With help from her amazing new friends, Sophie Dayton has figured out an answer to the second challenge. But will it be the right one? How much harder will the third challenge get? And will she ever stop blushing when Adam smiles at her?

This is Episode 12 in the Diary of a Detectress series. For previous episodes, please follow these links:

Episide 1 – A life inside-out

Episide 2 – Student record not found

Episide 3 – First steps towards success

Episide 4 – Lack of leads

Episide 5 – A new home

Episide 6 – Staking out

Episode 7 – The explanation of a lifetime

Episode 8 – Tracking down a hacker

Episode 9 – What happens when you mess with the future

Episode 10 – Task the second

Episode 11 – Agent in red?

Dear Diary,

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As soon as Layla emails me a link to the photos, I’m out of the door, heading straight for the café where I met Adam the last couple of times. When it comes to answering the second challenge, the photo of the guy in the red jacket is my best guess for now. Thank goodness for Katie's sharp eyes.

Whether it's the right answer or not, I want to get this meeting over with as quickly as possible. I spent so much time last night stressing over whether I'd failed the test or not, that by now I just want to stop my brain from going around in pointless circles.

At the café, I’ve only just collected my coffee and found a table when Adam turns up. Does this guy have video surveillance on the place or something?

“Dayton.” He takes the chair on the other side of the table and turns the full force of his gorgeous smile on me.

“Hey,” I try to keep from smiling back and fail miserably.

“How’d it go?” Does his smile betray just a hint of sympathy?

I put on my confident face. “Not bad.”

I take out my phone and follow the link Layla sent me to her cloud drive. The café wifi is painfully slow and I hope that Adam doesn’t notice the slight tremor in my fingers as I wait for the files to download. Finally the images appear. I chose a couple of shots that provide a good view of the red-jacket guy.

“Is that him?” I hold the phone out for Adam to see.

He takes it and his forehead creases. “What made you pick that guy?”

Shit, does that mean it’s the wrong person?

No wait, it’s probably a test to check my reasoning. I clear my throat. “Going by his actions and body language, that man didn’t seem to be at the event for the sake of networking. He stood out.”

Adam’s eyes are boring into me and I feel my face redden. I must be on the wrong track. He glances at the photo again. “What about the jacket? Seems a bit TOO standout for someone trying to blend in.”

I grasp after a plausible explanation. “Misdirection again? The bright colour attracts people’s attention, but they notice the jacket rather than the man wearing it. He could change clothes and then slip around unnoticed afterwards.”

Adam looks at me for a couple more seconds, then his face relaxes into a grin. “Well done, Sophie. Right again. You passed the second challenge.”

I hastily stifle the urge to squeal and hug him. Instead, I push my hair back behind my ears, grinning like a maniac. “That’s great! I mean, that I was right, and that I passed the test…” Stop babbling. He gets it.

His eyes have gone back to the photo. “I have to say I’m impressed with these shots. If you weren’t doing so well with the tests, I’d suggest following a career in photography.”

My mouth opens to say that it wasn’t my work, but then a terrible thought strikes me. Would I get in trouble for seeking help with the task? I didn’t tell Layla or Katie about the test, but I also couldn’t have completed it without them. Does that mean the result is invalid?

Meanwhile, Adam has moved on to telling me about the third challenge. “…a big advantage for you that you took photos because the third test involves doing some investigating into the past. Your next challenge is to find out what the agent you correctly identified was doing at the event. This will be tricky, but you’ve proven yourself to be resourceful in the past. I have no doubt you’ll find a way.”

I nod vaguely, my mind still in a whirl over whether I cheated on the last test.

Adam’s standing up to leave. He must have taken the confused expression on my face to be dismay over the level of difficulty of the next challenge, because he pauses before leaving, touching me on the shoulder and murmuring “You can do it, Sophie.”

Then he’s gone. And my shoulder is tingling like someone gently jabbed it with a taser.

On the way home, I realize that I already know the answer to the third test. Katie even gave me that when she pointed out that the red-jacket guy was staring at another man. I’ll need to analyse the photos again to confirm the suspicions, but I’m guessing that red-jacket guy was there to watch that other man.

Either way, I’ll take a few hour’s break first. I’m kind of thrown by the realisation that I may have cheated on the last test and need a while to collect my thoughts. Plus, Adam acted like this next test would be super difficult, so surely I can take a bit of a break before reporting back to him.

