Grand Opening

Whit and Mary Hopkins cut the ribbon on the new Whit's End in Connellsville before a crowd much larger than either expected. The polished building, activity displays, ice-cream counter, and Bible room are ready, although Whit has not yet rebuilt the Imagination Station after Barry Muntz stole its inner workings. Whit dedicates the shop to the people of Connellsville and hopes it will serve them for years.

Tony quietly pulls Whit aside and points out a bald visitor. He identifies the man as the stranger who paid him to plant a camera-filled dictionary in Whit's Odyssey office. Tony hides upstairs before the man sees him, while Whit alerts Mary and Connie. Before Whit can investigate further, another mystery demands his attention.

Alex Jefferson and Cal Jordan are exploring the new computers when the hacker AREM contacts them. Alex remembers that talking to AREM has repeatedly caused trouble and wants to find Whit, but Cal accepts the invitation. Following the hacker's directions and using the password “butter,” he enters a code that replaces the computer display with a live image of the two boys. A concealed camera somewhere behind the bookshelf is watching them.

Whit searches the shelves for the device until Mary admits that she authorized an entire security system for the new shop. Hidden cameras monitor nearly every room from ordinary objects: one sits inside a book, another in a milkshake machine, and another in the eye of the Bible room's whale display. Mary says the equipment appeared on the project schedule while Whit was too busy to notice.

Whit understands the desire for safety but fears secret surveillance will destroy the trust he has struggled to build with the children of Oswald Heights. More urgently, the system is supposed to be closed to outside computers, yet AREM has accessed its images. Mary's security consultant, Mr. Benson, promises to trace the hacker and check for unauthorized connections. Whit orders the cameras and monitors turned off while they investigate.

Sarah Prachett learns that the camera was hidden in a book and immediately remembers Jared DeWhite's warning. Jared claimed that his father had discovered the same kind of device in an office and that it was connected to Andromeda. Sarah takes Alex and Cal to Wonderworld, their secluded tree-house hideout, where they compare the odd events gathering around Odyssey.

Eugene is conducting a secret experiment at Campbell College. Someone has hidden a modem in Whit's office. AREM knows private passwords and leads the children to concealed cameras. Andromeda may be involved with the danger that forced Jared's family into hiding. The children suspect that identifying AREM could connect all the mysteries, but their attempts to decode the hacker's name produce only ridiculous theories involving the mayor, music, and scrambled eggs. Sarah decides she will try to contact AREM through the school computer lab.

Whit has separately investigated Andromeda and tells Connie that it owns Novacom through a complicated chain of companies. He does not accuse Mitch, who works in Novacom's community-relations department, but asks Connie not to mention the investigation until he understands more. Her attempt to behave naturally becomes a string of suspicious questions when Mitch arrives.

Mitch openly describes the maze of corporations above Novacom and names Andromeda as their final owner. He cannot understand why Connie suddenly cares about his job, but he does not conceal the connection. Instead, he invites her out the following day for a surprise.

Whit visits Surveillance City, the Connellsville store that supplied Mary's security equipment, and asks an employee named Larry about the miniature camera. Larry says the model is unusually dependable and can be hidden almost anywhere. He also reveals that a new broadcasting company in Odyssey recently purchased the store's entire supply.

The buyer came from Novacom and said he worked in public relations. Though Larry claims he cannot share customer information, he carelessly produces the order form. Mitch's signature appears at the bottom. Whit now knows that Connie's new friend personally obtained a large collection of the same hidden cameras involved in the mysteries surrounding Whit's End, but he still does not know why.