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“Right,” Cassie said. She was conscious her knee was bouncing nervously. “So Morgenstern in Toronto...?”
“Yes!” Mr. Webber said. “He said he found it. Or he thinks he did. He was in Eastern Europe on holiday, and of course what do book people do? We go to every bookshop, we peruse every village fair. We are always looking for books.”
“He found it?” Cassie asked in disbelief.
“Look!” he said. He reached over for his laptop, sitting on the coffee table, and turned it so that she could see the screen. He opened an attachment to an email and displayed an image, and Cassie’s heart stuttered. “Is this it?” Mr. Webber asked.
Cassie leaned in close to the image. It showed a book in a man’s hand. She could only see the front of the book and the spine.
“And this,” Mr. Webber said, clicking to a second photograph. This showed the inside of the book, pages with scribbles in black ink. The image did not have the resolution to reveal the text in enough detail, but Cassie felt her heart leap up and run a lap of victory in her chest.
“It might be,” she said, forcing herself to be calm.
“This might be it!” Mr. Webber exclaimed. “This might be when I get the Book of Doors. This might be when you can go home!”
Mr. Webber had arranged for his friend to come to Manhattan that evening. “It’s a short flight,” he said. “I’ll pay, I’ll put him in a nice hotel. He’ll come for that. He loves the finer things in life.”
Cassie wasn’t even listening. She was pacing the room, unable to sit still. It had been over four years since she had been stranded in time, and now it felt she had no time to prepare.
“I need to find Izzy,” she said, nodding to herself. “That is all that matters. If I get the book, and I go back earlier, maybe I can take her from the apartment before Hugo Barbary even arrives.”
She was conscious that she was rambling to herself. After a moment she stopped and saw Mr. Webber leaning on the kitchen counter and watching her. His face was serious.
“What?” she asked.
He smiled, but it was an expression of sadness. “I am really delighted for you,” he said. “I truly hope this is the Book of Doors and you are able to go home.”
“But?”
He sighed. Whatever he was about to say was hard for him to admit, she saw.
“I am going to miss you, my dear. If you go home, then you leave here.”
Cassie didn’t know what to say to that. She held his gaze for a few moments.
“Oh, Mr. Webber,” she murmured.
She walked over to the kitchen and hugged him from behind.
“I’ll miss you too. Until we meet again.”
He patted her hands on his chest and she felt him nod.
“I think I will take a nap, until we leave. Wake me, will you?”
He pulled away and headed to his bedroom, and Cassie thought that maybe he was embarrassed to show how upset he was.
“Oh, Mr. Webber,” she said again, quietly.
They met Morgenstern in the Champagne Bar in the Plaza Hotel. He was a large man, with long flowing hair and thick-framed spectacles. He was wearing an expensive suit, with a cravat around his neck.
“Morgy!” Mr. Webber exclaimed, gripping the man’s hand and shaking it.
“Webber!” Morgenstern replied, and then he gave Cassie a slow look up and down.
“Ah, this is my research assistant, Ms. Andrews,” Mr. Webber said.
Morgenstern nodded and gave Cassie a quick smile but didn’t offer his hand. He gestured to the seats next to him and they all sat. TheChampagne Bar was filled with the murmur of conversation and the tinkle of light background piano music.
