Operation Gadgetman!

by Malorie Blackman

  Beans frowned at her, then at Dad’s workroom, then back at Louisa. ‘It always looks like this,’ she said, annoyed.

  Louisa mumbled a small ‘Oh!’

  ‘Cheek!’ Beans grinned. ‘It’s not that bad!’

  In fact, if anything, Dad blowing it up that morning had made it neater!

  The workroom was still – almost eerie in its stillness, with wires and cables and printed circuit boards and light bulbs and switches and batteries and a host of other electronic gadgetry scattered everywhere.

  ‘That’s strange!’ Beans mused. ‘It usually takes a crowbar to get Dad out of here. I wonder where he is?’

  Back in the house, Beans called for her dad again. There was no answer. They all ambled into the kitchen. Surprisingly, there was no food laid out on the work surface waiting for them. No sandwiches, no plates of biscuits, no bowls of crisps and peanuts. Nothing in the oven. Nothing cooking on the hob. Beans’s dad was famous for his yumptious dinners.

  Instead of food there was an envelope. The envelope had ‘Beatrice’ written on it in her dad’s squirly-whirly handwriting.

  Instantly, Beans knew that something was wrong. Her dad never, ever called her Beatrice. It was always Beans. Beans was sure her dad had actually forgotten her real name. She picked up the envelope and frowned down at it.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ Ann asked, noticing her friend’s expression.

  Beans didn’t reply. She tore open the envelope, a deep frown turning down the corners of her mouth. Inside was a single sheet of plain white paper. Beans began to read:

  dear BEATRICE,

  I don’t want you to worry or Read anything into this Letter, but Egg-head that I Am, (And a Dolt as well!), I clean forgot to tell you Beatrice that I need some Extra components which I can only get from out of Town. you Mustn’t Worry. i’ll be home in a day or so, although It might take an Extra bit of time For your soft-boiled Egg-headed father to find the Component he Needs.

  THE fridge is well stocked so help yourself – as if I need to Let you know you can! I’ll see you In The Near future, possibly On sunday. phone your gran to come and stay with you until i get back.

  all my love,

  dad.

  p.s. we need some Eggs and you might Buy me some Sausages as well.

  ‘Does your dad often go away by himself for days at a time?’ Louisa asked, surprised.

  Beans shook her head. ‘No, never,’ she replied, shocked.

  ‘Doesn’t your dad write dead funny!’ Ann said from over Beans’s shoulder. ‘There are capital letters in the middle of sentences and he’s started sentences with small letters. Miss Brace, our English teacher, would have a fit if she saw that.’

  ‘Dad has never written me a letter like this one before. And he doesn’t even like sausages.’ Beans frowned. ‘And he never calls me Beatrice. There’s something going on here.’

  ‘What?’ Ann asked, surprised.

  ‘That’s just it,’ Beans said. ‘I don’t know. But something’s wrong. Something’s definitely wrong.’

  Chapter Three

  Gadgetman’s Letter

  They all trooped into the sitting-room and sat down, Beans between Louisa and Ann. Then they huddled over the letter. There was something there – Beans just knew it. If only she could put her finger on it. Well . . . there was the way the letter was written, for a start. Dad’s writing was terrible, but even he knew that you started sentences with a capital letter and you didn’t just chuck them in whenever you felt like it . . .

  ‘That’s it! The capitals!’ Beans bounced so hard that she almost bounced herself off the sofa.

  ‘What about them?’ Louisa frowned.

  ‘Someone get a pen and paper out – quick!’ Beans directed.

  Ann got out the notepad and pencil from her spy kit.

  ‘I’m going to read out all the capitals Dad’s written in this letter, and Ann, you can write them down. OK?’ Beans said.

  ‘Gotcha.’ Ann nodded.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Louisa complained. ‘I don’t get it.’

  ‘You would if you’d read the instruction book in your spy kit,’ Beans told her. ‘Dad’s trying to tell me something. I just know he is. I reckon the capitals are some kind of code. The first set of capitals spell my name – Beatrice. That’s not in code, I’m sure. I think that’s just to get my attention by using my full yukky name, so put a comma after that and then begin a new line. Right . . . let me see . . . It begins, I-R-L-E-I-A-A-D-I . . .’

  Beans glanced over to make sure Ann was writing down all the letters. Louisa moved to sit on the other side of Ann.

