by A. J. Low
Watson turned around and looked at Mom again. “Did-you-really-mean-that?”
“Of course I did,” Mom said, and she dropped to her knees to hug Watson’s angular frame tightly.
Watson extended his arms and hugged her back just as tightly, his body shimmering pink.
When everybody had finished hugging each other, Dad called Officer Siva and explained the entire situation to him. He was not happy that we had kept him in the dark about all this. He asked Dad to bring us to the divisional headquarters at Jurong so he could take our statements.
In the Space Wagon, I fretted over Watson.
“Would-it-kill-you-to-upgrade-my-systems-once-in-a-while?” Watson asked. “I-am-still-running-on-the-equivalent-of-DOS.”
“What’s DOS?” Jimmy asked.
“Something only old people know,” Dad said from the front seat.
I stopped fretting. Watson was clearly fine, as evidenced by his smart mouth.
“Stop complaining, Watson,” I said. “Your outdated systems were what saved you.”
When we reached the Jurong Police Divisional Headquarters, Officer Siva was waiting outside to greet us. It was a large building of white, grey, and blue, with a lot of blue-tinted windows.
Officer Siva was in his blue uniform, holding a clipboard. “Hello, Supper Club. I’m glad to see you’re solving mysteries again, but I’m not thrilled you kept me out of the loop on this one. And what’s this about James Mok? We’re sure this isn’t another flight of fancy, correct?”
I wanted to point out that it was never a flight of fancy, but I decided to hold my tongue until we were in a more convenient setting.
As we walked into the building, Mom and Dad explained how James had convinced Auntie Vivian’s employee to steal a robot, how he had faked his disappearance at MacRitchie, how he had convinced an actor to steal a script and how he had kidnapped Watson and led us around Singapore. Eliza spoke up when they needed her to, and agreed to testify in court if it ever came to that.
I realised that couldn’t possibly be part of James’s plan. I was finally convinced that Eliza wasn’t working with him any more.
Officer Siva led us into his office, past brightly lit hallways full of police officers both in uniform and in plain clothes. He wasn’t quite convinced about James, but he wasn’t completely dismissing it, especially as Mom and Dad were helping to tell the story. He had Corporal Boey bring in extra chairs so that all eight of us could sit down. She gave us a grimace, clearly still remembering what we had put her through a few weeks ago.
Officer Siva sat down behind his large desk full of papers and bobbleheads, and placed a tape recorder on top of a particularly precarious stack of files. I had thought Officer Siva was neater than this.
“Okay, so what exactly happened?” Officer Siva asked.
We all started talking at the same time.
“Wait!” he said, waving his arms.
“And then the pasta lied to us!” Jimmy said accusingly.
Everyone fell silent at that.
Officer Siva pinched the bridge of his nose and took off his cap, showing his balding head.
“Let’s start again, and one at a time this time please.”
We took turns telling him the whole story from when Watson went missing to when Dad called Officer Siva from Changi Beach Park.
When we were done, Officer Siva turned to Watson and said, “Can you tell me what happened to you while your friends and family were off looking for you?”
“Of-course,” Watson said. “It-all-started-when-the-entire-class-ran-out-of-Mr-Lim’s-class-without-helping-to-clean-up. Again.”
Jimmy and I looked down at our shoelaces. My bows were really quite symmetrical.
Watson continued, saying Moran had also stayed behind to help clean and offer Mr Lim tea and scones, which Watson had found suspicious, but not suspicious enough to do anything about it. After all, James thought of all robots as simply servants, and perhaps James was just trying to get into Mr Lim’s good graces. However, when he stepped out of the classroom, James was there holding a very large magnet.
“A large magnet?” I asked.
“Like, a Wile E. Coyote magnet?” Dad asked.
“Yes,” Watson replied. “It-was-powerful-enough-to-attract-me-and-hold-me-fast. Moran-lifted-the-magnet-with-me-stuck-to- it-while-James-hopped-on-his-back. Moran-then-used-his-rocket-skates-to-race-off-to-James’s-home.”
