at the camera one more time as we walked past. Something about it bugged me, but I couldnât figure out what. I wanted to stop and take a closer look, but Andrew must have been in a real hurry to fetch Mr Delgado. He was already at the end of the hall, tapping his foot like that would make me move faster. I took a quick picture so I could look at it later, and then I ran the rest of the way down the hall.
I climbed into the car and slammed the door behind me.
Dad slid behind the steering wheel, grinning like a kid in a candy store. âWhat a scoop!â
I was only half listening. Iâd figured out why the security camera was bothering me. It was too small.
I pulled out the photos from the file Delgado had given me. There. In one of the shots taken from inside Dr Learnerâs lab, you could see the security camera through the open office door. I took out my phone and looked at the picture Iâd just taken.
In the picture from the Delgado file, there was an L-shaped bracket hooked to the side of the camera. Two small clips came out of the foot of the L. They looked like they were designed to hold something flat. Maybe a mirror to see around corners, or something to block outglare if the camera was near a window. But the camera outside Dr Learnerâs office wasnât near a corner or a window. So what was the bracket for? And since there was no bracket on the security camera when we were in the office today, where had it gone?
âAlice, didnât you hear me? I said, what a scoop!â
The car shuddered to life, coughing up black smoke as we pulled out of the Delgado Industries car park and back on to the road. Dad is a reckless driver, so I expected to hear at least a couple of horns sound off as he pulled into traffic without slowing down. The silence was so unexpected, it made me turn around. A silver Mercedes with a New York number plate was right behind us. It must be a rental, I thought. Either that or their horn was broken. There was no way a real New York driver would let Dad get away with cutting them up like that.
âThis story has everything!â Dad changed lanes to pass someone doing the speed limit. âWe already had a mysterious disappearance and some sort of top secret invisibility project. Now weâve got a four-million-dollar government contract, possible corporate espionage, and â best of all â that invisibility project? It was a suit! Dr Learner was working on an invisibility suit !â
âWait, how do you know all that?â
âAh, well, I may have taken a little peek at Dr Learnerâs computer while you three were messing about with that machine. Nice work, by the way.â Dad took a sharp cornerwithout signalling and kept talking over the blaring horns.
âHow did you even get into his computer? Didnât he have a password?â
âYes, well, fortunately for me Dr Learner was the forgetful type. He wrote all his passwords down on a handy little Post-it and stuck it under his keyboard. His computer is about as secure as a brown paper bag.â
âSo what did you find?â
âA ton of emails from Mr Delgado asking Dr Learner to get âall the data about the suitâ ready for an important meeting. There was also an email offering Dr Learner a new job.â
âSo he was definitely working on a suit?â
âThatâs what the emails said.â
âBut thatâs not possible.â
âIâm telling you, it was right there in the emails.â
âAnd Iâm telling you thereâs no way an invisibility suit could be real.â
Scientists have been trying to figure out a way to make people invisible for years. The closest theyâve come is using cameras to take photos of whatever is behind the suit and projecting it on the front of the suit, but that isnât really invisibility. Thatâs more like a chameleon changing colour to match his surroundings. Plus there are
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