There were times when Severus was very glad that he was an adult male. This very moment was one of those times. He leaned against the open library door and watching Ms. Stevens studying the space above the mantel where the charter had originally hung. He was mad at himself for underestimating her but at the same time, Slytherin that he was, he had to admire her methods. He eavesdropped shamelessly on her running commentary to herself.
"Based on the height of placement here, we've got the right man." Hermione walked to the other side of the mantel still unaware of her audience.
She reached up both arms extended as if reaching for something. "He came in, reached up and pulled the framed charter."
His gaze traveled down from her upswept arms, fitting if sensible attire and finally to her practical shoes. This is no a fashion designer. Obviously not vain about her appearance. Sensible.
"Took it out of the frame and rolled it up." Hermione's hands mimed the movements of someone rollup up a large piece of paper. "He can't have carried it with him, can he?"
Her approach is very scientific. What muggle profession could she have?
No matter how many times she turned the scenario over in her mind she could not make the last critical connection. "How did he hide it? There wasn't enough time."
Tenacious. Stubborn.
Hermione groaned in frustration. "It's not in any of the rooms we've searched. Where could he have put it?"
Severus' mind clung tightly to her words ' ... not in any of the rooms...' It repeated for the third time and then he knew. He knew where the charter was. He stepped into the room and cleared his throat. Hermione turned.
"In the most obvious of places." Severus spoke up saying each syllable crisply.
"We've looked everywhere and found nothing."
"A simple matter of deduction, Ms. Stevens, that came to my mind just now."
Before Severus could speak further, Emily and John Moss entered the Library. The Renvilles were close behind them.
Emily said, "David, I see you made it in early."
"I found the ferry driver to be very cooperative and left him richer by a few pounds."
"Mr. Wright, was just about to tell me where the charter is." Hermione made herself comfortable on a chair. She looked expectantly at Mr. Wright. The others took their own seats.
Severus waited until he had their full attention. He struck a pose with his body tall and straight, chin out and his arms crossed over his chest. His voice grew serious and deep. "Let us revisit the day of the theft. Every one of us had a room assignment and each of us went to those rooms."
He gave his head a jerk to the right. "It stands to reason that had the charter been in any of the rooms where people were assigned then it would have been noticed."
"Or in the hallways," Emily Moss added.
"Correct." Severus nodded at Emily. "It also stands to reason that when we all heard Lady Renville we all came out of our rooms. It is therefore unlikely for anyone to go into any of the rooms as we were all making our way out."
"Wait, we all congregated in the main corridor by the green and yellow rooms." Hermione said. Something about his pose was dredging memories out of her past. Her eyes saw Mr. Wright but her mind's eye was strongly reminded of someone else. The pose, the attitude and the voice echoed one Severus Snape in front of his classroom in full lecturing mode. It can't be. I really do need a vacation for even thinking of the possibility. "The Chevy Chase room and the study were off that corridor. No one would have been in that area. It could have been hidden there while we were all going in the opposite direction."
"The Armory would have been a better place. It's in its own corridor isolated from the rest." John Moss put in.
"Did you find anything in those rooms?" Severus prodded.
This is absurd! It couldn't be him. Severus Snape is not charming, witty or remotely attractive. Hermione shook herself mentally. They look nothing alike. Her inner voice added, "Well, you changed your appearance didn't you?"
"Just this in the armory." Emily held up the London Times. "There's an article about you representing a civil suit against Levinson's architectural firm. The case made your career."
Hermione listened with half a mind to Mr. Wright's explanation. The other half was too busy replacing the blond hair with dark hair, the eyes to black and the skin from tanned to sallow and pale. The same shape of face. The same height and build. Wrong eye color. "Contact lenses, dear," her inner voice replied.
"Yes, it did." Severus glanced quickly at the paper and then turned his mind back to the matter at hand. "Lady Renville, all the rooms were searched after the theft was discovered, is this not so?"
She stood up and moved to the side to get a look at his profile. Hermione focused on Mr. Wright's face, specifically the nose.
"Yes, Anthony and I searched all the rooms - Yellow, Green, Red all of them." Lady Renville responded.
"It had just begun to rain when the attack occured, did it not?"
The Renvilles both nodded. John Moss added, "By the time we arrived at the ferry, the rain was falling hard."
"Lady Renville has confirmed that a search of the castle did not reveal the charter. But I ask, what kind of search could have been possible that night? The thief was no fool. There are quite a number of us. The thief had to find a place to hide the charter that was away from prying eyes and, more importantly, a place where the chances of being seen were low."
"Somewhere that he or she could drop off the package and maybe pick it up again?" Emily asked.
"Yes. If you will all follow me, I will retrieve the charter." Severus turned on his heel and headed out the door and into the corridor. The move presented his best side, the right profile. Intent on his mission, Severus did not hear the audible gasp from his former student.
