Operation Gadgetman! Read online

  Contents

  Cover

  About the Book

  Dedication

  Title Page

  1 A Little Experiment!

  2 Gadgetman Goes Missing!

  3 Gadgetman’s Letter

  4 The Police Arrive

  5 Looking for Clues

  6 Gran Arrives

  7 Gran, I’m Frightened

  8 The Giveaway

  9 That Was Dad!

  10 Sergeant Paxman

  11 Matching Fingerprints

  12 Animal Crunchies to the Rescue!

  About the Author

  Also by Malorie Blackman

  Copyright

  About the Book

  BOOM! WHIZZ! KER-BOOM!

  Beans calls her dad ‘Gadgetman’ because of the weird and wonderful gadgets he comes up with – everything from exploding biscuits to spy kits. But when Gadgetman accidentally invents a device that could be used to steal millions of pounds, the wrong people find out and Gadgetman is kidnapped!

  With the help of her friends – and her special Gadgetman Spy Kit – Beans is determined to track down the kidnappers and rescue her dad. But can she find Gadgetman before he is forced to hand over the details of his invention . . .?

  To Neil and Lizzy,

  with love

  OPERATION GADGETMAN!

  Malorie Blackman

  Chapter One

  A Little Experiment!

  BOOM! WHIIIZZ! KER-BOOOM!

  The whole house shook and the windows rattled violently. Gadgetman was at it again! Beans was still for only a moment. She ran out of the bathroom and dashed downstairs, her toothbrush in her hand.

  ‘Dad! Dad, what’s going on?’ Beans yelled.

  A high-pitched whistle shrieked through the house again. Beans ran into the kitchen.

  BOOOOM! WHIZZZ!

  ‘Eeek!’ Beans threw herself down on to the kitchen floor.

  Only just in time, too! A small red-and-yellow doobry-whatsit whizzed through the open kitchen window and shot over her head, before veering left to crash into a box of cornflakes.

  BOOOOOOM!

  Beans shook her head as she got to her feet. Dad could blow up his workroom if he wanted to – and he often did! – but did he have to blow up the kitchen as well? Dad’s workroom was at the bottom of the garden, but there were times when the bottom of the garden wasn’t far enough away. Beans didn’t mind her dad being an inventor – much! – but did he have to make so much noise about it?

  ‘Beans, are you OK?’ Beans’s dad called through the kitchen window.

  ‘Yes, Dad.’ Beans frowned. ‘What on earth are you doing? You didn’t tell me your animal crunchies were meant to explode like that!’

  ‘They’re not! I got the propellent mixture wrong. I’d better stop the rest of them from blowing up as well! Bye!’ Beans’s dad started across the garden. He stopped abruptly and turned back. ‘Beans, er . . . you won’t say a word to your friends about what happened on Wednesday night, will you?’

  ‘No, Dad.’

  ‘Our secret?’

  ‘Our secret,’ Beans agreed. As if she would tell anyone. No way!

  Beans went out into the hall. Another explosion sounded behind her. She raised her eyes heavenwards, then walked faster.

  I don’t have time for all this. I have to get ready for school, Beans thought firmly.

  She started up the stairs, vigorously brushing her teeth, when the doorbell rang. With a sigh, she turned to open the door. She’d never get to school at this rate!

  It was her two best friends, Louisa and Ann. They always walked to school together. Beans grinned, the toothpaste frothy and bubbling in her mouth.

  ‘Arrgh! Mad girl! Mad girl! Call the RSPCA!’ Ann took a hasty step backwards.

  Beans laughed, before choking on the toothpaste.

  ‘Ugh! Beans, do you have to?’ Louisa wrinkled up her nose. ‘That is so gross!’

  WHIZZZZ!

  They all jumped.

  ‘What on earth was that?’ Ann asked, her green eyes round like saucers. ‘Your dad?’

  Beans nodded. Who else would be making that kind of racket at eight-fifteen in the morning? Mr McKee, their neighbour, would be knocking on the front door for sure with all that din.

  ‘It sounds like he’s trying to give everyone in the street a heart attack.’ Louisa frowned.

