Kingdom Keepers III(87)

“But we’re here because Wayne was once here,” Willa said. “I think this makes a lot of sense.”

“Me, too. So that means we need to figure out why Wayne came here. Why Soarin’? Why the projection booth? He must have been onto the Overtakers’ plan. They followed him here, just as we have.”

“So they probably took whatever it was that he was after—if he didn’t take it himself,” Willa said.

“Possibly.”

“Probably, is more like it.”

“But you’re forgetting something: he went missing during all the trouble in the Animal Kingdom when you guys were trying to find me. There’s a time thing here. The maintenance logs are more recent than that, so the Overtakers came here after they already had Wayne. So they were or are looking for something that Wayne didn’t have on him when they got him. You can bet they searched the Firehouse—and they obviously didn’t find it there either.”

“So it’s still here,” Willa said.

“I think so. I think there are clues of some sort all over the park. Wayne left them in the attractions that have to do with flying. He’s trying to save the park. You know that’s his main concern. That’s just Wayne. The Blake poem was trying to tell us that he’s willing to die to save the parks, if necessary. So whatever he was worried about is here.”

“Unless they found it,” Willa clarified.

“True,” Jess said. “But if they found it, then why did they keep looking? The maintenance log has Maleficent—or at least temperature drops—happening all over the place.”

“So they never did find it!” Willa said.

“Or, there’s more than one thing to find. More than one clue, one piece of evidence. Wayne spread it around, knowing that would increase our chances of figuring it out.”

“There’s something here somewhere,” Willa said, spinning around.

“I think so,” said Jess.

“So we conduct a search. A methodical search, just the way Wayne would expect Philby to organize it.”

“We start at the door and work our way forward,” Jess said.

“One question,” Willa said. “Could it be in the film? If he spliced a single frame into the film, would it ever be spotted?”

“At twenty-four frames per second,” Jess said, quoting her research, “I doubt it. It might flicker, but you wouldn’t see it. Good point. What a hiding place! That’s brilliant, Willa!”

“Thank you.”

“But we’re going to catch it. Not while the film is moving. Your eye can’t pick it up with the film moving so fast.”

The film was moving as the test downstairs continued.

“So?”

“Wayne would know the film is stored in the glass box. It’s too hard for us to see it all in there. If he left a clue spliced into the film it would have to be right at the start, right where we’d see it when the film was stopped and waiting to load and, I hate to say it, but it would be the California film, not the New York one they’re testing.” She pointed to an enormous aluminum wheel—a case—sitting on the floor. “That’s the California film. It’s basically a crime to open that box. The film is incredibly sensitive to dust and dirt in the air. You handle with special white—”

She was interrupted by Willa’s pointing to a pair of the very gloves she was describing.

“Okay,” Jess said. “I’ll check the film while you search the room. But you have to be thorough.”

“We both have to be thorough.”

“And fast,” Jess said. “If they have a problem with their test, they may head up here.”

They got to work. Five minutes passed. Ten. Jess had the case open and was carefully reviewing each frame of the film’s leader by holding the film up to the overhead light.

Willa was working her way through the room, inch by inch, making note of every piece of equipment and anything that might be unusual about it.

“Got something!” Jess said, her white-gloved hands carefully holding the film over her head. Willa joined her.

“See the splice line?” Jess said. “I mean, there are several in the leader, so it’s not anything huge by itself, but see this second splice? It’s a single frame that has been cut into the film. And that is unusual. This is the only one I’ve seen.”

“But it’s black.”

“It’s dark, yes. It blends in that way with the rest of the leader. But it’s not actually black, just very, very, dark. We need more light.”

“Such as?”

“I’m not sure. The projector’s light is incredibly bright. If we could slide the whole can over there, and I could get close enough to where the light is leaking out, maybe…”