Dear god, the nose is ... is ... it's HIS nose! The way he turned just now - precise, smooth. Hermione's vision blurred for a brief moment. She felt disoriented, imagining things. Black, billowing robes striding down a long corridor. She put a hand on the table to steady herself. I am seeing things that are not there. Momentary dementia. I must be coming down with something.
Sir Renville's voice brought the party to a halt. "Wait, Mr. Wright. Any, ah, revelations must be done in the presence of Mr. McAdoo. Those are the rules are they not, Portia?"
Next to him, his wife nodded. She looked at her watch. "The ferry will be returning in about about thirty minutes. Why don't you all remain here in the Library. I shall have some tea and biscuits brought up?"
"If it's all right with everyone, I'm going to the Blue room and taking a nap on the sofa." John Moss said. Emily followed him out leaving Hermione and Severus alone.
Hermione sank into her chair gratefully. She didn't trust her knees just yet. Would he be caught dead doing this sort of thing? Of course not, idiot. Severus Snape, where did that ridiculous notion come from? Her eyes followed Mr. Wright as he made his way towards the mantel.
Severus studied the vacant spot where the frame had been for a minute or two. Then he turned and regarded her.
"Earlier you said that you had the right man. Are you sure?"
"We're as sure as we can be based on the clues." Hermione replied.
"May I ask how you can be so sure?"
"A simple matter of deduction, Mr. Wright."
"Touche, Ms. Stevens." Severus took a straightback chair and turned it around. He straddled the chair and placed his arms across the seatback. With his chin resting on his forearms, he looked at Hermione. The woman is a puzzling minx. "Where did we leave off?"
"Leave off?"
"Us."
"There is no us."
"Precisely. There should be, shouldn't there? Or am I misreading the signals, the attraction?"
Hermione swallowed once before looking him straight. "You're not misreading the signals. Will the signals be received long term or short?"
It was Severus' turn to pause and think. The question was unexpected. "While I have no objections to a brief but undoubtedly passionate interlude, I would prefer to get to know you and you to know me then see where that leads."
"That sounds very odd coming from a man."
"A year ago I would have preferred the passion by itself." Severus shifted in his chair. "Are you seeing anyone? I believe your bio made mention of a boyfriend."
"That's Diana's boyfriend not ... not mine. I am utterly unattached. And you, any lurking girlfriend, fiancee, wife?"
"None of the above. My work takes up most of my time."
A parlor maid brought in a tea service. Hermione noticed that save for a little sugar they both took their tea the same way.
"I was the odd one out in my family." Severus began. "Everyone else liked milk with their tea."
"You mentioned work, are you a barrister in real life?"
"The law has never appealed to me." Severus took a sip. "I am a teacher, a professor."
I did not hear that. Hermione plastered a smile on her face. "University? I can easily imagine you in a lecture hall."
"Not quite. I teach, ah, science at a preparatory school."
"What school is it? Perhaps I've heard of it."
"I doubt that. It's a small, private boarding school in Scotland."
There must be dozens, hundreds of private schools in Scotland. Do not jump to conclusions. "I've always thought that teaching was a rewarding profession."
"It can be but not all the time. And what about you?" Severus smiled. "I don't believe you're a fashion designer."
"It's my clothes, I knew they weren't quite right. Or the hair."
"It wasn't the clothes. No insult intended to fashion designers but I don't believe one would have your intelligence." The sound of rising voices caught their attention. "The others have arrived."
Hermione and Severus left the Library and joined the others in the main corridor by the staircase.
"Mr. Wright, I've been informed that you wish to reveal the charter's location," said Mr. McAdoo. "You know where it is?"
Severus nodded. "Come with me."
He led the group left away from the rooms. As the group neared their obvious destination, Hermione groaned inwardly. Her mind her raced through all the possibilities and she realized that there was one place that probably wasn't searched and in that place was the charter. How could I have missed that?
Severus paused on the first step. He raised his hand and pointed upward. "Up there, on the roof, is the charter."
The others murmurred amongst themselves. Severus took the stairs two at a time. Once on the roof he strode to each cannon and reached inside each barrel. The first cannon yielded nothing. The second, also nothing. But on the third, he reached in and pulled out a long, cylindrical package inside a plastic bag. He held out the rolled package to Sir Renville.
"I believe this belongs to you, sir." Severus announced.
"It feels about the right size and heft." Sir Renville opened the plastic and peered in. It was indeed the charter.
"It's been here all this time." Lady Renville exclaimed. "Unbelievable!"
Mr. McAdoo announced to the group. "Congratulations, Mr. Wright, on a successful recovery. How did you deduce it was here?"
Severus repeated all he had said earlier in the Library. Sir Renville unrolled the parchment just enough to verify its condition. He looked at Mr. Wright. "Now that it is back in safe hands, I'd like to know the identity of the thief."
Snape shook his head. "I am afraid I do not have the definitive answer to that question as yet."