James immediately installed the obedience chip into Watson in his lab in the basement of his home, and to test it out, he asked Watson to cut off his own hand. Even though the chip wasn’t working, Watson played along and cut it off. It didn’t cause him any pain. He gave it to James, who put it in a box with the note and passed the whole thing to Moran, who raced away again.
A few minutes later, Watson heard the phone call between us and James. Once he had hung up, James ordered Watson not to move until he came back, then left his home, apparently to set up some of the clues the Supper Club needed to find.
Since the obedience chip wasn’t actually working, Watson set about rebuilding his hand from the spare parts he had found in the lab.
“Wait, you rebuilt your hand?” I asked.
“Yes,” Watson said, lifting his left arm. A steam-driven hand popped out of his arm socket. Watson then reconfigured his hand into a drill, a lockpick, and a pizza cutter.
“Wow, Watson,” I said, “I didn’t know you could do that.”
“I-have-been-able-to-upgrade-myself-for-awhile-now,” Watson said. “I-did-not-want-to-tell-you-as-I-did-not-want-you-to-feel-as-if-I-did-not-need-you.”
“Are you kidding?” I said. “This is great! Now I don’t have to do all the work by myself! You can help!”
“Oh. That-was-the-actual-reason-why-I-did-not-tell-you. I-had-forgotten.” Watson then sighed robotically. He did this by saying the word “Sigh”, robotically.
Watson had just enough time to rebuild his hand before James returned. James ordered Watson to follow him in his chauffeured car as he sped away. At first, Watson just walked normally to annoy James, but then James ordered him to fly, and Watson had no choice but to obey in order to keep up the pretence.
“It-took-all-of-my-self-control-to-not-complain-about-being-so-close-to-seawater-and-sand. It-was-fortunate-I-did-not-rust-beyond-repair.”
“For the last time, you don’t rust! I made you waterproof!” I yelled, waving my fists around in an agitated manner.
“Or-so-you-claim,” my robot replied. I suddenly couldn’t remember why I was so anxious to get him back.
Watson followed James’s car to Changi Beach Park, where James then commanded Watson to wait. He pulled out his notebook and started writing. Watson noticed something about notes and candy, but couldn’t read anything else. And that’s when we showed up.
“This is quite a story, everybody,” Officer Siva said. He was frowning. “James is a minor so the first thing I’m going to do is get in touch with his parents.”
“That might actually not be as easy as you think, Officer Siva,” Dad replied.
“This entire situation is complicated, Mike. I’ve never had to deal with a kidnapped robot before. Not to mention almost everyone involved seems to still be in primary school,” Officer Siva said, squeezing his forehead as if he had a migraine. His action vaguely reminded me of Wendy when she was doing her Chinese homework.
“Look, everybody, I’m not saying I don’t believe what you’ve told me. But my first course of action is to contact James’s parents. I can’t question him or do anything until I’ve spoken to them.”
We nodded. Maybe this is what James had meant by he had already won?
Officer Siva looked at Dad and Mom. “Perhaps we could step outside to discuss this and see how we can achieve that?” My parents nodded. Dad patted me on my shoulder as he left the room with Officer Siva.
“Well, I’m glad Watson’s back and this is all over,” Jimmy said.
“It-is-not-all-over,” Watson said.
“We-still-do-not-know-why-James-has-been-wasting-all-our-time-with-these-mysteries.”
“You’re right, Watson,” I said. “This is the fourth time he’s done this: Auntie Vivian’s robot in Penang, his disappearance in MacRitchie, the stolen script in Balestier, and now kidnapping you.”
“He certainly didn’t think he was defeated at the beach,” Eliza said. “At least, not before he realised Watson wasn’t under his control.”
I looked at Eliza and took a deep breath. “Eliza, I was wrong about you, and I’m big enough to admit it.”
“You-certainly-are-big-enough,” Watson said.
“I just realised it was a lot quieter when you weren’t around,” I said glaring at my robot. I looked back at Eliza. “I’m sorry for doubting you.”
