Ice Cream Shop

Ice cream is the perfect motivator. Unfortunately it is also the perfect distraction. I think I've actually done less work here than when I was at Rosie's . It's weird, the owners of this ice cream shop are unusually welcoming. They didn't bat an eye when we brought the boxes in , and it is a mess to say the least. There are boxes and papers scattered throughout our area. You wouldn't be able to see the tiny metallic table. I have never seen this level of acceptance in a public place before. Except maybe in a coffee house. There it's almost frowned upon if you don't bring your office with you. Maybe the owners want a homely, cozy, coffee house feel. Maybe they know we are on to something and want to see us succeed even if it means staring at this colossal eye sore. Maybe they expect us to pay rent now, or maybe they just don't care. These are questions I ask myself while finishing my delicious swirl cone. "You find anything?" Olivia asks. "No, did you?" "No." I observe my surroundings. "Hey, is this where we came for New Years?" Olivia shakes her head. "No. I think that place was in another town.Sure looks similar though." "Sure does." "What was in your box?" She asks. "Not much. Mostly receipts . Stuff she thought was important at one point. Do you want to take a look?" "May I ?" I hand Olivia a small pile of papers that I have gathered in front of me. "It's all receipts for vacuums or TVs." I say. Olivia flips through the papers. "Yeah, not much here." "Should we call it quits for the night?" I ask. Olivia suddenly stops flipping. "Wait." She instructs. "What?" Olivia hands me a deed for a Mapleville Lake house. "Did you see that one?" She asks. "I somehow missed it." Olivia points to the paper. " I think that's where she is." "You really think so?" Olivia grins. "It's worth a shot. Isn't it?"

Sorting Through Boxes

"It's hopeless!" I shout while sifting through an enormous pile of papers. "Don't give up." Olivia tells me. "I won't, but I really want to. I mean do we even know what we are looking for?" "Evidence." "Evidence of what?" I ask. "You know, the strange element." I bite my lip. "Yeah, it's in here somewhere I guess." The doorbell rings. "Who could that be?" Olivia asks. "I don't know. We're all here." Rosie's roommate answers the door. He is greeted by many young, boisterous voices. "That's right, he said there was gonna be a party." I say. "Grab as much as you can." Olivia instructs. "What?" "Grab what you can. We'll do this elsewhere." "Where?" "I don't know, Dairy Queen. Any where as long as it's not here." I haphazardly throw my piles of papers into a box. I pick up the box and head for the door. "At least we can get swirl cones."

Rosie's Roommate

Even though it's been awhile, I recognize Rosie's flat right away. I see the white paint peeling off the front steps, the numbers to her address hanging on by a thread, and a rip in the screen door. Olivia point a second mailbox out to me. Both are filled. "Who do you think is living here?" She asks. "She did tell us that occasionally she will rent out the top flat to a college student." I go ahead and ring the doorbell, curious to see who her new room mate is. A moment later a tall, very sleepy man with a full beard and a flannel shirt answers the front door. "May I help you ?" He says, barely making eye contact. "Yeah, do you know Rosie?" I ask. "I do." He responds sharply. Olivia and I wait for him to explain himself further. He does not, and I have to take the lead. "May we see her?" I ask, delving deeper. "No." "Why not?" Olivia demands. "Because she's on vacation. You can come in if you want though." Olivia and I stare at each other for a second. We then decide to come in. The interior of the house appeared untouched. Boxes scattered throughout the floor. Possibly in the same exact places as we had left them. "This is going to sound like an odd question, but would you mind if we went through some of the boxes?" I ask. "Knock yourselves out." He says. "You don't mind?" He shakes his head. " I don't see why I would. It's not my stuff." "But didn't Rosie give you any instructions about what you can and can't touch?" Olivia wonders. "She might have. I probably wasn't listening though." I roll my eyes. Olivia opens a random box on the ground. The guy starts to exit the room, then comes back. "Just give you guys a heads up. I have some people coming over for a party in a few hours."