  ‘That doesn’t spell anything.’ Louisa stared down at what Ann was writing.

  ‘Of course it doesn’t. Not yet,’ Beans said. ‘That would be too easy. Where was I?’

  She carried on reading out all the other capital letters in her dad’s note. It took longer than she thought it would. Beans read them out first and then got Louisa to read them out again as a double-check for Ann.

  ‘Put the letters T-H-E together because Dad did,’ Beans said doubtfully. ‘Maybe he means for those letters to be left together, like the ones in my name at the top of his note.’

  At last they finished.

  ‘So what do we do now?’ Ann frowned as she scrutinized what she’d just written.

  BEATRICE,

  I-R-L-E-I-A-A-D-I-B-I-E-I-T-M-W-I-E-F-E-C-N

  THE,

  I-L-I-I-T-N-O-E-B-S

  ‘What does that mean?’ Louisa asked.

  ‘Haven’t a clue.’ Beans shrugged. ‘It’s one of Dad’s games, so I guess we go through some of his code suggestions. Louisa, what’s the first secret code he talks about in the instruction book? I can’t remember.’

  Louisa took the book out of her spy-kit briefcase and turned past the introduction to the chapter on secret codes and ciphers.

  ‘Er . . . blah . . . blah . . . Here! This looks promising! “The simplest code is one where every alternate or third highlighted letter should be crossed out.”’ Louisa read from the book. ‘“This type of code is particularly useful for the spy who has to leave a message in a hurry and . . .”’

  ‘Yeah, yeah!’ Beans interrupted. ‘Never mind the rest yet. Let’s try what he says?’

  ‘OK, I’ll cross out every other letter after your name,’ Ann said slowly. ‘Let’s see. Leave the “I”, cross out the “R”, leave the “L” . . .’

  The silence in the sitting-room was deafening as Louisa and Beans watched Ann cross out every other letter after Bean’s real name except for in the word ‘THE’.

  BEATRICE,

  I-L-I-A-I-I-I-M-I-F-C

  THE,

  I-I-T-O-B

  ‘That doesn’t make much sense,’ Louisa said.

  ‘No, it doesn’t,’ Beans agreed, just as disappointed.

  ‘Let me write out the whole lot again and this time I’ll try crossing out every third letter,’ suggested Ann.

  ‘Beans, do you really think it’s a coded message?’ Louisa asked doubtfully as Ann wrote.

  ‘I think it must be. Why would Dad write it so strangely otherwise?’ Beans replied. ‘But he’s probably just doing it as a joke so we have to use our spy kits.’

  Beans tried to tell herself that it was the only logical explanation, but that didn’t explain the butterflies in her stomach. If Dad was going away, why didn’t he tell her beforehand? And why didn’t he phone Gran himself? Dad had only been away from home overnight once before. Then he’d told Beans two weeks in advance, and Gran had come to stay the day before Dad went away. No . . . something strange was going on.

  ‘OK, ready,’ Ann said. ‘I’ll try every third letter now.’

  ‘No, hang on,’ Beans interrupted. ‘What capital letter did you cross out first after “BEATRICE”?’

  ‘The “R”. Why?’ Ann asked.

  ‘Try crossing out the “I” first. Then do each alternate letter after that.’ Beans suggested. ‘If that doesn’t work then we’ll try
every third letter. We should do the easiest codes first.’

  ‘OK,’ Ann agreed. And she began to cross out every other letter from the first ‘I’.

  BEATRICE,

  R-E-A-D-B-E-T-W-E-E-N

  THE,

  L-I-N-E-S

  ‘Look! Look!’ Louisa prodded Beans in the ribs. ‘It says, “Beatrice, read between the lines”.’

  ‘Wow, you’re dead right!’ Ann stared. ‘Read between the lines . . . What does that mean? Isn’t this exciting!’

  ‘Maybe your dad means that there’s some other meaning to his note besides what he’s written?’ Louisa suggested.

  ‘No . . . I don’t think it’s that,’ Beans said slowly.

  She held the letter to her nose and sniffed at it. Then she held it up towards the sitting-room window.

  ‘Ann, put your nose to that and tell me if you smell anything.’ Beans handed over the letter.

  Ann sniffed hard at it. ‘That’s dead weird! It . . . it whiffs of . . . candles.’

