Amanda Lester and the Purple Rainbow Puzzle Read online

  No wonder he’d been having so much trouble tracing the hacker. If that were the case, he might as well be on Mars.

  “But I don’t understand how the guy can make the screen move,” said Amphora.

  “I don’t either,” said Holmes. “It’s pretty scary.”

  “All the more important to find Blixus,” said Amanda. “It seems that all roads are leading to him.”

  Blixus Moriarty: the spider at the center of the web. He really had become the focus of their lives. She resented that. He had no right, no right at all. If only that earthquake had never occurred, he’d still be in prison and they wouldn’t be jumping through all these hoops. Of course Nick would still be out there, somewhere, doing who knew what. And she’d still think he was dead.

  “Have you tried Editta lately?” said Ivy, interrupting Amanda’s reverie.

  “I try her once every few hours,” said Amanda. “You?”

  “Same,” said Ivy. “No reply.”

  “Me too,” said Amphora. “I even told her that Thrillkill wanted her to teach a special forensic accounting seminar. She’d eat that up. But nothing.” That was bad. Editta loved numbers more than anything, except maybe Nick. If that didn’t get her attention, nothing would.

  “Maybe her phone is dead, or even gone,” said Clive from a leather armchair in the same seating group.

  “Scapulus?” Amanda looked at Holmes.

  “It must be dead or off,” he said. “I’ve tried pinging it.”

  “You don’t think she’s dead?” blurted Gordon. Everyone froze.

  “Be quiet, Gordon,” said Amphora after a few seconds. “It isn’t nice to talk like that.”

  “But we have to—” Gordon wanted to speak, but Simon shook his head. “But I just—” Another head shake. Gordon looked down at his shoes.

  “Say,” said Clive, brightening. “Has anyone tried to track that van the Moriartys were driving at the quarry?”

  “They found it abandoned in Windermere,” said Simon. “No prints or anything.”

  “How did you know that?” said Amanda.

  “Professor Kindseth told me,” said Simon.

  That wasn’t surprising. Simon and Professor Kindseth had really hit it off using the school’s 3D printer to make lab gadgets. Not that the teacher played favorites. Legatum frowned on that. But he probably imparted a lot of information while they were working together, giving Simon a bit of an inside line.

  “What about the boat?” said Clive.

  “Nothing there either,” said Simon. “There’s no sign that they ever came back to it after they left the quarry. The teachers searched it thoroughly.”

  “So now we’re not just looking for the Moriartys,” said Ivy. “We also need to find this hacker. Amanda, do you think you can profile him?”

  “I can tell you right now that he enjoys playing games with us,” said Amanda. “Either that or he’s conveying Blixus’s messages. That means he’s either a troll or a yes man. Yes woman, maybe.”

  “In that case,” said Ivy, “maybe we can try to follow the money. If he’s a yes man, he’ll probably stop working if he isn’t paid. Unless Blixus is threatening him.”

  “Good idea,” said Clive, “but won’t it be hard to hack his pay? How are we going to figure out where Blixus’s money is?” He was always so logical. Amanda was glad they’d become friends.

  “Editta could do it,” said Amphora. Everyone looked at her. “I know. Kind of a circular argument.”

  “Say,” said Gordon. “Do you think anyone in Editta’s family could do it?”

  “That’s not a bad idea,” said Ivy. Amanda agreed, but the idea of such impeccable logic coming from Gordon made her wonder if she was missing something. “You mean that someone else in her family is also good at accounting, or even an accountant?”

  “Maybe,” said Gordon.

  “Would they talk to us?” said Amphora. “Obviously her mother is furious with the school.”

  “Her mother is a lunatic,” said Simon. Ivy lifted up her sunglasses and gave him what would have been quite a look if she could see. “You know she is,” said Simon.

  “Her mother is a bit strange,” said Amanda. “She actually does believe in voodoo. I heard her threaten to stick pins in an effigy of Thrillkill. And one of me, by the way.” She still wondered if that twinge she’d been feeling had come from Andalusia Sweetgum. Not that she really believed it possible, but the timing was quite a coincidence.

