AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Come on, you folks didn’t come here to talk about the fish,” said Jamal’s mother. Mrs. Bird stood watching them from the doorway, her face stony with skepticism. The moment they’d stepped into her house she had pulled out her cell phone and it was in her hand now, ready to record any threat to her son.
“We’re here because we need Jamal’s help,” said Jane.
“Again?”
“Sofia’s laptop was found yesterday afternoon in Jamaica Pond. The hard drive is missing and whatever data she had on it is probably destroyed.”
Mrs. Bird’s eyebrow lifted. “You don’t think my son had anything to do with that?”
“No. Not at all.”
“So how’s he supposed to help you?”
“Mom,” said Jamal.
“Honey, you gotta be careful. Ask yourself why the police would come around asking for help from a fifteen-year-old boy.”
“ ’Cause maybe I know stuff they don’t?”
“They’re the police.”
“But they probably don’t know shit about computers.”
“Actually, he’s right,” admitted Jane. “We don’t.”
Jamal swiveled around in his chair to face Jane. “Tell me what you want to know.”
He might be only fifteen, but at that moment, looking into his eyes, Jane saw a confident young man looking back. “You said that Sofia bought the laptop to do online research,” said Jane.
“That’s what she told me.”
“Do you know what sort of research?”
“No. She just asked me to set up the laptop for her. I installed some software, got her a new Gmail account.” He laughed. “I mean, she was still using AOL for her email.”
“So you’re the one who signed her up for Gmail?” said Frost.
“Yeah.”
“Do you happen to know her log-in information?”
Jamal regarded him for a moment, as if trying to discern some unspoken reason for the question. A question that could get him into trouble. “I didn’t hack her account, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“That’s not at all what we’re saying,” said Jane. “But wearehoping you can do it for us now.”
“Hack her account?”
“You seem like you’d remember details. Like user names and passwords.”
“Maybe I do. So?”
“If we can read her emails, find out who she’s been corresponding with, we might be able to catch her killer.”
Jamal thought this over, weighing the risks of trusting them. Helping them. At last, he took a breath and swiveled around to his keyboard. “Her password is Henry plus her address. I told her that wasn’t secure enough, but she said it’s the only way she’d remember it.”
“Her password has her fish’s name?”
“Why not?” He typed, his fingers moving so fast they were a blur. “There. You’re in.”
