A few
minutes later they finally reached Bart’s house. Shirley looked at her
watch.
“10:30. We are
right on time.” She happily announced.
Bo walked up
onto the porch and was about to knock on the door when Shirley pointed
out a note that was pinned on the wall next to the door.
I’m working
in the shed. Bart.
Shirley and Bo
went to shed that was located in the backyard. Again it was Bo who walked
up to the door to knock. But this time his face showed he was surprised.
The door was open. He beckoned Shirley closer and together they entered
Bart’s realm where science meets the paranormal. It was pretty clean for
a workshop. All weird devices to detect paranormal activity were neatly
collected at one side and all his other inventions on the other. But what
they saw at the far the end of the room made them gasp for air.
There was Bart.
Flat on his stomach. There was no robot in sight. A short examination Shirley
did show that Bart was unconscious and not able to talk about what happened
for at least another 12 hours. The desk he had been at was cluttered in
papers. The chair he must’ve used was turned over and all drawers in the
desk and the surrounding filing cabinets. Even the months July through
November were torn of the calendar at the wall.
Shirley gave
Bo a grave look. “I’ll call an ambulance…”
********
The ambulance
would arrive and because of the nature of the incident they would bring
the police along, the operator of the emergency line had said. This left
little time for the two friends to look for clues. They both looked around
for a while, becoming more desperate with every find that turned out to
be useless to them. The sirens became audible when it was Bo who found
Bart’s organizer. He gestured Shirley to come closer quickly and flipped
through the pages. Apparently Bo and Shirley weren’t the only ones to be
invited to get a first glimpse of Bart’s creation. Shirley took the organizer
from Bo and read the names that were written by May 16, 1998. (current
date in this story). Shirley and Bo were not mentioned themselves, what
suggested their invitation to be a spontaneous action on Bart’s part.
“Jason April,
Simon May and June Brody…Hmmm, I think we have ourselves some suspects.”
Shirley said. She quickly put the organizer back where she found it, just
in time, before the paramedics and the police officers came in.
********
“Good thing Bart
is going to be OK.” Bo said when the police finished questioning them 30
minutes later.
“Now let’s get
on with more important business,” Shirley said with a serious expression
on her face, “I happen to know Jason, Simon and June are members of the
science club at Sussex, so they all could be jealous of Bart’s robot. There
you have your motive. All we need now is the opportunity backed up with
evidence.
********
A short hacking
excursion in the computer where the Sussex Academy Student Administration
was kept provided Shirley and Bo with addresses. They decided to follow
the list of suspects from top to bottom, so their first stop was at the
house of Jason April. It was a house that was a little larger than average,
yet far less impressive than Sussex Academy. Just as Shirley and Bo entered
through the gate a boy they knew to be Jason came out of the door. He walked
down the path until he faced Shirley and Bo.
Jason smiled
and looked at Shirley with recognition. “Aren’t you a friend of Bart’s.”
he mused aloud.
“Yes, actually
Bart is why we came to see you.” She paused to think about how she should
tell him about he attack. “He was attacked this morning,” she said hesitantly,
while Jason’s eyes grew big of horror, “and someone stole a high-tech robot
from him.”
“Damn,” Jason
cursed, “I should have known better than to listen to that call.” Shirley
lifted an eyebrow.
“What call?”
she inquired.
“My mum called
me down to accept it. He said that the meeting was off…I remember he sounded
a little weird, almost like he was forced to lie or something.”
“Do you remember
when that call was?” Bo suggested.
“I don’t really
know, I believe it was about ten.”
********
Shirley and Bo
met Simon May in the science room at Sussex. Even when he had free time
or vacations Simon could be found here working on some kind of project.
He was always busy to get a scientific scoop. The small read-headed boy
had silver-rimmed glasses on his nose and he wore a spotless white lab
coat. He turned, annoyed by the interruption.
“Can’t I even
have peace in a classroom when there’s no school?” he yelled at no one
in particular.
“We came to talk
about Bart.”
“Oh yeah, the
guy who wasted my time with a presentation of some robot he decided to
cancel the last minute.” he said grimly.
“He was attacked.”
Bo stated. Simon became a little less angry and more concerned about budding
paranormalist.
“Sorry,” the
young scientist muttered under his breath.
“Did he cancel
by phone?” Bo asked.
“Yes, he did.
He called me on my cellular just after 10 to tell me I didn’t have to come
anymore. I’ve been here all morning and that cellular is pretty much my
contact to the outside world.”
“Did anyone see
you?” Shirley asked. Simon frowned.
“I don’t think
so. It has been pretty quiet all morning. Haven’t seen a soul.”
********
Shirley and Bo
accidentally bumped into their final suspect, June Brody, on their way
back home. June didn’t take any notice of them and was about to walk away
when Shirley started talking to her.
“Weren’t you
invited by Bart this morning to look at his new robot?” Shirley asked her.
Surprised by the question June turned around and came back into their direction.
“Well, yes, how
did you know?” she said with a curious expression on her face.
“We were invited
too.” Bo blurted out. Shirley shot him a glare. She didn’t like it when
he gave away information to suspects. As an apology he kept silent during
the rest of the interview.
“I was at the
shop when I answered his call. About 10 I believe it was. He said he cancelled
the meeting to make some final adjustments to that piece of junk.” Shirley
frowned in Bo’s direction.
“Junk? Aren’t
you into robotics?” June shook her head.
“I’m more of
a watcher…You know, watch the skies for our alien visitors, that’s how
I know Bart. I entered the science club for the chemistry bit.”
********
That night Bo
and Shirley were together in Shirley’s attic room reviewing the case.
“At least we
have an approximate time of the attack.” Bo said. “If he didn’t call us
after all the others he invited, it must’ve been because he was attacked.”
Shirley didn’t say a thing.
“The guy – or
girl, must’ve been looking for something else that would explain the mess
in the shed.” Bo continued. “But I don’t see how all that can help us.”
“I think you’re
wrong Bo. This thing was all plotted to make sure no one would ever know
what really happened. But the person that stole Bart’s robot made a mistake,
he or she used a MO we already encountered. And there is a clue that clearly
points to one person…” Shirley explained. Without any more elaboration
she picked up the phone to give the police an anonymous tip…
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