The Uninvited

by Tim Wynne-Jones

  He looked up, and his gaze, so narrowly fixed when he first got there, now saw what he had missed. Two of his guitar stands were empty.

  The cops took almost an hour. By then Jay and Mimi had discovered that the back door had not been forced but opened from inside; the window in Mimi’s bedroom had been smashed. Glass lay everywhere on her bed, in her open suitcase-everywhere!

  But that wasn’t the last of the surprises. Jay had gone down to the snye to lay a two-by-ten plank across the broken bridge for the cops, figuring they wouldn’t want to wade over, when suddenly Mimi came running down to him. “The camcorder’s gone,” she said.

  “Oh, crap,” said Jay.

  “And that’s not all. My computer beeped at me.”

  Jay stared at her. “Huh?”

  “It’s never done that before,” she said. He laid the planks down and then followed her back up to the house. She had left the laptop partially open. Jay crouched and peered inside, then slowly raised the lid. The screen was black. He pushed the power button. Nothing.

  “It beeped when I opened it,” she said.

  So Jay closed the lid. Then pressed the button to open it.

  Beep, beep, beep.

  He jumped back. They both did. “Like that,” said Mimi. “Three beeps.”

  “And it never happened before?” She gave him an exasperated look.

  Constable Roach came alone. They were short-staffed, and Jay got the unmistakable impression that a breaking and entering was no big deal. Like maybe people got burgled every day. Roach took down the story.

  “So that’s a wine-red thirty-gigabyte JVC HDD?”

  “Right. And it’s worth?”

  “About six hundred, American.”

  Then he turned to Jay. “And two guitars plus cases?” he said, reading his notes. “A Gibson ES-175 with a sunburst finish and a powder-blue Fender Stratocaster?”

  “Baby blue,” said Jay.

  Roach made the change. “And their value, roughly?”

  Jay shoved his hands in his pockets, shrugged. “Somewhere around three or four grand,” he said.

  While Roach wrote this in his notes, Jay swallowed hard and risked the question he had been afraid to ask. “Any chance I’m going to see the guitars again?”

  Roach grimaced. “Depends on whether you got robbed by crooks or musicians,” he said. “I’m guessing these are pretty high-end instruments?”

  Jay nodded again, a sick feeling coming over him. The loss was beginning to sink in.

  “If your thief was some budding rock star, you probably won’t see either of them again unless it’s in a club somewhere. And if you think you do, do not attempt to do anything. Come to us. But from what you tell me-the troubles you’ve been having-I suspect your visitor finally decided to step up his game, make a move.”

  Jay swallowed hard. Mimi took his arm.

  “We’ll alert the music stores in Ottawa and Kingston, the pawnshops,” said Roach. “You don’t by any chance have serial numbers or anything like that?”

  Jay nodded, though he had forgotten until then. “They’re back at the house-my mom’s house. I’ll phone them in.”

  “You do that.” Roach looked impressed. “You’d be surprised how few people bother.” He glanced at Mimi.

  “Don’t even ask,” she said. “I’m one of those people you’re talking about.”

  “How long will it take?” said Jay, turning back to the policeman. “Getting in touch with the music stores and all that?”

  “Oh, I’ll do it right away. Soon as I get out to the cruiser.”

  Jay must have looked hopeful, because Roach sighed. “But you’re not optimistic?”

  Roach rubbed the side of his nose with the end of his pencil. “Depends,” he said. “If they broke in Sunday, they might not have been able to dump them yet.”

  And Jay could guess the rest. They’d been gone since early Saturday afternoon.

  It was only as Roach was about to leave that Mimi mentioned about her computer.

  “It beeped at you?” said Roach.

  “Yeah, I know. It sounds pretty lame,” she said. “But it is a pretty weird coincidence that my computer goes down when this perp comes around.”

  Roach smiled in a patronizing way, which made Mimi furious, from the look on her face. And Jay jumped in to defend her. “It’s not as crazy as you think, sir,” he said. “The guy who’s been breaking in did some weird stuff to my computer, too. Left little messages, whatever.”

