“Sorry about that,” I answered, adjusting the bow a bit. I was a master at gift presentation—my one award-winning domestic skill that came in useful about twice a year until Max and I had started offering gift wrapping to customers at the Emporium. “We went out for breakfast before Calvin had to get back to work. Sorry I left you with the dog again.”
“Not to worry. There are far worse fates in life than babysitting a good boy like Dillon.”
“I’ll come by in a few hours,” I said, walking toward the Kinetoscope, which was still behind the counter. “There’s something I have to do first.”
“Just give me a ring,” Pop answered. “I might bring the kids to the dog run again. It’s going to be a beautiful day.”
“Gotta make the best of it before the inside of your mouth is cooler than the air outside,” I said.
“There’s my positive thinker,” Pop said with a chuckle.
I crouched down in front of the Kinetoscope and ran my fingertips along the base. Just like the man in the footage had done.
LikeTom Howardin the footage, hiding the Dickson documents.
The frame around the base of the Kinetoscope moved—ever so slightly. I took a breath, grabbed on to it more firmly, and gave a tug.
“By the way,” Pop continued. “Is this your hoodie you left here?”
“Hoodie?” I asked, practically on autopilot. I set the corner piece of wood aside and got down on my hands and knees to inspect a bit of curled, aged paper seemingly stuffed into the very frame of the machine.
“This black one here… says Sunrise Film Academy on the breast.”
“It does?” I asked suddenly. I’d never bothered to inspect the clothing I’d torn from my subway assailant.
“Hm-hm. There’s some candy in the pocket… oops….” It sounded like Pop was bending down to retrieve something dropped. “I thought you didn’t like licorice?”
Licorice.…
That gross candy put the little punk outside my apartment. I had to hand it to him, he was fastandstrong. So Lee was off the hook for the assault—son of a bitch—but that didn’t mean he hadn’t orchestrated all this! I’d bet my next paycheck this kid and Casey Robert were classmates.Andthat Lee was their instructor. He might have even persuaded my subway pal to kill Casey—so his own hands were clean of the entire mess. Lee would get off scot-free, while one kid was dead and another would inevitably end up in prison.
But at least he wouldn’t have the Dickson inventions.
The front of the cabinet easily popped free after the base had been removed, and inside a tiny cubbyhole were rolled-up documents from a previous century.
“Pop, I have to go,” I whispered.
“All right. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Love you,” I said.
“Love you too, kiddo.”
I hung up, grabbed some gloves, and while holding my breath, eased the drafts from their 120-year-old hiding place. It was true that just before the shop got shot up, I’d accidentally noticed something awry with the cabinet—but I’m not sure I would have made the connection without the last movie. In the test reel shot inside Black Maria, all I could assume was that Assistant Tom must have known Albert and Gilmore were already suspicious of Dickson, and he took it upon himself to protect the inventions of his beloved boss.
I laughed suddenly. It was overwhelming. I was holding a man’s legacy in my hands.
This was his passion, his creation, hisgenius.
I was holdingeverythingthat would have put Dickson’s name in textbooks instead of Edison’s.
I shifted on my knees and reached under the counter for a stack of plastic sleeves kept beside shopping bags and gift boxes. In the dim, silent shop, I carefully unfurled the lost camera inventions of W. K. L. Dickson and slid the documents in between the protective covers. I’d barely gotten to my feet and set the drafts beside the brass register when there was a knock at the front door. I leaned over the counter to peer past the column to the left and saw Neil cup his hands around his face and look through the door’s glass front.
I walked down the steps, through the maze of clutter, and unlocked the door. “You won’t believe what I found.”
“The code to the Voynich manuscript?” Neil asked, stepping inside.
“It’s heartening to know that the men in my life havein factbeen listening when I talk,” I said, putting a hand to my chest.
