Read Online The Name of the Game Was Murder by Joan Lowery Nixon - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Joan Lowery Nixon
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could do would be to stay out of the way.
“Let’s get busy,” Julia said.
Senator Maggio took charge by immediately making up a list of rules and assigning everyone places. They went to their particular sections and began removing books, papers, anything in sight—only neatly, putting them back the way they had been, so everything would be in order when the police arrived.
As I watched them work—no one had thought about giving me a job—I had a chance to go over things that hadbeen said, and I began to wonder about Julia. She was a writer. She should know about the importance of manuscript copies. Yet she was the first one to tell us that the manuscript had been destroyed. And at breakfast she hadn’t remembered her own stories and characters. I knew, from reading what writers had to say about writing, that after living with her characters for months—maybe even years while she was plotting and writing about them—they’d be like real people. How could she forget them?
Buck had worked gingerly through each side of the desk, opening drawers with a handkerchief, and taking care not to touch Augustus; but he’d finished, finding nothing, and had joined Julia, who was meticulously removing books from the large bookcase and peering behind them.
I had seen something protruding from under the sleeve of Augustus’s velvet jacket, near his right elbow. It seemed to be a small stack of envelopes, and they looked very much like those that held the clues Augustus had given to his guests the night before. I quietly walked over and slid out the stack, turned them over, and on the top, printed in bright blue ink, was the name
Alex Chambers, Game Clue
#2.
I thumbed through the envelopes and, just as I thought, there was one for each of the guests and one for Aunt Thea. Augustus had told them he’d have more clues for them to figure out. Obviously, here was the batch he probably had intended to hand out right after breakfast.
Buck leaned against the bookcase, his face more flushed than ever. “That manuscript is not in this room,” he said. “Are we going to have to search the entire house?”
“We don’t have a choice,” the senator told him.
But I held up the envelopes and said, “Yes, you do. These must be the next set of clues.”
“Clues for what?” Laura asked. “Weren’t they for finding some kind of a treasure?”
I shrugged. “I think the manuscript was supposed to be the treasure.”
They all just stared at me, no one saying anything, so I explained. “He said it would be a significant treasure. Okay, what’s significant about the treasure hunt? Remember, he said that if you could solve the clues you could get your story removed from his manuscript? It makes sense, then, doesn’t it, that the clue solvers would find the manuscript itself?”
“It does make sense,” the senator said slowly, “especially since it seems as though the manuscript has been hidden.”
“So you might find it through the clues,” I said, and again held up the envelopes.
“It’s worth a try,” Julia said. She stepped up and pulled the envelopes from my hand, riffling through them until she found the one with her name on it.
She shoved the other envelopes back in my hand and started out of the room, but I called out, “Wait a minute. It could take forever if you work alone. Why don’t you try to solve the clues together?”
“I don’t think so,” Senator Maggio said, “not if they’re like the first set Augustus gave us.”
Thea said, “I’m going to be blunt about it. If your clues were like mine, then they let you know exactly what it was Augustus planned to include about each of you in his book.”
“You’re right!” Laura said, and groaned. “No one’s going to see my clue.”
“What if no one understood the clue except you?” I asked. “And what if you put all the clues together and came up with where the manuscript is hidden?”
“I don’t know,” Buck said, and rubbed so hard
“Let’s get busy,” Julia said.
Senator Maggio took charge by immediately making up a list of rules and assigning everyone places. They went to their particular sections and began removing books, papers, anything in sight—only neatly, putting them back the way they had been, so everything would be in order when the police arrived.
As I watched them work—no one had thought about giving me a job—I had a chance to go over things that hadbeen said, and I began to wonder about Julia. She was a writer. She should know about the importance of manuscript copies. Yet she was the first one to tell us that the manuscript had been destroyed. And at breakfast she hadn’t remembered her own stories and characters. I knew, from reading what writers had to say about writing, that after living with her characters for months—maybe even years while she was plotting and writing about them—they’d be like real people. How could she forget them?
Buck had worked gingerly through each side of the desk, opening drawers with a handkerchief, and taking care not to touch Augustus; but he’d finished, finding nothing, and had joined Julia, who was meticulously removing books from the large bookcase and peering behind them.
I had seen something protruding from under the sleeve of Augustus’s velvet jacket, near his right elbow. It seemed to be a small stack of envelopes, and they looked very much like those that held the clues Augustus had given to his guests the night before. I quietly walked over and slid out the stack, turned them over, and on the top, printed in bright blue ink, was the name
Alex Chambers, Game Clue
#2.
I thumbed through the envelopes and, just as I thought, there was one for each of the guests and one for Aunt Thea. Augustus had told them he’d have more clues for them to figure out. Obviously, here was the batch he probably had intended to hand out right after breakfast.
Buck leaned against the bookcase, his face more flushed than ever. “That manuscript is not in this room,” he said. “Are we going to have to search the entire house?”
“We don’t have a choice,” the senator told him.
But I held up the envelopes and said, “Yes, you do. These must be the next set of clues.”
“Clues for what?” Laura asked. “Weren’t they for finding some kind of a treasure?”
I shrugged. “I think the manuscript was supposed to be the treasure.”
They all just stared at me, no one saying anything, so I explained. “He said it would be a significant treasure. Okay, what’s significant about the treasure hunt? Remember, he said that if you could solve the clues you could get your story removed from his manuscript? It makes sense, then, doesn’t it, that the clue solvers would find the manuscript itself?”
“It does make sense,” the senator said slowly, “especially since it seems as though the manuscript has been hidden.”
“So you might find it through the clues,” I said, and again held up the envelopes.
“It’s worth a try,” Julia said. She stepped up and pulled the envelopes from my hand, riffling through them until she found the one with her name on it.
She shoved the other envelopes back in my hand and started out of the room, but I called out, “Wait a minute. It could take forever if you work alone. Why don’t you try to solve the clues together?”
“I don’t think so,” Senator Maggio said, “not if they’re like the first set Augustus gave us.”
Thea said, “I’m going to be blunt about it. If your clues were like mine, then they let you know exactly what it was Augustus planned to include about each of you in his book.”
“You’re right!” Laura said, and groaned. “No one’s going to see my clue.”
“What if no one understood the clue except you?” I asked. “And what if you put all the clues together and came up with where the manuscript is hidden?”
“I don’t know,” Buck said, and rubbed so hard
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