Chapter 6: Day Three

[HoneyDog]

OOC,I’ll let Harry keep his successful English roll as you may need it.

Scanning the shelves beyond Nicholas’ collection, Vic and Alexander come up with an interesting find. It is a series of small bound books, revealed to be the diaries of Aleister Forby. There are several of them though, and on examination the prose is flowery and somewhat turgid. It will take a long time to read them all.

[aine]

“Well, I might take a quick look, while the coast is clear. May I borrow your candle?” Isolde will take the candle, if she can safely pull the door closed she will. “Thank you, George, if I don’t come back you’ll have to send a search party!” She jokes in a whisper.

[Philulhu]

Vic opened one of the books, read the first page and sighed. It was going to be a chore...

[HoneyDog]

Isolde sets off back along the passage. In each wall, she can see a peephole to observe inside each room. Gertrude’s bedroom is empty – in Forby’s room that unfortunate is lying on the bed and loudly complaining about his headaches, while Gertrude listens patiently.

Soon Isolde finds a narrow staircase leading down. As she traverses it, it is plain that it does not stop at ground level but continues onward, as the grows noticeably cooler and the walls begin to sweat. Lighting the candle, she can see that George was right so far, and that there is nothing of note here.

Eventually the passage finishes in a dead end. Looking above her, Isolde can see that the exit is some kind of trapdoor. It’s easy to see how George was unable to move it – he simply isn’t strong enough. But with a lot of heaving, Isolde manages to push aside the barrier.

Blinking in the dim light, Isolde is greeted by the back end of a horse. That and the smell, and the piles of straw, tell her that she is probably in the stable.

[Mr. Handy]

Alexander also looks through the diaries. "I'll look for the time period surrounding the end of Nicholas Forby's life first," he says. "That would be 1842."

[aine]

Isolde wrinkles her nose against the smell and in wry resignation. “I suppose it my have been an escape route for Caveliers long ago. I’d better get back to the others.” She carefully closes the hatch The hatch after climbing out, checks on the ferret and walks back into the house to the library.

[Mephistophilis]

Not finding much luck browsing the shelves Harry tries to see if he can find any books with bindings that suggest they might be diaries or other personal notebooks.

Harry Library Use 25%,[dice]0[/dice]

[Mr. Handy]

OOC,Actually, I had wanted to look up the time surrounding his father [b]Nicholas[/b]'s death.

[HoneyDog]

OOC,Sorry, I should pay closer attention. I've deleted the previous post.

The diaries seem to start when Aleister was well into adulthood and living the life of a country gentlemen. They don't cover the period of Nicholas' death.

Vic starts at the beginning of the diaries. She can see that Aleister was a jolly, blameless soul, leading the life of a country gentleman. He records being ably guided through his early years by Bains – “more than servant, an honest guardian and friend”.

[Mr. Handy]

OOC,That's okay. I hope you saved the text before you deleted it, because we'll get to it eventually. Once I realized that the time period I was interested in was before the diaries began, I'd have moved on to another period immediately. I can't say for sure if I would have thought of starting at the end if you hadn't mentioned it, though.

[aine]

Isolde enters the library and walks close to the others. “You”lo never guess Where I’ve been- in a secret passage!” She whispers. “Just about here. Vic, did you tell the gentlemen about our theory? That Lehman was having an affair with Nicholas’ wife and that Nicholas might have used the passage to spy on them?”

[Mephistophilis]

Harry gives a shrug, 'not particularly surprising, but what did Nicholas Forby do with what he found? Do we know the ultimate fate of Lehman or his wife?' He thinks for a moment. 'Does Harry Forby know about the passage? How about Meddler? Does it lead outside? Because I've had some suspicions about the good lieutenant'.

[Mr. Handy]

"We've confirmed the theory," says Alexander, showing her the papers. "Look what was in a hidden compartment in the fireplace. It also tells us how to find the emerald." He fills her in on what they've discovered.

[Philulhu]

”We should perhaps try to find out what happened Mrs. Forby,” said Vic quietly. Now that the secret passages had been confirmed, they couldn’t discount someone using them to listen in...

“Is there a family bible in here? That might have records of births and deaths.” She glanced around the room, looking to see if there was one on the library shelves.

[HoneyDog]

OOC,Vic found the family bible the day before. Have a look at Day Two. It might be a good time to collate and summarise the really pertinent information discovered so far; it’s easy to forget as the game has such a long span. Sometimes the clues are a little understated too. Mr. Handy has an idea about what part of the diaries to look at. I would have given an Idea roll if you hadn’t have come up with it ;)

[aine]

“We really need to discuss our findings so far but I’m not sure this is the best place; it’s too easy to eavesdrop. I’m also worried about leaving all these papers around for others to read; especially Meddler.”

Isolde looks at Harry, “The passageway leads to the stables but the only signs of people using it were George’s footprints and that old wheelchair; but I suppose anyone could have sat in it and wheeled it along except not down the stairs of course.”

[Mr. Handy]

"It can't be a room off the secret passageway," says Alexander. "Otherwise we could be observed by anyone in there. Which rooms does it go to? If we eliminate those, we'll have a better idea where we can meet."

[aine]

"Well, we do need to walk to the village to see the doctor and send a telegram. We could discuss our findings on the way. We'll have to start now before it gets too hot though." Says Isolde, excited to hear the emerald is nearly at hand.

She starts to tidy the folios, arranging them carefully in order of research. "I don't want anyone perusing these while we are away - this way, we can see if they've been disturbed but remind me to ask Bates to lock the library door."

[Philulhu]

Vic gathered up the papers she had found in the priest hole and tucked them inside her blouse. ”Better that no else sees these,” she said.

The Bible,In my defence, that was in April... ;)

[Mephistophilis]

Harry looks at the old wheelchair, 'Forby was using this yesterday, you don't suppose he has been in the passageway?'