  Beans shrugged, then pointed to her mouth and darted up the stairs. Toothpaste rinsed out, she ran back downstairs to the hall to join her friends. Dad was there ahead of her. His hair was sticking up in tufts all over his head, his glasses were practically off his nose, and the right-hand arm of his glasses was sticking in his ear rather than resting on top of it. He was wearing a blue T-shirt and the shorts Beans had bought him for Christmas – the ones with Bugs Bunny playing tennis all over them. And he only had one slipper on.

  ‘Is everyone sure they’re all right?’ Bean’s dad asked anxiously.

  Louisa nodded. Ann bit her bottom lip and lowered her eyes, trying her best not to laugh. Beans couldn’t blame her! Why did Dad have to be so embarrassing!

  ‘I was doing a little experiment and it . . . er . . . went ever so slightly wrong,’ he said.

  ‘As always!’ Beans muttered.

  ‘Pardon, dear?’

  ‘Nothing, Dad,’ said Beans, hastily. ‘Rats! I’ve forgotten my jacket. I’ll be right back.’ And she ran upstairs to her room.

  When she came downstairs again, Dad said, ‘I’m just telling your friends about my latest invention – animal crunchies! They’re biscuits, shaped like various animals, which actually cook as you propel them through the air! Mind you, you have to lob them quite a few times before the ingredients cook properly, but it’s worth it, ’cause then you get hot, fresh shortcake biscuits! Isn’t that terrific! I got the idea for them by accident, actually. It was . . .’

  ‘Dad, you’ll have to hold your horses until this afternoon or we’ll be late for school.’ Beans glanced down at her watch.

  ‘But it won’t take long . . .’

  ‘We don’t have the time, Dad – honest,’ Beans said.

  ‘Oh . . . OK then,’ her dad said sadly.

  Beans sighed. ‘Louisa and Ann are coming round for dinner tonight so you can explain how your oojee-whatsits work later,’ she said. Her dad’s forlorn expression had got to her!

  ‘All right then.’ He brightened up. ‘I’ll make sure there’s plenty of food ready for all of you when you get here.’

  ‘Thank you, Mr Conran.’ Louisa smiled.

  ‘Yeah, thanks, Mr C.,’ said Ann.

  Beans turned to lead the way out of the house when her dad piped up from behind her, ‘Oh, just a minute, everyone.’

  He trotted into the kitchen. Beans looked at her watch again, tapping her foot.

  ‘Beans, if I have to stay behind after school to write another essay for being late, my arm will drop off,’ Louisa whispered.

  ‘And my mum will go into orbit,’ Ann added.

  ‘DAD . . . !’

  ‘Here we are.’ Beans’s dad came out of the kitchen, a small black plastic briefcase in either hand. ‘There you are, Ann. This one’s for you,’ he said, handing over one case to Louisa. ‘And this one is for you, Louisa,’ he continued, handing the second briefcase to Ann.

  ‘Dad, you’ve got them round the wrong way – again,’ Beans said patiently. She pointed to Louisa. ‘That’s Louisa.’ She pointed to Ann. ‘And that’s Ann! I have told you before.’

  ‘Oh yes, so you have,’ her dad said vaguely. ‘Sorry.’

  Beans tutted. How could he get her friends mixed up? Louisa was black and Ann was white, for goodness sake!

  ‘Thank you very much, Mr Conran. It’s very kind of you
.’ Louisa looked down at the briefcase in her hand. ‘Er . . . what is it?’

  ‘They’re Gadgetman spy kits!’ Beans’s dad announced proudly. ‘They’re going to be in the shops from the end of this month. Tell your friends! Tell your parents! Tell everyone! Buy now before the Christmas stampede.’

  It was only June.

  ‘Oh, Dad!’ Beans shook her head.

  If she shook it any more that morning it would drop off her neck! Some fathers shouldn’t be allowed, they really shouldn’t.

  Especially hers!

  PRINNNNNG! PRRINNNNNNGG! Someone was pressing the doorbell and they obviously weren’t going to take their finger off it until the front door opened.

  Beans and her dad looked at each other.

  ‘Mr McKee!’ they said in unison.

  Beans’s dad turned round to scarper back to his workroom.

  ‘Oh no you don’t, Dad. Stay where you are!’ Beans opened the door.

  ‘Beans, I’d like to speak to your father about all those explosions going off in your garden, please,’ Mr McKee said tersely. He looked past Beans and saw who he was looking for. His dark, bushy eyebrows fell so low over his narrowed eyes that they practically touched his kneecaps.

