Both ladies slowly turned to take in the door, on which a sign had been attached that read,‘Brian Brooks - General Manager.’
“Oh, gosh darn it,” said Gran. “I didn’t see that. Did you see that, Jeannine?”
“No, I didn’t see that, Jamelle.”
“I thought your names were Janette and Janelle?” said Brian.
“Of course they are,” said Gran. “My name is Janelle and my sister’s name is Janette.” She thunked her head lightly. “Silly me. I guess I get confused sometimes.”
“Yeah, I also get confused sometimes,” Scarlett added. “Must be because I’m old.”
Brian produced a kindly smile.“That’s all right. We all get confused from time to time. Do you want me to escort you to your room, ladies?”
“No, that’s all right,” said Gran. “I think we can find it, can’t we, Janette?”
“Absolutely,” said Scarlett.
“But how will you get in without your key?” asked the director, eyeing the leather lock-picking wallet with keen interest.
“I’m sure we’ll manage,” said Gran.
“If not…”
“No, we’re fine,” said Scarlett. “Thank you, Mr. Brooks.”
“Brian, please. Here at Happy Home we’re all on a first-name basis.” And after giving them a friendly nod, he used his key to enter his office, and we all stood there looking a little stunned, to be honest.
“We should have invited ourselves in!” Gran said. “Then you could have distracted him and I could have grabbed those cameras!”
“Oh, shoot!” said Scarlett. They both glanced at the closed door. “Maybe we still can?”
“It’s too late now,” said Gran. “He’ll think we’re nuts.”
“That might work in our favor. If Brian thinks we’re nuts, we might be able to get away with it. Just like we just got away with trying to break into his office!”
A slow smile spread across Gran’s face. “I think you just may have a point… Janette!”
“Why thank you, Janelle!”
24
Brian stared at us blankly.“Yes?”
“I’m sorry, sir,” said Scarlett. “But is this the way to the station?”
The director didn’t even flinch. Long association with the addle-brained and feeble-minded had hardened the man. “Unfortunately not, Miss Corr,” he said. “Where were you thinking of going at this time of night?”
“Night? But it’s only two o’clock in the afternoon!”
While Scarlett was entertaining the man, Gran and the rest of us snuck into Dee’s office, then straight into Brian’s inner office, where she began collecting the cameras. There was some haste required, for Scarlett might be able to stall the man for a few moments, but at some point his patience would wear out, and he’d send her on her way—to the station or elsewhere.
But Gran was quick on her feet, and had already collected three cameras when she was making for the door.
“Gran—the one next to the bust!” Harriet whispered.
“Oh, right!” said Gran, and collected that one as well. “Thanks, Harriet!”
“There’s no bust in team!” said Harriet happily.
And then we were out of there, our precious haul safely inside Gran’s pocket, and as we tiptoed past Brian, Scarlett was just saying, “I think you’re quite mistaken, sir. Cleveland is lovely this time of year.” When she saw Gran, she quickly added, “Though you’re probably right that New York isn’t so bad either. Well, goodbye, sir. I hope we’ll meet again soon!”
Brian didn’t seem to share this particular sentiment, as he stood eyeing us with a touch of distaste, before finally entering his office and carefully closing the door.
“And?” asked Scarlett. “Did you get them?”
“All of them!” Gran said proudly as she patted her pocket. “We’re finally in business, baby!”
Unfortunately as we soon discovered, we weren’t in business yet.
“But… There’s nothing on these!” Gran cried once she’d attached one of the cameras to her laptop. They were of the USB variety, and were supposed to be plug and play. “See?”
“There’s nothing to see,” Scarlett said.
“That’s what I mean. Nothing!”
Scarlett, who was as computer illiterate as her friend, shook her head sadly.“I’m afraid I can’t help you, hon. Computers and me, we simply don’t get along.” But then she got an idea. “Why don’t I call Kevin?”
Kevin is Scarlett’s great-nephew, and has helped us out with many a project, mainly when they are IT-related. You see, Kevin is what they call a computer whiz. He doesn’t actually whiz—mostly he stays in one place: behind his computer monitor, glued to his chair. But he does know an awful lot about computers.He calls himself an ethical hacker, whatever that might be, and it was clear that we were in need of his particular set of skills right now.
Kevin, who never seems to sleep, came by on his scooter, and climbed into the room through what we were starting to view as the official entrance: the window.
“So what’s the problem?” he asked as he parked his long limbs on the small couch and gratefully accepted the laptop and put it on top of his lap.
“Those cameras—there’s nothing on them!” said Gran, repeating her now well-known mantra.
“That’s because you need to turn them on,” said Kevin.
“Okay, so turn them on,” Scarlett suggested. “And then let’s watch the footage.”