Miranda James - The Silence of the Library

Bronwyn barely waited for me to say “Hello” before she spoke. “Sorry to bother you, Charlie, but I wondered when you were going to bring the books you promised me for the exhibit. I don’t have to have them today, unless you just happen to be out and about this afternoon. Monday morning would be fine.”

I couldn’t believe I hadn’t remembered to take the cartons this morning as I’d originally planned. The thought of running over to the library this afternoon didn’t appeal much. “If you’re sure Monday morning is soon enough,” I said, “I can bring them by first thing, before I go to work at the college.”

“Sure, that’s fine,” Bronwyn said. “But I really do need to have the books that morning. All I have left is to make labels for them before I put them in the exhibit cases.”

I felt guilty because I should have taken them today. She would have to rush on Monday morning to get things done if I waited until then. But I so didn’t want to get in the car again right now.

Inspiration struck—a solution good for each of us. “I tell you what, I’ll e-mail you with the titles and authors and a brief note about each book. How does that sound?”

“That would be great.” Bronwyn sounded relieved and happy. “That way I can cut and paste to make the labels. So much faster, and besides, you know more about the books than I do, Charlie. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” I said. “I’ll get on it right now.” I glanced regretfully at The Mystery at Spellwood Mansion when I ended the call. Instead of finding out about Mrs. Eden’s terrible danger, I would have to work.

No reason I couldn’t be comfortable while I did work, however. The two cartons were here in my bedroom. All I had to do was retrieve the laptop from the den, and I’d be set.

“No need for you to come with me.” I grinned at Diesel, dozing on his side of the bed. He opened one eye, yawned, closed the eye, and appeared to doze off again.

I chuckled as I headed down the stairs.

A few minutes later, I had one of the cartons at hand and the laptop booted up and ready to go. I pulled a book from the carton and set to work.

For each book, I typed in the title, the author, the series, and the basic publication information. If I knew the name of the illustrator, I added that. One of the best known was Russell H. Tandy, a professional artist who did the covers and the internal illustrations for the first twenty-six Nancy Drew books. As I typed that information for an early printing of The Secret of the Old Clock , the first Nancy Drew book, I felt the faint stir of memory. Something about Russell Tandy and a particular Nancy Drew book. What was it?

I did a quick Internet search and found the Nancy Drew Sleuth website. It didn’t take long to find the information. Tandy had not illustrated the eleventh book in the series, The Clue of the Broken Locket . That was what that little niggle of memory was about. I revised my information in the e-mail and moved on to the next book.

By the time I finished the books in the first carton, I had begun to realize I’d pulled too many for Bronwyn to use effectively. There were sixteen in the first carton and probably as many in the second one. I pictured the exhibit cases in my mind and figured that twenty books would be about right for the space, by the time Bronwyn added the labels.

I set the laptop aside and went over to the second carton. After a quick examination of the items in it, I pulled three to go with the sixteen I had already written up.

Fifteen minutes later I was finished with those three. I read back through the e-mail, checking the titles and authors represented. I discovered that among the titles were two Veronica Thanes, but not the first, Spellwood Mansion . That one had to be included because it launched the series. Maybe I could finish rereading it over the weekend. Otherwise I would have to wait until the exhibit came down.

I picked up the book and examined it carefully. I pulled off the dust jacket to look at the binding. I frowned. There was no silhouette of Veronica and her two sidekicks, Lucy Carlton and Arthur “Artie” Marsh, on the front cover. That was strange. From what I recalled, all the books had sported the silhouette as part of the design.

I did another search, this time on Veronica Thane, and found a website with several pages devoted to the series. With the enthusiasm for these series books, I figured someone must have researched the publication history, and I was right. There was a page with pictures of the covers of every book in the series, and there were examples of the variations in binding.

And there it was, a picture of a Veronica Thane book sans silhouette. I scanned the long paragraph of information and learned that this particular binding was used only on so-called breeder sets for the first two titles in the series. There was an explanation of breeder sets, which sounded vaguely familiar. The publishers brought out the first two or three volumes in a limited print run to test the waters with readers, to see if the series might catch on. According to the website, the technique worked for Nancy Drew in 1930. The series was an immediate hit. Veronica had a more modest debut two years later.

What I read next made me sit up and whistle.

Diesel muttered in protest. I supposed my whistling disturbed his beauty nap. He rolled over on his back and stretched, and his tail switched back and forth. He stayed in that position with his head twisted to one side and went back to sleep.

I reread the paragraph that had piqued my interest.

A few years ago a collector and expert on the history of the Veronica Thane series, Jennifer Fisher, brought to light a little-known variant in the first printings of the first volume in the breeder set. This was recently confirmed by Mrs. Carrie Taylor, the publisher of The Thane Chronicles, the newsletter devoted to the author and her works, who reported that she has a copy in her extensive collection. In the final paragraph of this variant edition, the next volume of the series is named as The Clarevoyant’s Clew. The correct title is, of course, The Clairvoyant’s Clue. The error must have been caught quickly and corrected, though a number of the volumes with the wrong title did make it into the hands of readers. Copies of the book with the incorrect title have rarely surfaced, but recently a collector was reported to have paid over twenty thousand dollars for a near-pristine copy of the highly sought after item. Though the price seems extravagant, the purchaser certainly has the satisfaction of knowing he (or she) possesses a true rarity.

I wondered uneasily whether I had just discovered the motive behind Carrie Taylor’s murder.

TWENTY-ONE

Would anyone really kill in order to obtain a rare copy of The Mystery at Spellwood Mansion ? Even if a collector had paid twenty thousand dollars for one?

I didn’t want to believe it, but I knew people murdered for far less and for even more bizarre reasons. Kanesha needed to know about this. I copied the link for the page and e-mailed it to her with a brief explanation. All she had to do was check Carrie Taylor’s collection, and if the copy with the incorrect title turned up, then the book wasn’t the motive. If it was missing, she might have a lead on why Mrs. Taylor was killed.

What about Aunt Dottie’s copy? My hand shook a little as I reached for the book. I opened it and found the last page of the text.

I almost dropped the book.

Aunt Dottie’s copy was one of the rare ones. There it was, right on the page. The Clarevoyant’s Clew .

I examined the book. Beautiful condition, I thought. Not exactly pristine, because it had obviously been read a few times. The dust jacket was intact, no tears or chips, and the colors were bright and crisp. My late aunt had loved her books and always took great care of them, even as a child. She had helped instill that love in me.