Episode 33: Came Prepared & Caught Red-Handed

Aubrey Lance, S.S. (Supernatural Sleuth) -- Season 1, Episode 33: Came Prepared and Caught Red-Handed

“Collin, you take the left corner back there”—my dad pointed toward the back of the AV room—“and Aubrey, you start on the right. I’ll start with the cabinets on the far wall. Check inside, outside, under, on the sides—it could be an ordinary drawer, a standalone lockbox, or even a hidden compartment; we have no way of knowing. If anyone finds a lock that looks like it might be the right size, holler.” He paused. “I didn’t mean that literally, of course. Be as quiet as you can about all of it.” He nodded at us, then headed to the cabinets and started searching them.

We searched for what must’ve been at least twenty minutes, checking every accessible inch of the room, even the undersides of the chairs. My heart was in my throat the whole time—both from the hope of finding something and the fear of getting caught. 

Other than a few filing-cabinet drawers that were locked but didn’t fit the key, we’d looked everywhere. 

Collin plopped down on the padded chair next to me with a sigh. “You think it’s in one of the locked drawers?” 

“It could be,” my dad said, “but if Emery left the key and the clue for Aubrey, the lock had to have been on something she expected Aubrey could access. Perhaps it’s been moved.” He looked at me. “It may not even still be here.” 

I drew a frustrated breath. He was right—it had been at least two years since Emery could’ve been in this room, and maybe even longer since she’d sketched out that notebook page. The key had still been in the locker, exactly where her clues led me, but that didn’t mean everything else would be. I ‘d taken a long time to decipher her clues.

A feeling of failure swept over me again. 

Collin reached for my hand and squeezed my fingers. “Hey. We’ll figure this out.” 

I could see the surprise on my dad’s face in reaction to Collin’s tender gesture, but he didn’t comment. 

I returned Collin’s hand-squeeze. “Thanks.” I gave him a weak smile, then drew my hand away and looked once more around the room. “I just don’t know where else to…” I paused, remembering my sister’s notebook. “Hold on.” 

I dug the notebook out of my backpack and opened to the page of Emery’s sketches. 

“Last words is underlined, too,” I said, examining the Jane Eyre quote. “Not just red-room.” I held the page up toward Dad and Collin. “That could be another clue for where to look, right?”

“Last words,” Collin said, looking thoughtful. 

A realization flashed in my dad’s eyes. “Do you have a copy of Jane Eyre here?” 

I looked at him. “Not with me.” 

“Aren’t we in a library?” Dad asked.

I glanced at the darkened library outside the window of the room. “Oh. Right.” 

He sucked a breath. “I’d rather not risk turning on more lights to look for it, though. Those lights could be seen through the window in the door, and might draw attention.” 

I grabbed my phone. “I could try to find it on—”

“No need,” Collin said from the chair, where he’d bent over to dig into his backpack. He sat up again and, with a flourish, presented a worn paperback of Jane Eyre. “I have a copy,” he said with a cheeky grin.

I stared at him. “Do you always keep Jane Eyre in your backpack? Is that for lit class or something?”

“Actually,” he said, his grin turning a bit sheepish, “I came to the library today to make sure I had copies of all the books Emery’s sketches reference. I figured we might need them.” 

“That one doesn’t have the library label,” I said, pointing at the Jane Eyre copy he held. 

He looked up at me and shrugged. “Oh. Yeah, I already owned this one. I grabbed it when I went home last night.” 

“Wow,” I said. “You came prepared.” 

The book was so worn, I wanted to ask whether it was his copy or someone else’s—had he read it that much? But my dad reached for the copy, diverting my focus back to the task at hand. 

“Thank you, Collin,” he said with a smile. “This is very helpful. So, when I saw last words underlined on Emery’s page, I couldn’t help but think…” He quickly flipped to the end of the book.

“The end of the book,” I said, feeling hope rise again. “You think that’s what she meant?” 

“We’ll see.” Dad turned to the last page of Jane Eyre and read the words aloud.  

“My Master,” he says, “has forewarned me. Daily he announces more distinctly, –’Surely I come quickly!’ and hourly I more eagerly respond, — ‘Amen; even so come, Lord Jesus!’” 

He looked up at us, his eyes bright with excitement. “Revelation 22: 20-21. Those are the last words in the Bible, too.” 

“He’s right,” Collin said, who had whipped out his phone and looked up the verse. “The New King James Version says it almost exactly like that: ‘He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.’”

I met my dad’s eyes. “It has to be that, then. Those are the last words in two different places.” I was getting excited now, too, but—“What does it mean about the key? Or this room?” 

My dad’s excitement dimmed a bit. “I’m not sure.” 

I looked at Collin, but he seemed stumped, too. 