And anyway, ONE visit to that overpriced café is enough for today. I notice that Adam leaves it to me to buy a drink so we can sit there. Typical man.

Back at home, I see a vaguely familiar jacket hanging next to the door. Dropping my stuff in my room, I head into the kitchen to find Ethan's skinny figure bending over the coffee machine.

“What are you doing?!” My question comes out far louder than I intended.

Ethan blinks at me. “Making a coffee?”

“It’s just that we have an optimal heat immersion ratio for the coffee machine…” my voice trails off as I realise I’m talking exactly like Katie.

As if I’ve channelled her, Katie herself walks into the kitchen. “Oh hi,” she says when she sees Ethan. “I’m Katie.”

“Ethan, hi,” he says, waving. He’s wearing a ‘Geeks do it beta’ T-shirt.

Katie’s gaze goes to the coffee machine and she narrows her eyes. “Are you the one who keeps changing the settings?”

Ethan glances at the machine. “Oh this? I prefer a lighter flavour so I’m just shortening the percolation time.”

I brace myself for a storm.

Katie’s face reddens and she pushes her hair back impatiently. “In this house we have a democratic approach and we agreed on an optimal heat-immersion-“

“-heat immersion ratio.” Ethan completes her sentence. He turns to me, stroking his goatee thoughtfully. “I had no idea you lived in a coffee cult.”

“Oh please! You can’t call it a cult just because we care how our coffee tastes,” exclaims Katie.

“Well let’s look at the facts,” Ethan ticks off the points on his fingers. “You live in a closed community, have highly specific views that some people might consider to be controversial, and are quick to indoctrinate new members,” he gestures towards me.

Katie seems energised. “But if those are your criteria for defining a cult, aren’t you then describing practically all households and social groups? I highly doubt that…”

I abandon my plan for grabbing a snack and escape the kitchen at top speed. With a clash of two such strong intellects, it’s better for everyone else to stay out of the way.

Back in my room, I notice I have a missed call from Shane. I ring him back right away.

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“Sophie!” he exclaims. “Called to see whether you’re still alive. Are you?”

“Well I’m living in a coffee-themed cult, associating with elves, fairies and hackers and training to be a secret agent.” I summarise. “How’s your life?”

“Ha ha, very funny,” he says. “How’s it going in the new flat?”

“Well I have an actual bed so it’s definitely an improvement on my last accommodation.”

“You were lucky to get my couch and you know it,” he retorts. “No seriously, I just wanted to check you were ok. You seemed to move in there very quickly after you met that girl randomly in a coffee shop…”

Aww, Shane’s concerned for my well-being. “That’s sweet of you but everything’s great. Meeting Layla was destiny in action, I tell you.”

“That’s good.” He sounds relieved that he doesn’t need to enact another rescue-Sophie mission. “And did you figure out what was going on with your student record?”

“Oh…” I decide to sidestep the issue. “Actually, I decided I don’t want to be a student any more. I’m in an interview process with the company that my parents used to work for.”

“That’s amazing,” he exclaims. “What company is it? I have no idea what your parents did.”

“Well it’s…people and logistics stuff,” I improvise. “They have openings for people with different skills and they were interested in me because of my parents.”

“Sounds good. What-“

“-but that’s enough about me.” I cut him off before he can ask any more awkward questions. “How’s it going with Jade? Are you still seeing her?”

I can just imagine the goofy expression coming over his face. “Yeah. She’s great. Actually she’s already moved in.”

That was fast. “Er, great! Good for you guys. You must really like each other then.”

“Yeah…” he says dreamily. “Sometimes you just know when it’s the right person, you know what I mean?”

“Not really. But that doesn’t matter. I’m happy for you guys. As long as she can stomach your football addiction that is.”

“Oh that reminds me,” he exclaims. “I rang partly to invite you to the footie match tomorrow.”

“Oh, are you having a party again?” I say, unenthusiastically. I’ve been to Shane’s football match meetups before. They aren’t much fun unless you’re heavily into football, beer and dick jokes.

“No, I mean the actual match up at the uni ground. Jade’s company is handling the promotion and they wanted to get plenty of attendees, so they’ve given her a load of free tickets to give away. You could bring your new flatmates too. In fact, bring as many people as you can.”

