Left alone in the workroom, Jacob moved into his father’s chair in front of the Brick. He was no expert in the use of it, but he knew enough of the fundamentals to be able to seek, find and follow. Steven changed the setting before leaving so that the screen showed an overview of Swains Lane. It was child’s play to zoom in and out, to drag the image to one side or the other. But Jacob was not content with any of that.
You can watch for me. You can look after the Brick.
Big deal!
It was too simple a bribe.
Jacob carefully considered the controls and decided to experiment. He found the whole of the British Isles, with all its coloured counties. Next he zoomed in on the city of York and its suburbs; then on to the estate to the north where the Gwynns lived, and finally right into the back garden from which the frog had so recently leapt.
All the activity that had been in evidence before Steven changed the setting was still there. An ambulance and two fire engines had arrived, but it became evident that they were not needed. The water hydrant was turned off. Soon the only real activity was in the back garden. A small group was gathered around the spot where the pond had been. Jacob concluded that they must be investigators of some sort. Three other people, two men and a woman, stopped briefly in the garden before entering the house by the back door.
Jacob deduced that these must be Mr and Mrs Gwynn and someone interested either in the explosive frog or in the whereabouts of their daughter. Perhaps both.
He manipulated the controls hopefully and at last managed to get into the living room, where the Gwynns were talking to the man. It was frustrating that the Brick could not transmit any sound back to him. It was all very well being a fly on the wall, but not knowing what was being said definitely hindered the usefulness of the position.
The older man went out of the room and a young policeman in uniform came in and sat down. The Gwynns soon left him sitting by himself, obviously on duty.
The Brick could take Jacob no further and tell him no more. He looked at the policeman dozing uncomfortably on the upright chair he had either chosen or been invited to occupy. He yawned and almost fell asleep himself.
Then, just after three o’clock, the screen flashed with sudden activity. The living-room door opened, the young policeman stood to attention, and in came the Gwynns. Jacob was instantly alert and attentive to the on-screen movements.
He bent over the controls again and zoomed in on Alison Gwynn’s face. She looked happy. That could mean only one thing: Nesta was safe and had got in touch.
‘And what do you think you’re doing?’
Jacob jumped at the sound of his father’s voice. Steven had come very quietly into the room, not wanting his footsteps to waken anyone else in the house. He came closer to the Brick and saw the picture on screen.
‘Why have you changed the view? Can you not carry out a simple instruction? Don’t you know what damage you can do? Get off my seat. Get out of my way.’
Steven had practically run all the way from Swains Lane. He was out of breath and in a high state of irritation. ‘Eavesdropping!’ he said crossly. ‘Idle curiosity.’
Then he stopped himself saying more as he realized that eavesdropping was now to be the order of the day. A difficult order to put into action, given the Brick’s lack of sound. He pulled a lever and said crossly, ‘I can’t listen to what I can’t hear.’
Jacob watched the screen, where the picture suddenly had one word starkly imposed over it:
IMPROVISE
‘How do I do that, mute object?’ said Steven irritably.
USE SPEAKERS FROM ANOTHER SYSTEM
Steven looked at his Earth computer on the other side of the room. It was equipped with two speakers plugged into the port that led to the modem.
‘It can’t be done,’ he said. ‘The systems are totally incompatible.’
LIP-READ
‘I wouldn’t know how.’
Jacob looked from his father to the screen and then back. ‘Just watch, Dad,’ he said. ‘Stop arguing and watch. I have made sense of what I’ve seen. You might not be able to lip-read but you can tell from people’s faces what they’re thinking – and you can watch where they go and what they do.’
The communicator seemed to have digested this advice. It seized on the most useful of Jacob’s words:
WATCH
The letters appeared on the screen for just a few seconds and then disappeared to return Steven to the view of the Gwynns’ living room. Once again the Gwynns left the policeman sitting alone.
‘I’ll split the screen,’ said Steven, half to himself and half to his son, who had been tacitly restored to favour.
‘To follow the Gwynns?’ said Jacob.
‘Not necessary,’ said Steven, ‘and not helpful because we are stuck with not being able to hear what they say. No. I want to keep my eye on what is happening outside.’
Jacob looked down at his watch and said, stifling a yawn, ‘It’s twenty past four, Dad. There’ll be nothing to see for a few more hours.’
Steven nevertheless took a look at the back garden. A strong spotlight was trained on the pond. Two workers were busy there, sifting soil and passing small objects to a man sitting cross-legged on a groundsheet. A zoom in on their faces showed that they were all bored and that the objects were probably mind-numbingly insignificant.
For the next three hours, nothing happened at all. Jacob sat in the armchair and fell asleep. Steven stayed at his post and dozed, coming fully awake every time he began to slip sideways.
At seven-thirty Jacob woke up, hurried over to the camp stool, and said, ‘Has anything happened? Have I missed anything? Where are the Gwynns?’
‘They’re probably fast asleep in bed.’
‘How do you know?’ said Jacob.
‘They haven’t left the house,’ said Steven. ‘No one has entered the house. Yet they were happy enough. My guess is that Nesta is on her way home and they know exactly when she is due to arrive. The worry has been lifted. They’re bound to be exhausted. So they’ll have gone to sleep.’
When daylight came, there was activity once more. The Gwynns came into the living room, looking drained and certainly not as well rested as Steven had thought they would be. When they went to the kitchen, the young constable followed them, and all three took a silent look out at the back garden, where the workers were still excavating as carefully as archaeologists on some ancient dig.
By nine-thirty the Gwynns were clearly ready for the day, but neither they nor the constable left the house.
‘Jacob?’ Lydia called up the stairs. ‘Are you not ready for church yet? We don’t want to be late.’
She had not called her son down to breakfast because she had some idea that he had been up late the night before, messing about with that computer.
‘Do I have to go?’ said Jacob to his father.
‘I think so,’ said Steven. ‘We can talk about it in depth another time, but for now just go.’
Jacob’s thoughts had been far less philosophical than his father’s answer gave him credit for. He had simply wanted to play hooky so as not to miss the excitement.
So Steven was alone when the older man of the night before returned to the Gwynns’. There was a short conversation between the three of them, but Steven had no idea what it might be about.
By the time Jacob returned, another policeman had taken over from the constable who had worked the nightshift, and the older man had gone.
‘I was wishing I could lip-read,’ said Steven. ‘There was no guessing what they were saying.’
‘The older man must be a senior policeman, plain clothes,’ said Jacob, ‘and they were obviously discussing something about Nesta’s return.’
‘Yes,’ drawled Steven sarcastically.
‘Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it? What else would they want to talk about?’