Chapter Seventy-Three
“I don’t want to get expelled for stealing a key, Vi, and neither should you,” he said as she followed him down the stairs. “There has to be a better solution than just nicking it.”
She paused for a moment before responding.
“I’ve got an idea. Since I can’t go ask Madeline directly, what with things being so awkward now between us, why don’t I ask Pete over at Lamont if maybe he could have it copied by a locksmith or something?
He was the one who got Harry’s clock working again and is familiar with the keys to begin with. ”
Theo shrugged. “Maybe. Do you think he’d do it?”
“I don’t want to get dinner at Lowell tonight.” She changed the subject. “I’d rather avoid my suitemates, if you’re all right with that.”
“Sure, whatever. We can grab something at Kirkland if you want.” He paused. “Or we could get grilled cheese at The Tasty?”
The Tasty was an old diner with metal swivel stools that faced the counter and the grill behind it. No one around made a better grilled cheese. It was another institution of Harvard Square, just like Bartley’s burgers.
“Well that’s a pretty easy decision. The Tasty, obviously…”
He smiled. “So we can plan the great key heist over grilled cheese and Cokes.”
“Bonnie and Clyde beware,” she joked. “Here we come.”
They came up with a plan over dinner. Violet would ask Pete if he would make a copy of the key for her.
Theo would call the main phone number for the Theological Seminary at Lynnewood Hall.
Both parts of their plan required that they had everything in place when they left for winter break in two weeks’ time.
“I have to admit one thing,” Theo said as he finished the last bite of his grilled cheese.
“This hunt to find out what the key belongs to… the mystery of whether Harry Widener had a secret love… you’ve made me really want to get to the bottom of it.
But what I’m most curious about…” He looked at her straight in the eye.
“If we’re really to believe that Harry Widener is communicating from the grave, why has he chosen you to seek out these answers? ”
“I really have no clue,” Violet admitted.
“I know you’re great and all,” he laughed. “And I know you love books and working in the library. But surely there’ve been tons of people who’ve worked at Widener over the years who also fit that bill.”
“That’s all true,” she agreed. “I can’t explain it. I’ve never even believed in ghosts before. But from the moment I first had access to Harry’s study, I just felt his presence there.”
“So it’s one more piece of the overall Harry puzzle.” Theo shrugged. He reached into his wallet to pay the bill. “I couldn’t help but ask.”
For as long as Violet had been at Harvard, Pete had worked behind the circulation desk at Lamont. She wasn’t sure how he’d become the go-to person for winding Harry’s desk clock when it stopped working, but Violet knew he also shared her curiosity about the mysterious larger key.
She stopped by Lamont after class the following afternoon.
“Pete, I was wondering if I could ask you a question,” she said as she stepped closer to the circulation desk where he was sitting. “Do you remember when we were in the Memorial Room a while back and you were setting Harry’s clock?”
“Yes,” Pete answered.
“And then I asked you what the other key with the birds on it was for, and you said you didn’t know…”
He laughed. “Yeah, I remember. When I used to work at Widener, I was the one Madeline always asked to wind the watch because I was the only one who knew how to do it over there. And every time I did it, I always wondered what the other key was for. I even tried a couple times to see if it belonged to the desk or any of the other furniture in the study.”
Violet was glad he was equally mystified by it.
“Well, I’m not sure if you heard, but I’m on temporary leave from my page work at the library. The book slasher seems to have ruined my job, not just the books.”
“I’m sorry,” Pete said. “I’m sure once the investigation is complete, you’ll be back. It’s just a huge mess at the moment.”
“Yeah,” Violet nodded. “It really stinks.” She gave him a look of disappointment.
“The thing is, Pete, when I go back home to Philly over break, I wanted to see if I could take that other key to Lynnewood Hall to check whether it belonged to a room or something else there. But now there’s no way I can ask Madeline. ”
“I doubt she would have given it to you even if you were still working at Widener. It’s part of the collection. It can’t be taken off the premises.”
“That’s true,” Violet demurred, with a look of disappointment. “But I had an idea. What if someone else made a copy of the key…”
Pete’s eyebrows rose. “Why do I get the feeling you’re asking me to do it?”
“Well, you’re the go-to person for Madeline for winding the clock, so I don’t think she’d be upset if you took the keys to be copied. In case anything ever happened to the original, you’d still be able to wind it with the spare you had the foresight to have made.”
“I don’t think she’d be too happy about it.”
“But you said it yourself, you’ve always wondered what it was for.”
“I was curious, Violet. But not enough to risk getting into a lot of trouble for removing something from the Memorial Room without going through the proper channels first.”
“What if I told you I thought it was connected to Harry’s untold love story?”
He laughed. “You’re certainly pulling out all the stops now.
You think you’ve discovered that Harry Elkins Widener might have had a secret love?
And the key will help you find something at Lynnewood that will prove it?
” He chuckled again. “Well, maybe I could approach Madeline and tell her I think we need to make copies of both keys. I could always say it seems like a good idea to make spares, just in case the originals ever broke given how old they are now.” He paused for a moment.
“Or as a precaution, in case the book slasher somehow got into Harry’s desk and took them. ”