CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

 

 

Henry walked briskly through the house towards the office. Sylvia had difficulty keeping up. The moment he crossed into the office, he stopped and scanned everything, hoping to let the room tell him where to go next. The room wasn't at all talkative. He turned to his left and started to read the titles one by one. Mr. Culberson's methodology was to group his books by subject and, within each subject, arrange the books alphabetically. It was very much a library.

There was a massive section on chess and next to it a section on puzzles. Henry stopped, sure that the puzzle he was unraveling must have a clue within these volumes. He pulled each book off the shelf, flipped through it, and looked for anything out of the ordinary. Sylvia watched him for a while until her curiosity finally got the best of her and she asked, "What are you looking for?"

Henry had forgotten he wasn't alone and realized she might be able to help. "I am not sure, but I think there may be a clue here that will help..." He paused before he finished as he hadn't been entirely truthful with Miss Culberson. She had hired him and paid him well to find the journal, which he had done, and now he needed to make a decision. He continued, "Sylvia, can I trust you?"

She thought the question was rather strange. "Yes, why would you think you couldn't?" She backed up, sensing there was something going on, something she might not like. "Have you found the journal?!" Sylvia demanded.

Henry sensed he was walking a fine line. He knew that he needed Sylvia. He couldn't let her fly off into a rage, so he must choose his words carefully. He started with, "I have learned something about your father. Please sit down."

"Have you found the journal? I paid you well. I demand to know what you are up to! Can you trust me?! The nerve. Can I trust you?" She was now in a rage.

It became apparent that Henry had done a poor job of choosing his first words. Henry was nothing if not quick on his feet. He took two steps towards her and tightened up his face. "Listen here, sweetheart, I found your story to be thin, very thin. I have seen dames like you, and you are all alike. You can either park your cute little butt in that chair and listen to what I have to say or you can go to hell and try to find your father on your own!"

This change in approach hit the mark. She was stunned by the last bit and stammered, "Did you say find my father?" She seemed unsteady. Henry helped her to the couch. She was calmer now, so Henry lowered his voice.

"Yes. I don't believe he was killed in the lab. I don't have any proof, and I probably shouldn't have gotten your hopes up, but I needed you to listen," he said and paused. She didn't say anything, so he continued, "First of all, I don't believe Mr. Alexander was keeping the journal about your father's business, but they were working together to code the journal to keep it a secret."

This didn't make any sense to Sylvia. She asked, "They were working together? Why would an accountant need my father's help?"

"The next part may be hard to understand, perhaps impossible, but I believe that Mr. Alexander had discovered some information, some proof if you will, that would bring down one of the city's most dangerous criminals. I think that your father and Mr. Alexander were planning to turn the journal over to the DA when someone found out what they were doing. They are both smart men and realized the danger. I believe they may have staged the explosion. It was then..." Henry stopped when he heard the footsteps in the hall.

Sylvia was stunned but immediately filled with hope. She didn't understand why he had stopped talking as she hadn't heard the footsteps. "Yes, go on. It was then, what?"

"Winston is coming," Henry said.

"Oh, you can trust Winston; he has been with the family since we moved here." She stood up and ran out to Winston, "Henry thinks that father may still be alive!" she said with glee.

Winston remained unfazed. He looked at Henry and said, "You are as clever as Mr. Culberson had hoped."

Sylvia looked shocked. "You knew! Winston!" She was angry but also thrilled, "It is true then?" She was almost shouting.

"Miss Culberson, you must lower your voice. I will try to explain."

Henry let Winston explain as he went back to the stacks. He went through each of the puzzle books until it occurred to him that perhaps Winston knew where the next clue was. "Winston, do you have a message for me?"

"Yes, sir. Mr. Culberson told me to let you know that he was very interested in animals of late."

"That is the message?" Henry said. He had hoped for more but wasn't surprised by the message's cryptic nature. Undaunted, he continued through the stacks until he found a section on the animal kingdom. There were dozens of books. A few books in, Henry noticed that these weren't in alphabetical order by author but were ordered by species, starting with 'Aardvark Studies,' and ending with a thick book about zebras. It seemed that the section contained all the books that had anything to do with animals, fiction and non-fiction combined. Next to the book on beavers was a book on cows then a book about crows.

Henry paused. Could that be the clue as a group of crows are called a murder? He asked himself. He opened it and flipped through the pages. If the clue was there, he didn't get it. Henry continued looking. The Tage Frid clue was one that only he would understand, so he expected the next clue would be similar. It was. A book entitled, 'Fox Habits,' was sitting to the right of a book 'A Gaggle of Geese.' It was out of order by just one book but that, combined with the last present from the closet, meant it had to be the book.

Henry opened to the title page and read the inscription.