“Yes, sir,” Kenyon confirmed. “That’s standard operating procedure.”
“Well, what about the system being set in the first place?” I asked. “You said it was activated right before the alarm was tripped, but I was nowhere near the control panel.”
“The alarm company says it was activated remotely using the primary code.”
“Remotely?” I echoed in confusion. “That can’t be right, because I’m the only person with the primary code or remote access, and I didn’t do it.”
“I’m not doubting you, sir,” Kenyon insisted. “I’m just reporting what they told me. Is it possible you did it by accident?”
I spent a moment contemplating. I didn’t recall fooling around much with my phone on the night in question. However, people butt-dialed each other all the time these days, and I did tend to keep my phone in my pocket.
“Hang on,” I said.
A moment later, I hit the Mute button and then navigated through the bevy of apps on the phone until I found the one for the alarm system. I had recently installed the latest upgrade, so now it not only told me whether the alarm was off or on, but also logged whenever it was activated or deactivated.
From what I could see, no recent activity had occurred remotely. In fact, nothing related to the glitching that we were currently discussing appeared on the log for the alarm, and I conveyed as much to Kenyon after navigating back to the phone app and unmuting him.
“That’s truly bizarre, sir,” Kenyon stated, echoing my own thoughts. “Are you certain no one else has the primary code?”
“Positive,” I assured him. That said, Myshtal actually did have a code, but it was designated as “temporary.” Basically, it was an alarm code that could be given to guests who were visiting and then deactivated when they left. It was a way to let visitors come and go at their leisure without compromising security to a large extent.
“Well, sir,” Kenyon continued, “I hate to say it, but maybe it’s time to change the primary code – just in case someone’s hacked it or something.”
I froze as he finished speaking, my thoughts turning in an entirely new direction. Basically, the notion of hacking a security system immediately brought one person to mind.
Someone who could break into any computer system on the planet.
Someone who could manipulate an app without breaking a sweat.
Someone who could digitally go and do whatever they wanted without leaving a single clue behind.
Mouse.
Chapter 46
I quickly got off the phone with Kenyon, thanking him for his time and promising to be in touch soon. Afterwards, I simply stood there, thinking – trying to put together everything I’d learned.
If my theory was correct, it seemed that Mouse had hacked the alarm system at the embassy and activated it. But then, like the world’s stupidest burglar, he’d set it off immediately afterwards. It was as if he wanted to get caught. (And if that were the case, maybe he had gone crazy like everyone was insisting.)
However, following this, he hacked the system again, this time making the security company think the alarm had been deactivated while actually leaving it on. That forced me to come home and turn it off.
But why? Why go through all that? What was the purpose? As far as I could tell, he didn’t really accomplish anything. All he succeeded in doing was getting me to come home.
Unless that’s what he wanted, I said to myself, the thought materializing almost unexpectedly. It’s the only thing that makes any–
“Hey, you planning to come back and join us any time soon?” Electra asked, cutting into my train of thought.
“Huh?” I muttered, my mind still elsewhere for the most part.
“Looks like your phone call ended a minute ago,” Smokey noted, “so we were wondering if you were just going to stand there brooding all day or come back to the table.”
“Sorry,” I apologized. “I wasn’t brooding – just thinking about Mouse.”
“Oh?” Electra intoned. “Did you come up with something new?”
“Maybe,” I admitted with a shrug, “but I need to check something out. I’ll be back in a bit.”
“Wait!” Electra cried out, jumping to her feet. “We’ll come wi–”
Her words were cut off as I teleported.
Chapter 47
I popped up in the embassy, in the same spot where I’d appeared two days earlier, when the alarm was going off.
Okay, I thought to myself, throwing my mind back in time, Mouse manipulates events to get me here, and I show up like he wanted. Now what?
In all honesty, I was kind of at a loss as to how to answer that. Basically, what was the point of getting me to come home the other night? It’s not like he was waiting to talk to me, or left me a note. He’d been nowhere around when I’d arrived and had left no indication of the fact that he’d been there. Frankly speaking, assuming I was on the right track, I hadn’t even known he’d put in an appearance until just a few minutes ago. And then it hit me.
He wanted me to know he’d been here! I suddenly realized.
But for what reason? Mouse was obviously trying to tell me something, but it wasn’t clear to me what that was. In essence, simply knowing that he’d been here didn’t provide me with any particular insight. Aside from the alarm going off, there had only been one possible indicator of his presence: the open door to Myshtal’s room.
And just like that, the scales immediately fell from my eyes. I suddenly knew, with unmistakable clarity, exactly why Mouse had shown up at the embassy. I knew why he’d set the alarm off. I knew why he’d left the door to Myshtal’s room open.
He was trying to tell me where to find him. Or rather, how.
Chapter 48
Suddenly excited, I teleported to Myshtal’s room and immediately found myself in a spacious suite. Outside of the master bedroom, it was probably the largest such room in the place. As a Caelesian princess and favorite
