by Lauren Child
‘What?’ said Ruby.
‘I wondered if you could maybe borrow one from the Spectrum gadget room?’
‘What?’ said Ruby.
‘A tiny little video camera, nothing too big,’ he explained.
‘Are you aware of the magnitude of your request?’ asked Ruby.
‘I know it’s a biggy,’ said Clancy. ‘I’d owe you one.’
‘You’d owe me plenty,’ said Ruby, ‘so you might as well forget about it.’
Mouse and Elliot arrived on the scene.
‘So,’ said Mouse, ‘I heard you had a brilliant idea.’
‘Did I not tell you?’ asked Clancy.
‘No,’ said Elliot, ‘I guess Mouse is the only living breathing person you forgot to inform.’
‘Well,’ said Clancy, ‘you know how Principal Levine was saying how the lockers might be moved to another part of the building because there was no need for them to be in the main corridor?’
‘Uh huh.’
‘Well, I’m going to put up a hidden camera and film student activity in the corridor.’
‘A hidden camera? Where are you gonna get one of those?’ asked Mouse.
‘Oh somewhere,’ said Clancy.
‘Is that really interesting?’ said Elliot. ‘Watching people opening and closing their lockers?’
‘Sure, it’s interesting,’ said Clancy. ‘You get a sense of how important the lockers are, socially I mean, how they are at the heart of student interaction.’
‘Sounds thrilling,’ said Del, who was busy trying to stuff her sports kit into her over-stuffed locker.
‘I think it sounds like a good idea,’ said Mouse, meaning it.
‘Yeah, right,’ said Elliot, ‘maybe they could show it on prime-time.’ By now he was laughing. ‘They could call it, Look who’s Standing by my Locker, or Take a Locker at This …’
‘Yeah, OK Elliot, stick a sock in it would you?’ said Clancy. ‘It’s a psychological experiment not a sitcom.’
There was a thunk sound followed by a ‘sorry’ – it was Red Monroe, who had collided with Mr Walford. ‘Sorry sir, I didn’t see you there.’
‘Miss Monroe, it would help considerably if you would actually look where you were going. This is a corridor – people walk up and down all the time. Why is it so difficult for you to avoid them?’
‘I’m not sure sir,’ said Red.
Mr Walford marched off, no doubt to find some other student to reprimand.
‘Hey,’ said Red, ‘I’ve been looking all over for you guys.’
‘Bang goes your social locker theory,’ said Elliot.
‘I would have come here, but you said yesterday we should meet by the donut van,’ said Red.
‘Yeah, but it’s raining,’ said Del.
‘Well, I didn’t know rain was going to mean you were going to just up and change the plan,’ said Red. ‘Look at me, I’m drenched.’
‘Sorry,’ said Mouse, ‘it just seemed the obvious thing to do.’
‘Not to me,’ said Red. ‘A plan’s a plan.’
Bailey Roach was walking down the corridor towards the lockers, but when he saw Clancy he made out that he had just remembered something and veered off in the other direction. No one saw it except Clancy and Ruby, but that didn’t matter – this was Clancy’s new super power, scaring Bailey Roach, and it felt good.
The bell sounded and everyone began making their way to class. Clancy looked at Ruby, a sort of pleading and pitiful expression.
‘What?’ she said.
‘Nothing,’ he said, ‘it’s just I have a shot at raising my grade average.’
Ruby rolled her eyes. ‘Jeepers,’ she said, ‘OK, I’ll try all right, but I’m not making any promises and I’m definitely not doing it if you keep making that stupid face at me.’
‘OK, I’ll stop making the face,’ said Clancy. ‘Thanks Rube.’
‘Yeah, well, you might want to save your thank yous because I have no idea how I’m gonna get hold of a tiny surveillance camera from Spectrum, especially when we’re on lockdown because of the whole mole thing.’
But it wasn’t like she hadn’t taken gadgets without permission before. She could give it her best shot and if she got caught, well…
‘You’re a life saver Ruby, you know that?’ said Clancy.
‘Yeah,’ said Ruby. ‘Yeah, I know, but who’s gonna save me if I get found out? That’s what I wanna know.’
Chapter 16.
Look who's back
WHEN RUBY GOT IN SHE RAN UPSTAIRS AND FLICKED ON THE TV – she had done her homework on the bus ride home and was looking forward to a little downtime. She wasn’t sure if it was a reaction to the wind and the feeling of being tugged this way and that that was causing her to feel so unsettled – irritated almost – or if it was something to do with the constant dodging of trouble: Vapona and her gang, Mr Parker, Bubbles. Whatever it was, she just wasn’t feeling her regular sociable self. She changed the channel to 23 and waited for the Crazy Cops title sequence to begin – she had a few minutes, just enough time to fix a snack.
