13
‘Quantum physics,’ Barney says as he flicks through the pages of one of the books.
Adam and I have carried the books from next door for Barney to have a look at in the antiques shop.
He looks up at us when we don’t immediately answer.
‘From my limited knowledge, these look like quantum physics equations, and the notes and diagrams would suggest that too.’
I glance at Adam, but he looks no wiser than I do.
‘What’s quantum physics?’ I ask.
‘Now there’s a question!’ Barney says, smiling. ‘One that would take me a long time to answer properly. To keep it as simple as I can, it’s the study of matter. Usually, but not always, tiny matter, like atoms and molecules, and how they behave.’
‘Right … and you think that’s what all these books contain. Just stuff about atoms and molecules?’
‘I’d have to have a good look through them all, but, yeah, I’d say so. Remember I’m not a scientist, though. I just work at the lab helping the real scientists out.’
‘But you must have picked up some knowledge working there,’ Adam says. ‘I’m sure you do all the hard graft while the students and professors take all the credit.’
Barney smiles. ‘Something like that. They’d have to do their own donkey work if it wasn’t for us. We set everything up for them so they can do all their experiments and teach and stuff, then we clear everything up afterwards.’
‘Why would someone hide twelve books of notes away, and so cleverly too, if they don’t mean anything?’ I ask. ‘They must mean something or why hide them?’
‘Hi!’ A female voice calls from the doorway. It’s Orla. ‘I don’t suppose you have any change, do you, Eve? I’ve had nothing but notes this morning, and I’m desperate for some pound coins.’
‘Sure,’ I say. ‘Come in – we’ve some out back.’
I go into the back room where I keep a small safe.
‘Oh, hello, Adam,’ I hear Orla say as she enters the shop. ‘I didn’t expect to see you here. How’s the shop going?’
‘Yeah, all right, thanks. Getting there, you know?’
‘Grand. And how are you today, Barney?’
‘Good. Yeah, really good, thanks,’ Barney says quickly, in a slightly high-pitched voice, not sounding at all like his usual laid-back self.
‘I’m pleased to hear it. So, what are you all up to? You look like you were in deep discussion when I entered.’
‘Nothing,’ Barney says guiltily.
‘Just having a chat, really,’ I hear Adam say.
‘Right …’ Orla doesn’t sound too convinced. ‘Oh, Barney, I’ve got that crystal in the shop you were asking me about the other day. Why don’t you pop in later when you can.’
‘Sure, thanks, I will,’ Barney says in the same strange voice. I hear him clear his throat, then say in a deeper tone, ‘Much appreciated, Orla.’
I come back into the shop with a bag of pound coins. As I hand Orla the bag, I notice how red the back of Barney’s neck has gone.
‘Ah, Eve, you’re a star,’ Orla says, handing me a twenty-pound note.
‘Right, then, I’ll leave you all to your gossiping!
’ She raises her blonde eyebrows, gives Barney a quick smile, then walks towards the door just as Ben is about to enter the shop.
‘Ben! Grand to see you back in Clockmaker Court at last.’
‘If it hadn’t been for your healing ways, Orla, I’m sure it would have taken a lot longer for me to get back here.’
Orla smiles and pats him on the arm as she leaves. ‘Good to have you back where you belong.’
Ben stands in the shop doorway. ‘Is this a good time?’ he asks, glancing at Adam and Barney.
‘Of course,’ I say, going over to escort him in. ‘We’ve no secrets here. Did you have any luck?’
Ben holds up a roll of paper. ‘I certainly did. Can I lay it out somewhere?’
We clear a bit of space on the cash desk and while Ben sits on a wooden chair, Adam unrolls the map.
‘It’s a plan of this area of Cambridge, including Clockmaker Court, drawn up in 1938,’ Ben says. ‘Just like you thought, there was another building between your two shops originally.’
Adam and I pore over the map, where the missing building is quite clearly marked.
‘When do you think it was boarded up?’ I ask. ‘Obviously sometime after 1938.’
‘You’d have to find some more up-to-date maps showing the area. I might have something, but again I’d have to look through my stock. I don’t recall that shop being here when I was a young boy, so I doubt it was much after 1938 that it changed.’
‘Sometime during the Second World War then?’ I ask.
‘It’s possible. The thing is, during the war a lot of industries changed their production for the war effort. I would have thought street plans would have been one of those things. Also, we didn’t want anything circulating that could help Hitler plan his bombings and possible invasions.’
