Agent Angus

Agent Angus

K.L. Denman

ORCA BOOK PUBLISHERS

Copyright © 2012 K.L. Denman

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Denman, K. L., 1957-
Agent Angus [electronic resource] / K.L. Denman.

(Orca currents)

Electronic monograph.
Issued also in print format.
ISBN
978-1-4598-0105-9 (
PDF
).--
ISBN
978-1-4598-0106-6 (
EPUB
)

I. Title. II. Series: Orca currents (Online)
PS
8607.
E
64
A
64 2012        
JC
813'.6        
C
2011-907791-4

First published in the United States, 2012
Library of Congress Control Number:
2011943731

Summary:
Angus and his best friend, Shahid, two smart misfits,
embark on a criminal investigation with comedic results.

Orca Book Publishers is dedicated to preserving the environment and has
printed this book on paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council
^®
.

Orca Book Publishers gratefully acknowledges the support for its publishing programs provided by the following agencies: the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund and the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Province of British Columbia through the BC Arts Council and the Book Publishing Tax Credit.

Cover photography by
dreamstime.com

www.orcabook.com
Printed and bound in Canada.

15  14  13  12  •  4  3  2  1

For Edie and Denny,
who always enjoy a chuckle.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Acknowledgments

Chapter One

I'm not a lucky guy. But today luck has chosen to place me next to the one and only Ella Eckles. It's like a miracle. We're standing on the school's front lawn, at the edge of a crowd of students. The school has been evacuated. A massive stink bomb in the main hall is still smoking.

I risk a furtive glance at Ella and see that her nose is wrinkled. It's a strong nose with a shapely profile. It always keeps her black-framed eyeglasses neatly in place. And clearly, it's a sensitive nose. True, my nose is wrinkling from the stench wafting from the school too. But my belief that Ella's nose is sensitive isn't based only on this moment. I know that she's artistic, and artists are sensitive in many ways.

Ella is carrying her sketchbook. She draws all the time. Maybe I could ask her what she's working on. Would that be cool? I think it would. I take a deep breath to prepare myself and almost gag.

Note to self: Avoid inhaling rude aromas.

I hear Ella ask, “Are you okay?”

I look to see who she's talking to and make direct eye contact with her. She's asking
me
if I'm okay.

I rally my voice and croak, “Yeah. It's just the…you know…”

“I know. The smell. So disgusting.” Her eyes are warm brown. She's taller than me but not by much. Our glasses are almost dead level. “You're Angus, right?”

“You know my name?” Like an idiot, I say that out loud. Ella's lips curve into a small smile, and she nods.

“Oh. Wow. I know yours too. Ella Eckles. Ha ha.”

Her smile fades. “You think my name is funny?”

“What? No. It's a beautiful name. Beautiful, like…” Do
not
say like a fulcrum point. Nor like Topio 3.0, the Ping-Pong-playing robot. I can't compare her name to things I usually call beautiful. I give up and say, “So. You're into drawing, huh?”

“Yeah.” She hugs her sketchbook to her chest. She sure loves that thing.

“Sweet. So what do you draw?”

She looks down at her foot, prodding the grass. “You'll think it's dumb.”

“No, I won't,” I say. “Anything you—I mean, I think creating art is, whoa. Incredible.”

She looks at me again. “Really? You won't laugh?”

I shake my head.

She bites her lip for a second before saying, “I want to be an animator. For film or video games. So I draw everything I see or imagine.”

“Wow! An animator. That is
so
cool.” It really is. I want to say more, but I'm experiencing a brain fart. Nothing comes to me. Think, Angus, think.

“Would you like to see what I'm working on?” she asks.

I respond with a huge nod.

She gives me that little smile again and opens her sketchbook. The page is filled with black-ink drawings of faces. All of them wear a different expression. Some are smiling, some frowning, some look surprised. I'm no art expert, but the faces are so realistic, I gasp. “These are fantastic.”

“No, they're not. They're just sketches for an exercise I'm working on.”

I blink at her. “An exercise?”

“Yeah. I'm trying to capture the details that show what people are feeling.” She flips the page over and points out a face that's maybe—sad? “See this? It's terrible. I was trying to get the expression of someone lying.”

“Oh.”

