CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT

 

 

The DA's office only confirmed what Henry had suspected. As soon as he walked in, he smelled the foul stench of corruption: the song and dance, the tough talking, the promises, all of it. Though he couldn't prove it, Henry knew that Tommy 'The Knife's' friend in the department, or one of them at least, was McKinley.

Henry hadn't been sure how the DA had planned to make the journal 'disappear,' but he had known that once it was in his hands, it wouldn't stay there for long. Henry couldn't take any satisfaction in knowing he had been right, but at least the heat would die down, and Luna could get back to a normal life. Without the threat of the journal, which was likely nothing but a pile of ashes now, Tommy would get back to his normal business of crime and mayhem.

The cold wind nipped at Henry's ears as he fumbled with his keys. He walked through the door and saw Luna sitting at the table with the tools from the closet, the ones which Henry believed held another clue. She had a pad of paper and a serious look on her face. Luna looked up only briefly when Henry walked in the door and nearly tripped over her suitcase.

"Sorry about that. I was getting ready to head home when I started to think about what all of this could mean."

"Any ideas?" Henry said as he hung his coat on the hook and tossed his hat onto the credenza.

"When you told us about the closet, I believed you, but it didn't sink in until today. After I got to your home, I didn't feel great, but I have imposed upon your kind hospitality enough already, so I got ready to leave. I packed, but I just couldn't get the thought of the closet out of my mind."

"I can't explain how it works or who is sending me this stuff, but whoever or whatever it is seems to know where we need to look."

Henry grabbed a cup and poured himself some coffee and selected a cookie. Taking a small bite, he added, "I see you did some more baking. It smells great in here."

"Thanks, baking helps me think." She flipped the pages of the pad back to the beginning. "I didn't know what each of these tools were called, so I went down to see if you had a book or something."

"Sorry, I don't, but I can tell you the names of each..."

Luna interrupted him, "You do now. I hope you don't mind, but I just had to take a peek into the closet. There were two books." She paused and pulled them out from under some other sheets of paper and handed them to Henry. "Both books, 'Mastering Hand Tool Techniques' and 'Basic Box Making,' were, er, will be...published in 2007!" She took a deep breath. "It is hard to believe."

Henry flipped them open and, sure enough, Luna was right. "So, it looks like you have been working that pencil pretty hard?"

"I looked up each tool." On the paper was neatly written Try Square, T Bevel, Marking Knife, Marking Gauge, Chisel, Pencil, and a Saw. "The saw is odd, though. It doesn't look like any of the ones in the book."

Henry looked at it, and he agreed. He had never seen anything like it before.

Luna freshened her cup of coffee, then said, "I am afraid I don't know much about figuring out secret codes."

"I have to admit that I am not seeing a pattern either. Up until now, the clues have been pretty subtle, and I didn't understand them at first." Henry's voice sort of trailed off as he popped the last bit of cookie into his mouth.

After a long, comfortable silence, Luna said, "I really hate to impose...I was going to call a cab..."

Henry smiled, "Let's go." He set the book on box making down on top of all of Luna's notes.

Henry and Luna didn't talk much on the ride back to her place. He was going to miss having her around. He wondered if she would miss him, too. When he pulled up to her house, he got the bag out of the back seat and walked her to the door. A stack of newspapers rested against it, and she picked them up before unlocking the door. The house was cold, but she felt good being there. Henry looked around as a precaution. A precaution to what, he wasn't sure. It just felt like the thing to do.

"Do you mind if I use your phone? I want to check on Sylvia and Winston."

Luna smiled and shook her head no. She took her bag upstairs.

The phone rang twice before the familiar and proper voice of Winston answered. Henry asked about Sylvia and told Winston about the two books from the next century. At the mention of the two titles, Winston said, "Hmmm."

"Hmmm? Do you know what it means?" Henry asked hopefully.

"Have you seen today's paper?" Winston asked.

"Yes, but only briefly. Why?" Henry pulled the top paper off the stack that Luna had set on the table and looked at the date. "Yes, I have it."

Winston explained, "I read the paper every day, and, for as long as I can remember, there has been a tiny little ad for 'Stowe It Forever' gifts. But today, there was a half-page advertisement. It is on page 12."

Henry flipped to the ad, then yelled to Luna who was still upstairs, "Hey, Luna, what was the name of the author of the box book?"

She walked into the kitchen and said, "I think it was Doug Stowe."

Henry turned the paper around so that she could see the advertisement.

Luna's eyes lit up. She clapped her hands together. "That is what we detectives call a clue!"

She was very cute. Henry chuckled, "Winston, you are a genius, my man. Well done."

"Happy to help, sir."

 

Henry hung up the phone and tore the ad out of the paper. "I will check it out tomorrow."

Luna got a serious look on her face. "We will check it out tomorrow."

"I will pick you up at 8 am."