Chapter 26
Nish glares at Nadeeka as she eats her tea, pushing peas around her plate in a silent protest. On the table next to her is her precious cardboard castle.
‘But it’s part of the display!’ she had wailed, after Nadeeka had told Miss Key she needed to take the castle home.
‘Couldn’t we keep it until the end of term?’ Miss Key’s plaits had bounced against the buckles of her dungarees. ‘It’s only a couple of weeks.’
‘The girls’ grandmother is desperate to see it. She’s going away.’ The lie had made Nadeeka redden.
‘Where’s Grandma going?’ Maya had demanded. ‘Is she going on holiday? Can we go?’
Nadeeka had become increasingly flustered as she navigated the girls’ questions, eventually snapping that she just wanted to take the bloody castle home!
Maya’s and Nish’s mouths had rounded in shock, and the bubbly Miss Key had looked personally wounded.
She had picked up the castle from the centre of a display on ‘Norman times’ and handed it wordlessly to Nadeeka.
It is another three hours before Nadeeka can look properly at the castle.
Scott has gone out for a run – taking his phone with him, Nadeeka notes – and the girls are in bed, so Nadeeka closes the kitchen door and sits at the table.
She eyes the castle from several angles, trying to identify which bit of the structure might have been made from the small square box, but Jamie and Nish have covered the joins in paper tape, and the grey paint flows seamlessly from castle wall to bastion to palisade.
There is only one way to discover what’s underneath.
Nadeeka takes a deep breath, then she rips the castle apart.
The square box originated from a company called Dragon Eye Technology in Shenzhen. There’s still bubble wrap inside, and when Nadeeka pulls it out, a sheet of crumpled paper comes too. She smooths it out.
ShadowTek X9 Quick Start Guide, she reads. Press and hold the red button for three seconds until the indicator light flashes. The device is now recording.
The kitchen door opens and Nadeeka jumps up, hiding the instructions behind her back.
‘Snapped the lace on my—’ Scott stares at the ruined castle. ‘What the fuck happened to Nish’s model?’ He takes in -Nadeeka’s guilty expression. ‘Wait – did you do that?’
‘Tell me this isn’t what I think it is.’ Nadeeka thrusts the piece of paper at him.
‘You’re losing the plot, Nads. What is this?’
‘That’s what I want to know. Jamie bought it about a week before he died.’
‘These are instructions for a covert recording device.’ Scott’s mouth falls open. ‘That bastard bugged the house!’
‘He wouldn’t do—’
‘For God’s sake, Nads!’ Scott takes a few steps towards her. ‘Wake up! The police have evidence that Jamie was part of New Dawn. He targeted you, and this bug proves it. He was recording you, Nads! Gathering information for them.’
The hairs on the back of Nadeeka’s neck stand on end. She shakes her head, no, no, no . . .
Scott drops his voice, his eyes flicking to the corners of the room. ‘What we need to find out is whether they’re still listening.’