“Ms. Parrot? Is something the matter?” Dr. Penguin asked, kneeling beside the shaky woman. He set his mask on the ground and pulled her into a small, gentle hug.
Her shaking ceased, and she sighed. “Sorry. It’s just… your glasses, and this lens… they match up.”
He let go of her waist and took off his glasses, and she held the lens up to them.
“They do match, yes.”
Dr. Penguin chuckled as he placed his glasses back on his nose. “But my glasses were broken before tonight. I’m expecting a replacement on Monday.”
Ms. Parrot found that hard to believe, but nodded along anyway. “Come on, let’s explore this passage. Maybe there’s more evidence further in.”
At the other end of the passage, separate from Dr. Penguin and Ms. Parrot, were Monsieur Jay, Mr. Cardinal and Mrs. Ostrich. An odd feeling nagged at Mr. Cardinal — had that bloodstained handkerchief always been attached to Mrs. Ostrich’s gown?
M. Jay seemed to have the same concern. “‘Madame,'” he said. “Em… have you always had that handkerchief?”
“No,” she said, stopping abruptly. “I’ve never seen such an abhorrent pattern in my life. The embroidery work is horrid. I despise lavenders.”
M. Jay and Mr. Cardinal gave each other small, confused glances. Mrs. Ostrich hadn’t gotten a chance to look closely at the handkerchief, which indeed had lavenders embroidered in the corner. They remained quiet, though, and continued on.
The two groups soon met in the middle of the passage, in front of a tall iron door with intricate patterns carved into it, much like the halberd Mr. Cardinal had uncovered.
“You two! Where’d you guys come from?” Mr. Cardinal asked.
“We could ask you the same thing,” Ms. Parrot said, crossing her arms.
Before the two groups could hurl accusations at each other, M. Jay spoke up.
“There’s something behind here,” he murmured. “I can feel it — I sense an odd presence behind this door.”
“Then I say we open it,” Dr. Penguin said, placing his hand on the door. “One more mystery to solve, it seems.”
Edited by Abby Stetina | astetina@themaneater.com
