by Lauren Child
Blacker nodded. ‘Maybe it’s time to level with you about a few things.’ He picked up the phone, had a brief exchange with the person on the other end, before replacing the receiver and pointing to the door.
‘Come with me,’ he said.
Ruby followed him through the Spectrum corridors until they reached the boss’s office.
Agent Delaware was already there, sitting legs crossed, file on lap. LB was behind her desk.
‘Take a seat,’ she said.
Ruby looked to Blacker, but it was LB who broke the silence.
‘Look Redfort, I understand from Blacker that you have been struggling with the whole idea that information here is imparted – ‘on a need-to-know basis’.
‘We secret agencies tend to use this as a general way of rationalising information. You seem to be taking it personally, and I regret to say that there is no room for personal feelings – hurt or otherwise – in the area of secret intelligence.’ She stared hard at Ruby.
Ruby shifted uncomfortably in her chair.
‘There is a point in keeping information contained and in this particular case a very good one.’
LB looked over at Delaware, who looked at Ruby, cleared his throat and began, ‘What you may have read in your file when you made an unauthorised visit to the file room was there to protect you.’
Ruby froze: how did they know she had been in the files?
She opened her mouth, but LB raised her hand to silence her. ‘How did we know?’ she said second-guessing Ruby’s question. ‘You should know by now, Redfort, nothing gets past me. Maybe it’s time you took that on board as fact.’
Agent Delaware continued. ‘Let’s put that disciplinary incident to one side for a while.’ He cleared his throat. ‘Two weeks ago a prisoner escaped from a maximum security government facility where said prisoner was being held pending trial. This individual is highly dangerous and extremely smart and happens to have you in her sights.’ He held up a small black book. ‘Scrawled on the pages of this journal are thoughts and ambitions that should you read them might have you sleeping with the light on for the rest of your days.’
Ruby’s eyes widened.
‘It was Spectrum’s decision to withhold this information from you; you are, after all, a minor and it was considered best not to inform you of any danger you might be in.’
‘But why?’ asked Ruby. ‘Isn’t it better to be forewarned? If I knew then I might be able to …’
‘You think you can defend yourself against someone like this?’ Agent Delaware shook his head. ‘You are a child playing at being an agent. This woman is a killer.’
‘It’s Lorelei?’ said Ruby.
Delaware nodded. ‘Von Leyden was within a hair’s breadth of ending your life not one month ago – you survived by chance, not design.’
‘So much of life and death is chance,’ said Ruby.
‘I don’t argue with that, Agent Redfort,’ said LB, ‘but I do like the odds to be stacked in our agents’ favour. To continue the gambling analogy – when the chips are down, you, Agent Redfort, are playing with a weak hand.’
Again Ruby started to speak, but LB interrupted.
‘I asked Blacker to have you tailed, in part for your own protection and in part to see if von Leyden might be drawn out. If she was watching you, we would find her.’
‘You’re using me as bait?’ said Ruby.
‘Now you object to your life being put in danger?’ said LB. ‘I thought you were all about the risk.’
‘It would just be nice to be informed,’ Ruby replied. ‘You know, by the way Redfort, do you mind if we pop you on a hook and see if we catch a shark?’
‘How many ways do I have to say it? There is no nice in this line of work.’ LB was glaring now. ‘Plus, by the way, if it helps to reassure you, no one is interested in seeing an agent brought down. Everyone at Spectrum is committed to seeing you survive this threat to your life, even if there are times, Redfort, when I would personally like to strangle you.’
This wasn’t quite the last word spoken, but near enough.
When Ruby was dismissed she and Blacker returned to the coding room, where it was Ruby’s turn to come clean.
‘There’s something you need to know,’ said Ruby.
‘Does it have to do with the Taste Twister mystery?’ asked Blacker.
‘How did you know?’
‘A wild guess,’ he said. ‘So spill the beans, why don’t you.’
And she did.