Through the Lens

"What do you see?" Olivia asks while I intensely focus on the sample of the shield. "Nothing I can discern." "Can I have a look?" I lift my head from the microscope. Olivia scoots in my place. "It looks similar to a plant cell." She says. "Yes, that is what I thought as well. I can't make anything else out though." Olivia discontinues her looking. "Nor can I." I shrug. "Well, we tried." I state. "That's it? You're just gonna give up?" She asks. "What else can we do?" Olivia thinks for a moment. "We could stop by Rosie. You remember her? I'm sure she has more valuable information." I grin, it catches Olivia off guard. "What? You don't think it's a good idea?" She asks. "I think it is a great idea, but I am surprised you are in on this now." "What can I say? You got me curious."

Hammer Time

Call me crazy, but I have an inkling I may be able to fine some tools at the reference desk. It's gotta be good for something. Even it is just to amuse myself while my librarian co worker has gives me the deer in the headlights look. Although I may not have to work too hard at that. Malory stares off into space, and she appears white as a ghost. Olivia snaps her fingers in front of Malory's face. Malory shakes herself out of it. "I finished the book." She confesses. "How was it?" I ask. "The butler did it. Why did he do it?" "I don't know. You read it." I tell her. Malory takes a breath. "He wanted to run away with the wife, but she would never leave her husband. How could people be so cruel." She asks me. "It was just a book." I remind her. "Was it?" She says, worriedly. Olivia jumps in. "As much as I'm enjoying this banter, there is a reason why we're here." "Yeah, would you by any chance have a hammer we could borrow?" I ask. "I do. One of the workers left one behind." She reaches into the drawer and pulls out a mallet. "Wait, what workers?" Olivia questions. "It's a long story. I'll tell you later." I say. I take the shield out of my backpack. I then carefully remove it from its plastic back. After that I beat the living hell out of it with a hammer. I hit it with all my might. The hammer clangs against the metallic shield causing echoes in the library. Malory is absolutely mortified, but I continue. At first it doesn't seem like I'm doing any damage. It does not make the slightest dent, and my arm only gets more tired. Just as I'm about to give up, the tiniest piece pops off. I place the hammer down and grin a satisfactory smile. I grab the little chip. "Thanks, this is all I needed."

In on the Plan?

Just as I'm about to call it quits for the day I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn around to see Olivia's warm smile. Without saying a word, I kiss her in the way that I had wanted to for quite some time now. Eventually we break apart. "How did you get past me?" I ask. "I'm magic." "I have know that for a while, but the fact remains how did you get past me? Is there another door?" "Not that I know of." "I'm wondering how I didn't see you." "It's easy when your eyes are closed." She explains. "I nodded off?" "You did." She says while taking a seat at the table. Olivia notices my backpack. "What's in here?" She asks. "I was about to get to that but-" I unzip the backpack and remove the shield and microscope. "What do those two things have in common?" "We're going to examine the shield under the microscope." I announce, excitedly. Olivia is speechless. "You don't look excited." I say. "Seems kinda pointless. I mean it baffled the doctors and scientists. What could we possibly find?" "Aren't you curious to see for yourself?" "A little " "Then let's do it!" I shout. Olivia smirks. "Yes, let's try it with a toy microscope." "You don't think it could work?" I ask, forlorn. "It's not that it's just how are we going to fit that huge thing under a microscope?" I spring up. "You're right. We only need a small chunk. Let's find some tools to chip a piece off."

Patiently Waiting

In my humble opinion a vacation can never be long enough, but I miss my girl. Hopefully she'll be back any moment. I know I didn't have to return to the library. I'm aware I could hide in a cave on the moon and she would find me. It may take some time, but she'd find me. I want to make it incredibly easy for her though. I'm sitting at a table facing the library entrance. As soon as she walks through the door she'll see my glowing face. It's been an hour of waiting, yet I remain patient. I have a newly purchased backpack that holds my shield as well as a microscope by my side. I'll tell Olivia my plans to investigate this matter more thoroughly. She'll be thrilled and delighted. I tap my fingers rhythmically on the wooden table. Any minute now. Any minute.