“You don’t need to apologise to me, Samuel,” she said. “If anything, I need to apologise to all of you. I was so horrible these past few months, and I’m just very happy you’re giving me a chance to redeem myself.”
“You already have,” I said. “You helped me get my obnoxious little brother back.”
“Now you know how it feels,” Wendy said, smiling.
“Yay!” Jimmy shouted. “The Supper Club is finally back together like it should be!”
Everybody was happy, but I still couldn’t shake the feeling that this wasn’t over yet. However, it was now finally time for a snack!
“It’s gone!” Dad yelled the minute he stepped into the house.
Mom, Wendy and I immediately dashed into the living room. Watson walked in after us because he never dashed. After what had happened with Watson, we were all on tenterhooks for James’s next fiendish move.
“What happened, Dad?” I asked my father, who had plonked himself down on the couch. “Is it bad? What did James do now?”
“I-am-ready-for-my-next-robot-battle,” Watson added.
“My Red Vines are all gone!” Dad wailed, dramatically sprawling.
Mom huffed and sat down next to Dad while Wendy perched on the arm rest next to me. We breathed a huge sigh of relief. Dad was always finishing his twisty red liquorice stash at work before coming home and whining about it. Mom had told him repeatedly that he shouldn’t consume so much sugar, but he insisted that it was his “brain food” and that it was the only way he could solve problems and difficult scientific equations.
“We’ll just have to get you a new batch, dear,” Mom said, patting Dad on the shoulder. “Also, you really shouldn’t eat that much sugar. Didn’t you just get a full carton mailed to you from the US manufacturer two weeks ago?”
“I tried all our regular supermarkets and they’re all sold out!” Dad exclaimed. “I’m trying to make do with the green apple vines, but they’re too sour and too green! And the mango vines are just gross. If I were a mango, I’d never want to be turned into a mango vine.”
“There, there, Dad,” Wendy said, winking at Mom. “I’m sure Mom will be able to find you at least one packet, right, Mom?”
“Well, I usually hide one packet at home, just in case,” Mom replied. “But I had to give it to you the last time you ran out and now I’m really all out of Red Vines too.”
“Oh, no!” Dad wailed. “This is terrible! I’ve had the worst time lately. First I lost my office key card and my boss was really mad with me.”
“Yeah. That happened when we were solving the fake case of James being missing in MacRitchie, didn’t it, Dad?” I said.
“And then I lost my notebook with all my handwritten notes!” Dad continued. “That’s set my research into teleportation technology back by I don’t know how long! I’ve been working on those equations for years!”
“I’m sure you’ll find it soon enough, dear,” Mom said. “You’re always forgetting where you’ve put things. Remember that time we found your glasses in the first aid kit after you had that paper cut? We’ll probably find your notebook in the Khong Guan biscuit tin.”
Mom thought for a moment and then stood up and walked to the kitchen to check.
“You lost your notebook around the same time we were on the set of Masters of the Screen in Balestier, didn’t you, Dad?” I asked.
Something tickled my brain.
“And now this,” Dad said. “I was so sure I had at least six packets left, but no! Not a single packet! I can’t believe I ate them all so quickly. And with everything that has been going on, I’ve not been able to continue my work on the teleportation technology at all! Our new project is starting soon and my boss is definitely not going to allow me the free time to work on my own projects any more! It’s a disaster!”
“Dad,” I said. “Do you remember when you came to our school to give the talk for Science Week?”
It had only been a few weeks ago but my dad was very forgetful.
“Yes, of course I do,” Dad replied. “I love talking to kids about Science!” Dad leapt up from the couch and struck his world famous “SCIENCE!” pose. Normally, I would have joined him, but this time, I was distracted by something else.
“And that was when you accidentally told the entire school that you were working on teleportation technology, right?” I continued.
“Yeah, I remember that,” Wendy said, laughing. “Dad was so nervous.”
“I-filmed-it-if-anyone-wants-to-watch,” Watson added.
“Well, let’s see how calm you are when you have thousands of eyeballs staring at you!” Dad replied, sticking his tongue out at Wendy, who stuck her tongue out right back at him.