When she had divulged everything she knew, Blacker picked up a marker and wrote the four locations on four cards and stuck them on the wall.
The Little Seven Grocers on Little Seven Street.
The music school on the university campus, Algebra Street.
The Twinford Mirror building on Gödel Avenue.
The Movie Museum on Fibonacci Street.
Then he made a sketch of the tesseract map.
‘OK,’ he said. ‘So let’s circle the four points revealed by the bottles.’ He checked Ruby’s notes and then drew four circles.
They stood back and looked at it.
‘There are lots more points of course,’ he said. ‘Maybe the idea is to collect bottles for each one?’
‘You’re not serious?’ said Ruby. ‘That could take weeks. Months.’
‘Or maybe we’re missing something,’ said Blacker. ‘Something on the bottle, or …’
Ruby lifted a hand. ‘The lid.’
‘What?’
‘“X marks the spot”.’
‘I’m not with you,’ said Blacker.
She picked up the final bottle top. ‘No time, no date, just an X, see? X marks the spot. Like a treasure map.’
‘So where’s the X?’
For a moment, Blacker looked at the map blankly … then he got it. He stepped forward and circled the spot where the lines between the four locations crossed.
‘OK,’ said Blacker, ‘let’s see where that takes us.’
He pushed a button on the huge display board which covered one wall of the code room and punched in a few numbers until a map of Twinford’s College Town came up. He transferred the information from the tesseract to the map.
Ruby frowned. ‘There?’ she said, pointing to where the lines intersected. ‘But that’s the elevated subway.’
‘So,’ said Blacker, ‘maybe the X is marking the location underneath the elevated subway line.’
‘But isn’t that just the intersection where Numeral Street crosses Pythagoras?’ said Ruby. ‘There’s no building or anything.’
‘Only one way to know for sure,’ said Blacker, pulling on his raincoat. ‘Let’s go.’
Blacker and Ruby took the subway to Cathedral. It was one of the few stations on the short section of elevated subway taking the trains up and over that part of town. Why the planners hadn’t simply run it underground Ruby didn’t know since it wasn’t too pretty to look at.
To reach the exact point where the lines on the tesseract crossed meant negotiating heavy traffic, as the X-marks-the-spot was indeed in the middle of the busy intersection where Pythagoras and Numeral streets met. And when they got there …
Nothing to be seen.
Just trucks, buses and cars crossing an empty square of concrete. The elevated subway clickety-clacking overhead. And in one corner of the intersection, an abandoned lot.
One could be forgiven for thinking the lot was part of the city dump. It was covered in broken TVs, furniture, a shopping cart, about a hundred cardboard boxes and other bits of random junk. The two of them stood there trying to make sense of it, but nothing was adding up.
‘I guess X doesn’t always mark the spot,’ said Ruby, kicking an old soda can.
They made their separate journeys back, Blacker to Spectrum, Ruby to Cedarwood Drive. As far as this case went, it seemed they had reached the end of the road.
He heard the
lock turn …
… no one had a key but him, no one knew where he was
hiding out, no one was expected, so who was this?
He sprang to his feet, grabbed the baseball bat, killed the lights and stationed himself just to the right of the door. It swung open and in walked someone … He swung at the figure, but to his surprise the bat was knocked from his grasp. He felt a kick to the back of his knees and the feeling of cold floor against his cheek. He tried to heave himself up but a voice said, ‘Stay there alive or stay there dead, makes no odds to me.’
He didn’t move. The lights flicked on.
‘Baby Face Marshall … So this is where you’ve been lurking.’ She walked around surveying the room. ‘If you’re planning on staying here a whole lot longer, you might want to open a window or two, let in a little air.’
‘Who are you?’
She pulled the mask from her face.
His expression went from alarm to terror.
‘Lorelei?’ he gasped. ‘I heard you were out.’
‘You heard correct.’
‘So I guess you must be here to do his dirty work?’ His voice trembled.
