Free 3 of a Kind by Rohan Gavin

and I.’
    Knightley turned to Tilly. ‘Translation please?’
    ‘It interferes with machines,’ began Tilly. ‘Blasts them with radio waves that incapacitate their circuitry and render them useless. It can stop a phone, a car, even an incoming missile. Obviously you shouldn’t attempt your first shave on the plane.’
    ‘I don’t intend to,’ answered Darkus.
    ‘Next,’ said Miss Khan, reaching deeper into herhandbag and pulling out a compact hairdryer. Tilly’s eyes lit up. ‘It’s a perfectly adequate blow-dryer,’ Miss Khan went on. ‘But it also doubles as a blow torch … This is the gas reservoir. If you press this selector button all the way, it will emit a fine gas flame that will melt steel, a doorlock, what have you.’
    The Knightleys both glanced at Tilly’s hair, concerned.
    ‘I’d advise you not to do your hair on the plane either,’ said Darkus.
    ‘Funny,’ she responded, deadpan.
    Knightley waited his turn, watching with anticipation.
    ‘And for the man who has everything …’ Miss Khan produced a small silver medallion on a chain, passing it to the elder detective.
    ‘Does it garrotte people?’ enquired Darkus.
    ‘No, it protects them,’ she replied. ‘It’s a Saint Christopher medal, the patron saint of travellers.’
    ‘I didn’t know you were religious,’ Knightley murmured. ‘Or superstitious?’
    ‘It belonged to my father,’ she answered. ‘Bring it back in one piece.’
    Knightley examined the small silver disc, with the engraving around the edge: Saint Christopher Protect Us. ‘Thank you,’ he responded, carefully coiling the necklace around his fingers and sliding it into his top pocket.
    ‘Good luck, Alan.’ Miss Khan grabbed the two teens around the shoulders. ‘Same goes for you two. And don’t forget your assignments over the summer break.’ She returned to her default role of schoolteacher. ‘I’ll see you in September, safe and sound, with your coursework completed.’ She nodded to Knightley, as if indicating that he should take care of himself, and more importantly, his two young charges.
    ‘Will do,’ said Tilly, throwing a salute.
    Darkus watched the science teacher raise her headscarf and walk away in the direction of the train platforms. ‘What about Mum?’ he questioned his dad.
    ‘Hmm,’ said Knightley, absently tapping his nose.
    Darkus was no stranger to body language and deduced exactly what his father was thinking: Mum’s the word .
    ‘Well?’ Darkus asked anyway.
    His father stared at the departures board, losing himself in the flashing numbers again. ‘If we’re playing a game with the Combination, which I am quite certain we are –’
    ‘Though we don’t have conclusive evidence of that yet,’ Darkus interjected.
    ‘For once, Doc, I’d ask you to trust my judgement. If the Combination is the orchestrator of this peculiar problem we face, it is essential that we compartmentalise your mother, and more importantly – given his fragile history – your stepfather, Clive. For their own safety.’
    ‘By compartmentalise you mean …?’
    ‘Maintain plausible deniability.’
    ‘In other words …?’
    ‘Don’t tell them a thing,’ instructed Knightley.
    ‘Why didn’t you just say that?’ said Tilly, doing a panoramic eye roll.
    ‘Don’t worry, Doc,’ his father assured him. ‘I’ll take full responsibility. Now, once we’ve checked in, we have an hour before we’re required to be at the gate. I for one feel the need for some retail therapy.’
    Tilly’s face lit up. ‘Me too!’

    ‘Are you sure we can afford all this, Dad?’ asked Darkus as the trio emerged from three separate changing rooms, each outfitted in khaki-coloured cotton shirts and linen shorts, sporting a distinctly tropical flair.
    The trip through security had been uneventful and Miss Khan’s gadgets had not set off any alarm bells. Now Knightley Senior seemed determined to enjoy himself.
    ‘Money’s for spending, Doc. And I haven’t