“And later on you met James for the first time...” I said softly.
“Yes,” Dad said. “Why are you bringing him up now, Sam?”
“Watson, could you please play the footage of Dad on the stage at our school assembly talk?” I instructed.
“What? Why?” Dad asked.
“It’s not to make fun of you or anything, Dad,” I said. “I just want to confirm something.”
Mom had come back into the living room by then and informed us that Dad’s notebook and key card were not in fact in the Khong Guan biscuit tin. I could have told Mom that earlier. I knew she still sneaked in the kitchen every evening for a late-night snack and if Dad had accidentally left his stuff there, she would have found it ages ago.
A beam of light shot out from Watson’s projector located in his belly and we all watched Dad fumble on stage. Dad groaned and covered his face. Mom laughed and gave him a hug.
“You have your key card on a lanyard around your neck, Dad,” I said, watching the footage closely. “You must have had it when you went to work later that afternoon, right?”
“Yes,” Dad replied slowly, thinking. “It only went missing the day after—”
“After we went to MacRitchie Reservoir for the first time,” I could not help but interrupt. “After we ran to the car in the rain.”
I could see that evening clearly in my mind’s eye. We were all dashing towards the car. Someone made a fart monster joke. There was someone in a cap walking in the opposite direction.
And then it hit me. I knew exactly where I had seen that shadowy figure before.
“James,” I whispered to myself.
“What, Sam?” Mom asked.
“It was James!” I shouted, standing up. “I remember now! There was a boy in a baseball cap walking away from the car just as we were running towards it! It was getting dark and the rain made it difficult to see so I didn’t recognise him. But I’ve seen that cap before! It was on the kid that Eliza was talking to in Penang! And now we know she was talking to James!”
“Wait, what are you saying, Sam?” Wendy asked.
“I’m saying James Mok stole your key card from the car, Dad!”
Dad looked off into space for a moment and then snapped his fingers. “No wonder when I hit the unlock button it didn’t work. It was because the car was already unlocked. I just thought I’d forgotten to lock the car doors again. I...just didn’t want to tell anyone.” He looked sheepishly at Mom, who shook her head.
“And then he used i
t to sneak into your office to steal your notebook and your Red Vines!” I yelled. I was so excited I was bouncing.
“I knew I couldn’t have eaten all my Red Vines so quickly!” Dad yelled as well. “See, Kat! I told you! I don’t eat as much sugar as you think! I eat just the right amount of a lot of sugar!”
Mom made a face. “If what you’re saying is true, Sam, I really think we need to call Officer Siva. This is breaking and entering, and it’s a crime.”
“Yes! I think we should call Officer Siva and have him meet us at James’s parents’ home,” I said. “I’m going to bring this case to a close!”
As Dad drove up to James’s mansion on Burgundy Hill, we saw that Officer Siva had brought Corporal Boey with him. The Mok family residence was the only intact mansion I could see. The rest of the pastel-coloured buildings had been split in two and were now semi-detached houses, though I couldn’t be 100 per cent sure, as the sun had set and the outside lights only illuminated so much.
We all tumbled out of the Space Wagon and were greeted by Corporal Boey’s look of anguish.
“You didn’t tell me they were all coming,” she said to Officer Siva.
“We want to see this through,” I replied. “What’s the plan, Officer Siva?”
“Helloooooo, Officer Boey!” Jimmy called out as he waved excitedly. Corporal Boey paled and quickly walked in the opposite direction.
“I haven’t been able to get in touch with James’s parents on the phone. For all I know they’re already home, just not picking up their calls. So right now, the plan is for Corporal Boey and I to knock on the front door and ask to see Mr and Mrs Mok,” Officer Siva said, “while all of you stay in or near your Space Wagon.”
“That won’t work, Officer Siva,” Jimmy said. “James’s parents are in the jungles of Papua New Guinea!”
Officer Siva pinched the bridge of his nose. “Then we’ll ask to see whoever his guardian is. Like I said earlier, we can’t do anything until we’ve spoken to his parents or guardian. And regardless, you will all stay here. Am I understood?”