The Impossible Clue (10 page)

T
he inside of our house was quiet. Dad probably had to stay at the paper until his deadline. I ran upstairs to take a shower and get some fresh clothes. There was no way I was touching food until I was clean. As I opened my bedroom door, I took a deep breath and prepared myself to pretend I hadn't heard a word of Della and Mom's conversation. Just because I don't like acting doesn't mean I'm no good at it.

Della preparing for an audition was a force of nature. Specifically, a tornado. My room looked like it had been turned upside down and shaken. Hard. Clothes from all of the drawers and wardrobe lay scattered across the floor and draped over the furniture. Sheet music and manuscript pages littered the bed. The air bed was propped up, covering the window. Della was doing the splits in the
middle of the floor, her head pressed all the way down to her knee. I picked my way across the room and found a clean pair of pyjamas.

‘Oh my God, Alice. You stink.' Della sat up, turned her waist 180 degrees and put her nose to her other knee. ‘What have you been doing?'

‘I don't want to talk about it. I'm going to shower.'

I turned to walk out, stepped on something sharp and hopped the rest of the way to the bathroom. I turned on the shower and stood under the spray with my eyes closed. The hot water stung where my scalp was sunburnt, but it was worth it. I used the rough side of the sponge to scrub myself clean. I wished I could scrub the day away as easily as the dirt. It had been nothing but one long string of disappointment and dead ends.

Everyone I'd talked to seemed to think that Dr Learner was out there, turning invisible. I just didn't buy it. Sure, one day someone would figure out how to bend enough light to make an invisibility suit, but Dr Learner made his breakthrough six months ago. Even if he'd developed new technology that would make an invisibility suit possible, there was no way six months was enough time to build a working prototype. Especially if he didn't let anyone help him. Something else had to be going on. The problem was, all anyone had seen was the tape of Dr Learner disappearing from a locked room, and they jumped to conclusions before learning all the facts. It was sloppy, bad logic and it
made my skin itch.

I tipped my head back to rinse the bubbles out of my hair and found myself wondering what the point was. If Dr Learner had finished the suit, why did he use it to disappear at all? And what was he using it for now? I knew he hadn't sold it to Chronos, since they were still out there looking for it. Besides, if he needed money, he could have just taken the diamonds. I breathed out hard, blowing water off of my lips.

No matter how I did the maths, Dr Learner running away by himself didn't add up. Someone else must have made him disappear. But if that was true, why didn't we see them on the security tape? I shampooed my hair again. If I wanted to find Dr Learner I needed to figure out how he got out of his office. I must have missed something when we were there. Once I knew how he did it, I'd know who helped him. And if I knew that, finding him would be simpler than solving x = 1 + 1.

My phone rang and I climbed out of the shower, dripping water all over the floor.

‘Hey Dad.'

‘Alice, I've been trying to call you. I need to put this story to bed. Make my day and tell me you found some nice, juicy personal details for me?' I could hear him typing furiously on the other end of the line. Dad must be the only person who can carry on a conversation about one thing while writing about something entirely different. It
was like he had two brains. Maybe that was why he couldn't sit still for more than two seconds at a time.

‘Sorry Dad. I got nothing.'

‘What do you mean “nothing”?'

‘Dr Learner's apartment was a health hazard. The smell almost killed me. If there was a cat anywhere, it was dead.'

‘Ouch.'

Dad paused. Even the typing stopped. I felt rotten.

‘Listen, Sammy told me Dr Learner and Mr Delgado really were good friends when they were at the University of Pennsylvania together. Mr Delgado brought Dr Learner back from California so they could work together. Also, Sammy really looked up to him, like a mentor or something. They did science projects together. That's an angle, isn't it?'

‘Hmmm.' The typing started again. ‘Best friends build a business together. Dr Learner is kind to children, yeah, there's something there. OK, I'll be home late tonight. Take care of dinner, all right?'

‘I'm just going to do it now.'

I put my hair up and climbed into my clean clothes. I left the ones I'd been wearing at Dr Learner's in the middle of the bathroom floor. I'd come back later with some rubber gloves to deal with those.

Downstairs I got some macaroni and a jar of cheese sauce out of the cupboard and put a pan of water on the stove to boil. It wasn't gourmet dining, but it was full of
carbs. Just what the diva ordered.

I was chopping up hot dogs to throw into the sauce when the phone rang again. This time it was the house phone, not my mobile.

‘Alice? It's me, Sammy. I wanted to talk to you about the case. I heard you went to Dr Learner's apartment. Uh, I was wondering if you . . . uh . . . Did you find anything?' Sammy asked, doing a bad job trying to sound casual.

‘I'm kind of busy right now, Sammy. This isn't a good time.' I wasn't lying either. The pan had boiled over and the stove was spitting and hissing.

‘Oh,' Sammy said. I could feel his dejection through the phone line, like he was sending it down the wire. I should have just hung up, but I didn't. Seeing the state of Dr Learner's apartment had made me realize that being a loner could lead to scary situations. Or maybe I'd inhaled something poisonous. Mostly, though, now that I knew how much Sammy admired Dr Learner, I felt sorry for him.

‘Look Sammy, I can't talk now. But I want to go back to the lab tomorrow . . .'

‘Great, we can go together. It'll be great! What time do you want me to pick you up?'

‘No, I'll . . .' I was going to tell him I'd meet him there. But then I remembered that Dad's story would keep him really busy, so I might not have a lift. And I was pretty sure Sammy had a car and chauffeur allocated for his personal use, and not just for lifts to and from school. ‘Fine, pick me
up at nine. I'll see you tomorrow.'