Hermione stepped forward. She nodded at Emily then said. "But, we do."
Mr. McAdoo was surprised and pleased. "And your reasoning?"
Hermione echoed his pose and earlier tone. "A simple matter of applying the process of elimination, Mr. McAdoo."
"I see. By all means, please proceed."
Hermione addressed the entire group. "The theft wasn't a matter of motive. It was a matter of opportunity and timing. When I call your name, please move to the side, to my right over here please."
"John Moss. Jack Ironside. David Wright. Emily Moss. Paul Lewis." The remaining four watched the others move out to the left. "These people have witnesses or proof that they came from the roof. Mr. Ironside and Mr. Wright were seen coming down and going to the Study by Emily and Mr. Lewis. Emily and Mr. Lewis were together from the roof until they reached their rooms. They both saw John to the Blue room establishing his whereabouts early on.
The remaining five eyed each other warily.
"Bruce Maclemore and Michael Levinson, please stand to my right. Mr. Maclemore was seen coming from the roof by Ms. McFadden and he spoke with Lady Renville. He then joined me in the Chevy Chase room. Mr. Levinson, though he was the last one down, did come from the roof. He had questioned Oswald."
"And the rest of us?" Amanda Danforth asked. "I spoke with both Mr. McAdoo and Oswald."
"Cynthia McFadden stand to my right." Hermione continued ignoring Amanda. "Ms. McFadden was passed by Mr. Maclemore as they both came down from the roof."
"And I, Diana Stevens, was seen by Mr. Ironside and Mr. Wright coming from the roof and passing them on my way to the Chevy Chase room."
Only two were left Ian Timmons and Amanda Danforth. Neither looked cowed or intimidated. Hermione stepped to join the others then added. "Amanda Danforth, stand to my right."
Timmons glared at Ms. Stevens. "Eh! What the hell are you on about?!"
"Ms. Danforth was seen by Ms. McFadden who was passed by Mr. Maclemore. So she was definitely making her way from the roof to her room. Each person behind me was described by another as having left the roof thereby easily proving each other's whereabouts at the time that the theft took place. They are each other's alibis."
"This is ridiculous! This is ... is slander!" Timmons spluttered. "I was looking for my room just like the rest of you. And I was talking with Lady Renville. You don't believe her?"
"Oh, I absolutely believe she talked to you and her doing so is immaterial." Hermione fixed him with a hard stare. "While the rest of us were on the roof you were in the Library taking the painting. For a professional it would only have taken a few minutes."
"Rubbish! What proof do you have?"
Hermione continued as if not hearing Timmon's protests. "You left the roof early or perhaps you were never there at all. You went into the Library. By the time I came down the stairs the Library door was wide open. The rest of us were too busy walking around getting to our rooms. If anyone had at that point gone into the Library at least one person would have noticed. Logically, the theft of the charter was done before we came down from the roof by the only person who had the time - you. No one saw you descend from the roof. The only sighting is you coming into the Blue Room by Mr. Levinson long after the rest of us had scattered and reached our rooms. You, Mr. Timmons, had the opportunity. You are the thief."
Timmons scoffed. "You think you know it all, don't you? I suppose I somehow grew wings and that's how I got it up here?"
"I didn't say you brought the charter here," Hermione replied. "But you did steal it in the first place. Emily and I worked it out."
Severus taught her logic was flawless as far as the theft went. "He would have had to split himself in two, Ms. Stevens. Mr. Timmons, as I will verify and so will others, was with us tending to Sir Renville. In fact, he left to get the first aid bag. How do you propose he got the charter up here?"
Hermione took a deep breath and looked him in the eye and replied sharply. "I have not gotten around to that yet but give me a little time. I am saying that Mr. Timmons removed the charter from the Library and that is all I am saying. Am I right, Mr. McAdoo?"
Mr. McAdoo twirled his mustache. He looked at all their curious faces. "Ms. Stevens has uncovered the thief. Mr. Timmons removed the charter while everyone was on the roof."
A smattering of applause greeted the announcement. Mr. McAdoo continued. "Well, Mr. Wright found the charter and Ms. Stevens and the Mosses have uncovered the thief. Does anyone have anything to say regarding the assault, the murder or how the charter found its way to the roof?"
No one spoke up. "Very well. Oswald bring Mr. Timmons to the Library. Each one of you will have the opportunity to ask Mr. Timmons one question. He may or may not choose to answer. I suggest you take a few minutes to think of your questions. Let us resume in the Library in fifteen minutes."
Author's Note: There you have the charter and the thief. I have not changed anything in previous chapters and have made every effort to make the solution logical. I hate mysteries where the solution comes out of nowhere and makes little sense. I hope I have avoided that. Of our remaining sleuths, a murderer and accomplice remain free? Who could they be?
This is my first mystery/romance story. So constructive criticism and feedback is always welcome. Enjoy!