safe, I mean! Before, ah, before anyone comes looking for you.”
Daniel walked over to the cabinet on the far wall and swung it open, revealing a small mounted safe. If Daniel had been half the detective he dreamed of being, he would have memorized the combination when he’d watchedHerman open it all those months ago. But Daniel was bad at numbers.
Luckily, he had the best safecracker in the world—one who didn’t even have to open the door.
“Well, there it is,” he said. “What do you think?”
Louisa studied the safe’s dimensions. It was maybe two feet wide. “Well, I could poke my head in there and look, but I wouldn’t be able to see anything,” she said. “Could be tricky, but I suppose I could just reach in and pull out whatever’s in there.”
Louisa could extend her intangibility power to other people or objects that she touched. It would be simple for her to reach inside, but Daniel understood her hesitation: without being able to see in first, she’d have no idea what she was actually grabbing. Daniel imagined Louisa’s hand reaching toward a viper, coiled in the dark and waiting to strike.
But that, of course, was ridiculous. They had more cause to worry about tripping some kind of silent alarm. They would have a hard time explaining that to the police.
“If you don’t want to try it, I’ll understand,” said Daniel. “We could always try to sneak in when Theo’s not home and let Eric just pull the door off.”
Louisa shook her head. “No. I can do this. If Eric opens that safe, it’s going to be
obvious
Eric opened that safe. He’s not exactly subtle.”
She looked at Daniel and smiled. “I want to help you guys out. I’m part of the team, even if I sometimes don’t actlike it. I just don’t get the same … thrill out of all this that you do.”
“I don’t get a thrill out it,” Daniel answered. “But it’s important.”
“Of course it is. It’s important and you are trying to help us all. Your heart’s always in the right place. But don’t fool yourself that you don’t love it, Daniel. You love the mystery, the adventure. Admit it. So does Eric. The detective and the superhero; you guys are the world’s finest partners.”
Daniel opened his mouth to protest but stopped himself. She was right. Daniel didn’t enjoy the danger his friends were in, but he craved the excitement of a new mystery to solve. He hadn’t realized just how bored he had been, especially these last few months of worry-free summer. And especially now, he felt like he needed this focus, he needed something to occupy his thoughts other than the memory of flying. This, at least, kept his mind off it.
“Stand back,” said Louisa, “and let me at that safe!”
Daniel positioned himself in the door to act as lookout while Louisa placed her thin brown fingers on the safe’s door. There was no outward sign that she was activating her power, no flash of light or whoosh of sound. Her hand just slipped inside. As easily as one might dip their hand in a tub of water, Louisa had reached in through the solid steel door until it was nearly up to her elbow.
“Now’s the tricky part,” she said. “I have to let my hand go solid again so I can feel around, but still keep the rest ofmy arm intangible. This always freaks me out a bit, to be honest.”
A gruesome thought occurred to Daniel: he wondered what would happen if she allowed her whole arm to become solid again while it was still inside the safe. Best not to think about that, he decided.
Daniel didn’t think it was a good idea to talk to Louisa while she was concentrating. After a minute of silence she let out a frustrated sigh. “Hmm, there doesn’t seem to be anything in there. It’s empty.… Wait, I found something.”
Louisa’s arm came out of the safe holding a piece of paper. It was a single sheet, folded over once.
“Is that all?” Daniel asked, trying to keep the disappointment out of his voice. “No folders or cases
Daniel walked over to the cabinet on the far wall and swung it open, revealing a small mounted safe. If Daniel had been half the detective he dreamed of being, he would have memorized the combination when he’d watchedHerman open it all those months ago. But Daniel was bad at numbers.
Luckily, he had the best safecracker in the world—one who didn’t even have to open the door.
“Well, there it is,” he said. “What do you think?”
Louisa studied the safe’s dimensions. It was maybe two feet wide. “Well, I could poke my head in there and look, but I wouldn’t be able to see anything,” she said. “Could be tricky, but I suppose I could just reach in and pull out whatever’s in there.”
Louisa could extend her intangibility power to other people or objects that she touched. It would be simple for her to reach inside, but Daniel understood her hesitation: without being able to see in first, she’d have no idea what she was actually grabbing. Daniel imagined Louisa’s hand reaching toward a viper, coiled in the dark and waiting to strike.
But that, of course, was ridiculous. They had more cause to worry about tripping some kind of silent alarm. They would have a hard time explaining that to the police.
“If you don’t want to try it, I’ll understand,” said Daniel. “We could always try to sneak in when Theo’s not home and let Eric just pull the door off.”
Louisa shook her head. “No. I can do this. If Eric opens that safe, it’s going to be
obvious
Eric opened that safe. He’s not exactly subtle.”
She looked at Daniel and smiled. “I want to help you guys out. I’m part of the team, even if I sometimes don’t actlike it. I just don’t get the same … thrill out of all this that you do.”
“I don’t get a thrill out it,” Daniel answered. “But it’s important.”
“Of course it is. It’s important and you are trying to help us all. Your heart’s always in the right place. But don’t fool yourself that you don’t love it, Daniel. You love the mystery, the adventure. Admit it. So does Eric. The detective and the superhero; you guys are the world’s finest partners.”
Daniel opened his mouth to protest but stopped himself. She was right. Daniel didn’t enjoy the danger his friends were in, but he craved the excitement of a new mystery to solve. He hadn’t realized just how bored he had been, especially these last few months of worry-free summer. And especially now, he felt like he needed this focus, he needed something to occupy his thoughts other than the memory of flying. This, at least, kept his mind off it.
“Stand back,” said Louisa, “and let me at that safe!”
Daniel positioned himself in the door to act as lookout while Louisa placed her thin brown fingers on the safe’s door. There was no outward sign that she was activating her power, no flash of light or whoosh of sound. Her hand just slipped inside. As easily as one might dip their hand in a tub of water, Louisa had reached in through the solid steel door until it was nearly up to her elbow.
“Now’s the tricky part,” she said. “I have to let my hand go solid again so I can feel around, but still keep the rest ofmy arm intangible. This always freaks me out a bit, to be honest.”
A gruesome thought occurred to Daniel: he wondered what would happen if she allowed her whole arm to become solid again while it was still inside the safe. Best not to think about that, he decided.
Daniel didn’t think it was a good idea to talk to Louisa while she was concentrating. After a minute of silence she let out a frustrated sigh. “Hmm, there doesn’t seem to be anything in there. It’s empty.… Wait, I found something.”
Louisa’s arm came out of the safe holding a piece of paper. It was a single sheet, folded over once.
“Is that all?” Daniel asked, trying to keep the disappointment out of his voice. “No folders or cases
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