“Another lift to the Science Museum?” Uncle Max grumbles as Holly forces her way into his car. “What do you think I am? Your personal taxi service? And where’s the lodger?”
“Missing in action. You’re going to London anyway,” Holly says. “I heard you say so on the phone. Surely you can give your two favourite nieces a lift?”
“You’re my only nieces.”
“Which means you have plenty of free time to chauffeur us around.”
When Uncle Max looks ready to refuse, Holly smiles with all her teeth. “I’ve been wondering what you do on these trips to London, Uncle Max? Perhaps I should ask Aunty Vera?”
I look up in surprise. Vigil-Aunty doesn’t know about his visits to London? How is that possible? She has eyes everywhere. Although, now I think about it, she hasn’t been her usual scary self lately. She’ll be fifty at the end of the month and it’s obviously bothering her because she won’t let anyone use the ‘f-word’ (fifty) and insists she’s turning forty-nine B.
She has become obsessed with watching old Star Wars movies. Apparently, she was always a fan of the actor who plays Han Solo and, on her wedding day, Uncle Max gave her special permission to kiss the Han Solo man if she met him in real life. Aunty Vera is worried she’s becoming too old to take advantage of that deal.
In an attempt to cheer Aunty Vera up, I pointed out that she has more chance of getting her kiss now, because Han Solo Man must be at least seventy so he probably can’t run as fast.
Vigil-Aunty hit me with her handbag.
“Should I ask her, Uncle Max?” Holly is saying. “Should I ask Aunty Vera what you’re up to?”
“Just get in,” he growls. “But next time you pay petrol money.”
“Love you too, Uncle Max.”
Despite Holly badgering him all the way to London (‘badgering’ as in ‘asking something repeatedly’ not ‘digging tunnels and eating earthworms’), Uncle Max refuses to reveal where he’s going. I tell myself not to care. I have enough mysteries to solve without worrying about what Uncle Max is up to.
Holly and I know the layout of the Science Museum now, so we march straight to the spot in the ‘Exploring Space’ gallery where the security footage showed the brain ray. How could I have missed it? It’s like they say, ‘the best hiding place is in full view’ (although they should have added ‘wrapped in tin foil’). My hands shake as we approach the Mars lander. To discover . . . nothing.
CLUE 25
The brain ray has vanished.
“Hypatia! What now?” I ask Holly.
Holly kicks the barrier.
“What now, other than kicking things?” I ask. “We’ve got two hours to find the Space Rock, the brain ray and the Grimm Reaper. Suggestions?”
“We need to figure this out,” Holly says. “Let’s take it in turns to act out stealing the Space Rock and brain ray to work out how it was done.”
In the end, all we manage to figure out is that the thefts should have been impossible.
CLUE 26
To leave the gallery carrying the Space Rock, brain ray or both, you would have to walk past at least one functioning security camera.
“‘Francis Crick! This makes no sense,” I say. “We’ve watched the security footage. We would have seen them. There is only one way the Space Rock could have left this place.”
Holly looks at me expectantly.
“It was stolen by the Invisible Man.”
Holly kicks me.
“Oww! Is that your way of telling me the Space Rock would still be visible even if the Invisible Man wasn’t? Do you think it would become invisible if the Invisible Man ate it? Or stuffed it up his—”
I’m interrupted by a crash on the other side of ‘Exploring Space’. The distraction is probably a good thing as Holly’s kicking leg is still swinging.
Across by the Apollo lander, the tall security guard I spoke to on my last visit whips back his arm to punch his fellow guard in the face. His aim is good but his colleague has incredible reflexes and steps back a split second before the fist makes contact, so it just skims his jaw. Stumbling slightly, the second guard lifts his left hand to his face and hits out at Tall Guard with the right. Tall blocks the move effortlessly as if he knew it was coming.
Grunting in frustration, Other Guard hooks his leg around Tall’s knees in an attempt to bring him to the ground, but he’s not fast enough and Tall steps out of harm’s way. The two men dart back and forth, aiming and dodging kicks and punches as if the moves have been choreographed beforehand. But they both look too angry to be doing this for show.
Tall jabs at Other, who shifts out of the way milliseconds before Tall’s fist reaches him. They stare at each other intently, circling and matching moves. Tall cracks his knuckles and Other wipes sweat from his face.
“I’m not saying I want them to beat each other up or anything,” Holly says. “Okay, maybe I do a little bit,” she admits. “But isn’t this the weirdest fight you’ve ever seen? Where’s the trash talk? And why can’t either of them land a punch?”
“Definitely the weirdest fight,” I agree. “This place gets freakier each time we visit.”
It’s a relief when Holly’s phone buzzes and Uncle Max announces our two hours are up.