Scholar's Plot by Hilari Bell

Author:Hilari Bell
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Juvenile Fiction, Fantasy & Magic
ISBN: 9781634436786
Publisher: Hilari Bell
Published: 2014-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

It felt odd to leave Michael behind once more — but walking off with his sister at my side was a lot more comfortable, now.

“Is Michael any good at extracting information?” she asked, as we strolled along the paths to the clerk’s office. I was beginning to know my way around campus, to feel the peace that reigned while lectures were in session, with only a handful of scholars in sight. You could even hear a bird singing in one of the trees, though only country-raised Michael would know what it was. Come to think of it…

“What kind of bird is that?”

She listened only for a moment. “Barn sparrow. Is he that bad?”

“What? Oh, Michael. No, he’s surprisingly good. He asks nothing but soft questions, and then sits there looking all sympathetic and honest and interested. After a while they start babbling. And he’s not as bad at seeing the holes in a story as you’d expect. If the project is behind Benton’s woes, he’ll probably figure it out.”

Kathy gave me her version of Michael’s honest, interested stare, but hers was more penetrating than soft.

“Do you really think ’tis Hotchkiss’ murder will solve his problems, and not the project? Or did you take up that theory to score on Michael?”

Her questions weren’t soft, either.

“Honestly? At this point, I give it fifty-fifty odds either way. But Hotchkiss’ murder is the crime they suspect Michael and me of.”

“Ah.”

Michael would have been disturbed by my cynicism. Katherine wore the pleased look of someone whose hunch has panned out. And if I was getting that predictable, Jack would say it was time to change my pattern.

“We’re here.”

I led the way up to Clerk Peebles’ office. If anything, the stack of papers on her desk had grown in the last few days, but she set her pen in the inkpot and read Professor Dayless’ note in silence.

“So, Master Fisk, what do you want to see?”

“Isn’t that request for free access to the whole campus?” I knew it was; I’d read it as soon as we left the tower.

“Of course.” Peebles pulled out a sheet of stiff paper as she spoke, and cut three slices off it with a set of shears. “One for you, one for Master Michael, and one for Mistress Sevenson here, correct? But all the passes do is give you permission to wander around and drop in on lectures. If I know what you’re looking for, I might be able to help you find it.”

“That’s very … helpful.”

Too cursed helpful, given her original resistance.

“I told you, I like Professor Benton,” she said. “And I find it hard to believe he needed to plagiarize any part of his thesis. This is my school, as much as any scholar or professor’s. So what are you looking for?”

“I want access to the library,” I said. “I want to see this thesis Benton was supposed to have copied.”

There was no reason to mention the blackmail notes we’d taken from the desk in Hotchkiss’ study and some very good reasons not to, but I could still feel Kathy’s critical gaze.

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