Chapter 14: Quiet in the Library

Back at the Blaine residence, not much was going on.  Bourdon and Schlegel had departed on unknown errands.  Mr. Blaine had gone to work, Mrs. Blaine was also at work, and Hannah had gone to see Peter.  That left Philip, the servants, and Mr. Hallett and “sons.”

It also left that curious individual known as Mr. Hodgson.  The Lawrences hadn’t seen much of him outside of dinner.  He kept mostly to himself and spent practically all his time in his room or the library.  When he did appear, it wasn’t pleasant.  He always had something to complain about.

But he was a suspect, and it was the Lawrences’ duty to keep an eye on him.  Right now, he was in the library, reading a book.  What book was it?  Who cared.  Edward sat behind him, engrossed in the story of the Bismarck, Germany’s unsinkable battleship that finally sunk.  No one spoke.

Viewing the library from the wall closest to the front door, Hodgson’s seat was behind both of the doors that led into the room.  He sat facing the other wall, meaning he couldn’t see anyone enter or exit the room.  Edward, more interested in surveillance, had a seat in front of the doors—the only part of the library not in his vision was the east end, which had no interest whatsoever.  He was reading about attempts to locate the Bismarck (or what was left of it) when, all at once, the door on his left opened.  Drew stuck his head in, grinning.  He held two cymbals, stolen from the music room.

Edward tried to tell him to stop, but it was too late.  Crash!  went the cymbals.  Drew had backed out of the room and closed the door by the time Hodgson turned around, leaving Edward to take the full fury of his wrath.

“Young man, have you no respect for your elders?!” barked Hodgson.  “Get out!  Out!  Out!  Out!”

Edward thought about arguing, but decided not to.  He slowly got up, walked over to the door on the right, and left.  Hodgson’s eyes followed his every move.  They didn’t notice the door on the left slowly reopen, nor did they notice Drew wander in and slide under a table.

The door on the right closed, and Hodgson went back to his reading.  Drew, from his hiding place, watched the old invalid.  Hodgson’s eyes kept darting back over to the door on the right.  It was apparent his focus wasn’t fully on his book.

Five minutes passed; then, Hodgson pushed back his wheelchair and stood up!

Drew rubbed his eyes in astonishment.  Sure enough, there was Hodgson, on two feet.  He glanced back at the door, then walked perfectly normally over to the bookcases on the north wall.  Stopping at the middle one, he looked at the books and grabbed one from the right of the third shelf from the ceiling.

Instantly, the bookcase swung open!

A secret door!  Hodgson wandered into the room beyond.  Drew had to move closer somehow, and he carefully crawled from table to table until he was under the one just behind the door.  He glanced into the room and noted that it wasn’t the secret one behind Blaine’s office.  This one had no table in the middle of it, though there was one to the side.  Two computers stood in it, one on each end.  Hodgson ignored all of these; he wandered over to the table and stared at something on it. Drew couldn’t tell what.

Then, Hodgson walked back out and closed the bookcase, leaving no trace of his furtive activities.  He wandered back to his wheelchair and sat down.  Picking up his book, he resumed his reading.

This left Drew stuck two tables away at the front of the room.  There was no way for him to leave without Hodgson seeing him.  It looked like he would be stuck for a while.

Drew wasn’t going to give up this easily, though.  He pulled out his phone and typed a short message.  A minute later, the west door opened, and Edward peeked into the room holding a kazoo.

Doo-doo-doo-doo---doo-doo!

He slammed the door as Hodgson turned the wheelchair.  “Impertinence!” shrieked the old man, wheeling his way towards the door.  He opened it and wheeled himself part of the way out.  “Hey!  Hey, you!  Get back here!”

Edward failed to comply, and Hodgson stuffed himself out the door.  Once he was gone, Drew got up and slipped out on the east side.  He dusted himself off and took a deep breath.  Then, he headed up the stairs to his room.

He had an interesting report to make.