Page 42 of Skeletons in the Closet

I had enough familiarity with computers to know where to find the internet information under settings. I hummed at it, then aimed for the modem, unplugged the wires, then plugged them back in, watching the blinking lights like I had any clue what I was doing.

“Just as I thought.” Shaking my head, I turned to Diem. “Do you have the signal tracer?”

He stared with as much confusion as the boy.

“This guy can give us a hand. I’m sorry, bud, I didn’t catch your name.”

“It’s Indy.”

“Like the Indy 500?”

The boy shrugged. “I guess. My dad likes racing.”

“Cool.” I approached Diem and dug through the toolbox. “How old are you, Indy?”

“Almost sixteen.”

“Ever take shop in high school?”

“No.”

“Computer classes?”

“Just the one we have to take in grade nine. I didn’t do well.”

“Are you a math kid?”

“Not really.”

“Sports?”

“I like video game sports.”

“Nice. PlayStation?”

“Xbox mostly.”

“Cool. Ah, here it is.” The mini-quiz I’d been conducting was intentional. We weren’t in danger with Indy. Diem was right. He wasn’t the sharpest pencil in the box. We could bluff our way through this with no problems.

I removed a digital voltmeter from Diem’s toolbox. It had seen better days. The yellow plastic cover was so worn that the writing on it was too faded to read. When I pushed the power button, it beeped, flashing letters and numbers before settling at zero.

“You don’t mind giving my apprentice a hand, do you, bud?”

“Um… sure. What do I have to do?”

I wrapped an arm around Indy’s shoulders and guided him back to the front lobby, showing him the voltmeter. “Ever seen one of these?”

“No.”

“No problem. I’ll talk you through it. What I need is for you to stand here and hold this technical device in the air as high as you can. Near the front windows is best. Keep pressing the button until I say stop. Can you do that?”

“Yeah. What’s it do?” he asked when I handed him the device.

“Do you know what a talikimysoscribble is?”

“A what?”

“Talikimysoscribble.”

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