She grabbed a bagel from the pantry – the news was blaring out from the TV, she had it turned up too loud, Mrs Digby was always telling her so – and began rooting around for something to go with it.
‘SO KIRBY, WHAT MORE DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE IDAHO JAIL BUST?’
‘WELL, NOT MUCH, BRETT, IT WAS AT 7AM THIS MORNING THAT IT BECAME APPARENT THAT A PRISONER WAS MISSING FROM HIS CELL, AT WHICH TIME AN EXTENSIVE SEARCH WAS MADE OF THE PRISON COMPOUND.’
‘AND JUST HOW DID HE GET OUT, KIRBY?’
‘WELL, BRETT, IT SEEMS HE BROKE THROUGH HIS CELL WALL USING A SMALL AND HIGHLY EFFICIENT, STATE-OF-THE-ART STONE-CUTTING GADGET.’
‘SO KIRBY, JUST WHERE WOULD ONE COME BY SUCH A TOOL?’
‘WELL, BRETT, THE ANSWER IT SEEMS IS IN A TIN OF MUFFINS. PRISON GUARDS BELIEVE THAT EACH MUFFIN CONTAINED ONE COMPONENT, AND ALL THE INMATE HAD TO DO WAS BREAK OPEN THE MUFFINS AND CONNECT THE PARTS. HE THEN CUT HIS WAY THROUGH THE WALL, CLIMBED INSIDE THE CAVITY, DOWN THE WATER PIPES, AND TRUDGED THROUGH YARDS OF SEWER PIPE TO GET BEYOND THE PERIMETER FENCE.’
‘YEEKS, SOUNDS PRETTY DISGUSTING, KIRBY. SO WHAT SHOULD WE CONCLUDE?’
‘BRETT, THIS LEADS THE PRISON GUARDS TO THE ONLY CONCLUSION POSSIBLE – THAT THE PRISONER HAS ESCAPED FROM THE PRISON GROUNDS AND IS ALMOST CERTAINLY ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE PERIMETER FENCE.’
‘SO YOU ARE SAYING HE HAS ABSCONDED?’
‘YES, I AM BRETT.’
Jeepers Brett! How many ways does Kirby have to say it, the guy is gone!
‘IN OTHER WORDS, KIRBY, THIS FELON IS AT LARGE IN THE NORTHWESTERN COMMUNITY?’
‘Well duh, Brett, it would seem likely,’ muttered Ruby. ‘Now where is that cream cheese?’
‘THE FBI CAN NEITHER CONFIRM NOR DENY THIS, BUT IT WOULD SEEM LIKELY.’
‘AND, KIRBY, CAN WE PUT A NAME TO THE CONVICT?’
‘YES, HIS NAME HAS JUST BEEN RELEASED AND HE IS ONE BOYD MARSHALL, ALSO KNOWN BY HIS CRIMINAL NICKNAME OF BABY FACE.’
Ruby dropped the cream cheese.
Baby Face Marshall, she mouthed.
She made it back into the living room to see the implausibly innocent face of Boyd Marshall big on the screen.
‘EARLIER THIS YEAR HE WAS APPREHENDED, ACCUSED AND CONVICTED OF PLAYING A PART IN THE PLOT TO STEAL THE JADE BUDDHA OF KHOTAN FROM THE TWINFORD CITY MUSEUM. HE WAS ALSO CONVICTED OF ATTEMPTED MURDER.’
‘SO WOULD I BE CORRECT IN ASSUMING THIS GUY IS CONSIDERED DANGEROUS, KIRBY?’
Ruby looked around the room, appealing to an invisible audience for some kind of sanity check here.
‘WELL, BRETT, I WAS ABOUT TO GO ON TO SAY, HE HAS MURDERED MORE THAN ONCE.’
‘HE SOUNDS LIKE A THOROUGHLY UNPLEASANT CHARACTER, KIRBY .’
‘YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT, BRETT.’
‘AND I WOULD IMAGINE HE SMELLS PRETTY BAD TOO, RIGHT?’
{LAUGHTER}.
‘I SHOULDN’T WONDER, BRET
T, BUT SERIOUSLY, WE WOULD LIKE TO WARN ANYONE WHO THINKS THEY HAVE SEEN HIM NOT TO APPROACH THIS MAN. HE MIGHT LOOK LIKE A NICE GUY BUT HE IS IN FACT DEADLY.’
