The Adventures of Jack Lime (11 page)

After a short wait, the door opened, but only a crack.

“Lime,” Max said, peeking out. “What are you doing here?”

When I met Max in the cafeteria, he came across as tall, dark and dour. Nothing had changed. He still looked as grim as a nuclear scientist at a reactor meltdown. The way he kept the security chain fastened told me he wasn't going to invite me in for a warm cup of tea. The cool reception made me think Max might be my man after all.

“I just have a few questions for you, Max,” I said, trying to seem as friendly as possible.

“I don't have time for questions,” he said.

A voice, a distinctly female voice, called from inside the condo. “Who is it, Max?”

“No one,” Max said, without turning around.

“That hurts, Max,” I said. “I don't suppose you'd mind telling me who's in there with you?”

“Yeah, I would mind, actually,” he said.

“We can play it that way if you want, Max,” I said, taking a step toward the door. “But you're only making things harder on yourself. If you've got nothing to hide, I can be a real sweet guy. But if I find out you've been holding back on me, Max, I'm going to come down on you like a hammer on an anvil.”

Max opened his mouth to say something, then stopped and just closed the door. I heard the deadbolt click and knew that our interview was over. But I wasn't quite done with Max. I needed to find out who was in there with him, and I was willing to wait.

I strolled down the hall toward the elevators. The great thing about classy places like The Mist is that they always have perks, like places to sit while you wait for the elevator to arrive. In this case, it was a neat little nook with a comfortable pleather chair. They even had a copy of the day's paper to read.

While I waited, I flipped through the paper, but I was too busy keeping my eyes peeled for Max's female friend to pay much attention to what I was reading. That is, until I got to page three. There, in black and white, was a story about the big Academic All-Stars trivia match between Iona High and Montgomery Academy. It turns out Montgomery was a prestigious private school, jam-packed with the best and brightest our slice of the world has to offer. They were three-time defending champions. Iona High was touted as the new kid on the block that was set to dethrone the old guard. The journalist who had written the piece had interviewed Jennifer and had quoted her as saying that Tobias was the main reason they'd made it to the finals. There was no mention of Max or any of the other people on the team, which I was sure would have added fuel to Max's fire. I was just starting to read about Montgomery Academy when a small, mousy girl marched past me and down the stairs. It was Lisa Aucoin, the team alternate.

I tailed her, making sure I kept my distance until she was clear of the front door. I didn't want her scurrying back to take refuge in Max's arms.

“Lisa,” I called, when she'd reached the edge of the parking lot. “Could I have a word with you?”

“I'm too busy right now,” she said, picking up the pace.

“Then, why don't we walk and talk?” I asked, practically breaking into a jog.

“We don't have anything to talk about,” she said, trying hard not to look at me.

I cut to the chase. “Is Tobias at Max's?”

“No,” she said, putting on the brakes. “Of course not.”

“And I suppose Max doesn't know squat about his whereabouts?”

“I'd know if Max had anything to do with Tobias's disappearance because we're …” she started, and then caught herself. But it was too late. The cat was out of the bag.

“Because you two lovebirds are an item,” I said. It wasn't a question.

“We're just getting ready for tomorrow night,” she said, but the red patches that suddenly blossomed on her cheeks told me otherwise.

“Of course,” I said. “And now that Tobias is out of the way, you'll be center stage instead of watching from the sidelines.”

“Well, I didn't
kidnap
him, if that's what you're implying,” she said, and started to walk away again.

“Getting a shot at the limelight is a pretty good motive,” I said, following along.

“Look, Jack, I deserve to be on that team. Everybody knows it. In practice, I consistently score higher than anyone else. But I'm in Grade 10, so I have to wait my turn.”

“You're telling me that you can beat Tobias?”

“Definitely,” she said, like I'd just figured out that two plus two equals four.

“I'm sorry, Lisa, but I find that hard to believe.”

“Believe whatever you want,” she said, picking up the pace again.

“So maybe Max did it,” I said. “With Tobias out of the way, there'd be room for his secret girlfriend on the team. Plus, he wouldn't have to play Robin to Tobias's Batman in front of the whole school.”

“First of all, I'm not his secret girlfriend. Second, Max isn't anyone's sidekick, especially not Tobias's,” she said and then broke into a sprint.

“So where do you think he is?” I asked, grabbing her arm. I'd had it with this traveling interrogation.

“I don't know,” she said, yanking her arm out of my hand. “I don't know if he went on a vacation, or the other team took him, or if the boys running the silly betting pool locked him away to mess around with the odds. I don't have a clue. That's why Jennifer hired you, isn't it? To find him? She's the only one who cares if he makes it to the match tomorrow night anyway.”

Lisa stormed away, but I didn't care. Alarm bells were going off in my head.

Thursday, March 12, 4:45 p.m.
A street with no name, Grandma's House

The case and all its angles had me twisted up. I certainly hadn't eliminated the possibility that Max and Lisa were playing me for a chump and had Tobias tied up in Max's fancy condo, but a numbers racket put a whole new spin on things.

