Operation Gadgetman! by Malorie Blackman
The twenty-minute bus journey from Beans’s house to the building society was spent discussing the cigarette packet and the fingerprints Beans had acquired the previous night. The bus crawled along. Beans burned to speak to the building-society manager. She was closer to finding the kidnappers, she just knew it. If she could find out what had put the kidnappers on to Dad, then she’d be on their trail. There had to be people that someone at Dad’s building society had told. That was the only explanation.
But once they were actually in front of the building society, Beans wasn’t sure what to do next.
‘Well, there it is,’ she said nervously. ‘I’ve never actually been inside it before.’
‘We can’t do anything from out here,’ Louisa said. ‘We’d better go in.’
They walked inside. After the warmth and sunshine outside, it was like walking into a fridge. Beans shivered. If that was air conditioning then she’d rather do without it!
‘We’d better join the queue at the enquiries desk,’ Louisa suggested. Louisa led the way and they all stood in the queue together. Ann said what they were all thinking.
‘Will they let three girls speak to the manager?’ she asked.
‘We’ll insist,’ Beans said firmly.
Ann grinned at Beans. Beans smiled back. She hadn’t come this far to be turned away now.
The queue moved just as slowly as the bus had done. Beans hated all this waiting around. She wanted to be doing something. At last they reached the front of the queue.
‘Excuse me,’ Beans began. ‘I’d like . . . to . . . speak . . .’ Her voice trailed off altogether.
‘Is something wrong? Can I help you?’ the male cashier behind the glass window asked.
Ann and Louisa looked at Beans, wondering what was the matter.
‘Look!’ Beans pointed past the cashier to where the other workers in the building society sat at their desks.
‘What?’ Louisa frowned.
‘Over there. That man. Look!’ Beans said urgently.
Ann and Louisa looked over in the direction of Beans’s pointing finger. A bearded man sat at his desk, which was piled high with papers and filing trays. His head was bent. In his left hand he held a sheet of paper, which he carefully examined. His right hand was drumming on his table as he read.
‘What about him?’ Ann asked.
‘Can I help you? You’re holding up the queue,’ the cashier said patiently.
‘Oh, er . . . that man over there – he was the one who helped me before but I can’t remember his name,’ Beans said.
The cashier turned around. ‘Who? Lucas?’
‘Lucas. That was his name.’ Beans nodded quickly. ‘He helped me out with a query I had about opening an account at this building society.’
‘Are you sure it was Lucas?’ the cashier turned to face Beans, a frown on his face. ‘I think you’ve made a mistake. Lucas is the correspondence clerk.’
‘What does a correspondence clerk do?’ Beans asked eagerly.
‘Opens letters and things,’ Louisa butted in.
‘That’s right. He makes sure that all the letters go to the appropriate person or department. And he handles all outgoing post. Why?’ asked the cashier.
‘Look, dear, I am in a hurry.’ From behind them in the queue, an elderly woman wth grey-white hair rapped Beans on the shoulder.
‘Won’t be long. Promise.’ Beans turned back to the cashier. ‘Do all incoming letters and packets and stuff go through him first?’
‘Yes.’ The cashier nodded.
‘I’m sure he’s the one that I was talking to,’ Beans insisted. ‘His last name is . . . is Deacon.’
‘No, it’s not. It’s Moynahan,’ the cashier said. ‘Lucas! LUCAS! This girl says that . . .’
‘NO! DON’T!’ Beans said.
But she was too late.
Lucas Moynahan looked up and across to the cashier. Then he saw Beans. She saw him start slightly and knew that he recognized her, just as she had recognized him. The next moment seemed to last forever as they regarded each other. Lucas stood up slowly, his eyes narrowed.
‘No, it wasn’t him after all,’ Beans said quickly. ‘Sorry. I made a mistake. Come on, you two.’
Beans grabbed Louisa and Ann and pulled them out of the queue.
‘What was that all about?’ Ann frowned as they headed outside.
The sudden sunlight made Beans blink rapidly. She licked her lips.
‘Do you two remember that blue Escort parked opposite my house yesterday afternoon? I pointed it out – remember?’
‘Yeah! So?’ Ann asked.