That was the thing about Baby Face. He really had the cutest face, people just wanted to trust him. Ruby sat down with a thump. She could hear Bug in the kitchen, evidently taking full advantage of the cream cheese accident. She scrabbled to find the remote and switched to the news channel, hoping to find a slightly more in-depth report.
BOYD MARSHALL, KNOWN TO FELLOW CRIMINALS AS BABY FACE, WAS IMPRISONED FOR HIS PART IN THE ATTEMPT TO STEAL THE PRICELESS JADE BUDDHA OF KHOTAN, A PLOT FOILED BY TWINFORD POLICE.
Of course it was actually Spectrum who had foiled the plot, but the downside of being a secret agency was never getting the credit.
MARSHALL HAS BEEN LINKED TO CRIMES DATING BACK FIFTEEN YEARS, THOUGH UNTIL NOW THE POLICE HAVE NEVER HAD ENOUGH EVIDENCE TO CHARGE HIM. HE FORMERLY WORKED IN A CHEMICALS WAREHOUSE DEALING WITH TOXIC SUBSTANCES AND POISONS – POISONS HE IS BELIEVED TO HAVE USED ON SOME OF HIS CRIMINAL RIVALS. THE POLICE HAVE REASON TO BELIEVE THAT MARSHALL IS ALREADY OUT OF THE COUNTRY. SOMEONE FITTING HIS DESCRIPTION WAS SEEN BOARDING A PLANE TO BRAZIL.
Up popped a very fuzzy-looking black and white CCTV still of a man in a hat.
I guess it could be him, thought Ruby, but who helped him to get out?
She didn’t have long to wonder about this. Her Spectrum-issue Escape Watch blinked at her and she knew where she needed to be.
She pulled on her parka, zipped up and stepped out into the dark.
Ruby arrived just before the briefing was due to start and sat down in a seat next to Blacker.
‘Who helped him break out?’ whispered Ruby.
‘That’s what we’re all wondering,’ said Blacker.
Their conversation was interrupted by a fake cough. LB was now standing at the front of the auditorium.
‘So,’ she began, ‘the news of Boyd Marshall’s prison breakout hit the news stations before it even reached us.’
This sent a wave of muttering through the room. LB gave another impatient cough and the muttering stopped immediately.
‘Baby Face Marshall is a very high-profile criminal, even his nickname is a household name, and this of course could be to our advantage. Let’s hope so anyway.’
Ruby could see her point. Baby Face really wasn’t going to want to stroll up and down advertising his whereabouts. If he had any sense, he would get across the state line and head in the direction of anywhere that wasn’t the United States of America.
‘I’m going to hand over to Agent Delaware from Spectrum 1 who is better acquainted with the details of the Marshall escape.’
Agent Stanley Delaware peered at his audience from over his glasses. He looked a little like a buzzard, a very neat and tidy bald buzzard in a blue suit.
‘Doubtless Boyd Marshall is going to want to avoid suffering any more jail time,’ said Agent Delaware. ‘Some documents were found in his cell, concealed inside the wall. It is clear from these that he was intending to escape across the border to Mexico and then make his way on to Brazil – indeed there is anecdotal evidence to support the theory that he boarded a flight to Brazil yesterday.’
Agent Delaware paused to sip some water. ‘We know it was an outside job,’ he said. ‘Marshall escaped with the help of one of his mob connections – we figure it was a quid pro quo arrangement – and though we would all be happy to see him brought in, we will be leaving that to our FBI colleagues and will not be considering this an active Spectrum case. He poses no threat to Spectrum and no threat to our agents.’
‘Finally some good news,’ muttered Ruby.
‘Mr Marshall,’
said the figure standing
at the window …
‘… how nice to see you out of your chains.’
‘I’m glad to be free of them, believe me.’
‘How does it feel to be in Brazil?’
‘I have to admit, I wish I was.’
‘You will be soon if you keep to the plan – you’ve done all right so far.’
‘That’s down to you; they swallowed every clue you planted.’
‘People swallow what they want to swallow, Mr Marshall. It suits them to believe you are gone for good and always.’
‘So long as they don’t look for me here in Twinford.’
‘And they won’t. Now, are you aware of how things are progressing?’
‘Yes, my sources kept me up to speed.’
‘Excellent.’
‘You’ve been busy.’
‘Oh, you know, the devil makes work for idle hands.’
‘So you have work for me?’
‘Yes, it’s a sort of disposal job, needs to be handled with great delicacy.’
‘Of course.’
‘The lady in question has a public face so we don’t want to arouse suspicion, which is why I felt an event such as this would be the perfect send off.’
‘You want it to look like natural causes.’
