chapter eighteen

Ben sleeps on the couch, wakes to a sunshine that seems cleaner. He showers and eats, then sits at the computer to get work done. Elliot still hasn't replied, but new requests have come in. He makes calls and sends emails. Downloads files and starts the process of figuring out what he's really looking at. In this case, it's a series of photographs taken in varying wavelengths of light of scrolls that had been found in the walls of a monastery in Chevigny-Saint-Sauveur. Parchment pressed into itself due to some pressure.

There's a chance that this document has information that will settle a land claim between Chevigny-Saint-Sauveur and neighboring Quetigny. The Duc DuBerry had granted rights to fields to the mayor of Quetigny in the 13th Century, but the mayor had died, leaving only a daughter. Claiming that Salic Law prevented her from inheriting the land, a minor Baron had taken the land, claiming kinship to the deceased mayor. As the land in question served as the fairgrounds twice yearly and thus brought much revenue, there was fighting and killing between nobles of the towns for generations. This document could clear up the relationship between mayor and minor Baron, daughter and fairgrounds. A duplicate set of files had been sent to another analyst, perpetuating the rivalry for another few weeks or months.

Peering through layer after layer of parchment, Ben begins to sift the dirt and noise from the ink and signal. He has powerful software and the skills to use it, but generally best with Bleatophany music playing, generally "Captain Clanton" to start and then on to "Up Your Shaft." For the most part music becomes background noise while he's working, and could be the mating sounds of feral cats for all he cares. Filter out the blue light, see one thing. Filter red, see something else. Combine filters, use a little imagination...

Well it's going to take weeks. Then there's going to have to be translation (twice) and interpretation (twice). He knows some measure of Latin and French, but not enough to really figure out what a 13th Century legal document meant. But that's not his job. Clean it up, make all the pen-strokes show up... and this first page shows its mystery. Apparently there are two sheets of parchment pressed into each other so tightly that they appear to be one. There's writing over writing. Some has faded. It would be best if he had the source parchments, but they've probably been sliced in halves and sent to separate labs. Layered text. One thing written over another.

Accidental? Where has he seen this recently? Not Medieval French, but... oh, of course. Little Box Guy. Paper strips with writing over writing. He'd thought it was because someone had been practicing their kanji, their Chinese characters, and then reused the paper. What if it was intentional? What if it was accidental? He minimizes the French document on-screen and opens the shots he had of Little Box Guy's strips. Zooms in 400% and studies the fibers in the paper. 1000%. Everything's looking right - the paper's not been altered, it's not dual layers competing. Picks up the box and looks at it under the lens. Compares with what's onscreen. Looks back and forth again, and again.

Something's different.

In the picture onscreen, the 'poem' is written once pretty clearly, and then once in 'practice.' But the box, just looking at it here in his hand, he can see one line of kanji without squinting, and then three more 'practice' times. He rotates the box, looks damn closely at the box, like it's a paying client. Six strips total. Four have been sliced, cuts so thin they're hard to see without squinting and a lot of magnification. The four show no indication that they'd ever been written on. Two have some writing; once each 'normal,' and the one with the three extras. That makes five, yes? Three plus one plus one. Yes, five. With six strips?

Need to find out more about this damn box, he thinks. What the tradition is like. What these strips represent. Maybe Kitsune knows someone. Heck, maybe she knows something. What time is it? I've got time. Google, my friend. Search "Japanese Boxes" and only 3,350,000 results. Puzzle boxes. Could Little Box Guy be a puzzle box, or some puzzle box analog? It seems that way to Ben. Well, he thinks, I'll tool around in here and see what comes up. And if dinner goes okay and we don't wind up shooting it out with the waitstaff, maybe I'll have Kitsune take a look at this thing and see if she has any ideas. He grabs a pen and notebook and starts jotting down information.