‘That was the driver,’ Beans replied. ‘Lucas Moynahan was the driver.’
Louisa and Ann stared at her.
‘He couldn’t have been,’ Louisa said. ‘Are you sure?’
‘I’m positive. That was him,’ Beans said. ‘He was wearing sunglasses yesterday, but I still recognize him.’
‘What was he doing outside your house then?’ Ann asked.
Beans shrugged. ‘I don’t know. But it’s a bit of a coincidence that he was parked outside my house and now we find out that he works at Dad’s very same building society. I bet he knows something about Dad’s letter and the money. The only trouble is, that twerp of a cashier called out to him and Lucas saw me.’ Beans couldn’t keep her voice from trembling slightly. She wasn’t sure if it shook from fear or a strange kind of excitement. Maybe it was both.
‘What should we do?’ Ann asked.
Beans glanced down at her watch.
‘Well, the building society closes in ten minutes. They’re only open half-day today,’ Beans said, thinking hard. ‘So what we need to do is wait for that Lucas bloke to come out. Then one of us will have to follow him to see where he goes. We need to know where he lives.’
‘Let me tail him!’ Ann pleaded. ‘I read all about tailing suspects in your dad’s instruction book last night.’
‘I don’t know. It might be dangerous. Very dangerous,’ said Beans. ‘Only one of us should follow Lucas Moynahan. Two or three of us would be too easy to spot. If anyone does it, it should be me.’
‘But he knows who you are and what you look like,’ Ann argued. ‘Besides, Beans, you can’t do everything yourself.’
‘I know that, Ann – and thanks for offering, but this is serious. The men who kidnapped my dad did it because they were after money and they reckoned Dad’s induction oscillator was the way to get it. Those sort of people don’t go round you if you get in their way, they run straight over you. And I’d never forgive myself if anything happened to you – either of you.’
Ann reached out and placed a hand on Beans’s arm.
‘Beans,’ Ann began. ‘I know I may sound like I’m not taking this seriously, but I promise I am. Your dad’s been kidnapped and I want to do everything I can to help. I also know it’s dangerous, so don’t worry – I intend to be very, very careful following our Mr Moynahan.’
‘Of course, we may not have to follow him,’ Louisa interrupted. ‘We could try looking up his name, address and phone number in a telephone directory.’
Beans and Ann stared at Louisa before they all started grinning.
‘I do have good ideas sometimes,’ Louisa said.
‘I’d never have thought of anything so simple!’ admitted Beans. ‘All right then, Ann – you win. You can wait here in case our man leaves early and doesn’t go home. Louisa and I will head for the nearest phone box to check him out. We’ll be right back.’
‘Hang on half a sec!’ Louisa pulled an enthusiastic Beans back when she would have sprinted off. ‘We need a back-up plan for if Lucas Moynahan does decide to leave before we get back.’
‘True!’ Beans agreed dryly. ‘Let me think. What would Dad suggest at a time like this . . . ? Well . . . if Lucas leaves in a car, then there’s not an awful lot Ann can do. So she can wait here for us. Agreed?’
Ann nodded. ‘Agreed.’
‘If he goes to a bus stop or walks off some
‘If you aren’t here when we get back . . . we’ll head back to my home . . . and wait for you to call us there,’ Beans said slowly. ‘Then we’ll come out to join you wherever you are. The most important thing, though, is to take care. At the first sign of trouble, or if you’re detected – run!’
‘Dead right!’ Ann snorted. ‘I don’t need to be told that!’
And with that they separated.
The nearest phone kiosk was in the shopping precinct. Beans and Louisa weren’t keen on losing sight of Ann, but they had no choice. Beans opened the telephone directory and began to flick through its pages.
‘Yaahoo! He’s here!’ she shouted, before remembering where she was.
Moynahan, L. Mrs 47 Upper Crescent, Cleevesdon 5927070
Moynahan, Lucas Oak House, Berryfield, Nr Cleevesdon 2694252
‘Louisa, have you got a pen?’ Beans asked.
‘Yeah, here you are,’ Louisa said excitedly.
She handed it over, and Beans wrote the address and phone number down on the back of her hand.
‘I would have brought my spy kit along, but I thought it’d get in the way,’ Beans said.
