The campus was still so chaotic that it wasn’t difficult to slip away again. This time the whole group went: Amanda, Holmes, Simon, Ivy, Amphora, Editta, Clive, and Nigel. Holmes had relented on the issue of helping with the virus, but in the short time he’d been working on the problem he hadn’t made any progress.
This time they took a bus, which had just started running between the town and the outlying communities. Holmes had grabbed a seat, and as Amanda approached he patted the spot next to him. She glanced around, saw that no one was paying attention, and slipped in beside him. She imagined that the others were buzzing with gossip, but she didn’t want to look. As the bus pulled away from the curb, he took her hand. This time she didn’t pull away. He smiled at her and squeezed tight. She felt her heart leap.
During the ride, Holmes kept track of the roommates’ GPS location and made sure the group disembarked at the stop closest to them. Simon and Amanda had brought their skateboards, but the others didn’t have any, which was probably a good thing because they would have been too conspicuous. As they neared the roommates’ coordinates, Amanda recognized Moriarty’s boat. This was a terrible discovery: Blixus was nearby, as close to the school as she’d ever known him to be!
Now they split up. It wouldn’t do for a group of kids and a dog to descend on the Moriartys. While the others hid nearby and Holmes kept trying to hack the virus, Amanda and Simon snuck on board—very carefully.
With each step they listened—hard. Each one of them had inserted their ear device, and Amanda could hear wavelets lap at the sides of the boat, the sound was so clear. They didn’t hear anything coming from the deck, so they tiptoed to the door of the cabin and looked through the round window, which was pretty filmy but still gave them a decent view of the interior. There was no sight of Blixus or the roommates, and no sound. Simon pulled a crystal out of his pocket but it didn’t blink. He showed Amanda and they shook their heads. It seemed that the crystals, if they ever had been on board, were gone.
Simon opened the door slowly. It creaked a little. Amanda winced. If anyone was there they’d be toast. He stuck his head in, then turned around and shook it. Nothing. Treading softly, the pair entered the cabin, which was old and worn. And then they heard it.
Crunch, crunch, crunch. They looked down at their feet. There was pink sugar all over the floor. It was critical that they not speak so Amanda put her head in her hands to indicate how upset she was. Where there was pink sugar there was the virus, and where the virus was crystals could grow. Amanda’s worst fears were being confirmed. Wherever Blixus was, he was trying to make more.
Simon’s crystal wouldn’t blink. That meant there were no crystals on the boat. But if that was true, where were they? Was it possible Blixus hadn’t taken them after all? No, that couldn’t be. They had discovered evidence that many crystals had formed at the factory, but they had found just a few. He had to have taken the rest.
It seemed that the boat was deserted, which gave Amanda and Simon a chance to search it. Room by room they scoured the place, looking in drawers, compartments, cupboards, closets, and even checking for secret hiding places, but it wasn’t until they came to what looked like a little workshop that they found something. Amanda gasped. Lying on a workbench were two dozen dead crystals and some lab equipment. Now they knew that Blixus had taken them, experimented on them, and learned some, if not all of their secrets.
Amanda couldn’t understand why, if the criminal had the crystals, he would have come here. Was he planning to use them against Legatum? Yes, that had to be it. He had the Detective’s Bible, and using whatever information was in it, plus the strength of the crystals, he would destroy them.
If Moriarty had the book, why should they bother to keep searching? No doubt he’d taken it and the crystals to the school. Because the earthquake had caused so much damage, the perimeters weren’t as secure as they might be and he could penetrate the campus easily—if not through the tunnel gates, then some other way.
She found Simon searching the sleeping area, pulling out a drawer under one of the trundle beds. “He’s got the crystals,” she whispered. “Probably the book too. He’s going to use them against Legatum.”
“Not good,” said Simon, feeling under a spare blanket, “but we don’t know that he has the book.”
“It isn’t here,” she said. She touched all around the mattress. Ouch. The last time she’d done that . . .
“We haven’t finished yet,” he said. “Let’s make sure.” He palpated a spot underneath. “Okay, not there.”
