The Cinderella Cleaning Caper (8)

The next day's newspaper headlines were just as dramatic as the previous day's.

Magistrate is Close to Cracking Theft Ring 

 Riley had awakened early that morning to get the paper, in case anything inflammatory had been written about Nina's mother that he didn't want Lilly to see. Instead, the story dealt with the fact that a petty jewel thief had been apprehended after they had "accidentally" stolen the blue diamond ring. The story didn't mention Nina's mother by name, nor the fact that her daughter had run away from home with the ring in her possession. Upstairs, Lilly was busying herself with getting ready, so Riley put the kettle on the stove for hot water, and then remembered that he hadn't gotten any tea since the visit from the girls earlier that week. It all seemed so long ago now. Instead of the kettle, he grabbed a frying pan and poured water into it in order to poach some eggs for breakfast.

When Lilly came downstairs wearing her school clothes, she looked mostly recovered from the events of the previous day. "I smell eggs," she said. "We're going to have eggs on toast?"

"Yes we are," Riley said. "I figured we deserve a treat."

Lilly pulled up a chair and sat down as Riley put two slices of wheat bread into the toaster. "I hope Nina is going to be all right," she said.

"Well, she'll be living with her grandparents, so at least it's family," Riley said. Just then, there was a hesitant knock at the door. "Just a moment."

Riley went over to the door, wondering why someone would be visiting early. He opened it up to reveal Nina standing on the front stoop. She had been crying, but she was dressed in a new coat and a new outfit. "I came to say goodbye to Lilly," she said.

Lilly jumped down from her seat and the table and ran over. "Nina! You're leaving?" she wailed. Nina nodded sadly. "Grandma and Grandpa are taking me back to live with them," she said. "That means I won't be in your class anymore."

Lilly reached out and hugged Nina tightly. "I'm sorry about everything," she said.

"No, don't be sorry. My mom was the bad one. I...still can't believe what she said about me."

 Lilly let go of Nina. "I'll tell everyone you said goodbye. I think Morgan's going to panic about our presentation, but I think we're going to be fine," Lilly said.

"Thank you," Nina said. "Well...I'll see you."

Nina waved to Lilly and Riley, and walked back to where a middle-aged couple, whom Riley guessed were Nina's grandparents, were seated in a rickety old automobile. The two of them silently watched as Lilly got in and drove off.

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Once he had seen Lilly safely off to school, Riley went back into his father's office. He stared at his father's desk, then reached into his pocket for his ring of house keys. One of the keys was a normal brass skeleton key, but if you looked at it closely, there was a hairline crack that divided the key in half. He pulled the teeth of the key from the handle to reveal a very slim pin.

He opened one of the drawers of his desk, removed the papers inside and placed them on his father's desk chair. He took the pin and inserted it in a small hole that had been drilled underneath the drawer. The desk drawer's bottom popped up, revealing two small leather notebooks, one bound in black leather and the other bound in red.

There's another reason why I didn't want you looking through here, Lilly, Riley thought as he took out the red bound book and let the false bottom fall back into the drawer.

Years ago, when Lilly had joined the family, Jasper Riley had brought his son into his office and showed him the hidden panel where the books were hidden. "These books must never be allowed to fall into Lilly's hands," he had warned Riley. "There is information in these that she cannot know until she turns sixteen." He had taken out both of the books and put them on the table in front of Riley. "This red book is what you'll need to consult if something were to happen to me, and you needed to talk to someone. Everyone that's involved with Lilly's life is listed in here. And this black book—do not open it, whatever you do. This is for Lilly's eyes only, when she comes of age and the seal on her memory is lifted. In this book is her story. There will be times when she asks you what her family was like, and if that happens, she'll suffer a temporary memory lapse. I had the hypnotist suppress the memories of her previous life, until the day she turns eighteen. So please...this is only for her. Don't open it, or read it. The red book is the only one that should concern you."

Riley looked longingly at the black book in the desk. He wondered if it really would be that bad if he took a look at it, and reached for it. Immediately, he felt his fingers touching something very hot, and drew his hand back with a surprised yelp. He looked at the tips of his fingers, and they showed no redness or any signs of being burnt. Is this hypnotic suggestion? Riley thought. 

He thought back to his early teenage years, when Lilly had first joined his family, and remembered seeing a tall man who had told him to close his eyes and relax, and when he was finally allowed to open them a whole hour had passed.

The ever expanding field of hypnosis was one of the new marvels of science that had swept the empire. Fully trained hypnotists were able to get people to stop bad habits and help them overcome their greatest fears. It also had other uses. Confessors, which were hypnotists that were hired by the magistrate, were used to extract confessions from criminals that had been arrested. Under hypnotic suggestion, a criminal usually was able to confess everything they knew about a crime.

When Lilly had joined the family, Jasper had mentioned to Penelope that the girl's memories had been suppressed, and that she would only know her own name and her birthday. When Penelope asked why, Jasper would only say, "She will know when she is old enough, and Riley will, too."

Riley opened the red book to the first page and saw a business card for a Dr. Golden tucked inside. Aside from just the name, there was just his telephone number and nothing else. He decided it would be best to give him a call.

A few minutes later, Riley was in the kitchen, speaking to the secretary at the office of Dr. Cornelius Golden, a certified hypnotist specializing in hypnotic therapy. "My name is Riley Rowley. I'm the son of Jasper Rowley," he said.

"Oh, yes, I remember dealing with your father. I'm so sorry to hear of his passing," the receptionist said. "Do you need to speak to Dr. Golden?"

"I do. I have a question about my younger sister."

A few minutes later, Dr. Golden came on the line and greeted Riley. "Well, it has certainly been a while since we last talked," he said. "Now, what can I do for you?"

"It's...a question I have about my sister." Riley explained the momentary "freeze" that she had gone through.

"Ah, a memory lapse. Don't worry. These sorts of lapses are completely normal for someone whose had specific memories suppressed," Dr. Golden explained, reassuringly. "In this case, these are memories about her parents. If I remember correctly, your father told me that the seal on her memory is set to expire at twelve noon on the day she turns sixteen."

"Sixteen years old, huh..." Riley sighed. "Does this mean she's going to have other lapses?"

"She will definitely have one if she asks any specific questions about her parents. If she happens to have any others, please, let me know. It may mean that the seal may be weakening because of her father's passing, but if these memory lapses become more frequent—say, once a week—please call me. We may need to adjust the limiting factors on her memory seal."

Riley nodded. "I was wondering, am I also under a--"

The phone receiver dropped from his hand as Riley froze in place.

"Mr. Rowley, are you all right?" said Dr. Golden. Then, he shouted, "Wake up! WAKE UP!"

Riley snapped back into awareness and realized the receiver was on the ground. Did I doze off? he thought. He picked up the receiver. "Um...excuse me, who is this?" Riley asked.

"Oh, it's Dr. Golden," said the voice at the other end. "You called me about your sister. Everything is fine with her but if she experiences more than one memory lapse per week, please call me."

"Oh...okay. Thank you, sir..." Riley hung up the phone. He felt confused. His memory of the past few minutes was fuzzy. He looked into his lap and noticed the red book with the business card. This is Father's...I'd better put it back. It seems important, he thought.

As Riley put the red book back into the false compartment of the desk, he noticed the black book. That's the one that's for Lilly's eyes only, he thought. I'd better not touch it.

He closed the desk drawer and took a look around his father's office. "Well," he said to the empty room, "I'm guess we're opening for business again. I just wish you were around to see my latest triumph, Father."