‘Same here. I’m sorry I didn’t now,’ Louisa said.
Beans studied what she had written. ‘Oak House, Berryfield . . . He lives quite a way out.’
‘The perfect place to keep someone you’ve snatched,’ Louisa said. ‘An out-of-the-way spot, surrounded by fields and trees . . .’
‘And not too many nosy neighbours,’ Beans finished. ‘Come on. Let’s get back to Ann.’
‘Hang on. How about if we tried phoning his home first?’ Louisa suggested. ‘We know from your dad’s letter that there’s at least one other man involved in all this somewhere. Maybe the second man is at Lucas Moynahan’s house right this second.’
‘But what good will phoning him up do?’ Beans asked.
Louisa shrugged. ‘We’ll know for definite if another person is there. If someone is there, tell them you’re from a charity or something, but in the meantime listen out to see if you can hear any background noises. You might even hear your dad.’
‘It’s a bit unlikely,’ Beans said doubtfully.
‘But it’s worth a try. You’ve got nothing to lose,’ Louisa said.
And Beans couldn’t argue with that. After dialling the number, she held the phone between her right ear and Louisa’s left. It had barely rung once before the phone at the other end was picked up.
‘For God’s sake, Lucas, I’m moving as fast as I can. Stop phoning me. You’re panicking.’ The man’s voice at the other end of the line was angry, impatient.
Beans’s heart leapt up to her throat. She struggled to find something to say. The words of the man at the other end of the line had thrown her.
‘Hello. I’m from . . . I’m from . . .’ Beans’s voice dried up. Her mind went blank. The silence at the other end of the line was deafening.
‘Who is that?’ the man said at last, the wariness in his voice crackling down the phone.
Louisa nodded frantically at Beans. ‘Go on!’ she mouthed.
Beans’s mouth was bone dry, her tongue stuck to her palette. She swallowed hard, then swallowed again. It didn’t help.
‘Can I . . . can I speak to M-Mr Conran, please?’ Beans’s whispered words came out in a rush. At the other end of the phone, the man gasped.
‘Who is this? Who is this?’ he asked furiously.
Then the phone was slammed down.
Chapter Nine
That Was Dad!
‘Beans, are you crazy? What did you say that for?’ Louisa asked, appalled.
Beans stared at the receiver in her hand. The continuous purr it made, showing that the connection had been broken, mocked her.
‘Beans!’ snapped Louisa.
‘It was your idea to phone in the first place,’ Beans argued.
‘I never told you to ask that,’ Louisa fumed. ‘Now they’re on to us. They know we think your dad is there.’
‘It . . . it just slipped out,’ Beans said miserably. ‘Besides, they don’t know it was me.’
‘Talk sense. Who else would it be?’ said Louisa.
Deep down, Beans was just as shocked as Louisa. She hadn’t meant to ask that at all. ‘It’s just that . . . that suddenly all I could see was Dad locked up or tied up and all for a stupid gadget. He’s there! I just know he’s there. I can feel it.’
‘Feel it, my left eyeball!’ Louisa scoffed. ‘Beans, you need more proof than feelings. Detective Warner isn’t interested in your feelings. Suppose you got it wrong? Suppose that was Lucas Moynahan’s dad or brother or something and they have nothing to do with your dad?’
‘Yeah, but the man on the phone complained that Lucas has been phoning him a lot. I bet that was after he saw me in the building society,’ Beans tried to defend herself.
‘That doesn’t prove anything. Lucas might have been phoning up all the time to make sure his lunch was ready when he got home,’ Louisa said.
Crestfallen, Beans nodded.
‘And supposing, just supposing, you’re right. What if Lucas Moynahan and the man you just spoke to are somehow involved in your dad’s kidnapping? All you’ve done now is tip them off,’ Louisa said.
‘I was stupid, wasn’t I?’ Beans said glumly.
‘Yes, you were,’ Louisa agreed immediately. ‘Come on, let’s get back to Ann.’
As they walked back, Beans said, ‘I’m sure I’m right about Lucas Moynahan though. He would have been the first one at the building society to read Dad’s letter. As soon as I get home I think I’d better give Detective Warner a call.’
