December 4
Definitely revenge.
At least, I think it is.
I'm supposed to pose as a grad student researching my thesis because several semi-rare first editions have gone missing and the…library boss guy…whatever you call him….thinks someone is stealing them.
Sounds like a set-up, right? Especially when you consider that none of them are particularly valuable, and the library markings on them would decrease the value even more.
This is totally revenge.
Not that it really matters. That's what I spent my day doing. And it looks like it's what I'll be doing for a while.
I went to the Academy for this? Sitting around a library all day watching…nothing?
December 5
What am I going to get Gus for the secret Santa?
Not that I've had time to think about it. I've been too busy researching the mating habits of the tsetse fly for my thesis.
Surprisingly, it's more interesting than the recon on the library staff.
Not much, though.
Actually, there may be more to this case than I thought. It turns out there is someone else undercover, though I don't think the Chief knows about it.
I was alone in the stacks, and he sidled up behind me so quietly that I didn't even hear him until he whispered in my ear.
"I have a question."
I immediately recognized the voice and spun around.
"Do these glasses make me look smart? Or rakish? I was going for rakish, but now I'm thinking they scream 'virgin'. What do you think, as an objective female viewer?"
For a moment I was speechless. What was he doing there? And why was he wearing those ridiculous glasses?
Before I could say anything, he continued.
"I'm Bartleby Hobbit. The new part-time book-shelver. That's my official title, at least, but I think when I print my business cards I'll call myself something like Captain Part-Time Book-Shelver. Maybe Part-Time Book-Shelver Extraordinaire. That's definitely rakish, right? Or maybe I just don't understand the meaning of the word rakish."
He leaned in close, his lips inches from my ears.
"Can't you feel it, Jules? This place has an uber creepy aurora. These librarians are like something out of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. There's something going on here. You don't get to have all the fun going undercover. Oh, and no one's going to buy your story about writing a thesis when you're spending all your time in the John Grisham section. Get your head in the game, O'Hara!"
For once, I think he's way off. I couldn't find anything even remotely interesting, much less sinister, going on.
But I have to admit. The glasses were rakish.