As exhausted as I felt, I was up early. Azalea must have been up earlier. Her hair was askew, and her face was red and puffy. She was in the same place I’d found Keisha last night. She had a stack of fliers for the search party printed beside her, along with about four different coffee mugs and several small plates littered with crumbs. Seeing me, she thrust about half of the stack across the countertop at me.
“Juniper, great, great. Will you put these up around town?” I took the top one and looked over the details. The search party was going to start in the early afternoon around the cemetery. “Keisha put this all together. She’s such a whiz with all of this. Oh, hey, do you want a muffin? I was up and baked a few dozen batches for the searchers.” She waved behind her towards where several baskets sat, overflowing with muffins. “There’s blueberry, chocolate, banana nut, corn. I didn’t make bran, because who really likes bran, anyway? Although it’s probably the healthiest for you.”
I came around the back of the countertop and put a hand on her shoulder. She didn’t stop me. However, we were interrupted by the trudge of the Chronos Channel TV crew coming down the stairs. I realized I hadn’t seen them since yesterday after the announcement. We must have been on different schedules.
“Ashley,” I called out. She came over with a few yawns. “Are you all heading out?”
“Yep. We’ve been given some cryptic info by Orson.”
“Oh? Like what?”
“I don’t exactly know. But he wants us to come back to the Calverton Foundation.”
The goateed guy came over. I thought I remembered Ashley had said he was named Jeremy. Or was it Eric? He added, “Yeah, that detective came to see us yesterday. She wanted to know all about Orson’s claim about the O’Doyle diary. I think she was pretty disappointed that he didn’t have it in hand.”
“I wonder where it is,” said Ashley. “He has some pictures from it and of that map. I think he’s convinced that everything is at the golf course or somewhere near there.”
“He thinks the covers are buried at the golf course?”
They both shrugged.
“Do you know how he got the, uh, scans?” I asked.
“No. Just that it convinced the bigwigs at Chronos to bring us all out for this. If it looks like it’ll lead to something, we may stay longer or come back,” Jeremy/Eric replied.
As he talked, Ruth appeared. “What are we mulling around here for? We’re going to be late.”
I turned to the group and asked, “Would it be okay if I joined you?”
Ruth jerked around and said, “Absolutely not.” She crossed her arms across her chest. Ashley and Jeremy rolled their eyes simultaneously. I saw the tall man—wait, that one was Eric, if I remembered correctly—shake his head in the back. After Ruth tottered off to wherever, Eric popped over to me.
“Don’t listen to her. I heard you’re an expert on rare books.”
“Well, yeah, I’m a librarian with the Library of Congress.” I could explain in far greater detail, but I knew that name drop sufficed for most people.
“And you’re somehow connected to all of this drama? To the murder and the disappearance?”
“I wouldn’t say connected.”
He waved his hands. “Anyway, I think we should interview you. On camera.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that.” I wasn’t sure what the higher-ups at the Library of Congress would think about it either. I could only imagine what Greyson was going to think when I emailed explaining why I wasn’t going to make his deadline. I suspected that I’d be getting many calls from him and then probably from HR. I reassured myself that being here now was more important than meeting his inane demands.
“It’d give you a good excuse to be there today.” He told me where to meet them and slipped me an extra media pass. I appreciated the gesture.
I still hadn’t got KG’s tires fixed, and Azalea needed her minivan today, but Keisha had left her bike for me. I had nicknamed the green bicycle “Wizard” in honor of the Wizard of Oz at the Emerald City. “If we’re going to become friends,” I told Wizard, “I figured it’d be good for you to have a name.” With renewed confidence, I set out, trying to improve on my horrific biking skills.
The sky was cloudy, and there was a forecast for rain. I welcomed anything that might break the summer humidity, but I wondered how that might impact today’s TV shoot. The golf course was much farther away from the inn than going downtown, but most of the roads out to it were pretty straight and flat. That helped me experiment with speed and gliding. I kept to the side of the road, afraid that I wasn’t yet ready to escape a sudden car. Amazingly, I made it to the site without incident.