‘You’re certain Moynahan’s the one you saw outside your house?’ Louisa asked. ‘As I remember, the man you saw in the Escort had on sunglasses . . .’
‘It was him,’ Beans replied immediately. ‘I recognized him at once. He also has this habit of drumming his fingers. He was drumming his fingers on the steering wheel when I saw him the first time, and he was drumming his fingers on the table just now.’
‘Are you sure you didn’t see the drumming fingers and the beard and put two and two together to make three and three-quarters?’ Louisa asked.
‘No, I didn’t. It was him. I know it was. Besides, you didn’t see the way he looked at me. He recognized me all right,’ Beans retorted.
The rest of the short walk back to Ann was carried out in silence. Beans glanced up at the blue sky, shading her eyes from the dazzling sun. It was going to be a scorcher. Was Dad somewhere where he could see it . . . ? Feel it . . . ?
They reached the line of cars opposite the building society where they’d left Ann.
She wasn’t there . . .
‘Ann . . .’ Louisa called out nervously.
Beans looked around quickly, hoping Ann was still in sight. She wasn’t.
‘Stay there,’ Louisa ordered.
Before Beans could argue, Louisa crossed the road and went up to the building society. Beans’s heart moved up to her mouth as she watched Louisa try to push open the front doors. A tall, slim woman with black hair appeared almost immediately and said something to Louisa through the glass doors. Louisa spoke back. Licking her lips, Beans glanced up and down the main road, wondering if she should cross it to be with Louisa. As Beans watched, the woman unbolted the doors and spoke to Louisa directly.
Just when Beans thought she’d have to join her friend or die of curiosity, she saw Louisa smile and thank the woman from the building society before turning to recross the road.
‘What happened? What did you say to her? What did she say to you?’ Beans was all questions.
‘They closed over five minutes ago and our man Moynahan was out the door about two seconds afterwards,’ Louisa filled in. ‘I said he was supposed to be having dinner with us later and Mum had sent me with a message for him.’
‘So Ann must have followed him,’ Beans said ner
‘I’m fine.’ Ann’s voice behind them made both Beans and Louisa jump.
‘Ann! Where were you? I was beginning to get worried.’
‘I followed what’s-his-face to the car park around the corner,’ Ann said. ‘He got into his car – his blue Ford Escort car – and drove off, so I couldn’t follow him.’
‘I knew it was the same guy. I knew it!’ Beans hopped up and down. ‘He was parked outside my house yesterday. Ann, he didn’t see you, did he?’
‘Are you kidding?’ Ann said, her hands on her hips. ‘Of course he didn’t see me. I’ve read your dad’s book!’
‘I’m certain now that he’s involved in Dad’s kidnapping – absolutely certain.’ Beans’s eyes narrowed.
‘That’s all very well, but what’s our next move?’ Louisa said, bursting Beans’s bubble by injecting a practical note into the conversation.
Beans chewed her bottom lip for a moment. ‘We visit Lucas Moynahan at his house. We see if my dad’s there.’
‘You got his address? More spying! Yes!’ Ann waved her arms above her head.
‘Maybe now would be a good time to call Detective Warner?’ Louisa suggested.
‘Why? We don’t have any more evidence or information than we did yesterday,’ Beans argued. ‘I reckon we should call him after we’ve been to Moynahan’s house. If we manage to pick up some clues there, then we’ll definitely phone him.’
‘Let’s hope that when we want to go to the police, we haven’t left it too late,’ Louisa muttered.
Beans looked at her but said nothing.
They headed for the bus stop.
I wonder if Ann and Louisa feel as nervous as I do? Beans thought. What would she do if Dad was in Lucas Moynahan’s house? What would happen then? How would they rescue him?
Oak House was indeed well hidden. Miles out of town, you had to turn up an unmarked side track which was very easy to miss, overgrown as it was with brambles and bushes which grew higher than Beans’s waist. It was only thanks to the bus driver’s instructions that Beans and her friends didn’t miss the turning altogether. The entangled leaves on the trees above them were an all-enveloping cloak, deadening the light from the afternoon sun and flattening sound. They could hear one or two birds chirping and lazy buzzing sounds from distant insects, but even those noises were quiet and subdued.