The Roads That We Explore - 9. Bookish Information

Alendra looked up from where she had been pouring over a large tome and squinted at the room around her. It was still dark outside, still in that odd twilight that they had been in for the last day since they had found the mummified body of a baby. The library that they found seemed to hold every book that had come into the house was lit up with candles that were stored in a room to the side and their rechargeable lanterns. She knew that Kyle was somewhere in the library.

Looking around, she found him moving to his own seat and laying a large tome of his own down, frowning as he read a page in it.

Tipping her head back, she swore that she had heard someone walking slowly behind her. Turning to look over her shoulder, she scanned the area, finding nothing but a large open space with furniture that had been destroyed in what they guessed was a fight. The long windows let in the feeble twilight light in from the outside. She turned back to the book and managed to focus for a few more minutes before a thud of a book landing on the floor made her jump and jerk around. Kyle jerked from where he was sitting and stood, looking over to where a book was laying on the floor.

They stared at it.

“Did you…” Kyle trailed off, unsure on how to ask what he wanted to ask.

She shook her head. “No. I didn’t even see it when I was looking at that spot a few minutes ago. And I sure as hell didn’t move it,” she said. She shuddered softly, biting her bottom lip in thought. “I’m not sure what I need to think.”

Kyle swallowed, standing up and walking around the table to the book. He knelt and carefully picked it up. “January second, nineteen-fourteen, to January first, nineteen-sixteen,” he read, frowning as he stood up. He walked over and placed the book down onto the table next to Alendra. Flipping it open, he caressed the careful, looping letters. “Jillian Marquis nee Vela. Didn’t we find all of her journals on the journal shelf except this one?” he asked.

Alendra nodded after checking the list of journals that they had scanned through already. “Yeah. It was the last two years that she was alive if I’m remembering correctly. Her death date was noted as February of nineteen-sixteen,” she said. She flipped through her hand-written notes. “I kind of wondered where this journal had gone off to. But it’s here now.”

Kyle hummed. He walked down to where he had been working and found his own notes. “No idea where it was, but her husband’s journal said that she had gotten really sick around that time. Vomiting, unable to eat anything. Blood in her vomit. Some of it brightly colored, as if freshly spilled. Some of it chunked up like ground tea leaves,” he said, reading off the information. “I think that she was killed if she was vomiting blood. I’m thinking something that would erode the stomach lining away mixed with low doses of arsenic. If I remember my history, it was easy to find the plants and arsenic at that time if you knew what to look for.”

Alendra pulled a face and shuddered slightly. “Do you think that she’s one of the people that we have to solve the murder for to get out of here?” she asked. Kyle sighed and nodded. He pulled up a list of four other names and typed it out.

“Yeah, I kind of do. It looks like we’re going to have to go through the last couple journals of hers and find out who she talks about in a negative way. Then we’ll make a list of people to visit their rooms. It’s like the ghosts are intent on making us solve as many of these murders as they can get us to before we’re allowed to leave,” he complained.

Alendra reached over, patting his arm with a smile. “At the very least, we’re not always stuck here reading books. Doesn’t Richard and Alexander have Karen and Michael Conner’s case right now?” she asked.

Kyle nodded. “Yeah. On the left side of the mansion in the Yellow Wing. Markus and Maria are in the Gold Wing going over the Branson Marquis case. The great-great grandnephew of Jillian,” he said. We just have to wait for them to finish off those two. If I remember correctly, Jillian and her husband were in the Gold Wing. I think that we need to focus on them so we can solve her case. Or so we can get some rest before digging through the wing. Whatever happens first.”

“I think that getting some sleep will be a good idea actually,” Alendra stated, shaking her head. “Seriously, who would strangle a kid though?” she groaned.

Kyle winced, rolling his shoulders. “No idea, but it’s nice that the family made everyone have journals to practice their writing, reading and comprehension skills. Otherwise, I don’t think that we’d have as much information as we do now,” he said, shaking his head. “And we’re lucky that he was thirteen instead of three to ten,” he continued. Sighing, he flopped down into a chair, slowly stretching. “I think that there are a couple that will have all of the information we need in their diaries though.”

“Which ones do you think that we should pull?” Alendra asked. She stood to start rearranging the books that she had been going through for their project, intent on focusing on Jillian’s and her husband’s journals.

“Might try Curtis and his wife. It looked as if they seemed rather paranoid after the death of their first daughter, so they took to recording everything from what I was able to learn by reading them. And Kendal and her husband. They were shot while out on the property, so it might be that they had an idea who was after them. I really want to know why they’re forcing us to figure all of this shit out.” Kyle groaned as he let his head drop onto the table.

“I think it might be because once we’re free, we’ll be writing essays about each of the cases and telling their stories,” Alendra mused. She smiled at her friend. “Alexander has been taking so much video for his Youtube channel that he’ll have enough for something like eight or nine videos minimum. And that’s just talking about the basics. You have your blog and professional essays that have been getting published. And I have a history book that I’ve been playing with lately. Us writing this will hopefully allow them to rest.”

“Right. As long as we can actually figure all of this shit out,” Kyle drawled. The two shared a small smile before going to gather the journals that they figured would help them with their case.