The Case of the Exploding Loo by Rachel Hamilton

strictly forbidden. You’d think if one of the “brightest young people in the country” managed to smuggle one inside then they’d have the sense not to
set the alarm. Is someone looking for trouble?
    Screeching in indignation, Ms Grimm flies to the door, pausing long enough to bark, “I’ll only be a minute.”
    A minute is probably all she needs to assassinate the rule-breaker. I wipe the sweat from my forehead and breathe more easily. Every step towards the phone-offender is a step away from me.
    My relief fades when Porter sprints past the doorway brandishing a mobile phone. What’s he doing? His mother is clearly wondering the same thing.
    “Porter Brian Grimm!” Ms Grimm powers down the corridor behind him, “Come back here, this minute!”
    Ms Grimm’s fast, but Porter’s faster. She yells for backup. A man in thick glasses and slightly-too-short trousers bursts out of the room next door and chases after them, a heavy key
chain jangling against his leg.
    With the action taking off in the other direction, I sink back into the nearest leather recliner and stare at myself in the mirror. Is this the me I’d have seen a month ago? Dad gave me an
article once, about Heraclitus’ theory of flux, which suggested everything is in a state of constant change. But how much can you change before you become a completely different person? Four
weeks ago I’d have disapproved of Porter breaking the rules. Today I want to cheer him on. (Quietly.)
    As I gaze at my reflection I notice the mirror is set into the wall. Moving closer, it looks like the glass is glowing from the inside, as if lit from behind. I knock on the surface. Sounds
hollow. Could this be one of those two-way mirrors you get on TV detective shows? I cup my hands around my eyes and press my face close to the glass. I can’t be sure but I think I see
something behind it. A TV? No, a computer screen. And what’s that in the corner?
    Trying not to imagine what Ms Grimm will do to me if she discovers I ignored her instructions, I creep into the corridor, glancing left and right to make sure no one’s looking. If that is
a two-way mirror, the spy room must be the next door along – the door Short Trousers Jangly Keys Guy didn’t have time to lock behind him.
    Something sinister is going on at LOSERS and I’m sure it’s connected to Dad’s disappearance. This room might hold the secrets.
    Then again, it might just hold a big heap of trouble. What to do?
    Holly would barge straight in. Month-Ago-Me would stay put and wait for Ms Grimm to return. Today-Me stands half in, half out the room, unable to make a decision.
    Porter comes flying around the corner and skids to a halt, three doors down. He jams the handle up and down, smashing his shoulder against the door and swearing when it refuses to open.
You’d think it was a roomful of portaloos the way he’s behaving.
    I move across to join him. “What’s in there?”
    “Answers.” Porter kicks the door.
    I thought Porter
had
the answers. Well, most of them at least. Maybe we can find the rest together.
    “This door’s not locked.” I point behind me. “Want to check it out?”
    Porter looks at the door and then at his watch. “They’ll be here any second. I’ll distract them for another five minutes while you slip inside. But you have to tell me what you
find. Promise?”
    I nod.
    He takes a deep breath and releases it in a mad whoop before running off down the corridor.

21
Spying
    I’m committed now. I promised Porter. Closing my eyes, I fling myself into the room.
    Albert Einstein!
I was right. I’m on the spy side of a two-way mirror. Next to the glass are two wooden, fold-up chairs. One is still warm. My eyes lock on to the device in the
far corner of the room pointing directly at the chair I was sitting in only minutes ago. I approach it slowly, reaching out to touch the turquoise plastic to convince myself it’s real.
    CLUE 28
    LOSERS have created a life-size model of the