“But why would he come here?” She tried the pillow. “Nothing here either.”
“Probably to do what you said, but do you really think he and Mavis can bring the entire school down?”
“It depends what’s in the book,” she said. “We have no idea what it is.”
“Let’s not panic just yet. We need to be systematic.”
“Okay, but I’m getting worried.”
“I know,” he said. “But he’s obviously fallible. We’ll find his weakness and stop him.”
Amanda was unconvinced, but she returned to her searching. She desperately wanted to text Holmes and tell him about the crystals, but she didn’t want Simon asking nosy questions so she continued to search. Between the two of them, they turned the entire boat upside down but they didn’t find the missing book. Had Blixus taken it, or did the roommates still have it? Either way, the criminal would have access to whatever was inside, which scared her half to death.
They left the boat and returned to the others, except that they had disappeared. Amanda thought they were going to wait for her and Simon to return, but for some reason they’d gone off.
“What’s happened to them?” she said, turning in all directions.
“Dunno, but I’m about to find out,” said Simon. He whipped out his phone and sent a text. Within a moment he’d received an answer. “They’re on another boat,” he said. “Scapulus found Puppybreath’s phone.”
“Are David’s roommates there?” she said.
“Nope, gone. Maybe they took the other boat and followed the Moriartys. They’ve probably gone after them.”
“But where is everyone?” Amanda said.
“Don’t know. Scapulus says they’re searching the boat but haven’t found anything.”
Scapulus. He and Simon seemed to be getting pretty tight. That was awkward. Now Simon would know all her private business, although he seemed to already, so who cared?
“Should we try to find them?” said Amanda, imagining Holmes’s smile.
“No,” said Simon. “There are too many of them already. We’ll just make the group more obvious.”
“Right.”
Suddenly there came a loud noise from off in the distance. Amanda looked around but didn’t see anything. Simon turned around 360 degrees. Another noise. It sounded like an explosion.
“Where’s it coming from?” she said.
“Behind us,” said Simon. “It’s pretty loud with these ear things in. I’m going to take mine out.”
“You don’t think it’s the school, do you?”
Simon listened. There it came again. “Wrong direction,” he said. “The explosions are coming from over there.” He pointed to a spot behind them and to the left. “Legatum is over there.” He pointed to a location south of that.
“What’s over there?”
“The old quarry,” said Ivy, coming up behind her. Amphora, Editta, Holmes, Clive, and Nigel followed. Nigel did not like the noise. Every time he heard an explosion he whined and clung to Ivy.
“OMG, that’s right,” said Amanda. “He’s blasting. He’s trying to make more crystals.”
Amanda was certain that they had to get to the quarry and stop Blixus, but she had no idea how to do either. The quarry was way out in the boonies, far off the beaten track. It was too far to reach on foot, and no buses went there. The only thing she could think of was hiring a taxi, but they’d left in such a hurry that no one had brought money with them.
“What are we going to do now?” she said.
“We can’t walk,” said Ivy. “It’s got to be six miles away.”
“You think it’s that far?” said Amphora. “I’d say closer to three.”
“Trust me, it’s six,” said Ivy. “I can tell from the way the sound attenuates. Anyway, a lot of it is uphill so the skateboards aren’t going to do any good.”
“What about hitching a ride?” said Amphora.
“You think someone is driving out there?” said Simon. “What a dumb—”
“Don’t make me fine you, Simon,” said Ivy.
“Sorry,” he said. “I’m sorry, Amphora.”
What was this—an apology? Amanda couldn’t believe her ears. Maybe he really was broke and couldn’t afford one more fine. Now that was a way to get the two of them to stop fighting. Ivy must have planned the whole thing around Simon’s budget, although how did she know his financial situation?
“Thank you, Simon,” said Amphora. “You’re right, though. Who’d be driving out to the quarry? There’s nothing there.”
“Call Thrillkill?” said Editta. Everyone turned and stared at her. She’d been so quiet that Amanda had forgotten she was there. It seemed the others had as well.
