Page 8 of Lost Hours
Reece ripped the key from the cardboard and inserted it into the lock. “It’s turning. We’ve got it! We can open the case.”
She removed the lock and slid the door open.
Jude reached in, took out a nearby trophy, and gave it a good looking over. “This is for you, Nolan. It’s for the Victor G. Atiyeh Award.”
He felt his face flush. The award was given to each basic class and was named after the former Oregon governor who’d helped make the academy a reality. The recipient was selected by students and staff for criteria of excellence.
“There wasn’t a trophy for this,” Nolan said. “So someone had to have had this made just for tonight.”
“Reece and Jude, you both got awards,” Abby said. “See if your name is on any of those?”
Reece bumped Hayden out of the way with her hip. She removed a trophy and followed Jude’s lead, checking it out thoroughly. “Has my name on it for the marksmanship award.”
“Looks like mine is on the top shelf.” Jude reached into the case. “What in the world? It won’t budge. It’s attached to the shelf somehow.”
“Don’t be a wuss,” Gabe called out. “Pull harder.”
“Yeah, your motto,” Jude said, sarcasm liberally coating his words. “If it doesn’t work at first, use brute force and shove harder.”
“Is there any other way?” Gabe chuckled.
Jude put both hands on the top of the trophy and pulled it forward. The trophy remained attached, but pivoted on the shelf. “This is like you see for hidden passages on TV and in movies when they pull on something on a bookshelf and a hidden door opens.”
“No door opening,” Nolan said. “But the lock on the wooden box is whirring.”
The padlock suddenly dropped open. Nolan opened the box lid to reveal a stack of jigsaw puzzle pieces. He dumped them out and set the box on a chair to free up the table.
“Are you kidding me?” Gabe asked. “Another puzzle to solve?”
“But we have a secret weapon here,” Nolan said. “Hayden does puzzles all the time.”
“Out of my way, peeps.” Hayden strode toward them. “Let the master get to work.”
Abby spread out the pieces. “Um, Hayden. These are like toddler-sized pieces. I think we can handle it.”
“But not as fast as me. Still, I’ll let you work with me. Separate out the edge pieces, and I’ll start putting them together.”
They set to work, Hayden’s intensity as fierce as if this lead might help him find one of the lost people they were hired to search for.
He soon had the frame done and began filling in the pieces by color. “I see crime scene tape and someone squatted in a Tyvek suit.”
“That’s me!” Abby cried out. “Remember when you made fun of me because I was so excited about forensics and shining my blue light around? But what does it mean?”
“Maybe we’re supposed to find a blue light,” Nolan said, already moving toward the bookshelf.
Hayden beat him there, found a flashlight, and turned it on. “It’s a black light. Kill the lights so we can see if it clarifies something.”
Jude flipped the switch on the wall, plunging the windowless room into complete darkness except for the beam of blue light.
Hayden waved it around the room but stopped on one of the lockers. “Someone’s written something here.” He focused the beam on the upper part of the lockers.
“The right order is the key to everything.” Nolan read aloud. “It could mean we need to open the lockers in numerical order.”
“Let’s try it.” Abby headed for her locker. “You’re number one so you go first, then me with number four.”
They scrambled to their respective lockers, Jude flipping on the light switch on the way. After a few missteps, they lifted the latches in order. The first five didn’t open.
“One more to go,” Jude said, the last number belonging to him. He pulled up the latch, and his door swung open.