A real-life football match. How amazingly normal! I ought to make the effort to catch up with Shane. “Alright, I’ll come. I’m not sure whether my flatmates are into football, so I’ll ask them and then text you how many tickets to save, ok?”

“Sure thing. See you tomorrow then.”

We hang up and I switch on my laptop to have another look at the photos from last night. I promised myself a break, but to be honest the curiosity is driving me mad. I can’t wait to see whether Katie’s hunch was right about the man that our agent was tracking.

As I’m waiting for it to load up, I realise my stomach is growling from hunger. I peek out into the hall, trying to work out whether Katie and Ethan are still having their heated discussion.

I can’t hear anything so I venture out and tiptoe towards the kitchen. Still no noise. I decide they must be gone so I walk straight in there.

And am met with the sight of Katie and Ethan locked in a passionate kiss.

They’ve both taken off their glasses, which are laid in a pile on the kitchen table. Even their accessories are embracing. I hastily back out of sight.

Geek love. How adorable.

Sadly it’s also causing me to slowly starve to death. I debate for a few moments, but really don’t want to face the awkwardness that would ensue if I entered the kitchen and disturbed them. Instead I grab my bag and quietly sneak out of the front door. The local chip shop will do.

One chip butty later, I’ve slunk back into my room and am going through the photos again, trying to find more of the man that red-jacket guy was watching. I’m just zooming in on a shot of him, debating whether I can google his face, when there’s a knock on my door. I shout to come in and the door opens. It’s Ethan.

“Hey, come in,” I say. “Did you finish your ‘discussion’ with Katie?” I mime air quotes.

He clears his throat in an attempt to look casual. “Ah, yeah, she seems like a smart girl. Has some interesting opinions.”

“Yeah, I bet you found it stimulating getting in touch with her ‘opinions’.” Air quotes again. Ethan has a habit of exaggerated gestures and I’m starting to see why. It’s sort of fun to imitate him.

He holds up his hands in defeat. “Ok, you obviously saw the whole thing, so I’m going to just concede defeat and announce myself thoroughly teased.”

I grin, “Spoilsport.”

His eye goes to my screen. Hey is that blazer?

I look at the picture, which still shows a zoomed-in image of the mystery guy from the gala. “Well I’d call it a dinner jacket, rather than a blazer, but I guess people have different names for these things.”

“No, that guy. His name is Blazer.”

I stiffen. “You know him?”

“Yeah he works with The Future. Actually I‘d say he’s most likely to be the one who did that funny stuff with your student record. I’ve come across his work before and he leaves a distinctive electronic trail.”

“No way,” I breathe. “So why was he at the gala dinner?”

Ethan leans in “Is that where the picture comes from? Huh, I don’t remember seeing him. Admittedly I was distracted by the chocolate fountain.”

“I wasn’t and I didn’t notice him either.” I frown.

“Well since he was assigned to mess with you, it could be that he was there because of you.” Ethan suggests.

“But how would he have known I was going to be there?”

He shrugs “Easy enough to check the guest list. We already know he had access to the uni server.”

“But I wasn’t on the guest list. I had an anonymous transferrable ticket.”

“Did you post anything on social media about going to the event?”

I shake my head. “I didn’t. But wait! Maybe Layla did.” I quickly open Facebook to check and sure enough Layla posted an update on her photography page about her plans to attend the uni gala event. She even tagged me in it. This guy must have had an easy job following my movements.

Ethan seems amused. “Not exactly a mistress of stealth, your flatmate.”

“Yeah,” I sigh, “Actually, when I came to your convention, my original plan was to try and blend in, but as soon as she decided to tag along, that plan went out of the window.”

“Worked out pretty well in the end though,” he pointed out. “So if Blazer came to the dinner to follow you, maybe that explains why you never noticed him?” I mean, you generally don’t see what’s behind you, right?”

We look through the photos again. I’m in hardly any of the shots, but there are one or two where Blazer is clearly looking towards the camera, meaning that he could have been looking at something behind the camera.

And that’s where I was usually standing, watching over Layla’s shoulder as she took the photos.

Was he really following me? And if so, what an epic circle of espionage. I was there to find Red-jacket guy, who was watching Blazer, who was following me.

And I’m the only one in that messed-up circle who doesn’t have a clue what’s going on.

Adam has a lot of explaining to do tomorrow.

This is an original piece, written for Steemit by @Victoria-Kelly. Thanks for reading!

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