If Lisa wasn't just cracking foxy, then a betting pool would be a big lead. Not only would the ringleaders have reason to kidnap Tobias, but they'd be exactly the kind of wingnuts who would pull a stunt like this. What I needed to do was find a way to get on the inside of this betting ring and crack it wide open. That's what I was thinking about when I started up my grandma's front walk, so I didn't notice Valda Pernickle sitting on the porch.

“Hi, Jack,” she said, bounding down the walk toward me.

“Valda,” I said, ready to make a run for it. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to see how your investigation was going.”

“How long have you been here? Where's my grandma?”

“I've only been here for about an hour,” she said. “Your grandma's inside. She invited me to stay for supper. Isn't that great? I can't wait to hear all about your day.” She grabbed my arm and started dragging me toward the door.

In my former life, my mom and dad used to make things like steamed salmon on wild rice for dinner. Or we might have pad thai with a glass of mango lassi on the side. I hated to admit it, because I considered myself a bit of a sophisticated city slicker, but none of that stuff compared to my grandma's meatloaf, and Thursday was meatloaf night. Unfortunately, the meatloaf didn't taste quite as good with Valda staring across the table at me like a cougar on the prowl.

“So tell us all about your day, Jack,” Valda said, while I plowed food into my mouth. I figured if I could eat fast, I might be able to get out of this ambush without getting hurt too badly.

“Not much to tell,” I said, in between hunks of meatloaf.

“Oh, I'm sure a detective like you must have lots of interesting things to tell us,” Valda said, reaching her foot under the table and rubbing my calf. I jerked away and accidentally flung a spoonful of potatoes at my grandma's face. Luckily, Grandma is quick for her age, and the potatoes ended up on the wall behind her.

“You're awfully jumpy, Jack,” Grandma said, scooping the potatoes off the wall.

“Sorry about that,” I said, getting up. “Let me throw those out.”

“Nonsense,” she said. “You stay here and talk to your friend … and try to relax.”

Once Grandma was out of earshot, Valda leaned across the table with a crazy look in her eyes. I thought she was going to try to smooch me, but she only wanted to talk. “Jack,” she said, in a low voice, “I wanted to tell you that there are people betting on the game tomorrow night. I heard them talking about fixing it so Montgomery would win. They think they're going to make a fortune. Do you think that might have something to do with Tobias's disappearance?”

“I already know about the betting pool, Valda,” I said, looking pained and rubbing my temples. The last thing I wanted to do was let Valda think she could get involved in my investigation, but in reality I could've kissed her. Between Lisa and Valda, this case was starting to shape up. Not only had they confirmed that there was a gambling operation at Iona High, but the fix was in for Montgomery to come out on top. And without Tobias around, it sounded like Iona High was sure to lose.

“You do?” Valda said, looking shocked.

“Lisa Aucoin told me,” I said.

She smiled as if this were the greatest news she'd heard in a long time. The girl was as nutty as a slice of pecan pie. Then, as my grandma came back to the table, she sat back in her chair.

“Gee whiz, this is terrific meatloaf, Mrs. Lime,” Valda said.

“Thank you, Valda,” Grandma said. “It's nice to know someone appreciates my cooking enough to keep from throwing it on the walls.”

Thursday, March 12, 9:12 p.m.
Grandma's House, My Room

Valda ate a lot, and she ate it slowly. Then she stayed for tea and cookies. By the time we'd retired to the living room and she'd started telling us about the spoon collection she'd inherited from her Great Aunt Beatrice, I thought even Grandma had had enough of her. An hour later, we managed to nudge Valda out the door. I hightailed it up the stairs, and when I was safely barricaded in my room, I gave Jennifer a call.

“Hi, Jack,” she said, in her bubbly way. “Did you find Tobias?”

“Not yet,” I said, “but I will. Don't worry about that.”

“But you've got some leads, right?”

“I have a few leads,” I admitted. “Say, do you know anything about people betting on the match?”

“Yes,” she groaned. “There are a couple of guys on the football team who are running some kind of pool, but they're just fooling around. They think this is all a big joke. But the last time I checked, the football team didn't make it to the regional finals.”

“Do you know anyone I could talk to about placing a bet?”

“You don't think they're mixed up with Tobias's disappearance, do you?”

“I don't think so, but I have to follow the lead.”

“I know somebody who might be able to act as a liaison for us, Jack. Why don't we meet tomorrow morning in the cafeteria? Is eight-twenty all right?”

“Sure,” I said, before hanging up. “And don't worry about breakfast, it's on me.”

All in all, it was a productive night. I'd managed to find out that the gambling operation was more than just a curve ball that Lisa had thrown my way to keep the heat off her and Max. I was a step closer to a meeting with one of the hoods involved in that numbers racket. And more often than not, where there's a numbers racket, there are grifters and con-men hanging around like vultures after a fresh kill. But I had a whole night before I could follow that lead, and I wanted to tie up a loose end that was still eating away at me. It was time to take a closer look at Tobias's Fortress of Solitude: his shed.