  “That’s terrible,” said Amphora. “She’s not a nice person.”

  “Maybe if she thought it would help Editta she’d talk to us,” said Ivy.

  “Doubt it,” said Simon, resting his foot on the fainting couch. He was obviously having trouble getting comfortable. “She’s not rational, especially right now.”

  “What about her dad?” said Clive.

  “She doesn’t have one,” said Amanda.

  “Oh, sorry,” said Clive.

  “He died,” said Amanda.

  “How did I not know that?” said Amphora.

  “I don’t know,” said Amanda. Editta was funny. Sometimes she was completely relaxed with her friends and sometimes she got all solitary. It was possible she hadn’t opened up to Amphora. “She does have a stepfather, though.”

  “Oh, right,” said Clive. “Maybe him then?”

  “What does he do again?” said Simon.

  “He’s a tree surgeon,” said Amanda.

  “Not too helpful, unfortunately,” said Clive. “Not that operating on trees isn’t a noble profession.” Amanda looked out the window, where the trees were healthy and well-trimmed. They looked lovingly cared for. She wondered if Editta’s stepfather had worked on them. “Siblings?”

  “I’m afraid not,” said Amanda. “She’s an only child like me.”

  “So what does her mother actually do then?” said Gordon. “Is she the detective in the family?”

  “It was her father,” said Amanda. Blumkin Sweetgum had been descended from a line of detectives in Wales. Amanda couldn’t remember which one. “But I think she does something administrative. Ivy, what was it?”

  “She’s a secretary at a police station,” said Ivy. “In Brixworth.”

  “Where’s that?” said Amanda.

  “It’s a village near Northampton,” said Simon.

  “Near Birmingham?” said Amanda. She still didn’t have her UK geography straight.

  “Not exactly close, but in that direction,” he said. “Between there and where I live in Cambridge.”

  “So she’s sympathetic to law enforcement,” said Amanda.

  “Have to be, wouldn’t she?” said Simon. “To send her daughter here.”

  “I suppose so,” said Amanda. Somehow voodoo and detecting didn’t seem to go together. No wonder Editta had trouble fitting in. “What I meant was, maybe she’ll talk to us if we have a good idea.” It was an extreme longshot, but the situation called for crazy ideas.

  “What are we going to say to her?” said Amphora. “Hi, Mrs. Sweetgum. We’re friends of your daughter and we’d like your help catching a hacker who can move stuff remotely, and—”

  “That’s exactly it!” said Amanda. “She’ll love that. It’s kind of like magic.”

  “I suppose it is,” said Amphora. “You do it, Amanda.”

  “Okay, I’ll—”

  “Wait a minute,” said Gordon. “Why does she always get to do everything?”

  Whose idea was it to bring Gordon back for the summer again? Amanda could see that he was going to be a royal pain as usual.

  “First of all, she doesn’t,” said Ivy. “And second, do you want to talk to Mrs. Sweetgum?” Silence. “Just as I thought. Amanda is Editta’s friend and—”

  “No, he’s right, Ivy,” said Amanda. “She hates me right now. You should have heard her threaten to stick pins in me. I mean my effigy. Gordon should do it.”

  Gordon broke into a huge smile. “Radical,” he said. “I’ll do it right now. What’s her n
umber?”

  All this time Holmes had sat there without saying a word. Now he spoke.

  “This is a waste of time. Do you have any idea how long it would take to find Blixus’s money and figure out where it goes?”

  Amanda was taken aback. “What do you mean?”

  “If Blixus can hire a hacker as sophisticated as this, don’t you think he’s made sure his money can’t be found?”

  The air seemed to go out of the room. Simon said, “Good point, man.”

  Ivy sighed. “You’re right, Scapulus,” she said. “We got carried away.”

  “So I don’t get to phone Editta’s mother after all?” said Gordon. He looked so disappointed.

  “Sorry,” said Amanda. “Next time.”

  “You guys are no fun,” said Gordon. “I’m out of here.” He got up rather gracelessly and left the room.

  “Don’t be like that, Gordon,” said Amanda, surprising herself. What did she care whether Gordon participated or not?