  ‘Let me have a smell.’ Louisa took the letter and put it to her nose. ‘You’re right. It does,’ she said, surprised.

  Beans smiled with relief. ‘Dad wrote me a secret message using one of the two-way pencils in the spy kit. That must be what he meant by “Read between the lines”. That’s where the secret message is – between the lines he wrote with the ordinary part of the pencil.’

  So it had to be a joke. It just had to be.

  ‘Quick! What does it say?’ Ann asked.

  ‘I’ll need some . . . now, what is it? . . . some cocoa powder or gravy browning,’ Beans remembered. ‘It has to be something dark that will stick to the wax and make it show up. I know! Some black fingerprint powder ought to do it.’

  ‘Is all this in the instruction book too?’ Louisa asked.

  Beans nodded. ‘Yeah, but it’s been a while since I read it.’

  ‘I’m going to read every word in that book tonight,’ Ann said. ‘Sounds dead interesting!’

  ‘Ann, can’t you use some other word to describe things?’ Louisa complained. ‘Everything is dead this or dead that. It’s dead gruesome!’

  Ann grinned. Louisa took the jar of black fingerprint powder out of her spy kit and handed it to Beans.

  ‘Right then.’ Beans took a deep breath.

  She sprinkled some of the powder along the top edge of Dad’s note and very lightly brushed the powder down the page. Instantly, the secret words written between the pencil lines of Dad’s first message began to appear as the powder stuck to the wax.

  ‘It’s working. What does it say?’ Ann asked excitedly.

  ‘Chill out, Ann.’ Louisa raised her eyebrows. ‘It probably says something like “Your dinner is at the fish-and-chip shop.”’

  ‘That’s what I’m thinking,’ Beans said.

  But the uneasy, queasy churning in her stomach was back. Beans brushed the powder back up the page and down again, careful not to smudge the wax. Then she turned in the two edges of the letter to pour the remaining powder back into its jar. Dad had written the secret message in very small writing. Beans started to read.

  Beans,

  I don’t want you to worry but I’m being kidnapped. I’m not joking. This is deadly serious. Two men arrived asking for my induction oscillator. They forced their way in and searched through the whole house and my workroom until they found it. I’ve refused to tell them how my invention works so they’re forcing me to leave with them. They told me to write you this letter so that you wouldn’t suspect anything was wrong. I’m pretending to do a lot of rubbing out with the wax end of this pencil, so I can write this. Go to the police immediately. Tell them what happened on Wednesday night. I need your help, Beans. Go straight to the police. And be very, very careful.

  I love you.

  Dad.

  No-one said a word when Beans finished reading. Beans stared down at the letter, reading it twice and a third time.

  ‘It’s a joke – right?’ Louisa said.

  Beans looked at her friends. She shook her head. ‘Dad wouldn’t play a joke like that.’

  ‘But it can’t be real.’ Ann said what they were all thinking. ‘I mean, who would want to kidnap your dad? No-one goes round kidnapping people like that. And your dad’s not rich . . .’

  ‘They didn’t do it for money. They did it for . . .’ Louisa scanned the letter on Beans’s lap. ‘For an induction oscillator – whatever that is.’

  Silence fell over the room like a thick, dark blanket.

  ‘Nah! Come on!’ Ann gave a tremulous laugh. ‘It can’t be true. That sort of thing only happens on the telly. And certainly not in Cleevesdon. Nothing ever happens in this town.’

  ‘But it has happened.’ Beans didn’t recognize her own voice. She suddenly felt very, very cold. She was actually shivering.

  She whispered, ‘My dad’s been kidnapped.’

  Chapter Four

  The Police Arrive

  Beans stood up. ‘I’m going to the police.’

  ‘We’re coming with you,’ Louisa said.

  ‘Dead right,’ Ann agreed.

  ‘No, you’ll both be late home.’ Beans wrapped her arms around herself in an effort to stop trembling. ‘It’s getting late.’

  ‘Beans, are you all right?’ Louisa asked anxiously.

  Beans clamped her teeth together to stop herself shaking, but it did no good. ‘No. Why am I shaking so much?’

  ‘I think you’re in shock. My mum’s a nurse so I know what I’m talking about.’ Ann stood up and wrapped her arms around Beans. ‘What you need is a cup of tea or something hot and you need to keep warm.’