Although there wasn’t a press conference scheduled for today, I still had to wind through a few scattered media vehicles outside the gate. At first, no one realized who I was, but then someone recognized me, and all the remaining reporters ran after me, waving their arms and yelling out questions about Tess and Rory.
Rain spit on all of us. Not enough to warrant an umbrella, but enough that I grew concerned about my clumsy riding and dodging the group. I went as quickly as I could on Wizard, silently cajoling the bike to speed faster but safely. A gauntlet formed, and I wasn’t sure I’d make it.
“Can you tell us what you were doing—”
“How did you know—”
“Do you think the Kells’ covers are really—”
I tried ignoring their shouts and continued towards the gate. I maneuvered around wires jutting from their vans and weaved through a series of outstretched microphones. To my surprise, one guard from yesterday’s lunch appeared, and he ushered me through the crowd to the gate. Once inside, I thanked him profusely.
“No worries. They’ve been pretty annoying. I think they’re bored right now, so encountering you was a bit like throwing chum into a shark tank,” he said with a laugh.
I tried to smile, but the media mob had shaken me a bit. I hoped there would not be footage of me biking awfully on the national news. I hated to think what would happen if Greyson caught sight of that.
The guard helped me find a place for my bike and locate Orson and the Chronos Channel crew. They were off to the far side of the existing golf course, back where a new course was being constructed. I was taken aback by how large the place was, not realizing they had the room for multiple courses.
Besides the TV crew, there was another small team of people. They had a few pop-up tents and were marking every few paces with small pink flags. I wandered up to a man about my height with a tape measure in one hand and a clipboard in the other.
“What are you doing?” I asked him.
“Getting ready to do some STPs.” He didn’t look at me but pulled out the tape measurer to measure out about twenty-five feet from where he initially stood.
“I’m sorry—what? What are STPs?” My first thought was the car oil additive brand I got for KG with the same initials.
“Shovel Test Pits. STPs. We’re working on the first phase of archaeology here. We’re making a grid, and then we’ll dig a hole every twenty-five feet or so—see, we marked them with the pink flags—and see if there is anything interesting.” As he talked, I looked and noticed that there was, indeed, a grid pattern forming across the grass. He was part of a team of about five people, although I guessed several were interns, judging by their ages.
“What would constitute interesting?”
“Well, it could be anything.” He led me over to the closest flag. “First, we have to get down deep enough to go below modern intrusion. We’ll use shovels and go down, oh, two feet or so. Maybe more. We’ll sift the dirt and see if we find any artifacts. Or if we find any sign of a feature there, like if a building was here.”
“Or a book cover?”
He shrugged. “Or a book cover. Here, we’d like to find signs from the colonial period. Maybe they’re broken parts of a clay pipe.”
“What happens if you find something?”
His face lit up. “Anytime we find something, we’ll record it and mark it on this map.” He held up the clipboard where the final grid was already drawn out. “And if we find an object that looks promising, then we’ll do a more involved investigation of the area. These STPs allow us to cover a large area in a short time without being too invasive.”
“Seems like a giant game of Battleship.”
He laughed. “Pretty much.”
Orson stomped towards me like a bull. “What are you doing here?” I caught my breath. His voice was practically a sneer. “Who told you to come here this morning?”
I double-checked, but sure enough, he was directing his anger towards me, not the archaeologist, who quietly disappeared back to the pop-up tent, leaving me to face the shark myself. I looked around, but the rest of the TV crew were too busy assembling their light stands and video cameras and other equipment to notice his sudden change in demeanor. I motioned towards them and explained, “I’m going to be interviewed about the Book of Kells.”
“Looking to cash in? Huh? Huh?” He pointed a finger towards me. As he stepped closer, I could smell waves of alcohol reeling off him. “Just another money grubber.”
