John Malachi stood in the library of the abandoned mansion, staring at the countless rows of dusty books. He needed to find The Veiled Chamber by Constance Undrum.
Malachi scanned the shelf in front of him. How were these organized? Right away he could see that the titles jumped all around the alphabet. Maybe by author? Noyes was next to Hatton; Jensen was next to Yaeger: nope
Malachi examined two books placed right next to each other. One was a book about wizards who use math as magic; the other was lesbian romance.
“All right,” he said aloud. Malachi started on the north wall and checked each and every book. Thirty-five minutes later, he found The Veiled Chamber, just below the lesbian romance.
Malachi carefully pulled the book, feeling genuine surprise when it effortlessly left the shelf. He sighed, held the book open and shook.
A key fell onto the moldy carpet. Malachi studied the old-fashioned key for minutes.
He opened his phone.
“Yeah it’s Malachi. I found the key in the library, but I dunno where it goes. Sorry that I’m already late on my first day.”
From the secret lab, the scientist responded, “Oh, the key goes to a medicine cupboard in the third-floor bathroom. If you put the chess pieces in there in the right order, you can go back to the library to the secret entrance.”
“Hey, if you’re in the lab, how’s all this stuff still hidden throughout the house?”
“I used the back door.”