Chapter 10: An Unexpected Discovery
1411 Words
Jonathan hurried out of the Bennett mansion. Thanks to the pound Mrs. Arias had left him, he hailed a public horse-drawn carriage and rushed to the nearest public library without delay.
In his mind, if Yolanda Bennett, who had effectively controlled the mansion for years, couldn't find the autobiography, then it most certainly wasn't in the mansion.
Mr. Bennett had suffered his stroke several years ago. Following this line of thought, the autobiography must have disappeared from the mansion at least that long ago. He had to learn about Mr. Bennett's habits before the stroke.
He had given Miss Lettie and Mrs. McKinney a task in the hopes of an unexpected breakthrough. He wasn't conducting the search in the mansion himself partly because he didn't think it would be fruitful, and partly because if even Miss Lettie, who was practically half-mistress of the house, couldn't get the servants to talk, his own inquiries as an outsider would be even less effective. After all, he wasn't a real detective and lacked professional interrogation skills.
The search for the biography was urgent. As time passed, the huge inheritance would breed suspicion among the competitors. Even if it wasn't Miss Yolanda, other family members might resort to drastic measures, even turning on each other. Living with them, Miss Lettie and Mrs. McKinney would be in grave danger.
He chose the library as his first stop because Mr. Bennett was undoubtedly a wealthy and respected local figure. Knowing nothing about the man, Jonathan could start with local library archives, newspapers, and street records to get a rough outline of his life, then delve deeper into the parts that interested him.
He stepped off the carriage in front of the old building the driver had called a library. The stone structure wasn't particularly large or small. Inside, he discovered that only the fourth floor of the five-story building was a library.
The other floors housed clubs, restaurants, and other establishments founded or donated by wealthy locals. On a donor wall on the first floor, Jonathan made an unexpected discovery. The building had been constructed 116 years ago, and one of the original founders was a man named Piers Bennett. He was also one of the library's initial donors. And 36 years ago, Mr. Bennett himself had donated a large collection of books, enriching the library's collection.
This was undoubtedly a positive development. He went up to the fourth floor and spoke with the buxom librarian. Using the information he had gathered downstairs, he pretended to be a manager from the Bennett family company, tasked by a family member to consult some materials for a eulogy, as Mr. Bennett's health had taken a turn for the worse.
Perhaps due to the Bennett family's two generations of patronage, or because Mr. Bennett's stroke was old news—even the local tabloids had reported on it at the time—the librarian did not doubt his story.
Jonathan spent the entire day poring over the archives, making significant progress. Before leaving, he obtained permission from the librarian to take some of the materials with him, to prevent other competitors from finding them if they had the same idea.
He returned to the Bennett mansion before sunset and met with Mrs. McKinney, who showed him to a guest room. They agreed that the three of them would meet after dark to exchange information.
Jonathan lay quietly on the bed, resting and waiting for nightfall.
After dark, Miss Lettie and her governess knocked on his door. They slipped in furtively, and Jonathan offered them some pies he had bought outside.
Miss Lettie, who had been hungry all day, ate her pie in small but quick bites. Mrs. McKinney reported their findings first. "Mr. Jonathan, the situation in the mansion is as you suspected. After your warning, I realized that none of the servants here are the old faces I remember from previous visits. I cautiously inquired, and all the new servants were hired after Mr. Bennett's stroke. There is no longer a butler; they were all hired personally by Miss Yolanda. I didn't dare ask more, for fear they would report back to her".
At a signal from her governess, Miss Lettie put down her meat pie, wiped her lips, and sat up straight. "Mr. Jonathan, we do have some good news. Although there are no familiar faces inside the mansion, I saw a familiar old gardener in the garden outside. When I was a child, my grandfather would always take me to the garden to admire the flowers, and that gardener would always be with us. I could never mistake him. This must have been an oversight on Miss Yolanda's part; she didn't replace all the staff who don't work inside the house".
"Excellent. Tomorrow, I will find an opportunity to approach this gardener. You've found more than just a gardener; you've found a breakthrough. Following this logic, there must be other similar staff members," Jonathan praised her. He gestured for them to continue their dinner and began to share his own findings.
He took the library materials from his bag, pointing them out as he explained. "I was very lucky today. These are all materials I borrowed from the library. Look at this first. 130 years ago, the Bennett family was a family of knights, still in Scotland at the time. Later, during a war, the family gradually moved here. But the head of the family at the time died of illness shortly after. His wife, in order to protect the family's wealth, married a local nobleman's illegitimate son. This son took the Bennett name and married into the family. That was Piers Bennett, the library's founder".
"According to these records, your ancestor Piers was an avid reader and a skilled businessman. The Bennett family flourished under his leadership. He not only helped found the library but also donated to build the church here. He and his wife had two daughters and one son. His grandson is your grandfather, Mr. Bennett. But strangely, all the records begin with this Mr. Piers. There is no record of any family members before him." Jonathan was subtly suggesting to Miss Lettie that the marriage looked more like a local noble's plot to absorb the original Bennett family's wealth.
The innocent Miss Lettie didn't seem to understand his meaning, but Mrs. McKinney did. She motioned for him to continue. "After Mr. Piers passed away, the Bennett family fell into a rapid decline. The evidence is that there are no written records of the family during this period. Furthermore, through land transaction records of other local nobles, properties that once belonged to the Bennetts began to be owned by different nobles around the same time, which corroborates this. In other words, your grandfather, Mr. Bennett, lived through a long period of poverty in his youth".
"Then, look here. Starting 46 years ago, when your grandfather was 30, the Bennett family reappears in the library's records. This earliest record is the deed for this very mansion we are in now. That is to say, Mr. Bennett revived the family's fortunes at the age of 30." Jonathan paused his presentation to ask Miss Lettie if she knew anything about her grandfather's younger years, but unfortunately, she knew very little.
From the blank looks on their faces, Jonathan realized he was probably the most knowledgeable person in the room about Mr. Bennett's life. He continued, "Then, I found today's most important discovery. This record shows that shortly after his wife passed away, Mr. Bennett briefly purchased the land the library and the church stand on and gave it to a friend. Six months later, he then had this friend donate the land back to the public".
Jonathan reiterated his theory that the autobiography was no longer in the mansion. The intelligent Miss Lettie had already caught on. "So, Mr. Jonathan, are you suggesting that my grandfather made a large gift of property before his stroke, and you believe the missing autobiography was part of that gift?".
"Exactly. I know it's a bold conjecture, and I don't have enough evidence to prove it yet, but I think it's very likely." Jonathan then outlined his investigation plan for the next day.
The three of them briefly exchanged ideas. It was late, and Miss Lettie and Mrs. McKinney bid him goodnight.
After they left, Jonathan undressed and got into bed. He fell asleep quickly. Then, he awoke within a dream.
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