She looked at him blankly, before replying, ‘Oh, the Count you mean? Yes, I did pick up that your some-time employer wasn’t too happy with how things went. You really messed up there with that snake lady. How did you confuse a Twinford socialite with a Mongolian explorer? Too funny for words.’
‘Who was to know two dumb party people were going to wear exactly the same dumb dress to that same dumb event?’
‘Not you dumbo, that’s for sure.’
‘So you’re saying you would have known better?’
‘I’m saying I would have made it my business to know, because it would have been my business to know. What kind of rank amateur are you? Boy, no wonder he wants to kill you – he does want to kill you, yes?’
‘I didn’t stick around. You know what I’m saying?’
‘Sounds like the first smart move you’ve made since breaking out of jail.’
She circled the room.
‘So what does he want from that Oidov woman anyway?’ said Lorelei. Is it all about the snakes?’
‘How should I know? I tend not to ask questions, questions aggravate him.’
‘Yes, he can get rather tetchy, that’s something I don’t miss,’ she said.
‘So you’re telling me you’re not working for him?’
‘No, I’m no longer on the payroll. I’m going it alone. I’m more of a freelancer, I hate taking orders, don’t you?’ She laughed. ‘Well of course orders are all you’ve ever known.’
‘So you’re not here to …’ He drew a finger across his throat.
‘Kill you?’ She laughed. ‘No, not at all.’
‘So what do you want?’
‘Nothing Boyd … I have a business proposition for you. Call it an opportunity – you look out for me, I look out for you.’
‘And who are you looking to avoid?’ asked Baby Face.
‘The same Australian as you,’ said Lorelei. ‘She’s looking to kill you, yes?’
He said nothing.
‘Well, I’m looking to kill her, so you might want to stick close and do exactly as I say.’
‘OK,’ he said. ‘What do you want?’
‘I need a snake or two, or seven, all kinds – poisonous ones. And the antivenoms too, just in case.’
‘You want them to bite her?’
‘Not just her,’ she said.
‘Who else?’ he asked.
‘I thought you didn’t ask questions,’ she said.
‘You’re planning an accident?’
‘Sort of.’
‘Who’s the victim?’
‘A child, it should be easy enough.’
‘The thing is, these snakes, the ones I have, they’re already promised to someone and if I give them to you … Well, let’s just say, she isn’t a very understanding client?’
‘Neither am I.’
‘So if I refuse?’
‘Goodbye Boyd.’
Chapter 54.
Who's messing with Ruby Redfort?
WHEN CLANCY RETURNED TO TWINFORD JUNIOR HIGH THE FOLLOWING MONDAY he was immediately called into Principal Levine’s office.
Clancy of course had no idea why. The principal motioned for him to sit down, and Clancy sat.
‘Do you know why I have called you in?’
Clancy shook his head. There were about thirty possibilities that came to mind, but he wasn’t going to start throwing them about. He had learnt this from watching Crazy Cops: never incriminate yourself by offering up indiscretions.
‘It has come to my attention …’ started Principal Levine, (never a good opener, thought Clancy) ‘that you have been getting assistance with your French homework.’
Clancy said nothing.
‘Is this true?’ asked the principal.
‘I am not sure what you’re getting at sir,’ said Clancy.
‘I’m trying to discover the truth of the matter. Someone has accused you of deception and I want to hear what you have to say about it.’
‘Who?’ said Clancy. ‘Who has?’
Principal Levine steepled his fingers. ‘Ruby Redfort,’ he said. He was staring hard at Clancy watching for the reaction.
‘Really?’ said Clancy.
‘Yes, really,’ said Levine. ‘What do you say?’
‘If Ruby told you that then she must have had her reasons.’
‘She didn’t say it to me, but a note was found. The handwriting is unmistakably hers and the tone of the note undeniably Redfortesque.’ He took a small folded piece of paper from his desk drawer and handed it to Clancy.