‘So if it changed between 1939 and 1945, it’s unlikely we’d know exactly when?’
Ben nods. ‘But like I said, I don’t remember it being there during the war when I used to come and read the comics with George in Archie’s shop.’
‘Wait, what?’ Adam asks, confused. ‘What do you mean, Archie’s shop?’
‘Didn’t Eve tell you?’ Ben looks at me in surprise.
‘I was going to,’ I say hurriedly. ‘And then we were caught up in the book mystery.’
‘Book mystery?’ Ben asks.
‘Hang on,’ Adam says. ‘Let’s not get distracted again. What do you mean, Archie’s shop?’
I gesture to Ben to explain.
‘As I explained to Eve earlier, Archie owned the bookshop in Clockmaker Court during the forties. Your grandfather George and I used to spend a lot of time in there when we were young.’
‘But I thought he was a professor at the university?’ Adam looks completely bewildered now.
‘He was. He only owned the bookshop – someone else ran it for him. His name was Oswald; we called him Ozzie.’ Ben pauses to remember what are clearly happy memories for him.
‘But why would Archie buy a bookshop?’ Adam asks.
‘A side hustle, maybe?’ Barney says.
‘I doubt it. Didn’t university professors get paid quite well back then?’
‘It does seem a little odd, doesn’t it?’ I say. ‘Perhaps he just wanted it as a hobby?’
‘Hmm …’ Adam is clearly unconvinced. ‘This just isn’t adding up for me. What you’re saying, Ben, is that not only did my grandfather used to hang out here in Clockmaker Court when he was young, but that my great-grandfather at one stage actually owned the shop that I do now?’
Ben nods.
‘That’s crazy. I didn’t even know of this place until a few months ago.’
‘It’s like it’s meant to be,’ I say, secretly pleased that this strange twist of fate was in part due to me. ‘Like you were always meant to own the shop next door.’
‘What sort of comics were they?’ Barney asks while Adam and I are still ruminating on this.
‘In Archie’s shop?’ Ben’s bushy white eyebrows draw together as his brow furrows. He must be wondering, like me, what this has to do with anything.
‘Yes.’
‘Erm … the Beano , the Dandy , that sort of thing.’
‘Anything else? Any American comics?’
‘Yes, as a matter of fact, there were. I was just telling Eve earlier that there were some American imports. I think they must have come over with one or two of the GIs stationed here during the war.’
‘Marvel?’ Barney asks.
‘Yes, although they weren’t called Marvel, they were called Timely Comics back then, if I remember correctly. Archie loved a comic and so did George. I think that’s one of the reasons they stocked them, so George could read them.’
‘Why are you asking, Barney?’ I say. Barney is into comics and superheroes, and he helped me value many of the items from Past Times House we brought from the cabinet in George’s office. He actually bought a few bits off me before they went on sale in the shop.
‘Because there’s some references to Marvel in the books you showed me,’ Barney says.
‘The equation books?’ I ask doubtfully.
‘Yeah, look.’ Barney reaches for Twelfth Night . ‘While you were poring over the map, I continued to look at the books. It was difficult for me to see the map up there.’
‘Oh, Barney, I’m sorry,’ I say, feeling immediately guilty. ‘We should have put it on the lower part of the desk so you could see it too.’
Barney shrugs good-naturedly. ‘No worries. It’s probably a good thing, because although I couldn’t understand all the equations and formulae in the books, what I did see at the back of a couple of them are references that only a Marvel geek would understand.
I’m a Marvel geek,’ he says when none of us respond.
‘Well, a comic-book geek, really, but Marvel is my favourite.’ He looks at Ben, who nods approvingly.
‘What sort of references?’ I ask.
‘All sorts that could mean anything, but one in particular might be relevant. It says EARTH in big capital letters inside a doodle of Captain America’s shield.’
‘I’m sorry, Barney, but you’ll have to explain further?’
‘In the Marvel universe, Earth is referred to with three numbers – 616. It’s complicated,’ he says quickly. ‘But the doodle of the shield is inside what looks a bit like a combination lock.’
‘Like the one on the door?’ Adam is piecing all this together much faster than Ben and I.
‘Exactly.’ Barney points at him.
‘But the combination has six digits,’ I say, not really catching on.
‘I know, but what if three of those digits are 616. If you can discover the second three, you might be that little bit closer to unlocking the secret of what’s hidden behind that door.’