We need to talk about Dr Learner's invisibility suit.'

Mr Delgado smiled. He pulled off the cape and handed it to Sylvia.

‘I can neither confirm nor deny the existence of any invisibility suit,' he said. He had a laugh in his voice, like he was enjoying some kind of private joke. ‘Are you sure you don't want some more powder?'

I ignored the second question. ‘You don't need to confirm or deny anything, Mr Delgado. I
know
there's no invisibility suit,' I said. ‘I know you used a mirror to trick the security camera, and I know about Dr Learner's medical condition.'

He turned sharply in his seat and stared at me. Underneath all of his make-up I could see his face going red. ‘Thank you, Sylvia,' he said. ‘That will be all.'

She took the hint and scooped all of her tools into her
bag in one fell swoop, then ducked out of the side door.

Mr Delgado didn't say anything right away. I think he was counting to ten. When he finished he smiled at me. It looked just like all of his other smiles, but there was nothing behind it but teeth.

‘It isn't nice to discuss private business in front of people who aren't involved.'

‘It isn't nice to do a lot of things.' I gripped the strap of my bag a little tighter, holding on for dear life.

‘I don't know what you think you know, but you couldn't be more wrong. Making false accusations can get you in a lot of trouble.' He leant forward in his chair, but he didn't get up.

‘But I'm not making false accusations,' I said. ‘You helped Dr Learner disappear from his office and reported it to the world because you didn't want anyone to know he had Alzheimer's disease and that the invisibility suit research was a dead end. Especially not the government. They never would have signed that four-million-dollar contract with your company if they knew the truth.'

‘What are you talking about? Adrian is one of my most brilliant scientists. Now that he's back, Delgado Industries will continue to—'

‘I found his medication.'

I couldn't tell if he was going to yell at me or laugh. He didn't do either. He put his hands over his face and started to cry.

Not real crying. He didn't want to ruin his make-up, but it was pretty convincing. Della would have been impressed.

‘You don't understand at all.' He took a deep breath and collected himself, then hit me with his big sorrowful eyes. He looked a lot like Sammy when he did that. ‘Everything I did, I only did to protect Adrian. You need to understand that.

‘Six months ago, just after he finished the invisibility cube, Adrian began to behave strangely. I finally got him to see a doctor and they told us what it was. Adrian was devastated.' Mr Delgado's voice cracked. He turned his head to one side and swallowed hard. I didn't say anything. After a moment, Mr Delgado continued.

‘Science is Adrian's life. He was terrified that it was all going to slip away from him. Can you imagine what it must be like for someone who's spent their whole life trying to push the boundaries of physics to know that they are slowly going to lose their mind? Adrian
is
his brain. He was always all about the science. And all I ever wanted to do was help him achieve his goals. When he won the Beakman Fellowship, people thought I was jealous. Everyone always thinks I'm jealous, but I never am. I just wanted to help Adrian change the world.'

Mr Delgado barely stopped long enough to catch a breath. He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. I knew what he was doing. He was trying to make me feel
bad. I hated to admit it, but it was working. He licked his lips and kept talking.

‘Adrian's life's work was invisibility. All he wanted to do before he stopped being able to work was to leave something behind. I promised him that if he couldn't complete the invisibility work himself I would dedicate Delgado Industries to finishing his work for him. I also promised him I wouldn't let Sammy find out about his illness. He didn't want anyone to know what was happening to him.'

He smiled sadly and shook his head, every inch the loyal best friend and loving father. Maybe part of him believed that his story was true. Mr Delgado was right about one thing: Sammy would be heartbroken. It almost made me wish I hadn't figured things out. For a minute, I thought about telling Mr Delgado to forget the whole thing. And then I thought about waking up every morning and living with a lie. Sure, it was a nice, soft, comfortable lie, but it was a lie all the same. I just couldn't do it.

‘No,' I said.

‘Excuse me?' Mr Delgado sounded confused. I guess he didn't meet a lot of people who told him no. He looked at me like I was some kind of alien.

‘It doesn't add up. There were lots of other ways you could have protected Dr Learner and Sammy. You didn't need to stage it so it looked like the suit was working. You didn't need to trick the government into signing your contract. You did that for Delgado Industries. You didn't
want to lose your big chance to be one of the top labs in the country, so you faked the whole thing.'

‘You be very careful, young lady. I never once said there was an invisibility suit. I can't help it if people jumped to conclusions. If they're disappointed, it's their own fault for not doing more research. Besides, now that we have the money, I'm sure we'll have a fully functioning suit in no time.'

‘I don't think they'll see it that way.' I folded my arms.

Mr Delgado's eyes narrowed. He stood up so suddenly I couldn't stop myself from flinching. In two giant steps, he was across the room and standing so close I couldn't get out of my chair.

‘No, they won't. They won't see it any way at all. I don't know who you think you are, or what you're trying to pull with this little stunt, but it isn't cute.'

He leant forward and gripped the armrests of my chair. Underneath his powder he'd gone purple with rage, his nostrils flared slightly. I could feel the blood draining out of my fingers and toes, like it was running for safety. My brain knew he couldn't hurt me, not with a room full of reporters on the other side of the door. But my survival instinct was telling me to run.

I took a deep breath and told my knees to stop shaking. Mr Delgado wasn't done yet.

‘Now I'm going to tell you what you are going to do,' he said. ‘You are going to go out there and smile nicely for the
cameras. And you're going to shake my hand when I hand you your reward cheque. And when the reporters ask you questions you are going to keep your mouth shut like a good little girl. I'm a very powerful man and if you don't behave yourself I can make life very difficult for you.
And
your father. Do I make myself clear?'

I nodded. Mr Delgado was as clear as crystal. He wanted me to be quiet, or else.

‘Good.'

Mr Delgado stood up and straightened his collar. He'd forgotten about the paper towels and pulled them out angrily, letting them drop to the floor. He shook himself, the way a dog shakes off water, and suddenly he was Mr Delgado the charming businessman again. He smiled at me and held open the door, motioning for me to go first.

I nodded politely. Mr Delgado had made a mistake, but I didn't think he'd want me to tell him that. He'd asked me if I understood what he wanted. And I did. I understood perfectly. But that didn't mean I was going to give it to him.

I smiled my best, most obedient smile and then stepped through the door to face the music.