  ‘I’ll make the tea,’ Louisa volunteered. ‘I’ll just go and . . .’

  ‘No, we don’t have time. I must tell the police,’ Beans interrupted.

  ‘If you phone them, they’ll think it’s just some kid playing feeble games,’ Louisa said.

  ‘Then I’ll . . . I’ll go to see them – right this second.’ Beans found it hard to think straight.

  No-one spoke as they all walked out into the hall. Beans retrieved her jacket from over the banister and put it on. The doorbell rang.

  ‘I’ll get it.’ Louisa went to the front door and opened it.

  ‘Beatrice Conran?’ A tall man with wavy light brown hair and piercing dark blue eyes moved to stand in the doorway. He wore black cord trousers, a blue shirt and a black leather jacket. He was an oak of a man, solidly built and very muscular, but not fat.

  ‘I’m Louisa, that’s Beans – I mean Beatrice.’ Louisa pointed behind her with a frown. ‘Can we help you?’

  The man’s intense gaze shifted to Ann and Beans. ‘Can I come in?’ he asked.

  ‘We’re not buying anything.’ Ann moved to stand beside Louisa, blocking the door. A door-to-door salesman was the last thing any of them needed at the moment. Beans came up and stood before her friends.

  ‘I’m not selling anything,’ the man said easily. He took out a wallet from his inside jacket pocket. Opening it, he waved it under Beans’s nose before putting it back where he took it from. ‘I’m Detective Warner from the CID division of Cleevesdon police station. I’ve come to speak to your father.’

  ‘You’re from the police?’ Beans blinked rapidly.

  Detective Warner nodded. ‘Is your father in?’

  ‘No. No, he isn’t,’ Beans said quickly. ‘We were just coming into town to see you. When I got home, this letter was waiting for me. Dad’s been kidnapped.’

  Beans took the carefully folded letter out of her jacket pocket where she’d just put it, and handed it over. With a deep frown, Detective Warner took the letter and started to read.

  ‘Dad wrote the secret bit in between the lines of his other message,’ Beans explained. ‘You see – he’s been kidnapped. He says so.’

  ‘This is a joke – right?’ Detective Warner said slowly.

  ‘Of course it isn’t. Look at Dad’s letter. Look!’ Beans urged.

  Detective Warner did a
s directed. ‘I see . . . May I come in?’

  Beans and Ann stepped aside. Detective Warner came into the house.

  ‘The sitting-room’s through there.’ Beans pointed the way.

  Once they were all seated, Beans watched as Detective Warner read Dad’s letter over again. ‘You say your dad left you this secret message?’

  ‘Yes, he used a two-way pencil,’ Ann answered before Beans could. ‘Beans made the message appear by using black fingerprinting powder. The capital letters in the first message were the clue. They spelt out “Beatrice, read between the lines” in code!’

  Detective Warner scrutinized the note. After a few moments he gave a low whistle. ‘Very ingenious.’

  ‘But how did you know Dad had been kidnapped?’ Beans asked, confused. ‘I didn’t call you.’

  ‘That’s not actually why I called round,’ Detective Warner said slowly. ‘Yesterday, his building society got in touch with us about a letter they’d received from your father. A letter containing a lot of money and information about one of his inventions. An induction oscillator?’

  ‘A what?’ Ann said. ‘Oh, the thing he mentioned in his note.’

  ‘It is a bit of a mouthful,’ Detective Warner agreed.

  ‘What about it?’ Beans asked with a frown. ‘Dad gave the building society their money back.’

  Ann and Louisa exchanged a puzzled glance.

  ‘What money?’ Louisa mouthed.

  Ann shrugged.

  ‘Yes, I know he gave it back and he’s to be commended for it,’ said Detective Warner. ‘Not everyone would have been so honest. The building society got in touch with us at the police station as we have more resources than they do. I came round to see your father to get more details on exactly how the thing works. That way we can alert the other banks and building societies nationwide.’

  ‘Beans, what’s this induction oscillator thing, then?’ Louisa asked.

  ‘Dad built it to test out the specific circuits and logic functions on printed circuit boards and other stuff,’ said Beans impatiently. ‘I think Dad said its full name is a programmable, positive feedback, induction inter-oscillator . . . or something like that.’