  Roach nodded. But then he shrugged and turned to Mimi. “I didn’t mean to take what you said lightly. It’s just that I don’t know what to tell you. The item is still here.”

  “Yeah, and beeping at me!” said Mimi. “God, I’d like to…”

  “Like I said, miss, you come to us if you find anything. Anything at all.”

  “Like if we find any clues?” said Jay. Roach nodded.

  “The fucked-up computer is a clue,” said Mimi, glaring at the officer. He smiled at her again, and Jay wanted to warn him that he was walking on thin ice. But Mimi wasn’t finished. “Think about it,” she said. “This guy has been sneaking in here for months, and he’s never done anything like break windows or steal things-well, not big things. There’s something screwy about this.”

  Roach flipped back through his notes. “You said you locked the storm door out back, which you figured was how he had been getting in?” Jay nodded. Roach shrugged. “So, he comes back, sees you’ve taken precautions, and it bugs him. Bugs the heck out of him. So he decides to make you pay.”

  Jay nodded again. But when he looked at Mimi, she was still fuming.

  “Miss,” said Roach. “I understand you’re angry. You have every right to be. And we’ll do what we can. But I gotta tell you, this was a pretty hit-and-miss burglary. They left two computers, an iPod-I don’t think we’re dealing with professionals here. It’s not the modus operandi of a typical rural B and E. See, out here, your specialists back a van up to the door, knock, and if anyone answers, pretend they’re lost. If no one answers, they take as much as they can and split. Now, you’ve got that broken bridge, which would likely be enough of a deterrence to any kind of ring-not worth the bother to cart stuff back and forth across the stream.” He paused, looked around. “What I see is someone on foot, who took just as much as he could carry. And what’s easier to carry than a couple of guitar cases and a camera. I’d guess it might be local kids.”

  “Which doesn’t explain leaving the iPod,” said Mimi, and all Roach could do was shrug. But then Mimi’s eyes lit up. “Somebody nearby, you think?”

  The officer considered the idea. “Could be,” he said.

  “Because it’s weird,” said Mimi, “but somebody nearby said the same thing you just said a few days ago.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Mimi turned to Jay. “Remember when I told you about my run-in with Stooley Peters?” He nodded. “I told him we were having problems, and he said it could be kids. Which really bugs me because kids always get blamed.” Then she turned back to the officer, her eyes big. “And that might explain leaving the iPod. I mean, a kid wouldn’t leave it, but an old geezer might.”

  It was a good point. Roach pursed his lips.

  “Who’s this Peters fellow?”

  Mimi told him where Peters lived. The policeman said he would look into it.

  “Good,” said Mimi. “Thanks.”

  “I’m not promising anything.”

  “Yeah, I know, but it’ll piss him off, anyway, which is fine by me.”

  “Do you think Peters screwed around with your computer?” said Jay.

  Mimi shrugged. “Maybe he was going to steal it and then he dropped it, which is why it’s beeping. I don’t know.”

  “We’ll be sure to get in touch with Mr. Peters,” said Roach, closing his notebook. “But, like I said, you get any ideas-you come to us. You hear me?” The warning was clear.

  Mimi nodded but she didn’t look any too happy.

  T
hey headed down the lawn with Roach. “Can you answer me one more question?” Mimi asked.

  “What’s that?” the cop asked.

  “Do they have the death penalty up here?”

  Roach chuckled and, shaking his head, went on his way.

  “Bet he doesn’t talk to Peters.”

  “He said he was going to.”

  Mimi snorted. “Yeah, right, he was one step away from patting me on the head and saying, ‘There, there, little lady.’ What an asshole.”

  Jay went to give her a hug, but she sloughed it off.

  “Hey,” he said. “In case you forgot, I also got ripped off.” He had no idea if the stuff was covered by his mother’s home insurance. She’d said something about it once, but he hadn’t paid much attention.