I turned back to Emery’s page. “There are two quotes from Jane Eyre on this page. She even connected them with arrows. I can’t help but think they’re meant to be used together, but I—” I stopped mid-sentence, my eyes catching on the lefthand quote.

 Be seated somewhere; and until you can speak pleasantly, remain silent.

The writing was broken up to fit inside a sketch of an armchair—an armchair that looked an awfully lot like the one Collin was currently sitting in. 

“Get up,” I said, lunging toward him. 

“Aubrey,” Dad chided. 

But Collin was already standing as I tugged on his arm. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude, it’s just—I need to check something, please!” 

My dad gaped at me in disapproval as I stepped around Collin and plopped down in the chair. 

“Everyone please be quiet for a minute,” I said. 

Dad still looked shocked at my rude behavior, but he said nothing. Collin, meanwhile, mimed the lip-zipping gesture and tossed away the pretend key. 

I couldn’t help but smile briefly at his gesture, but I forced myself to refocus. I settled back into the chair. Speak pleasantly… I was sure that quote and this chair meant something and that they went together, but what and how? 

“Pleasantly,” I whispered under my breath, then waited. When nothing happened, I said it louder. “Pleasantly.” 

We waited, but again, nothing happened. 

Collin looked at me. “Well, I guess it wasn’t a literal—”

“Shhh,” I said. “I need to think.” 

Collin fell silent again. 

I closed my eyes, running through the Jane Eyre quotes again and again in my mind. I couldn’t explain why, but I was sure the sketch was telling me I needed to be sitting in this chair, and if I could just figure out the right phrase… I sighed. It clearly wasn’t pleasantly from the “speak” quote itself, but maybe it did still have something to do with the last words part she’d underlined. I opened my eyes and spoke in a low but clear voice. “Even so come.” 

Dad, Collin, and I looked at each other while we waited a few moments. Nothing happened. 

“Amen,” I said. 

Nothing. 

“Even so come, Lord Jesus.” 

Nothing. 

I glanced at Collin’s phone—and had a sudden whim. “Revelation,” I said, loud and clear. 

A hidden door popped open on the underside of the chair, dropping a small metal lockbox onto the carpet with a thunk. It was silver, and ornately carved with swirls and symbols, inset with smooth, marbly stones in various colors. 

Collin, Dad, and I exchanged excited glances. 

“You found it!” Collin exclaimed. 

I looked up at Dad. “Do you think I should…” 

“Let me get it, just in case.” My dad reached under the chair and gingerly grabbed the lockbox, then stood. He turned it over in his hand, then looked up at me. “Seems safe enough to handle.” 

I stared at him. “What if it hadn’t been?” 

He shrugged. “I’d rather me find that out than you. In fact—” He held out his hand. “I know you’re the one who found it, but I’d feel much better if you let me open it. If it seems safe, I’ll give it back to you.” 

I didn’t feel great about the suggestion that it might not be safe to open, but I could tell from my dad’s expression that it was no time to argue with him. I handed him the key. 

“Stay there, near the wall,” my dad said. “I’m going to open it over here.” 

“What do you expect to happen?” I asked, starting to feel worried. 

He met my eyes. “Hopefully nothing.” He looked back down at the lockbox and slid the key into the lock. 

It fit. 

He turned the key. 

The lock clicked and the latch holding the lid popped loose. 

My dad slid his finger underneath the lid, edging it open. After a few seconds, he flipped it the rest of the way open. Inside was a layer of velvety padding, holding a tiny hourglass. My dad carefully lifted the hourglass from its place. It was so small it easily fit in his palm, and the sand inside it was all on one end—sand colored in swirls of turquoise and a red that was almost the same color as the walls. 

He tilted the hourglass, letting a bit of the sand shift to the other side, then tilted it the other way, letting the sand filter back to where it had started. When a few seconds had passed and nothing horrendous happened, he set the hourglass back on its side within the velvet and passed the lockbox to me. 

I took it and looked more closely at it. The hourglass was about the size of my palm—which was smaller than my dad’s—and truly glass, not plastic like the ones that came with some of the board games we had at home. I looked up at my dad. “Weird. Why lock up an hourglass?” 

“I don’t know,” he answered. 

“Do you think Emery put that here?” Collin asked, stepping closer to look at it. “Or did she just know it was in here?” 

“I’m not sure,” my dad said, joining us in peering at the small item. 

“Surely it’s not just an ordinary hourglass, right? It has to be important somehow.” I looked up at my dad. “What does it mean?” 

Dad shook his head. “No clue. We could show it to Arch and see if he recognizes—”

The door to the AV room swung open. 

Mr. Pierce stood in the doorway with a look of fury I didn’t know he possessed. 

“Aubrey,” he growled, his eyes locking on mine. “I’m going to need you to put that back.”

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