Myne

twenty three

Gamble led the group past the general area, to the back. The back was divided into two areas. The larger storage room, which was where the old records were all stored. It was a dingy room, completely closed, without windows, and with the single door. It was also a carefully designed room, so it was safe from damage from fire and most other natural disasters. It was also climate controlled, like all of the back, to ensure the old books were best protected. The smaller room that was even more secure was the restoration room, which was where the books were taken to when they needed to be repaired from damage, and where other newly submitted books were taken to, which needed care before they could be allowed to join the general area, so they could be within access of the public. The restoration room also stored the more delicate books, that couldn’t be read by general public, simply because they were so fragile. 

The group walked into the storage room. 

“Now, I’m treating all of us as responsible adults,” Gamble said when they were inside. “You must be careful. Rules can be broken, sure. But the records must be handled carefully. They must all be carefully protected. Do you understand?” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Greta said, not at all amused. “Don’t be such a bore.” 

“I must be,” Gamble shot back. “That’s how much I trust you all.” 

“At least you love us so dearly,” Darlene said drily. 

“Enough to bring us back here,” Alvin said. 

They all laughed. And then, Gamble handed out the tasks. One group, the larger in number, searched the old books listing the books borrowed, along with the name of the borrower, the date when borrowed, the date when returned, and if any fine paid due to returning late. The books were in a number so high, they would make a truly tall pile, when stacked. They scoured the books, starting from the newest, going backward, for an entry with the name of the book, ‘the green book’. 

The other group, much smaller in number, headed to the books listing the anonymous donations, with the names of the books and the dates when donated. They scoured for the same name, ‘the green book’. 

They were determined to take as long as needed. They would stop only when they found what they were looking for. The first night, they were met with failure on both sides. 

The second night, the group was still complete. And met with the same failure. 

The third night onward, the children stopped coming. It wasn’t so much fun after all. They would rather play at home. Hart and Darlene stayed back to look after the children. That left the blazing three. Greta. Alvin and Albus. Gamble. And Freya. The blazing three was in the end five members. On the fifth night, they tasted success. 

“Found it,” Gamble screamed. He was the smaller group. And was unsurprisingly, at least in his opinion, the first to succeed. “The Green Book,” he read from the book that was seemed older than the library itself, as everyone gathered around him. “I told you, this is weird.” 

And weird it was. A page, the exact same as the the pages of the book, torn out carelessly, was pushed into the book. There was only one entry on the page. And only the name. The green book. There was no date. No other clue. It was as if someone had made the entry at the last minute, and put the page in a random book. At least, it was the right book. 

Everyone had to agree. They were staring at the irrefutable evidence. Gamble grabbed a photo with his phone. And returned the page to the book, and the book to its place. Now, they were all one team. Searching for the four previous borrowers of the book. This wasn’t as easy. 

At least now there were five of them. They divided the pile equally. And went about their search. Unexpectedly, the very next day, they found it. Once again, it was Gamble. And it wasn’t just one, or two, but all of the four borrowers. And, once again, it was weird. 

The same person borrowed the book all four times. A person named Imita Ione. Imita had borrowed the book four times over four months. All four times, for the one week a book was allowed to be borrowed. Not once did Imita ask for an extension. Imita borrowed the book for a week, returned it. A month later, borrowed it again, and returned it a week later. And again. And again. Four times. And then, nothing. Until Rain. 

“Imita,” Greta said, pulling her thinking cap on. “Strange name. What do you think? Male? Female? Any of you heard the name before?” 

“Nope,” the rest answered. “And, no idea, male or female,” Alvin added. 

“At least, we’ve got one answer,” Albus said. “Something to further the investigation.” 

“I like the sound of that,” Albus said. “Investigation. Makes us amateur sleuths. Most of us,” he said, correcting himself while giving Alvin a dirty look. Alvin was the only real investigator among them, an officer of the police. 

“Yeah,” Alvin agreed. “I’ll lend credibility to the group in total.” 

Albus was silenced. Freya burst out laughing. Greta didn’t care. And Gamble was already moving on to the next pile. They had a name. Now, they had to search from the lists of registered readers at the library, for Imita Ione. The library updated the list of registered readers annually. That meant, there was one list per year. That amounted over thirty lists to look through. They would surely find Imita Ione. 

The lists were handwritten into books in the early years. Then, printed. Even today, with the system, a printed copy of the list was stored back here. Still, this was a much smaller pile. There were five of them. Each got six. Wouldn’t take nearly as long, comparatively. 

In the end, they didn’t find any record of Imita Ione. Just like that, their run of success and excitement crashed. 

“What now?” Greta asked. Her disappointment was great. And true. And terrible. 

The disappointment was shared by all. The dissatisfaction was equal. And, unsurprisingly, all looked toward Gamble for an answer. 

“I don’t know,” Gamble said. And he truly didn’t. They had a name. They had the records, with no mention of the name. All of the history of the library was right in front of them. Still, what now, was the toughest question to come up with an answer for, right now. “We’ll go home. We’re done for tonight. And tomorrow. And the following nights. Until we come up with something. I’ll need a couple days at the very least. I don’t feel like I’ve wrapped my head around all this. All that we’ve found so far. I need the time.” 

The rest nodded. Even Freya knew Gamble was different. He wasn’t exactly slow, but he was slower than the four others in the room right now. He thought a lot more. He planned down to greater detail. And he never shied away from stating clearly that he needed time. He had always been like that. He was the same now. 

Everyone walked out together. The rest waited as Gamble locked up the library. And then, they all returned to their homes. The next step was waiting.