  Back at the house, Mimi went straight to her desk. She sat down, leaning on her elbows, staring at her laptop. “I’m sorry, Jay,” she said. “I just feel violated. And why is it that cops make you feel like you’re to blame?”

  Jay rested his hand on her shoulder but sensed somehow that she didn’t want to be mollified, so he pulled away. But he didn’t go away. And after a bit, he leaned his backside on her desk so that they would be facing each other if and when she decided to look up.

  “Maybe we should get out of here,” he said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Pack up and leave.”

  She looked furious. “Hell no,” she said. “That’s what this guy wanted all along.”

  “And we ignored him so he gets tough, and now I’m out two very expensive instruments and you’re out a camcorder. We stay and what’s he going to do for encores?”

  Mimi’s eyes flashed. “Get his balls shot off,” she said.

  Jay smiled. “Guns aren’t easy to score up here.”

  “We’ll see about that,” she said.

  He looked at her hard. She was kidding-had to be.

  “You’ve sure got a lot of moxie,” he said.

  “I don’t know about that. Hey, I don’t even know what moxie is, come to think of it. But this whole thing sucks, Jay. Whoever was leaving you bluebirds and snake skins, and figured out how to get in here without ever leaving a trace is not the same person who smashed in my window. Think about it.”

  Jay nodded. But he was thinking that the guy who filmed Mimi at the window with her own camera might just want it back to see his handiwork. It was all pretty ugly.

  He couldn’t tell if Mimi had thought about what purpose the thief might have for the camera. She seemed angrier than anything. She didn’t just want her stuff back-she wanted to get even. There was bravery in her he didn’t feel himself. If she wanted to stay, then he’d tough it out. But he could feel his strength slipping away. He could feel a darkness seeping into him. It wasn’t just the guitars; it was bigger than that. He doubted Mimi would understand. Rage kept such feelings at bay. Rage burned up sorrow.

  She stood up and put her arms around him. He held her tightly, trembling. Finally they pulled apart. She pushed the hair back from his forehead. “You looked as if you were floating away on me,” she said.

  He nodded.

  “I’m sorry about your guitars,” she said. “That is totally shit.”

  “And I’m sorry about your pretty red camcorder and the beeping computer,” he said. “But there’s this place in town. PDQ Electronics. The owner knows Macs.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  PDQ Electronics was tucked behind an office-supply store down an alley off Forster. Without Jay’s instructions, Mimi doubted she would ever have found the place. Computer repairs were obviously not a Main Street business in these parts.

  A buzzer sounded as she entered, but no one appeared at the counter. Mimi contented herself with looking around. She picked up a packet of recordable discs and a new ink jet for her printer, assuming-hoping-she’d be able to use her printer again.

  Still no service, although she thought she heard someone in the back room. She cleared her throat. Nothing.

  “Hello? Anybody home?”

  And now a man appeared, wiping his hands on a white cloth, stopping in the doorway with a startled look on his face.

  “Are you open?” said Mimi.

  He recovered and smiled shyly. “Yeah,” he said. “Sorry, I was listening to something on my iPod.” He looked down, bashfully, but when he raised his head, he looked straight into her eyes and his own eyes were on high beam. They were deep blue-as blue as the logo on the Epson ink cartridge in her hand. Ink-cartridge blue. Amazing.

  “Well, there’s no law against that,” she said.

  He frowned. “Pardon?” he said.

  “Against listening to your iPod,” said Mimi, heading toward the counter-drawn toward it, more like. “Unless you’re listening to Whitesnake,” she said. “I think there may be a law against that.”

  Again with the awkward grin. Not a bad face. His nose was on the large size but noble, she decided. And there was a leftover smattering of acne on his neck. But what a neck-like steel cables. He was in his early twenties, she guessed. Thick through the shoulders, sculpted biceps. And all of it on display since he was wearing nothing but a T-shirt tucked into jeans with a big rodeo-type belt buckle. He shrugged.

  “I’m not much on Whitesnake,” he said. “I was listening to this band out of Montreal. Arcade Fire?”

