Blurb: After Henry Tilney's death, he is sent to a "good" neighborhood to spend the rest of eternity. A Good Place AU. Jane-uary 2025 event.
THE GOOD NA-BORHOOD
Day 22 Estate
Chapter Summary: Henry tries to figure out what secrets Michael is hiding.
Henry lay panting on the estate lawn for only a moment before his brain was yelling at him to keep moving.
The fact that Michael was lying to the neighborhood weighed on Henry. The architect was withholding information in such a way as to make at least one person utterly miserable, and Henry wondered how many more people were being manipulated and to what end.
Knowing this made current happiness impossible. He had to know what the architect was hiding!
He tried to explain his morbid curiosity to Catherine. She possessed far more information than Henry could fathom, but she didn't quite understand the human perspective. It was an odd combination and he finally gave up on his explanations when Catherine told him that she didn't need to fully understand him to help him.
Telling Henry or any other resident about forbidden subjects was outside of her parameters. Likewise she was not allowed to lie. Revealing Michael's deceit had been slightly accidental but merely increased the security checks on her conversation to prevent another slip. Henry couldn't trick her into giving away more secrets.
No, if Henry wanted to find more secrets, he needed to go to the abbey itself.
Thankfully, Catherine had been willing and able to provide a distraction to get Michael out of his office for an hour so that Henry could search without fear of detection.
At the appointed time, Henry made a beeline for the abbey. With Michael and Catherine both busy, there was no one to greet Henry so he pushed open the front door and shut it firmly behind him. He took a moment to orient himself and then started to move in the direction of Michael's office.
Henry had gambled that Michael didn't feel the need to lock up his secrets. Henry himself hadn't locked his front door once since he arrived and he correctly guessed that Michael might not bother either.
With bated breath, Henry entered the room and locked the door behind him. He walked around the desk and sat in Michael's chair. He pulled the handle of the top drawer then sighed in relief when it opened without resistance.
The contents of the drawer were meaningless, however, and after wading through a pile of paper clips and dull pencils, he abandoned it and went to the next drawer.
The next drawer was taller and held hanging files. Henry pulled one out, set it on the desk, then flipped it open. The first page was covered in incomprehensible gibberish as well as the next and all the other pages. If Michael had written evidence of his deceit, Henry would never know. In frustration, he told himself to bring a camera next time so he could take pictures and then ask Catherine to translate them later.
Henry went through the other drawers and found the same problem in each one. Anything in Michael's written files was not in a human language.
With a groan of defeat, he shut the last folder and banged his head on the desk. He hadn't expected it to be easy, had he? What kind of smoking gun was he hoping to find? And what did he think a being like Michael would do when he found Henry rifling through his things?
Giving up was not an option but perhaps a strategic retreat was the best temporary solution. Henry resolved to leave the abbey and regroup with Catherine. Maybe she could teach him how to read these strange symbols or give him something more to go on.
Henry tidied the desk to remove any sign of his visit and headed for the door. When he was halfway to it, he heard voices in the hall.
Michael had returned, and Henry was trapped!
Henry froze for a moment in fear and watched as the door knob turned only part way before the lock prevented it.
"Why is my door locked?" he heard Michael complain.
"I do not know," came Catherine's cheerful answer.
The knob rattled again as Michael tried to open it once more. The noise seemed to rattle something loose in Henry and he began to look around for a place to hide.
"Catherine, open it!" Michael ordered.
There was Catherine's welcoming chime and Henry felt a breeze on the back of his neck. He spun around and saw that a window was open. With no further thought, he threw himself out the window.
Henry lay panting on the estate lawn for only a moment before his brain was yelling at him to keep moving. He sat up and looked around but there was nowhere to run. The lawn was too open. Michael would spot him for sure as soon as he got inside his office.
Henry glanced over his shoulder and saw the window was already replaced. A muffled crash signaled that Catherine or Michael had finally opened the door. Henry scrambled back to the wall of the abbey and huddled beneath the window. No one inside would see him at that angle, and he could definitely hear Michael shouting at his assistant through the glass. Catherine's voice was much more muted but she didn't sound frightened of Michael's fury; Henry was frightened enough for the both of them.
Whatever Catherine was telling the architect, it did nothing to soothe him. With one final threat, complete with a flaming tentacle that set the draperies alight, Michael stormed away.