“What? No.”
“You tried to get a job with me. With Calverton. Cash in on the Kells. You… You… money grubber.” I think he tried for a different word but repeated it when he apparently couldn’t come up with one. “You should leave!”
I backed off a few steps. I noticed his assistant Ruth looking at me, although for a split moment, I noted the worry that crossed her eyes over Orson. He was incredibly drunk. I hoped he didn’t treat her so brutally as well.
I put up my hands in surrender and walked away toward the rest of the TV crew. At least Orson didn’t follow. I saddled up to Ashley as she was checking a clipboard. “What’s up with him?”
“I’d always heard stories about his drinking,” she replied. “Then, just before we came down to Rose Mallow, we all met up at his place in D.C. He didn’t answer the door. We tried calling, banging on the door, and everything. Eventually, Ruth came by and let us in with a spare key. He was passed out on his bathroom floor, wearing nothing but a towel. It was icky.”
“Yuck.”
I couldn’t help but wonder if he had been drunk on Friday night. Sure, he seemed completely sober at the press conference, but maybe he sometimes recovered quicker than others? Was it possible that he had forgotten the evening’s events? That might explain why he was confused about the details.
“Hey. Hey you…Juney….” Orson made his way over to us. “Didn’t I tell you to leave?”
“I told you I’m going to do an interview with the Chronos Channel.” I stayed next to Ashley and looked at the others nearby for reassurance. However, my new friends blatantly ignored the exchange and went back to their prep work. I glanced at Ruth, but she slowly shook her head. I had been abandoned. “Okay, okay, I get the picture. I’ll go.” I turned to the TV crew. “But there is no way you’re getting my take on things now.”
I walked back toward the bike. Naturally, the rain picked up at the same time. I didn’t look forward to biking back in a storm, but obviously, I couldn’t stay here. I did something useful with my time and headed to the historical society.
As I pedaled away, I heard a voice call out. “Wait, Juniper!” I glanced over my shoulder. It was Leo Calverton. He ran up next to me, holding a large golf umbrella. “I’m sorry. I heard that Orson kicked you out.” He tried extending the umbrella to include me, but I backed out.
“Off your property.” Hurt feelings sometimes caused me to get sassy.
“Please, let me give you a ride. Anywhere you want.”
“I think I better go alone. I need to think some things through.”
I didn’t want to talk to Leo or anyone else after getting chewed out like that. And it didn’t help that we were getting drenched now. I noticed the television crew had scrambled to get their recently put out equipment back inside. The archaeologists were huddling under a single pop-up tent.
“Will you still meet me for dinner? How about tonight?” he asked. I shrugged. Things might be better by then, but I wasn’t ready to promise anything. To his credit, Leo didn’t push the question further. “You should avoid the press out front. Take the back route through the golf course. It sneaks through the old Baytastic Amusement Park next door.”
“You don’t own that too?” It was a real question, but the tone came out more sarcastic than Leo probably deserved.
“No, we don’t. Not yet, anyway.”
My eyes grew enormous. I couldn’t tell if he was joking or not. However, the rain began pouring harder, and I needed to go.
“I hope to see you tonight. And the ride offer still stands,” he said.
“Thanks.” However, I had already made my decision, and my stubborn streak refused to let go. I wasn’t really upset with Leo, but I didn’t feel like I could give in. All I could do was hope there’d be enough rain to push away some of the summer humidity.
I took his advice and snaked my way through the back to the abandoned park. It was hard to appreciate in the rain, but there were still the remains of roller coasters, carnival booths, and a few animal displays. Even in the storm, I could tell the place wasn’t in good shape. Small buildings—maybe for games or food stands—had collapsed. The roller coaster had collapsed halfway. If I had time, I would love to return and explore the place. Azalea and I loved going here each summer. But as the rain turned the pathways into mini mud pits, I knew this would not be the time.