  Now it was her turn to look surprised. “Get out of town,” she said. “Really?”

  “Yeah. There isn’t a law against them, is there?”

  She laughed. “No, it’s just… well, so sick,” she said.

  “Pardon?”

  “I mean sick like ‘That is so sick, man. Like good sick. Oh, never mind.”

  She stopped herself-faked zipping up her lips. And he just stared at her, his mouth a little open, tempting her to zip his lips closed as well. But no, touching his lips would not be a good idea. There was something disturbing about him. Not bad disturbing. You’re here on business, Mimi, she told herself, and hoisted her computer case onto the counter.

  “You got some kind of problem?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” she said. “Big-time. But a friend of mine said you’re the man to see.”

  She pulled out her laptop and laid it before him on the counter.

  “A PowerBook,” he said. “Mr. Pretty’s the Mac guy.”

  “And he’s…”

  “Uh, well, he’s on vacation this week.”

  “Right,” said Mimi, and tapped a little tattoo on the counter with her fingernails. Then she smiled sweetly. “So I’m stuck with you?” she said, and hoped it didn’t sound too flirtatious. What had come over her, for God’s sake?

  “I could like maybe, you know… take a look?”

  “That would be very nice of you.”

  “What’s up with it?”

  “It beeps at me,” she said.

  “Beeps?”

  “Yeah. BEEP, BEEP, BEEP. Like that. Scary.”

  He stared at the computer. He leaned lightly against the counter, his fingers splayed, taking his weight. She watched the muscles in his forearms flex, the veins pop. But he was gentle as he unlatched the top. And the computer beeped, just as she had said it would.

  “Hmmm,” he said, scratching his head. Then he turned to the store’s computer mounted on the counter and started tapping away at the keys. “I’ll go to the Mac website,” he muttered, not taking his eyes off the screen. “See what they say.”

  “You’re so kind. Thanks.” And I’ll continue to ogle your delicious arms, thought Mimi, but decided that she should at least try to seem more interested in his research. She couldn’t see the screen and ended up looking at the man. There was something odd with his right eye, as if the pupil had bled into the cornea. A blue seeping.

  “Huh,” he said, after a moment. “It seems to be the code for a motherboard problem.”

  Mimi winced. “Is that as bad as it sounds?”

  He shrugged. “Let’s take a look.”

  “I always have problems
with mothers,” she said.

  He glanced at her, his eyes humorless.

  “A joke,” she said.

  “Oh. Right.” Then his eyes let her go, and he gently turned the laptop upside down. He went into the back room. The cloth with which he had been cleaning his hands now hung from his back pocket, drawing attention to his butt. I have been in the wilderness too long, thought Mimi.

  He returned with a little yellow screwdriver and proceeded to remove a panel from the back of her PowerBook. He took a flashlight and looked into the exposed opening. She craned to see what was inside, then realized she was crowding him, blocking his light.

  “Sorry,” she said, pulling back. He smelled of aftershave and fruit gum.

  He had a stern look on his face as if this was major surgery and she shouldn’t be there without a mask and gown. She stepped obediently away from the counter. The surgeon went back to his investigation. He reached into the cavity and, after wiggling something a bit, pulled out a two-inch-long piece of high-tech equipment with gold teeth and all kinds of software patches.

  “This is a memory module,” he said. He peered into the cavity again. “You have ports for two of them in case you want to boost your memory.”

  “I just want to get back the memory I already had,” said Mimi.

  He held the module up to the light and squinted at it. “Weird,” he said after a bit.

  “What?” she said.

  “There’s some kind of smear of something…” He looked at her with a perplexed expression on his face. “I don’t know for sure, but it looks like someone took a colored marker to the contact points.”

  He held the module close to her eyes, and she could see on the gold teeth the slightest blush of red, here and there.

  “That is weird,” she said. Then she looked closer still and sniffed. Sniffed again. “It smells like… like lipstick,” she said.

  He sniffed it, too. “I wouldn’t know.”

  “Could that be the problem?” she said. Then added, “Duh!”