  ‘Dad, we’ll see you later.’ Beans pulled Louisa and Ann out the front door with her.

  ‘Er . . . Beans, couldn’t you . . .’ her dad began.

  ‘Sorry! No can do! We’ll be late for school if we hang around much longer,’ Beans said.

  ‘Mr Conran, I’m fed up! I’m warning you – one more bang, one more explosion, just one more teeny-tiny pop and I’m calling the police!’ ranted Mr McKee.

  Beans and her friends didn’t wait to hear any more. They left her dad on the front doorstep, discussing his latest invention and the noise it made with his irate neighbour.

  The three girls marched quickly down the hill.

  ‘Why didn’t you stay behind? Your dad obviously wanted you to,’ Louisa said.

  ‘Dad has to learn to get himself out of trouble,’ Beans retorted. ‘I can’t keep doing it for him all the time.’

  ‘Where did he get his animal crunchies idea from?’ Ann laughed. ‘I’ve never heard of anything like that before.’

  ‘Is it any wonder!’ Beans said dryly. ‘Who else would come up with an idea like that?’

  Louisa looked down at her watch. ‘I hate to tell you two this, but . . .’ She didn’t need to say the rest.

  Without any of them suggesting it, they all started running. They were going to be late for school.

  Again.

  Chapter Two

  Gadgetman Goes Missing!

  ‘Oooh! I’m dying to see what’s in it.’ Ann fiddled with the clasps on the briefcase. ‘I would have opened it in the street, but knowing my luck everything in it would’ve decorated the pavement two seconds afterwards.’

  Assembly had finished, but Mr Lark hadn’t yet appeared to take the class for double geography. Louisa already had her briefcase on her desk, about to open it.

  ‘Look, everyone! Look what Beans’s dad gave us,’ Ann preened. ‘Dead-brill spy kits!’

  There was a huge crowd around them in seconds. Beans was almost trampled underfoot in the rush.

  ‘Beans calls her dad “Gadgetman”. That’s his job – he invents things, gadgets,’ Louisa explained. ‘And he gave us these.’

  SNAP! SNAP! SNAP! SNAP!

  The clasps on the black plastic briefcases sprung back.

  ‘Oooohhhh!’

  ‘Look at that . . .’

  ‘Wow!’

  Even though Beans knew what was in the briefcases, she was still excited. Dad would have loved this reaction! She stood up on a chair to peer over everyone else’s heads.

  ‘There’s an instruction book here.’ Ann picked up the manual on top of everything else in the briefcase and turned a couple of pages. She began to read. “Gadgetman Spy Kit Contents List: Special two-way pencil, torch (batteries not included), mirror, tweezers, magnifying glass, notepad, evidence bags, black-and-white fingerprint powder, fingerprint brush, TOP SECRET folder . . .”’

  ‘Did your dad really make all that?’ Stephen turned round to ask Beans.

  Beans nodded, her face growing more and more warm. ‘Dad had the idea and he wrote the instruction book. That has things in it like secret codes, masks and disguises, following suspects, the proper way to take fingerprints and all kinds of other stuff. Then Dad sent his idea to a toy company and they put the whole lot together.’

  ‘What’s a . . . a special two-way pencil?’ Jessica asked.

  ‘Half of it is a normal graphite pencil,’ Beans explained. ‘The other half has got specially treated wax down the middle. When you write with the wax end it doesn’t show up until you do special things to it. It’s all in the instruction book.’

  ‘And are all the spy kits the same?’ asked Stephen.

  Beans nodded.

  ‘Can I have one?’ Stephen asked eagerly.

  ‘And me . . .’

  ‘Me too . . .’

  ‘I don’t know if Dad’s got any more,’ Beans said quickly.

  No way did she want the whole class camping out in her front garden.

  ‘Mr Conran said the kits are going to be on sale at the end of this month,’ Louisa called out over the noise of everyone in the class asking Beans for a spy kit.

  ‘WHAT IS GOING ON IN HERE?’ Mr Lark’s voice boomed out from behind everyone, making them all jump. ‘Beatrice Conran! What are you doing standing on that chair? Would you stand on your chairs at home?’ he asked.

  Beans opened her mouth to say that she often did, but Mr Lark got in first.