Clancy examined the paper – it looked to be from one of Ruby’s schoolbooks, her French textbook to be precise, torn from a page listing the vocabulary that might be required when one embarked on a boating trip. In the top right-hand corner was a drawing, which Clancy recognised as the sketch he himself had done of Madame Loup. Underneath it was a message:
Look mon ami, I can’t keep doing your homework for you, it’s not fair and in any case you’re not exactly gonna faire des progrès if you keep cheating. I accept that it’s sort of my fault for offering, but really Clance, ressaisis-toi!
‘Where did you find this?’ asked Clancy.
‘It was tucked in your homework; you must have missed it when you handed it in on Friday.’
‘I didn’t hand it in on Friday,’ said Clancy.
‘Well, someone did. I imagine Ms Redfort was expecting you to take a look at her efforts before Madame Loup graded your test.’
Silence.
‘Do you have anything to say?’
‘No sir.’
‘Well, if you really have nothing to add, you may go. I will of course be writing to your parents.’
Clancy exited the office, walked past Mrs Bexenheath and on down the corridor and out of the front gates. When he got to the payphone on the corner, he dialled Ruby’s number. The phone rang and rang until the answerphone clicked in.
‘Rube, it’s me, it’s happened again … Someone or a whole bunch of someone’s are trying to bring you down. Watch your back.’
Then he walked back into school. All the time he was thinking:
Who’s messing with Ruby Redfort?
When the school bell rang, Clancy went to his locker, retrieved the tiny video camera and went right on home. His parents were out and Principal Levine’s letter would not reach them until the following day – he had perhaps twenty-four hours before that little bomb went off. He studied the film very carefully. He watched Ruby walk down that corridor over and over until he knew her every step by heart. He scrutinised her clothing, her sneakers and her satchel. It was all as it should be. Her hair, her fly barrette, her T-shirt, nothing out of the ordinary. Except … He leant in closer. Something was missing. And slowly a smile spread across his face.
The light was blinking on the family answer machine when Ruby walked into the house. She hadn’t felt like school that morning – I mean, what had it done for her lately? Instea
d, she had been at the dojo all day and was now feeling like she could do with a little R&R. She pressed play and began to peel off her wet coat – this rain was something else.
Beep. ‘This is Mrs Bexenheath, secretary at Twinford Junior High. I wonder if you could call me to arrange a meeting with the principal. I am afraid there is evidence to suggest that your daughter has been involved in some highly reprehensible behaviour. Since this follows hot on the heels of some previous reprehensible behaviour, you understand we are very concerned.’
Ruby pressed the delete button, walked into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water. She drank the whole thing down and was about to pour herself another when the doorbell rang.
When she opened the front door she was met by the sight of Elaine Lemon, who was standing on the Green-Wood house doorstep with Archie.
This day is on the slide, thought Ruby.
‘Look Ruby, I hate to do this to you,’ began Elaine, ‘it’s just my mother’s been taken into hospital and I need to be there and I can’t take Archie. Niles is away on business and I have no one else to ask.’ She didn’t actually stop there, she went into some detail about her mother’s condition and how it might be treated and the likely convalescence period. ‘Six weeks! I mean how will I ever manage?’
Ruby sighed, she had no real reason not to mind Archie, and Elaine Lemon looked like she might actually dissolve into tears and Ruby didn’t think she could handle that, so she said yes – well, her actual words were, ‘OK, hand him over Elaine.’
Maybe she could palm him off on Mrs Digby. She took Archie into the living room, popped him on the floor and was about to run down to find the housekeeper when she saw a large note stuck to the TV set:
Gone to bingo.
Beneath that was a clipping from the Twinford Echo.
YOUR TWINFORD ECHO HOROSCOPE: STAY INDOORS AND AVOID TROUBLE.
Below that was another note from Mrs Digby:
My advice would be stay indoors and avoid trouble.
Ruby glanced back at Archie. ‘Just as well,’ she said, ‘because looks like I don’t have a whole lotta choice.’ She took him up to her room, switched on the TV, and up popped A is for Ant.