The Winterhouse Mysteries by Ben Guterson

Author:Ben Guterson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)

PART THREE

THE WINDS HOWL AS THE DARKNESS GROWS

CHAPTER 19

NAMES OF SUSPECTS TO LENGTHEN THE LIST

Breakfast was a somber affair, where the various parties sat at separate tables—Mr. Knox on one side of the room, the Wellingtons and Rajputs together across the way, Sir Reginald by himself off to an opposite side—and cast wary glances around the dining hall. The sky beyond the windows was cloudy and dim. Elizabeth, who took a seat at a table with a family visiting from Nebraska, looked in vain for Freddy and his mother as she ate her pancakes and scrambled eggs. Norbridge and Leona were nowhere to be seen; Hyrum and Professor Fowles had returned to Havenworth late the night before.

It wasn’t until Elizabeth was nearly done with her meal that Mrs. Knox and Freddy arrived and joined Mr. Knox near the back of the vast room. Elizabeth caught Freddy’s eye as he and his parents ate in silence, and he flashed her an I’ll see you after breakfast look as he munched away. When he finally stood to leave, he spoke a quick word to his mother and father, made a gesture to Elizabeth, and a moment later, the two kids were departing through the rear doors of Winter Hall.

“Last night was crazy,” Elizabeth said as they entered the corridor.

“My parents told me.” Freddy was shaking his head as if he still hadn’t absorbed the strangeness of it all. “What happened?”

Elizabeth shared everything as they walked to the workshop—the scene outside Room 333 and then how she and Norbridge had inspected the room to find the Anna Lux book missing.

“It’s gone?” Freddy said as they entered the workshop and moved to the crates. “You guys looked everywhere?”

“Everywhere.”

“All I know is my parents left to go to the café about an hour after I got back to our room last night. I guess they noticed the Wellingtons and the Rajputs walking by and looking funny, so they followed them. At least, that’s what my mom and dad told me at breakfast.”

“Everyone said they saw someone else acting funny or trying to open Gracella’s door,” Elizabeth said, “but as far as I can tell, no one saw anything for sure.”

Freddy was peering into the crate he’d opened, but he stopped and squinted at Elizabeth. “But wait a minute. If you saw the book in there a week ago, then it could have been taken anytime between then and last night, right?”

Elizabeth shrugged. “I guess. But, I mean, it had to have happened last night. Before that, no one else would have even known to look in Room 333. It had to be someone who was at our table for dinner and heard what Hyrum said.”

“But who?”

With a tap on the side of her head, Elizabeth said, “I made a list.” She pulled her small notebook from the pocket of her sweater and displayed it. “Right here.”

“I should have known,” Freddy said, smiling in spite of himself. “You and your…” He looked to the ceiling for inspiration.

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