“What are you telling me?” Jeff asked Chipper.

“The Institute’s got Pepper and Emily?”

We do not know that.

“What do you mean? Isn’t that the message you got?”

Yes. Just because it said that does not mean it is true. But given that Pepper is missing, that part is probably true.

“Well, how do we find out for sure?”

Chipper thought for a moment.

You should call John Winslow. Find out if Emily is with him.

Jeff blinked. “Yeah, okay, that makes sense. Except I can’t use this phone for anything but to talk to you. If I connect it to the network they could figure out where we are. And we don’t have any money, so unless you can turn yourself into another phone and a cash machine, I don’t know what we’re going to do.”

We need to go shopping.

“Uh, what?”

We need to go to a store. A big store.

Jeff slowly shook his head. “So, you want to buy a new flea collar or something? Some dog biscuits?”

There is no reason to be insulting. I do not have fleas. Where there are shoppers there will be handbags. It is easier to take a phone from a handbag than a man’s pocket.

“Okay, so we’re going to turn into criminals. We’re going to steal someone’s phone.”

Is there anything you would not steal to save Emily and Pepper?

Chipper had him there. He told Jeff the rest of his plan. Jeff wasn’t sure it was perfect, but given that it was the only plan they had, he thought it was worth a try.

Now they had to find a store.

They emerged from the alley on to a busy sidewalk. Chipper used his high-tech artificial eyes to scan for Harry Green.

I do not see him.

Jeff pointed up the street. “There’s a big department store. What about there?”

Okay.

They ran the half-block to the store. The entrance was a set of revolving doors.

That looks very dangerous.

“You’ve never seen doors like that?”

No.

“Stay close to me,” Jeff said. Once some customers had exited the store and the door had stopped revolving, he beckoned Chipper to follow him.

Chipper froze.

“Come on, boy.”

Chipper stared at the door, studying how it operated. If you entered at the wrong moment, you’d be trapped! If someone from the other side then pushed on the door too hard, you could be cut in half!

I cannot do it.

“Are you kidding me?” Jeff said. “You’re like the bravest, most amazing dog in the whole world and you’re afraid of a revolving door?”

Give me a second.

“No, it’s okay. Look, we can go in one of the other doors, or I can pick you up and carry you in.”

Carry me?

“Yes.”

Chipper imagined that. Jeff having to scoop him up in his arms. How humiliating would that be? No, he couldn’t let that happen. He’d have to find another way in, or—

“Here we go!” Jeff said, quickly bending over and grabbing Chipper just under his front legs.

No!

But Jeff had tucked his phone away to be able to get both hands on Chipper and was unable to read the message. Chipper bucked and squirmed in Jeff’s arms.

“Stop it!” Jeff shouted. “I’m just trying to help!”

But Chipper would not stop, and there was no way Jeff could take him into the spinning doors with him acting that way. So Jeff had to drop him back down to the sidewalk.

“Yikes,” Jeff said. “We’ll find another way in.” He had his phone back in his hand.

No, wait.

“What now?” Jeff said, on the edge of completely losing his patience.

I have to do this.

Chipper stared at the door as people continued to enter and exit the store. He had to get the timing just right.

I will go in first.

“Fine,” Jeff said, taking a step back towards the street. “Take your time. It’s not like we have anything else to do. I mean, sure, Emily and Pepper have probably been kidnapped and who knows what The Institute is doing to them, but you take your time screwing up your courage to go through a—”

Chipper bolted.

He’d known he could get his body into the doors without a problem, but it was his tail he was worried about. What if that got caught, just as it had when he was fleeing that subway car just after he’d escaped The Institute? When you thought about it, a tail could be a real nuisance.

The other thing he had to figure into the equation was that he was not powerful enough to actually push the door. He had to depend on customers coming the other way to give the door some momentum.

It was a good thing he had a brain capable of calculating the precise moves he had to make.

Just at the right moment, he slipped into the doors like a fast-moving snake with legs. He kept his snout pressed to the glass door in front of him and his tail tucked close to his body. The moment the door opened on to the inside of the store he shot out.

Once Chipper was in the store he spun around and looked expectantly at Jeff, who had watched his performance with wonder. Jeff entered the doors, pushed his way through and joined Chipper.

“Well done,” Jeff said.

Nothing to it.

Jeff laughed. “Okay, so now—”

“Hold it right there!”

They both turned to see a store security guard eyeing them, arms crossed.

“Uh, yes?” said Jeff.

“You can’t bring a dog into the store!” the man said.

Chipper thought, Are you kidding me? After all that?

“Um, we’re only going to be here for a minute,” Jeff said.

“It doesn’t matter whether it’s one minute or one hour!” the guard said. “Dogs can’t come in here.”

How dare a store have a policy that bans dogs? Chipper thought. He wanted to go over and pee on the guard’s shoe, but knew that was probably not the best way to handle the situation.

“Here’s the thing,” Jeff said, improvising. “The dog is here…for an interview. Well, we both are, sort of.”

The guard said, “What?”

“In fact, you should be nice to him, because you might be working with him.”

“What are you talking about?”

“This is a very special dog who’s been trained to catch shoplifters. Chipper, is anyone shoplifting?”

Chipper froze, then slowly moved his head to the right, looking up an aisle that sold jewellery. He moved in classic border collie fashion, one paw slowly moving ahead of the other as he proceeded up the aisle.

“What is he—”

“Shh,” Jeff said to the guard. “He’s on to someone.”

The guard watched Chipper stealthily move further into the store.

“I never worked with no dog before,” the guard said.

“Well, you’ll be lucky if you get to work with this one,” Jeff said. “He’s among the best.”

Chipper was edging closer to a woman who was leaning over a glass display case, examining watches. Her long-strapped handbag hung over her shoulder and all the way down to her thigh. It was unclasped.

The woman was so consumed with looking at the watches she did not notice Chipper sticking his nose into her bag.

“Whoa,” said the security guard. “He found something?”

“Looks like it,” Jeff said.

Chipper withdrew his snout from the bag. Clutched delicately in his jaws was a cell phone.

“She stole a phone?” the guard asked.

“The dog’s not usually wrong about these things,” Jeff said. “You sell those kinds of phones here?”

The guard nodded. “Up on the second floor,” he said.

“Well,” said Jeff. “There you go.”

“I wonder if I should go and arrest her,” the guard said.

“I think that’s a good idea,” Jeff said, as Chipper started walking back towards him and the guard.

Jeff took the phone from Chipper’s mouth and shook his head, feigning disappointment. “It’s awful when people think they can help themselves to things that aren’t theirs.”

“Tell me about it,” the guard said. “Uh oh, looks like she’s going to get away.”

The woman who had been examining watches was heading towards an escalator near the centre of the building.

The guard called out, “Hey, you!” He started to run after the woman.

Jeff examined the phone, mentally crossing his fingers that it was not password-protected. He hit the button at the bottom and the screen came to life.

“Yes!” he said.

The guard had grabbed the woman by the elbow. She was shrieking at him as he pointed back at Jeff and the dog.

“Time to go,” Jeff said. They both turned and looked at the revolving door, and considered the obstacle it presented to a hasty getaway.

Fine.

Jeff knelt down, got Chipper into his arms and carried him into the revolving doors. In seconds, they were outside. Jeff set Chipper on to the sidewalk.

How embarrassing.

“Yeah, well, you’ll get over it. Let’s go and call Emily’s dad.”