Read Mystery in the Library: Chapter V here.

In the dimly lit room, Jolly looked at all the boxes and files piled on all available surfaces. ‘’How am I going to find one register in all of this?’’ she murmured. 

‘’With my help of course!’’ She whipped around and saw Pat standing in the doorway. ‘’Looks like we both came to the same conclusion, Jolly.’’

‘’Then get in here quickly and let’s find the register.’’ Both of them spent a good portion of an hour looking at boxes and files until they were coated with dust.

‘’Aaachoooo!’’ sneezed Pat as he opened yet another brown cardboard box. ‘’This is the last one before I give up on this train of investigation.’’

‘’That’s not how treasure hunters hunt. We’ve got to keep looking even when there is no end in sight. Buckle up Pat, we’ve got a treasure to find.’’

MERRIN ABRAHAM

Merrin completed her Integrated MA in English Studies from IIT Madras. She is a storyteller, bibliomaniac and a lover of indie music who had a passion for the English language that she dedicated her childhood to reading Victorian literature. Besides drinking bitter coffee and analysing Asian media, she is trying to find a horror story worthy of the genre.

After almost 2 hours of searching, Jolly came across a relatively well kept box file named Seasons. ‘’Pat, what do you make of a file called Seasons? Don’t you think this holds the key to our hunt?’’

Pat was exhausted and grunted in answer as he continued to thumb through another file filled with guidelines. Jolly was rewarded for her perseverance when she opened the file. In between the many pages of recorded temperatures was a single dried white Alyssum flower. She scrambled to her feet and looked at the illustration to compare the flowers.

‘’IT’S A MATCH!!! The next clue is about flowers!! Come on Pat!!’’ Knocked out of his weariness, Pat jumped up and followed Jolly out of the room.

‘’What are we doing now? What happened?’’ Jolly laughed at him and showed him the dried but intact Alyssum flower. We need to find out about this flower, so we’re going to the agriculture/horticulture section. I remember my mum reading about gardening there when she tried to grow sunflowers.’’ Pat had gathered his wits and was back to his boisterous self by the time they reached the Agriculture section. 

‘’Since I found this clue, why don’t you try to figure this one out?’’ Jolly asked Pat as she set down all the books she had been carrying around. ‘’I’m just going to write down everything we’ve found so far. Pat got to work by looking at winter flowers and gardening in the winter. Since he had an idea of what to look for, Pat was able to locate the book relatively quickly and he brought the next clue to Jolly. 

‘’There is a note next to the picture of the flower that says ‘’384,400 km (238,855 miles) away in the sky’’. This is obviously the distance of something from the earth.’’

‘’The moon. It’s the distance of the moon from the earth. Isn’t the moon the next image?’’ asked Jolly. 

‘’Yes, the next image is the moon. This one was easy. So, back to the Astronomy section?’’

Jolly sat in deep thought. ‘’Why would there be 2 clues in the same place? I think we need to look for the moon elsewhere.’’

‘’Hey, I think I know where we can find the moon.’’ Pat walked towards the scientific  journals and publications stand where he pointed to a miniature moon hanging from one corner. 

‘’There’s the moon.’’

Jolly reached out and slowly removed the hanging moon. ‘’We found the moon. Is the clue inside a journal? Maybe the NASA publication will have something inside.’’ She pointed to one of the journals with the moon in her hand when she felt something move inside the miniature moon. She shook the ball and she could feel something move inside it. ‘’Pat, there is something inside this.’’

Share your thoughts on what you think happens next in the comments. Stay tuned for the next part of the story. If you are interested in mysteries and solving clues, join our ‘Crafting Clues’ course to learn more.

Read Mystery in the Library: Chapter VII here.