I hung up the phone, cutting off Sammy's excited babble, and drained the pasta before it turned to mush. It wasn't until I'd laid the table that I realized how odd Sammy's call really was. How had he known I'd been to Dr Learner's apartment? And what did he think I might have found? He'd acted strange when he came over earlier too. The way he fidgeted on the couch. That kid was hiding something. And tomorrow I was going to find out what.

Della and I ate dinner in character. She was Annie. I was Miss Hannigan. It was a flashback to my entire childhood. I put on my best evil voice and told Della she was a ‘rotten orphan'.

Della laughed. ‘You know what this reminds me of? Back when we were on the pageant circuit together and Mom used to make us practise our act at the dinner table.'

‘Don't remind me.' Mom had entered us in the Little Miss Friendship pageant when we were four. Della won and I took runner-up. I had the teeny-weeny trophy at the back of my bedroom cupboard to prove it.

After that, Della got the performance bug. She got it bad. And my mom loved it. The problem was, I didn't. And no one believed me. It took me three pageants to figure out how to get out of it.

I mooned the audience.

I still laugh when I remember the look on that head
judge's face.

‘I'll never understand how you gave it up,' Della said. ‘Don't you want to get back out there?' Her eyes were full of pity. Like I was missing out on something.

‘Nope.' I speared a piece of hot dog and put it in my mouth. End of discussion.

Della took a dainty bite and chewed thoughtfully.

‘I called Mom, like you said. She was sad she didn't get to talk to you.'

I swallowed too soon and the piece of hot dog went down my throat in a lump. ‘I had to go out.'

‘She says Italy is amazing. She said if we want she'll get us tickets and we can spend a week with her at the end of the summer.'

‘What about
Annie
?'

‘Even if I get the part, I'd be sharing it with two other girls. I'm sure I'd be able to get one week off. Even actresses get vacations, you know. What do you think? Wouldn't it be amazing?'

‘I guess,' I said slowly. It wasn't that I didn't want to go to Italy. It was just that I knew what a trip to Italy with Della and my mom meant. It meant a week of shopping and shows and not a lot else.

If Dad came too, then there'd be someone to come with me to do my kind of things. But you can't exactly ask someone to invite her ex-husband to the party.

‘Well, you should talk to her,' Della said. ‘I think it would
be fun.'

‘Of course it'll be fun for
you
. You and Mom like doing all of the same things.'

‘What are you talking about?'

‘If we go to Italy, I'll want to see things like the Archimedes museum or go on a tour of Renaissance architecture.'

Della groaned and rolled her eyes.

‘See.' I pointed. ‘See! That face. That face is exactly how I'll feel when you two drag me to see another show or go to another dress fitting.'

‘But Alice, those things are normal. Everyone likes shows and shopping.'

‘Just forget it.' It was the story of my life. Everyone understood that Della loved being on stage and that she hated maths. Because that was normal. But when I said I loved maths and hated performing, people looked at me like I had a screw loose. And because the things I liked weren't normal, I didn't have any right to ask other people to do them with me.

‘Fine, but you need to talk to Mom.' Della held up her hands. ‘I'm not doing it for you. Come on, let's run the scene one more time.'

‘No.' Maybe it was childish, but I didn't want to play ‘acting' any more. ‘I already ran the lines with you eleven times. You know them off by heart.
I
know them off by heart. Give it a rest. Besides, I have work to do.'

‘That case? Are you serious?' Della looked at me like I'd just refused to give her a blood transfusion.

‘Yes. I'm serious.'

‘That guy only hired you so you'd hang out with his kid. Why are you wasting your time on some stupid mystery you're never going to solve?'

‘Why are
you
wasting your time auditioning for a part you're never going to get?' I shot back. It was a low blow and I knew it, but it was out before I could stop myself.

Della stood up from the counter. Her lips pursed, her eyes narrowed. She told me that we were no longer on speaking terms without saying a single word. Then she turned on her heel and walked away, her blonde hair bouncing angrily as she climbed the stairs. The hair was a nice touch. It said
I'll show you
.

Della was going to get that part just to prove me wrong. Well, two could play at that game.

I got out the Delgado file and spread the pages out on the floor in front of the couch. If she could get a part out of spite, then I could solve a case that way. There had to be something in all of those papers. Some clue to how Dr Learner had escaped. I looked at the pictures. I read the eye-witness statements. But the more I looked, the less I saw. It was like Delgado had put together a file with no real clues on purpose.

Kevin Jordan's question popped into my head. What would I do if I could turn invisible? I didn't really know. It
wasn't like there was anyone I wanted to spy on. I could use it to hide from Sammy, or Della when she was being a diva, but it's not like hiding would solve my problems. It might be fun to sneak into the university and go to some advanced maths classes. (They won't even consider me until I turn sixteen.) But that was just a fantasy. There couldn't really be an invisibility suit, could there?

I leant back on the couch and held the floor plan of the Delgado Industries office building over my head. Maybe the light would shine through it and reveal a secret message. It was as good as any of the other ideas I'd had. And with everyone else running around talking about invisibility suits, it didn't seem all that far-fetched.

When I opened my eyes, the room was dark. Someone had taken the Delgado Industries floor plan out of my hands and covered me with a blanket. Dad. I could hear him typing from the other side of his office door. He must still be working on the story. The real story, that is, not the puff piece his editor wanted. I'd have to tell him all about the rest of my day in the morning. He'd be over the moon when I told him the FBI was involved.

I thought about going upstairs and sneaking into my room, but it seemed like too much trouble. Della was in my bed, and the air mattress would still be propped up against the window. So I just stretched out where I was and fell asleep listening to the comforting clatter of Dad's keyboard.