The Case of the Exploding Loo by Rachel Hamilton Page A

brain ray!
    It matches our design in almost every way. The only differences are:
    1. The disgusting turquoise colour.
    2. The +/-dial on the side. That wasn’t part of our design. Positive and negative what?
    I jump as something beeps behind me, then laugh shakily when I see it’s just the computer I spotted from the other side of the glass. I must have nudged the monitor and
brought it to life.
    On the screen is a list of folders, filed alphabetically:
    •
West, Alexander
    • Winston, Robert
    • Wittgenstein, Ludwig
    • Wright, Wilbur & Orville
    • Xenocrates
    • Young, Grace Chisholm
    The names in regular font are famous scientists and mathematicians. I click on Robert Winston and find his folder full of speeches he’s made and articles he’s
written. One of the italic names is familiar too.
Alexander West
is a fellow Remarkable Student. Maybe we all have student folders. Curious, I hit the arrow key and scroll up to
“H”.
    • Galileo
    •
Gold, Gemma
    •
Grimm, Porter
    • Hawking, Stephen
    • Hawkins, Brian
    • Hawkins, Madeleine
    •
Hawkins, Noelle
    There I am. I insert my memory stick and copy the file.
    I recognise Gemma Gold’s name too – the girl who forgot her comfort blanket.
    It’s not a big surprise to find Dad on the list. He’s a well-known figure – the wacky scientist TV people call when they want to make their programme more controversial. But
then I register the name between Dad’s and mine – “Hawkins, Madeleine”.
    Mum?
    Mum has never written a book or appeared in a television documentary. Mum’s not a scientist. This makes no sense.
    CLUE 29
    LOSERS are interested in my mum.
    I try to stop my hand shaking so I can select Mum’s folder, but just as I’m about to copy it I glance at the two-way mirror and see the door to the Mental
Conditioning Room swing open.
    Isaac Newton!
Ms Grimm is back!
    I check the clock at the bottom of the computer screen. Seven minutes have passed. Porter kept his side of the bargain. I’m the one who messed up. And Ms Grimm is going to mentally
condition me to death as a result.
    I whip out the memory stick without following the proper ejection procedures and run as fast as my PE-hating legs will carry me. Halfway down the corridor, I see Short Trousers Jangly Keys Guy
heading my way and dart into the girls’ toilets.
    Toilets! Brilliant! The perfect excuse for not being in the Mental Conditioning Room. Everyone has to wee. After washing my hands to support my story, I leave the loo and head back towards Ms
Grimm.
    Perhaps today isn’t my day to die
. Hey, maybe that counts as a positive thought.
    I seem to have got away with it. Ms Grimm only stays in the Mental Conditioning Room long enough to tell me she can’t stay in the Mental Conditioning Room.
    “I need to deal with Porter,” she snaps. “Wait here until the bell rings for Science Hour.”
    I want to find Porter and help him. It’s partly my fault he’s in trouble. But I’m convinced Short Trousers Jangly Keys Guy is on the other side of the mirror, so I flick
through the science journals, giving the odd fake laugh as if I’ve spotted a particularly funny scientific anecdote, until the bell finally rings.
    After that, I race to the Science Lab. Porter’s not there either. Where is he? What’s the Grimm Reaper doing to him?
    I set up my combustion experiment and picture myself pointing the Bunsen burner at Mr Kazinsky, forcing him to reveal Porter’s whereabouts. In my enthusiasm, I accidentally burn a hole in
the workbench.
    Mr Kazinsky confiscates the Bunsen burner, gazing into the flame with a strange, absorbed expression before handing me an electromagnetism worksheet. Considering I’ve only been at LOSERS
for two days, I’ve spent a lot of time completing electromagnetism worksheets. Is this another coincidence?
    The design sketches for the brain ray included notes on using electromagnetic energy to increase intelligence. Dad said we were on the verge of a