Nancy Drew: Mystery of the Six and a Half Keys
Chapter Thirteen
Nancy reminded Radek not to tell anyone that she was a detective, and she headed back to Aparat Computers. Elka was finished with Nancy's phone.
"Your phone is free of viruses and safe to use again!" Elka said. "What were you trying to download, anyway?"
"A DEGAS database entry from an international crimefighting agency," Nancy said. "It's related to the theft of Adela Czerna's necklace, which is top-secret, so don't tell anyone."
"I won't," Elka said. "What do you normally use for protection?"
"Oh, all sorts of things," Nancy said. "I've stopped criminals with cherry pies, remote controls and by driving around in a circle a lot. You name it, I've done it!"
"I mean virus protection," Elka said.
"I'm up to date on all my flu shots," Nancy said.
"I meant—never mind," Elka said. "I was looking for an excuse to mention my taser ring. It's very powerful and can electrocute anyone into unconsciousness in under two seconds."
Thank you for that totally irrelevant information which has nothing to do with the conversation, and which will never, ever be important to me, Nancy thought. Not wanting to be rude, though, she said something else. "Have you ever accidentally electrocuted yourself when scratching your butt?"
"Why would you ask such a thing?" Elka asked, offended.
That's means "yes", Nancy thought. "So, can I use my phone now? Because I've got to write a really angry email to a Mr. Frank Hardy. I can't believe his secret agent friend sent me a virus! If I ever see him again, he's getting a slap to the face!"
"Or I could teach you how to protect your phone in the future, with a little game called Cyber Block," Elka said. "You want to move your tile all over the board, to collect pieces of data."
"How does this help me keep viruses out of my phone?" Nancy asked.
"This is just a demonstration," Elka said. "It's fun! Like a puzzle."
"You're not trying to trick me into doing your homework, are you?" Nancy asked. "Because that happens to me a lot."
Elka launched into a long explanation for how she manages to run a computer store by herself, at all hours of the day, while still managing to obtain a degree in cybersecurity. Nancy didn't understand what Elka was saying at all, but she didn't want to admit it, so she just nodded and worked on the Cyber Block puzzle. It was one of those puzzles, where you had to reach the goal in a limited number of moves. Nancy quickly discovered the puzzle was much easier, if she pretended most of her moves didn't count towards the total.
"Hey, are you cheating?" Elka asked.
"No, I'm thinking outside the box, just like a computer programmer," Nancy said.
She was spared further explanation, when her phone rang. "Let me put the secret agent on speakerphone so everyone in the store can hear this conversation," Nancy said. "Hey, Agent Zane! What's going on?"
"I called to make sure you got my email," Zane said. "Did you open the file?"
"Not yet," Nancy said. "My phone was being weird, so I had my new best friend check it out. She's a security expert."
"You are too kind," Elka said.
Nancy opened the email again. This time, the file downloaded and opened perfectly. "Got it open now," Nancy said. "What am I looking for, exactly?"
"The DEGAS file tracks the location history of the gems and necklace," Zane said. "Pay close attention to the timestamp entries. They record when the necklace changed custody."
"There is nothing in the file that looks like that," Nancy said. "Mine is just a detailed description of what the necklace looks like."
"Check the other pages," Zane suggested.
"Okay, next page is a description of Adam Sykora's diamond ring that Hans appraised...then Aneta's chain necklace...and that's it," Nancy said. "Most of this file has nothing to do with Adela's necklace!"
"Are you sure?" Zane asked. "Because I'm seeing two logs from Zlaty Jewelers, and three from SecondShine."
"Well, I've got none of that!" Nancy complained. "Great, I go through all the trouble to get this file, and it's the wrong one! This is even worse than Radek's puppet show!" Nancy said.
"Ouch," Elka said.
"I will attempt to resend the file," Zane said.
"Thanks," Nancy said.