Chapter 27
27
Charlotte didn’t hear back from Todd until Friday, but she had plenty to occupy her in the meantime. There were hundreds of documents in the filing cabinets, all requiring careful sifting and prioritising, and various other pieces of historical material that had escaped the prying eyes of trespassers. These had been shoved in a suspension file marked ‘Miscellaneous’ at the back of the current drawer she was archiving, but lots of the materials in the file were from earlier dates. They ranged from the amusing: a flyer for a ‘Dancing Under the Stars’ party out on the field dated 15 June 1990: a flattened paper wrapper from a tube of Polo mints that someone must have dropped by accident into the file while working on it; and, poignantly, a snapshot of the Lower Brambleton Astronomical Society standing around the telescope and raising a glass. The festive colours of the jumpers they were wearing, and the odd Santa hat, suggested a Christmas celebration, and Charlotte smiled as she remembered what Brian O’Connor had told her about the parties the group had enjoyed. She smiled more broadly when she identified a much younger Brian himself in the photo, and then caught her breath when she saw a visibly pregnant woman raising a glass of orange juice and standing next to a tall, handsome dark-haired man who had one arm protectively wrapped around her. They all had huge smiles on their faces, and with a jolt Charlotte realised that this must be one of the last photographs of the group together before Laura and Martin’s twins were born. She turned over the photo and saw someone had written the date, December 1989.
Looking at the happy faces shining out from the photo, Charlotte saw how much Tristan resembled his mother: he had her colouring, and, having seen him looking much happier at the pub the other night, he shared her bright, all-encompassing smile. She thought about Thea, Tristan’s sister, and realised that she, too, looked very like her mother. The photo would have to go in an archive box, but before she filed and catalogued it, she pulled out her phone and took the best snap of it that she could. Brian might like to see it, and she was sure Lorelai would. She paused, considering whether or not she should show it to Tristan. He hadn’t really spoken much about his family to her yet, and she didn’t want to presume that he’d automatically want a reminder of things from a virtual stranger. Putting the photo carefully in its own box for now, she moved onto the other contents of the current file she was working with.
A ping from her mobile some time later drew her attention away from the paperwork. She’d virtually given up expecting any kind of mobile phone service when she was inside the observatory building, but every so often a rogue data wave would meander its way from wherever the nearest phone mast was and make contact with her phone. Swiping her screen, she saw it was a message from Todd to say that he was out of the office but he’d be back in school briefly the following week. Could he give her a call then?
Rather than wait to call him, she drafted an email, attached the photos of the documents she’d found and then sent it to his work email address. He was now working at Georgia State University, which meant he’d have access to a whole lot more useful information than she did. If he could shed some light on why this potential discovery had lain unrecorded all these years, then she was prepared to swallow her pride. The shock of the discovery about Volucris could be put on hold for a few more days, until Todd had seen the papers: it had been in the filing cabinet for nearly three decades, after all.