‘Quite so Mr Marshall. By all means be creative, but not so creative that you trip up. What I am looking for is a nice, elegant murder; you have such skill in that department.’
‘Not a problem. Are you looking for something inhaled, ingested or perhaps merely touched?’
‘Dealer’s choice.’
Chapter 17.
Witness protection
RUBY SLEPT SLIGHTLY MORE SOUNDLY THAT NIGHT and got out of bed feeling better than she had done in a while. To show her appreciation of her parents’ large-mindedness concerning the past few days’ events, she decided to dress to her mother’s satisfaction or at least an approximation of what might satisfy. She wasn’t prepared to go the whole nine yards and dolly herself up like child star Shirley Temple, but she could meet her mom halfway.
So Ruby fished out a yellow and black vintage dress that fitted pretty well – the hem wasn’t even stuck in place with sticky tape, nor were there any rips or holes in it. Next she pulled on a pair of over-the-knee black and white striped socks and slipped her feet into the red clogs her mother had bought her for the Twinford City Museum do. These clogs had proved strangely lucky on that April night. She had successfully wrong-footed the Count by aiming the left one at his head, and it was this clunk to his dome that had prevented him from stealing the Jade Buddha of Khotan. These clogs were a lucky charm and she hoped that by wearing them for the next few days they might do a good job of keeping the peace.
Ruby was on her way to school when she reached in her pocket for a cube of Hubble-Yum only to discover there was none. She walked into the nearest store, picked up a pack (strawberry flavour) and joined the line at the counter.
The short red-headed kid in front was holding everyone up by turning out his pockets trying to find the right change for a can of soda.
‘Here,’ said Ruby, handing him a dollar, ‘have it on me, I got to be somewhere – don’t you?’
The kid paid up and the line moved quick enough until a boy of maybe fifteen asked, ‘Can I get one of those Taste Twister things?’
‘What Taste Twister things?’ asked the woman behind the counter.
‘They’re advertised all over,’ said the boy. ‘You must have seen the billboards.’
‘Never heard of it,’ said the woman. ‘What is it? A drink?’
‘I don’t know,’ said the kid.
‘You don’t know but you want one?’
‘Yeah,’ said the kid. ‘The ads are pretty cool.’
‘Well,’ said the woman, ‘I for one do not know what you’re talking about.’
‘How can you miss it?’ said the boy. ‘There’s a billboard right on Trip Street.’
‘Stan?’ called the woman. ‘Do you know what a Taste Twister is, ’cause I sure as heck don’t.’
Jeepers, thought Ruby.
The storeowner came over. ‘I know the Taste Twister advertisements, but we haven’t had any sales reps come by trying to sell it to us.’
‘S
o you don’t know where I can get it?’ said the boy.
‘No,’ said the man shaking his head. ‘You could try Babe’s, they stock a lot of new brands, more product ranges than we could ever hold.’
‘Already did,’ said the boy. ‘They never heard of it either.’
The storekeeper shrugged. ‘Sorry I can’t help.’
‘They shouldn’t advertise things that aren’t for sale,’ said the kid.
The storekeeper scratched his head. ‘Well, if I see Taste Twisters around, I’ll try and get them in.’
‘I wouldn’t mind,’ said the boy, ‘but it’s them that keep going on about how good it tastes.’
It was a funny thing, Ruby thought as she popped a Hubble-Yum in her mouth and headed for school, because she hadn’t seen it in any stores either and what sort of manufacturer would bother to advertise a product that wasn’t for sale?
When at last Ruby made it into school, she was greeted by a very excitable Clancy Crew.
‘So did you hear?’ hissed Clancy.
‘I heard,’ replied Ruby. She knew exactly what he was talking about. Baby Face Marshall, escaped criminal and bogeyman of the moment.
‘You think he’s at large here in Twinford?’ Clancy was on the brink of flapping. ‘Do you think he’s coming for us?’ He had come face to face with Boyd Marshall back in April and he knew only too well what this man was capable of – he was a cold-blooded murderer with a twist of sadistic.
‘Clancy, do you really think he has gone to all the trouble of busting out of jail just so he can murder you?’ asked Ruby. ‘I mean think about it – you must be way down the list of people he wants to murder – I think you can relax for a while.’
‘Well that’s kind of a relief,’ said Clancy. He looked calm for a minute and then not so calm. ‘Hey, what do you mean about me being way down his list? You think he has a list, you think I’m actually on it?’ Now he was flapping.
‘I’m kidding Clance! Get a grip would you,’ said Ruby thumping him lightly on the shoulder. ‘He isn’t interested in you. To him you’re an ant, you’re nothing, you’re no one.’