  “Let him go,” said Simon.

  “Boy, he’s sensitive,” said Amphora when Gordon had left. Simon gave her a look. “What? I’m not like that.”

  “Don’t even think it, Simon,” said Ivy.

  6

  The Key to the Key

  When the meeting had broken up, Amanda motioned to Simon. She didn’t feel comfortable about what she was about to say and wasn’t looking forward to his response. She wished there were another way but she couldn’t think of one. “I have a huge favor to ask you,” she said.

  “Uh oh.”

  “What do you mean ‘uh oh’?” This wasn’t going to go well.

  “I know what you’re going to say,” he said. Was that a smug look on his face or was he just squinting?

  “You do not.”

  “Yep, I do. I know you.”

  “Okay, if you’re so smart, what is it?” she said.

  “It’s about Scapulus.”

  “Nuts!” said Amanda. “How did you know?”

  “It’s written all over your face. You want to know what he knows about Professor Redleaf’s computer, but you don’t want to ask him.”

  Amanda scrunched up her face and looked at him closely. “How did you know that?”

  “Look, I’m not some wizard or something. I’m just good at observing. Want to hear more?” She couldn’t tell if he was being smug.

  “No!” she said. This was spooky. She knew Professor Sidebotham’s observing class was going to turn them all into freaks, and here was evidence already.

  “Want me to ask him then?” said Simon.

  “Would you? It’s for the good of the school.” Ouch. That was laying it on a bit thick.

  “You don’t have to snow me,” said Simon without missing a beat. “You should do it yourself but I’ll let you off this one time. You can owe me.”

  Wonderful. Owing Simon a favor would be like being indebted to a Mafioso. She’d end up paying a huge price. Maybe she should just talk to Holmes herself.

  “Look, if it helps, I want to know too,” said Simon. “And I understand why you don’t want to talk to him, although you do have to make that film together, so you’ll have to eventually.”

  He was right. She was being a coward. At the moment, however, she didn’t care. “So you’ll do it?”

  “I’ll do it.”

  “Thanks, Simon. I’ll make it up to you.”

  “Yes, you will,” he said.

  But when he came back from talking to Holmes, he shook his head. “He won’t tell me.”

  “But it’s for Thrillkill,” said Amanda.

  “I told him that. He said he’d tell Thrillkill and the teachers but no one else.”

  This made Amanda’s blood boil. What was the big secret? “But he just told me he’d kept the whole thing to himself for too long.”

  “Apparently he’s changed his mind,” said Simon.

  “What is wrong with him?”

  “He thinks you love Nick.”

  Amanda stared at him. Simon’s facade was deceptive. Everyone thought he was a geek but in fact he knew everything that was going on around him and could read signs she sometimes missed.

  “I suppose you think I love Nick too,” she said.

  “I do.”

  “I don’t see how you can say that, Simon. You know what he did to me.”

  “Doesn’t matter,” he said. “He’s your true love.”

  Amanda certainly didn’t expect to hear Simon talk like that. The only way you could put him and the words “true love” in the same sentence was when you were talking about his inventions.

  “I wish I could fine you for that,” she said. “Look, for the last time, he was never my boyfriend. I will admit that he was my best friend for a while, but that was just an illusion. And now I’m going to tell you something you don’t know.”

  “I’m all ears,” said Simon moving in close.

  “If you breathe a word of this I’ll deny it,” she said. She was not going to have the whole school gossiping about her again.

  “I’m discreet. You know that.”

  “Fine. Okay, here goes: I love Scapulus.” There. For better or worse, it was out.

  “I know,” he said.

  She wanted to pop him. Here she was spilling her guts and he was telling her it was no big deal.

  “What do you mean you know?” she said. “You just said that Nick was my true love.” She wished he’d pick a point of view and stick with it.

  “He is,” said Simon.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “It’s easy,” said Simon. “Nick was your first love. You’ll have feelings for him all your life. You love Scapulus but Nick is imprinted on you, like a duck with her ducklings.”

  “Oh great. Now I’m a duck.”

