Play@YSDC

"It's a decent drive," says William. "We've been there before, but we never found anything like the book described. Chances are Emily already got it some time ago."

"Whatever has become of that book, she isn't likely to have it now, unless she was able to take it into Oakwood House. Emily probably hid it somewhere; either somewhere in this house, as William suggested, or maybe back under the floorboards at Squatter's Lake."
Lawrence asserts, not particularly excited at the prospect of returning to the Squatter's Lake motel.

"Let's search the house thoroughly first," says William. "Now that we know what to look for, we should be able to find it if it's here."

Reasoning that the most logical place for Emily to hide the book would be her bedroom, that was the first place they searched. Checking everything thoroughly, it didn’t take long to find what looked to be her hiding place.

William picked up the bedside chest of drawers to check underneath and Alex spotted something unusual. A closer inspection revealed an empty, cut-down cereal carton secured to the underside of the chest, making a pocket into which a book might conceivably have been hidden.

"This Brophy seems an incredibly dangerous man. I don't approve of vigilantism, but suspect you all did a service getting rid of him. He played this girl like a fiddle.""

"Look; over there!" Alex points out the carton and gloved up, takes a look at what's inside.

Ivy watches with interest as Alex retrieves the book.

“I wonder if the girl has been dabbling in things she shouldn’t be...” she muses.

Although it seemed likely that it was the hiding place for the book, there was no book present. The only thing Alex found was an empty envelope, addressed to Emily in the same copperplate hand as the letter they had just read.

”You want me to photograph that as well?” asked Henry.

“Yes, please do,” instructs Ivy. “But I will make a note of the postmark and date first.”

The envelope bore a Baton Rouge postal mark and was sent three days after the first letter.

"She probably already shipped the book to Brophy in Louisiana," says William, checking the envelope's return address to see if it matched the new hotel he had started there.

"There wouldn't be very much we could do about it in that case, unless you plan on taking a trip back to Louisiana. It probably burnt to ash with the second hotel." Lawrence states, gazing at the envelope with apprehensive curiosity; just how deep did Brophy's deception go, and what did that book have in it?

He almost didn't want to find out.

There was no return address on the envelope. If - unlike the first letter - there had been a return address on the second, the absence of the letter made it impossible to tell.

"I believe the next logical course of action would be paying a visit to Oakwood House," Alex suggests. "If Ms. Livingstone has answers about Brophy we need to get them out of her, and the extent of this fiendish plot."

"We can give her James's final letter to her when we go there," says William. "Hopefully it will bring her to her senses."

“Agreed,” concurs Ivy. “Though, if the girl has been dabbling with - for want of a better word - magic, we should be on our guard.”

"Manipulated or not, she's responsible for at least two deaths, so will need to face justice. Perhaps the court will go easy on her due to her impaired state, but either way we must put a stop to this."

Lawrence gives Ivy a strange look over her "magic" comment, but ultimately decides not to entertain that topic of conversation, at least not in front of the detective.
"What I want to know is how she was able to send poisoned letters out from the asylum without anyone finding out; surely, the staff must keep an eye on those things."

"That's an excellent question," says William. "I can see them allowing her to write and send letters, but how would she have gotten the poison in there? Maybe they actually released her, or she escaped, and she might not be there any more. There's a strong case that she should be committed to an institution for the criminally insane rather than sent to prison or executed. She's clearly not in her right mind."

Henry glanced between them as they discussed what they had found. ”Do you need me for anything else?” he asked. ”Otherwise, I’ll get busy downstairs.”

Ivy pauses for a moment.

"A photograph of the girl's mirror, and the wall opposite, if you please," she asks.