“What is it?” he asked.
“I think... I think...” I dropped my voice to a whisper. “I think the Dead were here.”
Daniel slid the goggles off my face, brushing his fingers along my jawbone in the process. I gasped in surprise. His fingers were rough and warm.
He pressed the lenses to his eyes and whistled softly. “You’re right.”
My heart thumped with a nervous hope. I grabbed at Daniel’s coat sleeve. “Maybe my brother was here,” I breathed. “This was our chair, and... all his letters had energy on them, so maybe Elijah’s covered in residue too and leaving it behind.”
He removed the goggles and stroked his jaw and stared at my hand on his sleeve. Then his eyes shifted to my face. “It’d be possible if he was around it, but... but still, it shouldn’t leave such a strong signal. The magnetic powder is clumpin’ so tight that it’s like a walking corpse is sitting there now. This is a lot of energy, and it’s fresh.”
“Come on then.” I ignored his bark of surprise and hauled him by the coat toward the circular desk. Perhaps someone had seen who had been there.
I asked the same librarian from before. “Did anyone sit in that chair recently?” I pointed back. “The red one near the private collections room.”
Daniel planted his hands on the desk. “Someone within the last two days. And whoever it was would’ve been there awhile.”
She gnawed at her lip. “Yes, I do recall a man there yesterday.”
“What did he look like?” I said.
“He was young. And big.” She tapped her shoulders. “Broad.”
“Bigger than him?” I cocked my head toward Daniel.
The librarian assessed my companion and then flashed him an approving grin. “Oh yes, this man was bigger.” She ran her tongue over her lips. “But you’re taller.”
“Did he have spectacles?” I pressed.
“No. No spectacles.” Her eyes stayed locked on Daniel.
“Is there anything else you remember?” I said urgently.
The woman puffed out her lips and ignored me, clearly flirting with Daniel.
I glanced at Daniel, hoping he would back me up, but all I found was a smug lift to his eyebrow.
“Focus!” I banged the desk with my fist, and they both flinched. Did they not see the importance of this situation? I trembled with anxious energy, and I needed answers. “Was there anything else distinguishing about this man?”
“Well...” Her eyes roamed around, but at last she nodded primly. “Come to think of it, yes. The man was filthy.”
I leaned over the desk. “How filthy?”
She sniffed and curled her lips. “As in, I doubt very much he had bathed in the last year. He was covered in dirt, his suit was abominable, and he stank.”
Daniel and I exchanged a wide-eyed glance. What she described sounded like one of the Dead. A fresh corpse perhaps. Elijah’s? No, no. A big man, she said. Elijah was small. No extra girth like his sister.
“What was he reading?” Daniel asked.
“He took all the information we have on the Centennial Exhibition.”
Daniel’s brows drew together. “Did he ask for it?”
“No. He simply took the books we have laid out for Exhibition visitors. Then he went and sat in that chair.” Her eyes thinned and hardened. “Why are you asking so many questions?”
I didn’t answer, for I had spotted the display of Exhibition books on the desk. “He took those?”
At the woman’s nod, I swept them up and scampered back toward the armchair. The Dead had been here, and we were onto something! I could feel it. We were about to discover some critical piece in all these puzzles. My energy overflowed, and I didn’t care if I looked like a fool frolicking through the library.
Daniel trotted beside me, and when we reached the chair, I tossed the books haphazardly on the seat and inspected their titles. They were all guides to the sights, buildings, and items of the Exhibition.
“So the necromancer wants something at the Exhibition,” I murmured.
When Daniel offered no response, I glanced up to find him rubbing the goggles against his coat and gazing toward the center of the library. I whipped my head that way. The librarian was at the receiving end of his stare.
A choked yell broke from my mouth, and I launched a book at his chest. “Help me!”
“Oi!” He jerked around. “Watch it! You almost broke my goggles.”
“And you’re wasting time! We have work to do.”
His back stiffened and his face turned pink. “Why are you so ornery all of a sudden? I’ll work in my own sweet—” He broke off midsentence, and the storm vanished from his face. He eyed me knowingly. “I see how it is. Her Majesty is jealous.”
I stamped my foot, ready to declare my exact opinion of that comment, but my words froze, trapped in my throat.
A film of frost was forming on the goggles.
“Spirit,” I tried to say, but the bone-deep cold reached me then, snaking under my gown and stabbing into my flesh.
I stumbled into Daniel and clutched at his shoulders.