  “I said like a duck. Trust me. You will never be free of Nick. You may end up hating him but you’ll always love him, even if he really does die. But Scapulus is better for you and you know it.”

  She was getting angry. It was as if Simon were sentencing her to a terrible future. “That’s depressing,” she said. “How can you say such a thing?”

  “I’m just telling the truth like I always do,” said Simon.

  She’d had just about enough of that. “If you’re so smart, then who’s your first love?” she said.

  “Dunno. It hasn’t happened yet.”

  “I think it’s Amphora,” said Amanda. “You guys fight to cover up your true feelings for each other.”

  “Don’t even try that stuff with me,” said Simon. She hated it when he got like that. He was supposed to take the bait and he never would. “Anyway, the point is that now that you know what’s really going on, you can fix things and move on. Make up your mind to be happy. Tell Scapulus how you feel.”

  “Can’t,” she said stubbornly. “Won’t.”

  “Fine,” he said. “Stay stuck.”

  Amanda wanted to hit him. He treated feelings as if they were some kind of lab chemicals.

  “I can’t wait until you fall in love,” she said. “You’ll see how easy it is. And by the way, I’m going to tease the heck out of you, so you’d better prepare.”

  “I don’t care,” said Simon. “If it works it works. If it doesn’t I’ll move on.”

  “You wish,” she said. “Remember this day because I’m going to be telling you I told you so.”

  “Fine. Now that that’s straightened out, what are we going to do about Professor Redleaf’s computer?”

  She laced her hands behind her back for a moment, then gave him a sidelong look.

  “No,” he said. “I won’t do it.”

  “Please,” she said. She didn’t know why she was saying that. If he thought it was the right thing to do, he’d do it. If not, he wouldn’t.

  “It isn’t right,” said Simon.

  “Come on, Simon,” she said. “We have to find out. The more we know, the faster we can find the hacker and stop them from stealing our data.”

  “A
ll right, but if this ever gets out I’ll deny it,” he said.

  “Thank you,” she said. “I know how much you hate spying on people.” As if.

  After her talk with Simon, Amanda was even more depressed. He was obviously crazy. The very idea that Nick was her true love was disgusting. If that was the case, what did it say about her? And even if it were true, which it wasn’t, what if she wasn’t Nick’s true love? What if it was some other girl, like the one she saw him with at Schola Sceleratorum, or Editta? She’d be doomed to a life of unrequited love for a criminal. How mean Simon could be sometimes. Just when you thought he had finally gotten a clue, he’d come up with something like this. What was wrong with him?

  As if the prospect of that weren’t bad enough, she’d been working incredibly hard at her tasks and had nothing to show for her efforts. The visit to Strangeways had got her nowhere and the brainstorming session with her friends had been a total bust. She’d failed to make any progress with either of the item ones on the list, or item five. Maybe she should go on to number two, the key.

  When Wink Wiffle’s body was originally discovered, no one had noticed the small key lying in the dirt nearby. It had taken a bit of digging and Amphora’s keen eyesight for it to come to light. Apparently Wink had swallowed the key, but after he was murdered his body had deteriorated so quickly that the little silver thing had fallen into the dirt. When the teachers had moved the body, they’d disturbed the soil surrounding the area so much that the key had been inadvertently buried.

  Amanda didn’t know much about keys, but it sure didn’t look like it went to a door. By the time Professor Stegelmeyer had declared that it belonged to a lockbox or chest, she’d just about reached that conclusion on her own. The problem was that no one had been able to find such an item among Wink’s possessions, and his wife had never seen him use one. The detectives scoured both Wink’s house and his office to no avail. They had also tried to trace his movements, not only for the sake of the key, but also to look for his murderer.

  Wink and his family had lived hundreds of miles away in Cornwall, so it would be difficult, although not impossible, for Amanda to go through his belongings again. Not that Celerie Wiffle would allow such a thing. She was so negative about the school and anyone connected with it that Amanda didn’t dare approach her. However the teachers had taken many pictures and even some video of Wink’s office and parts of his house, and Amanda and her friends could easily go through those. If they did that, perhaps they’d see something that would give them a hint as to where the lockbox or chest might be.