  ‘No, of course you wouldn’t,’ he said, answering his own question. By this time everyone else had darted back to their own desks.

  ‘Louisa, Ann, come to the front of the class – and bring those cases with you,’ Mr Lark ordered.

  He pulled his glasses down to the end of his nose, the better to scrutinize everyone. Beans couldn’t be sure which glinted more, his piggy eyes or his snooker-ball bald patch, which went from the top of his forehead practically all the way back to his nape. She hated geography!

  ‘It’s a spy kit, sir,’ Louisa explained.

  ‘Don’t be facetious, child!’ Mr Lark snapped.

  When he saw what was in the cases Mr Lark said, ‘Right then! These are confiscated until the end of school. And you two will stay behind in detention for an hour this afternoon and write me an essay, entitled “Why I was unwise to bring my toys to school”.’

  ‘Oh, but sir . . .’ Ann began.

  ‘No buts.’ Mr Lark raised a hand. ‘Or you can both stay behind on Monday afternoon as well.’

  Ann shut up.

  ‘But sir, it’s Friday,’ Beans protested on her friends’ behalf. ‘We all had things planned . . .’

  ‘Then you’ll just have to unplan them, won’t you,’ Mr Lark retorted. ‘And as you’re so concerned about your friends, Beatrice Conran, you can stay behind with them this afternoon. Your essay will be entitled “Why I should not stand on school chairs”.’

  Beans’s mouth fell open.

  ‘I thought you’d appreciate that.’ Mr Lark’s eyes held a satisfied gleam.

  ‘We should have just ambled to school and had done with it,’ Beans muttered under her breath. ‘We always end up with detention anyway.’

  ‘Did you say something, Beatrice?’ Mr Lark’s eyes narrowed.

  ‘No, sir, nothing,’ Beans replied quickly.

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘Positive, sir,’ Beans said innocently.

  ‘Good! Because I have plenty of other essay titles in my head, you know.’

  I don’t doubt it, Beans thought sourly, but wisely she said nothing.

  Beans, Louisa and Ann walked up the steep hill that led to Beans’s house. It was late afternoon. A few cotton-wool clouds were dotted about the sky. Beans wiped her forehead. She’d have a shower later if she was still this hot and sticky.
r />   She glanced across the street. A bearded man, wearing sunglasses, sat behind the wheel of a navy-blue Ford Escort. There was someone beside him, but that person was bending down, picking up something off the floor. Beans couldn’t be sure if the person in the passenger seat was a man or a woman. She wouldn’t have noticed the driver at all except that he was drumming his fingers on the steering wheel and looking directly at her. Beans wondered what the man was doing there. She knew the Escort didn’t belong to any of the neighbours.

  ‘I wonder who he’s waiting for?’ Beans said to her friends.

  ‘Who?’ Ann asked.

  ‘Him.’ Beans turned to point to the Escort. The driver was looking straight ahead now.

  ‘Who cares!’ Ann said. ‘Beans, you’re dead nosy!’

  Beans smiled. Ann was right!

  They reached Beans’s house and walked up the path to her front door.

  ‘Beans, I can only stay for an hour at the most,’ Louisa said.

  ‘Me too,’ said Ann.

  Beans sighed and nodded as she opened her front door. It was all Mr Lark’s fault! Her friends would only have time for a quick snack. Beans hoped Dad hadn’t gone to too much trouble.

  ‘Gadgetman, we’re here!’ she yelled, the moment she stepped over the doormat.

  Her dad liked it when Beans called him Gadgetman. He said it made him feel like a superhero!

  There was no answer.

  ‘Gadgetman, where are you?’ Beans shouted.

  Still no answer.

  ‘He must be in his workroom. Come on, let’s go round the side of the house and surprise him,’ Beans suggested.

  She led the way out of the front door, through the side gate and down the path. The workroom was really a large shed, as tall as it was broad. Once it had been a magnificent, solid structure. These days, although it was still solidly patched, years of explosions and experiments gone wrong had taken their toll. And now there was a huge hole in the roof where there had been none the day before. From the looks of it, the door had taken quite a bashing too.

  So much for her dad’s new gadget!

  Beans pushed at the door which was hanging half off its hinges. They all stepped into the workroom.

  ‘Oh no! Call the police – you’ve been burgled!’ Louisa exclaimed.