Page 80 of The Library of Second Chances
The waiter glanced at the detective. ‘Um, sure.’
Chloe raised her eyebrows at Harry, jerking her head towards the door. He was over in seconds.
‘Let’s go for a walk,’ said Harry brightly to the detective, taking him by the elbow. ‘You can smoke your pipe outside.’
‘You’ve been in a fight,’ said the detective, rising as Harry took him towards the door, looking at Harry’s black eye.
‘Yeah, you should see the other guy,’ said Harry as Chloe quickly paid for the detective’s meatball spaghetti. She stepped into the cold to see the detective lighting his pipe, the spark of his match illuminating his large nose.
‘Do you think they suspected anything?’ Chloe asked. She smacked her forehead. ‘Oh no. Our drinks.’
‘I’ll get them,’ said Harry. ‘You’ve got the last line, right? It’s better if you do it now. There’s no one around.’ He dashed back inside to pay for the drinks as the detective regarded Chloe with a questioning look.
‘Time for you to go back home,’ said Chloe as cheerfully as she could, pulling out her phone.
‘This has been a strange night, but the dinner was excellent.’ The detective put on his deerstalker hat. ‘Goodbye, Chloe.’
Chloe quickly read the line of the book from the group chat, dearly hoping there were no mistakes. The detective gave her a small nod and he faded to nothing. Harry stepped out of the restaurant a moment later, straightening his trench coat.
‘It’s done,’ she said, tucking away her phone. ‘Did the staff mind?’
‘I gave them a big tip,’ said Harry. ‘It’ll be fine.’
‘Thanks. At least it’s done.’ She returned his relieved grin, wondering how much today had cost him. Chloe’s stomach was growling; the detective’s pasta had looked amazing and the scents coming from the restaurant were divine. But they still had one more character to find: the nobleman Chloe had first spoken to when she’d discovered the library’s power. It felt fitting that he should be the last.
They checked the group chat, but nobody had said anything. It didn’t look like he was at the supermarket; there had been enough time already for Eric to check it. Chloe messaged everybody to let them know the detective was safely back in Victorian-times London, and ten minutes later they all met outside the library.
‘It looks like all is quiet in there,’ Mrs Cook reported. ‘I didn’t find any more characters wandering around and none of the books are glowing. And Clementine is safe and warm in his bed.’
‘That’s good news,’ said Chloe with relief. She glanced around at the group. ‘Where’s Gwen?’
Her sister hadn’t joined them, even though she had seen the group chat messages. Chloe swallowed, trying not to feel concerned. Gwen was hardly ever without her phone. Was there a reason she couldn’t respond?
‘I’m sure she’s all right,’ said Harry, probably seeing the alarm on her face.
‘I’ll ring her.’ Chloe did so as they walked through the library car park and back towards town. The phone rang and rang, but Gwen didn’t answer.
‘I wonder if she’s at home,’ said Chloe. ‘Let me check with Joe. He can see if the lights are on, at least.’ She didn’t want to waste time driving back if it would just lead to a dead end.
Their neighbour picked up the phone right away. ‘Hello, Chloe? Is that you? How lovely of you to call me!’
‘Hi, Joe.’ Chloe paused, wondering how to phrase this without it sounding strange. ‘Um, I’m wondering if you could do me a favour.’
‘For you, love, anything.’
She clambered into Harry’s car. Mrs Cook said she would drive Eric there. ‘Could you just check my house to see if any of the lights are on? Does it look like anyone is in?’
There had been enough time for Gwen to reach their house on foot, but that didn’t explain why she wasn’t answering her phone.
There was the sound of shuffling and the grunts and sighs of an old person rising out of a comfortable armchair. ‘All right, love, no problem. Is everything okay?’
‘Yes. I’ll be home myself in a minute.’
She heard Joe moving aside his curtains. ‘Oh! Yes, the living room light is on. Looks like theTVis on, too.’
‘Really?’ said Chloe with interest. She doubted they had forgotten to switch off theTVand lights when they had left this morning. In fact, they definitely hadn’t – she and Gwen had gone straight to the graveyard without watching anything. And they hadn’t needed the lights on when the sun was up. ‘Thanks, Joe. I’ll be back soon.’
‘Want me to ring you if anyone leaves?’ A mischievous, conspiratorial tone entered Joe’s voice. ‘I’ve got a good view of your front door from here. I can wait outside if you like, I’ve got my cane—’
