The Lost Libraries Archive (The Erik Midgard Case Files Volume 2)

Chapter 10

X

"All right. Thank you, Midgard. We'll look into that possibility," said Caelestis, over Wei'To's deskcom. I'd just finished telling her what Chernobog had revealed about the attack on Io.

"Yes, Ma'am," I said. "And could I ask...?"

"No," said Caelestis. "I know exactly what Commander Horus's instructions to you were. Over and out."

I sighed with frustration and sat back in Wei'To's chair. I should have guessed Horus would be thorough enough to make certain I couldn't get into the investigation by the back door. But at least Caelestis would be doing something with the information, while I was stuck here, trying to solve a murder while surrounded by leads that went nowhere. I was starting to worry that the only possible perpetrator would turn out to be someone from outside the project, who'd already escaped, leaving us with the murder weapon, but no clues to track them down. Horus would have the perfect excuse to order me to stay on this case indefinitely if that happened.

"Um... Detective?"

"Come in, Miss Uzume," I said. Uzume was hovering nervously in the doorway. "I'm all finished."

"Good. It's just... I just remembered something," said Uzume. She came into Wei'To's office and knelt down to pull a box off one of the bottom shelves. She stood up again and brought it over to the desk and set it down in front of me.

"These all belonged to Andrew," she said. "They're his personal affects. The professor was looking after them until we can send them back to his family on Corporate Mars. I... I thought they might be useful. Or maybe you'd want to see them."

"Yes. Thank you," I said, sitting up and pulling the box towards me. "This could be helpful." Andrew Tawaret was unlikely to have killed the professor from beyond the grave or to be our mysterious third backstepper, but there was still a chance he was somehow involved with the rifle recharger. In either case, it was nice to have something resembling a new angle to explore.

The box contained a boardcom and various data crystals, a pair of sunglasses and an Oxbridge Luna baseball cap. There were various different stones at the bottom, so perhaps he had been collecting souvenirs in the past, choosing something that would minimise the risk of paradox creation. There were a couple of the replica Mayan folding books, which were evidently prototypes of what the finished ones for the library would look like, and a larger, leather bound book.

"What was Tawaret like?" I asked, as I took it out and opened it.

"He was very nice," said Uzume. "We all liked him. He was very... thoughtful. He didn't talk very much, but he wasn't unsociable. He was very contemplative, I suppose."

"Right," I said. "Was he another history student?"

The larger book had turned out an artist's sketchbook, filled with old fashioned pencil drawings. Some were a bit smudged, but otherwise, they were very good. My hopes that he might have drawn a vital clue somewhere were quickly dashed. He'd spent nearly his entire time drawing landscapes and buildings and animals, including the statues and pyramids in Tutal Xiu, the walls of Constantinople, the trees outside Glasney College and the lighthouse at Alexandria. None of them were dated and he hadn't drawn the jaguar knife at any point.

"Yes. He was on the same scholarship as me," said Megan. "He actually told me about the Library Project. He was really interested in it from the start. He... He liked the idea of being able to use time travel to save things. He said it was a gift."

"Yes, it is nice when it's possible," I said. I turned the sketchbook around so I could study a drawing of the Mayan ball game more closely, but I couldn't make out Xibalba among the players.