Chapter 7: The Mention of PuddingThe notebooks Simon had found in Stackpoole’s house lay on his desk, neatly straightened and arranged in a geometrical pattern, the beautiful order only disturbed by the difference in size and texture of the books. It appeared that Stackpoole had used whatever book had been available for his notes, not bothering about a uniform look. The same was to be said about the numbering—book number 5 had the word five written on it, book number 7 featured a very prominent 7 on the front, the digit 9 was written almost shyly in a corner, and the word drei, German for three, was written on the inside of a book with no clear markings on the cover or the spine. Even when Simon began reading he couldn’t come up with an explanation as to why the notebooks had been hidden i
