Henry opened the door. On the floor were a couple of newspapers. Not at all typical for the closet, but Henry bent over and picked them up. The date was March 21, 1955. Henry flipped the top paper over and looked at the second one; it was from the day before. This was almost stranger than getting stuff from the end of the century. Why would there be current papers in the closet?
Henry was in too good a mood to question anything too deeply. So he set the chisel down, flipped off the light, and headed back upstairs. It was just 7:00 a.m., but there was a lot to do, before the wake. Henry felt as though he would conquer the world today…but not before a couple of bagels. He wrote a note telling Katarina he was heading out to forage for the morning meal, and left it on the table next to the two papers.
Henry had to shield his eyes when he stepped out onto his front porch. The morning sunlight caught him right between the eyes. It had been dreary for about 600 years, and suddenly it was warmish, probably 50 degrees, and there might have even been a bird or two crooning. Henry drove around for a short while, taking in Brooklyn and all of its greatness. He had several favorite bagel haunts, including one run by a Polish couple, who always made him laugh.
The Krakow Bakery would do nicely, he thought, and turned on the radio as he headed off in search of baked round goodness. Actually, that was the wife’s motto, though Henry was never sure if she was talking about the bagels or herself. He picked up two dozen, several types of cream cheese, and some lox. Henry decided he would take the rest in to the office for Celine to enjoy and offer with her coffee. This made him think of coffee. So he went to the grocery store and picked up several choices, some filters, and some tea. He was quite sure his new secretary/boss would approve.
The hint of spring in the air told Henry that today would be the day he made a breakthrough in his case, or cases. Did he have one or was it two, or perhaps three, if he counted the guy tailing Kat? Hell, he would solve them all, as a group or individually; it didn’t matter.
Henry returned to his humble abode and found Kat sitting at the table, reading the paper.
“You are my hero. You save me from the bad guys and then feed me. Will you be slaying a dragon in my honor?”
“Perhaps after breakfast, though I do need to get into the office. Could I deal with the dragon later?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “Sure, whenever you like.”
Henry set the bagels down and started to brew some coffee.
“This must be where they were going to last night,” she said.
“Oh, what is that?”
“It says here, a Mr. Brown, of Park Avenue, was beaten to death in his home. They think it happened yesterday afternoon, though time of death hadn’t been determined officially.” She paused, “I wonder what he did? It doesn’t say, but the name sounds…”
Henry had stopped cold. “May I see that please?”
Katarina had a distant look on her face, like she was trying to remember something, and handed him the paper.
Henry sat down and read the article. It was the same Mr. Brown from Mickey’s list. Henry’s stomach did a flip. He opened the other paper, and then found the article about Mickey. When had these arrived?
He could barely breathe. Had they been sent as warnings? Was he supposed to have saved his friend and the nice man in the brown suit? Suddenly, Henry’s world was in a fog. He kissed Katarina on top of the head and told her that he was going to take a shower. He needed to get back to the office, for only work would keep him from going crazy, and he knew it. This moment he wouldn’t forget, either.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Henry was not surprised to see the office lights were on. He was right on time, but had had a sneaking suspicion Celine might beat him in today. She did seem eager. He opened the door, and she greeted him with a smile.
“Good morning, Celine,” he said, adorning a much cheerier disposition than he felt. The discovery of the newspapers had kicked a hole in his psyche.
“Good morning, Mr. Wood. There is already a message for you. It is from Mike and seems urgent; it came in about ten minutes before nine.”
“What time did you get here?”
“I was just walking in the door when it rang.”
Henry set the bagels and other things he had purchased on the corner of her desk. He flung his coat and hat on the chair in his office and sat down to return Mike’s call. Celine gave him a dirty look as she picked up his coat and hat.
“Hey, Mike, I just got in.”
“This mess is heating up, Henry. Did you see the news about Mr. Brown?”
“I saw the morning paper. They didn’t print much in the way of details though.”