Aunt Dimity Digs In by Nancy Atherton

Author:Nancy Atherton [Atherton, Nancy]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Suspense
ISBN: 9780140275698
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 1998-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

15.

“Shepherd! Rise and shine! Got news for you!”

I squinted at the bedside clock. It was midnight back in Boston—two hours past Stan’s usual bedtime and a half hour before the twins’ first feeding. “Stan? Wh-what are you doing up so late?”

“Provost’s dinner. Gave me gas. The provost, I mean. The food was pretty tasty. You want my news or don’t you?”

Bill moaned and buried his head in the pillows, so I carried the phone into the walk-in closet, flicked on the light, and shut the door.

“Yes, Stan, I want your news,” I said, too groggy to be properly enthusiastic.

“I can get you Gladwell pamphlets on transubstantiation, the virgin birth, and the efficacy of faith without good works,” Stan boomed. “Zilch on archaeology.”

I should have shouted “Way to go!” because no one but my old boss could have dug up any Gladwell pamphlet on such short notice. Instead, I slumped onto the hamper and mumbled dejectedly, “Nothing at all about the hoax?”

“Nada,” Stan replied, overlooking my ingratitude. “I found a guy in Labrador who’s nuts for Gladwell pamphlets, but he’s never heard of Disappointments in Delving. Offered me a bundle if I found a copy. Might take him up on it. I’ve always wanted to drive a Lamborghini.”

“Is the guy in Labrador your only lead?” I asked.

“Yeah, but he’s solid,” Stan answered, with astonishing forbearance. “He’s overnighting a pamphlet from his collection. I’ll overnight it to you as soon as it gets here.”

“Why?” I asked.

“So you’ll know what you’re looking for!” he bellowed. “What’s the matter with you, Shepherd? The twins suck your brains dry?”

“But if the pamphlets aren’t the same—” I began.

Stan cut me off. “Some Victorian pamphleteers stuck to patterns,” he lectured. “If they didn’t own two dozen fonts or a paper mill, they couldn’t change their style at the drop of a hat. They used and reused the same fonts, the same type of paper, and usually the same page layout.”

“Oh,” I said, feeling almost as thickheaded as Stan wanted me to feel. “So Disappointments in Delving may look like the pamphlet we’ll be getting from our man in Labrador.”

“The kraken wakes,” Stan quipped. He paused for a prolonged belch. “Gotta go. I need another bicarbonate.”

“ Thanks, Stan,” I said, suppressing a yawn. “I mean it. You’ve done a great job.”

“I’m not done yet,” he said. “And, Shepherd, you should get more shut-eye. You’re gonna set a bad example for the nippers.”

I glared blearily at the telephone as Stan rang off, then roused myself to get ready for my visit to the pub. If I was quick about it, I could bake a fresh batch of lemon bars before Bill came down for breakfast.

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