‘I promise you this: if a Martian ever walks into this diner, I’ll shake him by the tentacle and give him a side order of fries on the house.’
IT WAS DISAPPOINTING TO RETURN to Cedarwood Drive empty-handed, but Ruby had enjoyed a more than interesting day, and Clancy, with all this new information about space craft and aliens, could not be shut up. They caught the bus just as it was about to pull out of the stop, clambered on, taking seats towards the back away from the other passengers. Not that it was crowded: there were only seven other people taking the Mountain bus back to Maple Falls.
Ruby had a small, spiral-bound notepad and she was staring hard at a list of things set neatly out down the page. On one side:
What I know
And on the other:
What I don’t know
Some of the things had been crossed out, and moved from the don’t know column to the do know column.
Why Buzz was called Buzz, for example.
‘Why is Buzz called Buzz?’ asked Clancy.
‘It’s not as exciting as you think,’ said Ruby.
‘What, it’s some kinda nickname?’ asked Clancy.
‘Less exciting,’ said Ruby.
‘It’s her actual surname?’ said Clancy
‘Less interesting than that,’ said Ruby.
‘I give up,’ said Clancy.
‘It will disappoint you to know,’ said Ruby.
‘Try me,’ said Clancy.
‘They’re her initials, Brenda Ulla Zane.’
‘Oh, that’s kinda disappointing,’ said Clancy.
‘I told you,’ said Ruby.
‘It’s just totally obvious when you think about it.’
‘I know,’ said Ruby.
‘Mind you, there’s only one Z,’ said Clancy.
‘Yeah, but you would still call her Buzz, one Z or two.’
‘I guess.’ He looked back at her list.
One object, the 8 key, had been crossed out altogether and replaced with:
The Lucite key-tag.
‘The Lucite key-tag,’ read Clancy. ‘What key-tag?’
‘The key-tag that was attached to the 8 key,’ explained Ruby.
‘Why are you suddenly interested in that?’ asked Clancy. ‘I thought it was all about the Spectrum security key?’
‘I figured it had to be the key-tag that was of interest. I mean the locks were all changed as soon as the key went missing. Unless the whole point of the theft was about rattling the whole of Spectrum by proving security was so weak that anyone could break their way in, then stealing the key served no purpose whatsoever.’
‘So what’s the purpose of stealing a Lucite key-tag?’ asked Clancy. He frowned before adding, ‘By the way, what is Lucite exactly?’
‘You know, like Perspex or Plexiglas – Lucite is just a trade name. It’s acrylic. Or, if you want to get technical, Poly methyl methacrylate, a transparent thermoplastic, shatter-resistant, lightweight alternative to glass.’
CLANCY: ‘So it was light?’
RUBY: ‘Well, not light light, but not as heavy as glass.’
CLANCY: ‘Was anything written on it? A number? An image?’
RUBY: ‘Nothing I could see.’
CLANCY: ‘So what makes it interesting?’
RUBY: ‘Nothing.’
CLANCY: ‘Nothing?’
RUBY: ‘Nothing except for who it belonged to.’
CLANCY: ‘So who did it belong to?’
RUBY: ‘Bradley Baker.’
CLANCY: ‘Really? You know this? Like for sure?’
RUBY: ‘Not actually, and not exactly for sure. I guess I’m guessing in a way, but it just stands to reason, cos LB told me it was a memento, that someone gave it to her when she was a child, and I sorta figured the person closest to her was Baker.’
CLANCY: ‘Why not her dad, or her mom or maybe her grandpa? I mean it could even have been her junior karate master, he was important to her, no? Or her trombone teacher, if she ever learned trombone, that is.’
RUBY: ‘I don’t imagine she did.’
CLANCY: ‘Whatever, my point is, it doesn’t automatically follow that it had to be Bradley Baker who gave her the key-tag. It could have been a person of influence.’
RUBY: ‘OK, you’re right, it doesn’t, but you see, well, I kinda have this strange feeling that it was.’ She looked at him. ‘Do you think I’m losing it?’
CLANCY: ‘Nah, you’re listening to your gut feeling and …’
Pause.
CLANCY: ‘I actually think you’re right.’
Another pause.
CLANCY: ‘Well, almost right.’
RUBY: ‘Almost?’
CLANCY: ‘You’re saying that the boss of Spectrum 8 was given this key-tag by her best friend when he was a kid?’
RUBY: ‘Yes, LB said it was sentimental.’
She stopped talking. And then her eyes widened like she was seeing something.
It was unusual for Ruby Redfort to feel like she was the last one in the room to see the gorilla. It was more unusual still for her to feel like a complete and utter chump, but this was that moment.
RUBY: ‘What a bozo! LB wouldn’t use some old key-tag given to her years ago to attach something as valuable as the 8 key, a coder key. Spectrum is a professional outfit, LB’s a professional agent, she hasn’t got time for this stuff.’
She looked at Clancy.
RUBY: ‘That’s what you were going to say, right?’
CLANCY: ‘I wouldn’t have called you a bozo, but yeah.’
RUBY: ‘How did I swallow that garbage?’
CLANCY:
‘Quit beating yourself