âWhat a mean thing to do!' Then India smiled at her aunt. âYou can fix it, can't you?'
âYes. Once Art gave me the idea, I found the answer..'
âIs that why we were checking wind farms in the library?' India asked.
Art nodded.' To find out if there were people who didn't want them.'
âA disk was also stolen, 'said the professor. âSecurity are still searching. But we now know who it was.'
âGrey Coat and the bikie girl,' muttered Art as he fumbled in his pocket. âIs this the disk?'
Wrapped in plastic, it smelled of squashed banana.
The professor looked carefully. âYes. But where did you find it?'
So Art told them.
Chapter 10
It was the Monday morning after the Tournament of Minds weekend. Before school, India played Shark's Day. But she couldn't run fast yet.
âMy cast's off,' said India happily.
âSo I noticed, said Art. âIt's a bit hard to miss.'
India's leg was pale brown, not dark brown like the rest of her.
âWhat did you do with the old cast?' Art wondered if it could be traded in.
âBrought it for “Bring and Brag” .'
âI've got something for that too,' said Art.
In art's grade last year they called it âShow and Tell'.
After the bell rang, the students lined up and went inside.
“Has anyone brought anything for âBring and Brag'? â asked Mrs. Tasker.
Art put his hand up.
âCome out the front ,Art. What have you brought to show the class?'
Art pulled out a disk. âThis is a computer disk.'
âWhat is special about this disk?' Mrs. Tasker turned over the egg-timer. The Bring and Brag person could talk until the timer stopped.
âThis is a back-up copy of the disk stolen from the university. The thieves wanted to stop the professor's work on wind farms. So they stole the disk. But they also did something elseâ¦'
âThey put a virus in the computer.'
âHow?'
âOne of the thieves used to work at the university. He tampered with the program. He fixed it so that when the professor took his name off the payroll, all the backup disks about the wind tunnel invention would be wiped.'
âThat's nasty,' said Mario. âBut what about the stolen sovereign? Do we get a reward?'
âYou didn't do anything, Mario,' said India.
âGrey Coat stole the coin from the gallery. When the security guard called out to him near the snack machine, he dropped it on the floor and vacuumed it up.'
âWhat happened next?'
âHe had to empty the vacuum cleaner. He was going to take it out to the hopper.'
âBut I thought that's where he hid the stolen disk. Was he the computer thief too?'
âYes he was. I saw him at the rubbish hopper when we arrived.'
âWhy did he leave it there?'
âHis friend, the bikie girl was going to collect the disk and the coin. Then she used some chewy to stick it to the seat in lecture theatre 1. She knew he'd have to clean there next and could pick it up. Then while the girls were in the toilets, she hid it in one of India's crutches.'
âWhy?'
âThe security guard was chasing her. And she was worried about me watching her too.'
âSo you solved two mysteries, Art?' said Mrs. Tasker.
âAt first I thought it was one mystery. But then I worked it out. There were two problems. One was the computer. The other was the stolen coin. But the same people did it.'
âWhy did they steal the coin?'
âTo sell it.'
âWhy was he messing up the computer?'
âHe used to be part of the group who were against wind farms in their area. Later, he was also mad because he lost his job.'
Mrs. .Tasker stopped the egg timer. âYour time is up. Thank you Art for a most interesting âBring and Brag' subject. Now it's Rae's turn. Rae has brought a pet mouse to show. Then India can tell us about her cast.'
After school, Art was packing up when India came back.
âMy aunty wants to see you. She's going to pick me up after school.'
âThe professor?' Art was pleased.
The professor was waiting at the gate. âThank you for your help over the weekend, Art. â
âThat's okay.'
âWould you and your friends like to visit my lab? I've got a few programs on my computer, you might like to play.'
âAce.'
âSince you're so good at solving problems, here's an interesting one. The zoo lost a four tonne elephant. They buried him in the grounds when he dies eight years ago. Now they want his skeleton for school studies. They can't remember where he was buried and there's no map.'
âAha!' Art's mindspace began to fill with all sorts of ideas.