after my bloomin’ head.’
We both sat in silence staring at the monitor.
‘Those two men we saw last night,’ Nosh said suddenly. ‘D’you think they were the burglars?’
The moment he said that, I instantly felt that he was right. And then I told myself off.
‘It’s not very likely,’ I pointed out, doubtfully.
‘But if you’re right about this not being a real burglary then it makes sense,’ Nosh insisted. ‘Those two men were watching your house. They only turned away when they noticed that we were watching them.’
‘That doesn’t help much. We don’t know who they were or where they were from and there’s no way the police would buy a story like that.’
‘Hhmm!’ Nosh agreed reluctantly. ‘I wonder why they wiped out your mum’s disk?’
‘Obviously because there was something on it that they didn’t want Mum or anyone else to see or keep,’ I replied. ‘But if it was the Marcus Pardela memo, why not just delete that one file?’
‘I wonder if it was that?’ Nosh spoke more to himself than to me.
‘This is so frustrating.’ I slammed my hand against the table, which was stupid because I came off worse! ‘If I could just begin to make sense of one thing, then maybe everything else would fall into place but at the moment I feel like I’m rushing around in all directions in the dark.’
‘I take it your mum didn’t phone you this morning?’
I shook my head.
‘Should we go on the ANTIDOTE protest march?’ Nosh asked. ‘It seems to me that that’s the most likely place now to find some answers.’
‘OK,’ I agreed. ‘I don’t see that we’ve got much to lose. We could go with Halle and her boyfriend …’
‘You must be nuts!’ Nosh told me indignantly. ‘I’m not going anywhere with those two.’
‘But …’
‘No way,’ said Nosh.
And that was the end of that. After one last look at the PC screen, I turned off the processor.
We spent the rest of the morning trying to return the house to normal. Nosh’s dad phoned a glazier who promised to arrive within the hour to fix the glass in the kitchen window.
‘I don’t have enough money to pay him,’ I told Nosh’s dad reluctantly.
‘Don’t worry about it. I’ll pay and I’ll sort it out with your mum later,’ Nosh’s dad insisted.
He was being so nice, I felt guilty for all the begrudging thoughts I’d had about him the night before. When it got to half-twelve, most of the house was back to normal.
‘Mum, Dad, d’you mind if Elliot and I go out? I think Elliot needs to get away from here for a while,’ Nosh said.
‘Where will you go?’ Nosh’s mum asked.
‘We thought we could go to the pictures or something,’ Nosh told them.
I kept my mouth shut, wondering why he didn’t just tell them that we wanted to join the ANTIDOTE march.
‘D’you need any money?’
‘No, we’ve got enough,’ Nosh replied.
‘OK, just be back home by five,’ Nosh’s mum said at last.
‘Thanks, Mum,’ Nosh smiled.
‘And don’t worry, Elliot, we’ll keep a close eye on the house,’ Nosh’s dad added.
‘Thanks,’ I said gratefully.
As we left the house, I asked, ‘What was that all about?’
‘Mum and Dad would never have let us go on the ANTIDOTE march,’ Nosh explained. ‘They cut up rough when Halle said she wanted to go, and in the end they only agreed because scabby Julian said he was going with her.’
‘Why’re they so against the idea?’
Nosh lowered his voice. ‘They reckon with any march that big, you’re bound to get some yobbos coming along just to make trouble.’
‘Then maybe we should hook up with Halle and her boyfriend, just to be on the safe side?’ I suggested.
‘No. Besides, there’s nothing Halle would like better than to run home and tell Mum and Dad that we went on the march.’
I shrugged. I wasn’t going to argue but I thought Nosh was making a mistake.
An hour later we caught up with the ANTIDOTE march when they were less than a kilometre away
We both sat in silence staring at the monitor.
‘Those two men we saw last night,’ Nosh said suddenly. ‘D’you think they were the burglars?’
The moment he said that, I instantly felt that he was right. And then I told myself off.
‘It’s not very likely,’ I pointed out, doubtfully.
‘But if you’re right about this not being a real burglary then it makes sense,’ Nosh insisted. ‘Those two men were watching your house. They only turned away when they noticed that we were watching them.’
‘That doesn’t help much. We don’t know who they were or where they were from and there’s no way the police would buy a story like that.’
‘Hhmm!’ Nosh agreed reluctantly. ‘I wonder why they wiped out your mum’s disk?’
‘Obviously because there was something on it that they didn’t want Mum or anyone else to see or keep,’ I replied. ‘But if it was the Marcus Pardela memo, why not just delete that one file?’
‘I wonder if it was that?’ Nosh spoke more to himself than to me.
‘This is so frustrating.’ I slammed my hand against the table, which was stupid because I came off worse! ‘If I could just begin to make sense of one thing, then maybe everything else would fall into place but at the moment I feel like I’m rushing around in all directions in the dark.’
‘I take it your mum didn’t phone you this morning?’
I shook my head.
‘Should we go on the ANTIDOTE protest march?’ Nosh asked. ‘It seems to me that that’s the most likely place now to find some answers.’
‘OK,’ I agreed. ‘I don’t see that we’ve got much to lose. We could go with Halle and her boyfriend …’
‘You must be nuts!’ Nosh told me indignantly. ‘I’m not going anywhere with those two.’
‘But …’
‘No way,’ said Nosh.
And that was the end of that. After one last look at the PC screen, I turned off the processor.
We spent the rest of the morning trying to return the house to normal. Nosh’s dad phoned a glazier who promised to arrive within the hour to fix the glass in the kitchen window.
‘I don’t have enough money to pay him,’ I told Nosh’s dad reluctantly.
‘Don’t worry about it. I’ll pay and I’ll sort it out with your mum later,’ Nosh’s dad insisted.
He was being so nice, I felt guilty for all the begrudging thoughts I’d had about him the night before. When it got to half-twelve, most of the house was back to normal.
‘Mum, Dad, d’you mind if Elliot and I go out? I think Elliot needs to get away from here for a while,’ Nosh said.
‘Where will you go?’ Nosh’s mum asked.
‘We thought we could go to the pictures or something,’ Nosh told them.
I kept my mouth shut, wondering why he didn’t just tell them that we wanted to join the ANTIDOTE march.
‘D’you need any money?’
‘No, we’ve got enough,’ Nosh replied.
‘OK, just be back home by five,’ Nosh’s mum said at last.
‘Thanks, Mum,’ Nosh smiled.
‘And don’t worry, Elliot, we’ll keep a close eye on the house,’ Nosh’s dad added.
‘Thanks,’ I said gratefully.
As we left the house, I asked, ‘What was that all about?’
‘Mum and Dad would never have let us go on the ANTIDOTE march,’ Nosh explained. ‘They cut up rough when Halle said she wanted to go, and in the end they only agreed because scabby Julian said he was going with her.’
‘Why’re they so against the idea?’
Nosh lowered his voice. ‘They reckon with any march that big, you’re bound to get some yobbos coming along just to make trouble.’
‘Then maybe we should hook up with Halle and her boyfriend, just to be on the safe side?’ I suggested.
‘No. Besides, there’s nothing Halle would like better than to run home and tell Mum and Dad that we went on the march.’
I shrugged. I wasn’t going to argue but I thought Nosh was making a mistake.
An hour later we caught up with the ANTIDOTE march when they were less than a kilometre away
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