“Sorry, Editta,” said Amanda. “We can’t do that. The teachers will go even crazier than they already are. Plus when they find out that David took the Bible, they’ll expel him.”
“Since when do you care about David?” said Amphora.
Amanda glanced at Holmes. Was he jealous? He did have kind of a weird expression on his face. “He’s human,” she said. “Well, sort of. And he just lost his dad. I’d hate to see him suffer any more.”
Holmes looked relieved. “Right,” he said. “Let’s not add to David’s worries.”
“I think it’s too late for that,” said Simon. “If Moriarty has the book he’ll be in deep trouble anyway.”
“We don’t have to add to it,” said Ivy.
“So we’re back to square one,” said Amanda. “What are we going to do?”
“There,” said Amphora, pointing. “A tourist tram.” She ran toward the vehicle, which was painted a glossy red. It reminded Amanda of those people movers you see at Disneyland. A middle-aged couple was sitting in the front. By the time the rest of them got there Amphora was already flirting with the driver.
“Oh, brother,” Simon said.
“Si-monnn,” said Ivy.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You did, but I’m going to let this one pass. But will you please, for the love of 3D printers, stop it?”
“Sorry,” he said. “It won’t happen again.”
Amanda had her doubts about that. Considering how much Simon and Amphora disliked each other, and considering that they had been paired up for the disguise project and had to spend extra time together, it was amazing they were both still alive.
“I’m sorry,” said the driver, a young man with long blond hair who was wearing a Sorrento Beach T-shirt and sandals. Amanda wondered if he’d actually been there. Sorrento was one of her favorite places, although maybe the T-shirt was from Italy, not Santa Monica. He had the right idea, anyway. “I’ve got to take these people on a tour.” He pointed to the very large woman in a flowered blouse and blue pedal pushers and her short, bald husband. The woman was giving Amphora a dirty look. “Anyway, why do you want to go all the way out there?”
“It’s really important,” said Amphora, batting her eyelashes. Amanda couldn’t believe she’d resort to such obvious tactics, although they seemed to be working. The guy was hanging on her every word. “A matter of life and death.”
“I might be able to take you, but you’ll have to wait until I finish this tour,” he said. “Even then I won’t be able to wait around. I’ll lose my job. In fact, I shouldn’t even be thinking about leaving my route. Say, you’re the kids from that school up on the hill, aren’t you?” He searched Amphora’s face. He seemed to want to accommodate her.
“Please,” said Amphora. “One of the students is in trouble. We have to save him.” She paused and looked him in the eyes. “I’ll be ever so grateful.” Boy, she was good at this flirting stuff.
“Did you say the school on the hill?” interrupted the large woman.
“Yes, ma’am,” said Amphora.
“Is one of you Amanda Lester?” said the woman. She peered at the group, then, for some reason lighting on Amanda said, “Amanda, darling! It’s Despina and Hill. Lester. From Liverpool.”
Amanda thought she’d just about die. What were they doing there? “Uh, hello, Despina,” she said. “Hill. I’m sorry, but we’ve got an emergency.”
“Ooooh, that sounds luscious, dear,” said Despina. “Isn’t it lucky we ran into you? Now we don’t have to wait until Saturday. We’ll help you. What seems to be the trouble? Oh, but aren’t you precious? You look much cuter in person.”
Amanda rolled her eyes and looked at Holmes, who was stifling a laugh. “This is dangerous, Despina. I, uh, don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Nonsense,” said Despina. “We’re Lesters. You know what that means.” She winked.
Yes, Amanda did know what that meant but she couldn’t think about her dingdong of an ancestor right now. Blixus was making crystals while they dilly-dallied and they had to stop him.
“She’s right,” said Hill. He had a high, squeaky voice. “I think you might be pleasantly surprised.” This from a court clerk. What did he know about dangerous situations?
“I don’t want to be responsible for you getting hurt,” said Amanda. “Why don’t you take your tour and we’ll find some other way to get to the quarry?”
“Quarry, darling?” said Despina. “Is that what all that noise is about?”