“It's hard to pinpoint certain facial cues.” She sighs heavily. “If I can't master that, I'll never make it as an animator.”

I blurt, “Maybe I can help.”

“You can?” she asks. “How?”

How? Good question.

From out of nowhere comes this lie. “I've been studying this sort of thing myself. Not for drawing. I suck at drawing. But, see, I plan to be a mentalist. Like those detective guys on
TV
that read people's faces. They can tell when someone is lying. And they use all those little clues to solve crimes.”

“For real?” Ella asks. “You're into that?”

“Oh yeah.” I nod. “Totally. I practice all the time.”

Behind the glasses, her brown eyes narrow. “Are you just saying that?”

“No. I swear.” I can't look at her. I turn and scan the front of the school. Shouldn't the principal be out here to lecture us by now? I need something to save me.

And then the second miracle of the day appears. Standing beside the front steps is the guy who let off the stink bomb. I know it's him because I saw him do it. I was on an errand for my teacher. I'm the sort of guy who gets asked to do those things—trustworthy, reliable me.

Anyway, classes were in session, and the halls were empty. Except for that kid. I don't know his name. I've seen him around, a scrawny kid with a nasty sneer. He ran by me with a plastic bag, dropped it at the end of the hall and kept going. Seconds later, the bag started spewing. I did what any thinking man would do. I yelled, “Bomb!” and ran. I only paused long enough to pull the fire alarm.

Minutes later, here I was. Beside Ella. Claiming that I plan to be a mentalist. She's still watching me. Maybe she's waiting for me to say more about reading faces.

I point out the scrawny kid. “Look. I'll prove it to you. See that guy? See how he's twitching?” This is true. “And now he's whispering in his buddy's ear?” The scrawny kid and his friend are laughing. “Now he's looking around to see if anyone's watching him.” I shift my gaze to Ella. My voice has a ring of authority as I say, “He's got guilt written all over him. He let off the stink bomb.”

Sunlight glints off Ella's glasses as she turns from me to the kid and back again. “That's amazing,” she whispers. “I think you could be right.”

“Perps can't resist watching the mayhem they cause.” I may actually sound like I know what I'm talking about.

She stares at the kid. “Sneaky-looking little creep, isn't he?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you think you should say something?” She looks around and suddenly raises her arm to point. “There's Principal Garnet.” Her gaze tracks back and forth between the principal and scrawny kid.

Principal Garnet studies the crowd from his vantage point on the steps. His glare passes over us and keeps traveling. A moment later, he charges down the steps and takes scrawny kid by the arm. As he's hustled away, scrawny kid sneers and flips us the finger.

Chapter Two

A strange feeling rises up in me when scrawny kid flips us off. I don't know if I've ever felt it before. It's hot and fierce, like jalapeño juice on chapped lips. (I hate that.) But it's mixed with something that makes my chest swell. I'm reminded of those birds on nature shows fluffing up their feathers for battle. I have a weird urge to run after the finger flipper and demand that he apologize. To Ella.

Nobody should be rude around a sensitive girl like Ella. I glance at her to see how she's handling the insult. She's got her sketchbook open in the crook of one arm. And she's drawing. Fast. I've never seen anyone handle a pen so skillfully. Our math teacher, Mr. Jones, has astonishing speed when he writes equations on the blackboard. But Ella makes Mr. Jones look like a slacker.

“Poop,” Ella says. Her pen stops.

I can't guess what poop has to do with anything. But I agree with her. “Yeah.”

“I really wanted to capture that expression. I'm close, but…” She sighs deeply. “I'd say it was defiance. What do you think, Angus?”

“Um.” I think I don't know what she's talking about. I squint at the drawing and am startled to recognize scrawny kid. And his middle finger. “Holy moly,” I say. “That's unbelievable.”

Ella shakes her head. “Something is off. I've managed to show his anger, but his defiance isn't there.” She studies the sketch. “What did I miss? Something here in the brow line?” She points. “Or in the way his mouth is twisted?”

Uh-oh. Angus the Mentalist should have an opinion about this. Sweat breaks out on my forehead. It slicks over the palms of my hands and the bridge of my nose. My glasses start sliding. If she looks at me now, it will be over between us. Someone with
half
her talent could tell I'm a big fat fraud. Actually, I'm a skinny fraud, but whatever.