The bell above the door of Chapter & Verse Used Books jingled weakly as Grayson and Toby pushed inside. The shop smelled intensely of decaying paper, dust mites, and vanilla. Towering, precarious stacks of paperbacks created a maze that led to a cluttered front counter.
An elderly man in a tweed jacket with elbow patches was standing at the register, pushing a heavy cardboard box across the laminate surface.
"Professor Alden, I understand they're classics," the young clerk behind the counter said, adjusting his round glasses. "But the physics department updated the syllabus last year. Nobody is buying these old editions. They just take up shelf space."
"These are foundational texts, Marcus," Professor Alden protested softly, his voice reedy and tired. "There is a first-edition Feynman i