“Come on, you guys,” she said to her friends. “Let’s let my relatives go on their tour. We’ll find another way.”
“No, you won’t,” said Despina, suddenly developing an edge. “Young man.” She waved at the driver. “Take us to the quarry at once. There’s a nice tip in it for you.” She waved a five-pound note at him as if that princely amount would convince him to risk his job.
Amanda was so surprised she almost tripped, which would have been a neat trick since she was standing still. The driver looked from one of the group to the other, ostensibly hoping for some kind of definitive solution to his conundrum. Holmes was contorted with giggles, and Ivy was hiding her laughing face in Nigel’s fur.
“I said drive,” said Despina imperiously. Hill was nodding, obviously pleased with his wife’s decision.
That convinced the young man, who seemed to be terrified of the woman. “All right,” he said. “I can hear the noise up there. It doesn’t sound good. But remember, I have to leave as soon as I’ve dropped you off. You’re sure you’re going to be all right?”
“We will,” said Amphora. “We won’t be if we don’t get there, though.”
“Hop on,” said the driver. Amanda couldn’t tell if he was happy or worried. Probably both.
The kids boarded the tram, which was arranged in seats of two facing the front. Amanda found herself near the back sitting next to Ivy and Nigel, who were huddled together. Every time there was an explosion, Nigel cowered and buried his head in Ivy’s lap. She, in turn, leaned over him so that he was almost completely covered, but her effort to insulate him didn’t seem to be doing much good. Despina called out, “Buckle up, dear.” Everyone stared at her as if to say, “Now what have you done to us?” Everyone except Holmes, that is, who was laughing his head off. Amanda was glad to see him enjoying himself. He needed to let up once in a while.
“I have pictures of your cousin Jeffrey,” Despina yelled back. “Oh, and many nice shots of Windermere. I think you’ll especially like the one of a pet monkey we saw.”
Amanda didn’t want to think about monkeys. She would have been happy never to see one again, even in a photograph. She pretended not to hear.
The driver started the engine with a si
ngle vroom and shifted into first gear. Suddenly Amanda felt someone come up behind her and plop down. She looked around. It was David Wiffle!
“Have to get to the quarry,” he said, panting. “Blixus . . . the book . . . roommates.”
Amanda could see Holmes in front of her trying to hack the Moriartys’ computers. As the tram rattled toward the quarry he was thrown back and forth. She thought it must be difficult to work that way and hoped he’d manage. If Blixus wasn’t stopped soon, he might amass enough crystals to do a huge amount of damage. Not to mention the fact that he’d be torturing and killing more and more of the little creatures.
The six-mile trip seemed to take six hours. Once they had left the town the road narrowed and turned to dirt. The tram kicked up so much dust that the group looked like they’d been in a sandstorm. Simon had to keep wiping his glasses with his shirt, but even that didn’t help much. Amanda’s eyes were getting sore and poor Nigel was sneezing his head off. Needless to say, all the bouncing was making Amanda nauseous. She may have forgotten to bring money, but she always carried gingersnaps and she ate one now. It worked immediately.
“Any luck, Scapulus?” she said.
“Nope,” said Holmes. “Sorry.”
“What’s that young man doing?” Amanda could hear Despina say. “He seems ever so dedicated.”
Holmes ignored her. Everyone did except Hill, who said, “Playing some game, I expect.”
“Almost there,” called out the driver. The tram was bouncing so much that people were hanging on for dear life. Amanda was glad she’d eaten her cookie.
The tram rumbled through a narrow opening in the road, if you could call it that, and then they saw them. Blixus and Mavis were standing at the far end of the quarry setting off explosions in a bed of pink sugar, although they both looked weird—were they in disguise? Blixus had a mustache, and Mavis was wearing some sort of wig. David’s roommates were standing off to the side holding the book and yelling like rabid sports fans.
“It’s the book,” yelled Amanda.
“I knew it,” said David. He stood up in his seat and fell back down as soon as the tram hit another bump.
Amanda Lester, Detective Box Set Page 67