Stenway had given me the address of where to find Ms. Higley, and I talked Sydney into going with me. Somehow. She probably didn’t want to get in trouble for not knowing where I was. Anyways, we hopped on the bus and rode out to the apartment complex that Stenway had written down. It was a nice little brownstone place, well kept, with flower boxes in the windows, the kind of place that you would expect Ms. Higley to live, surrounded by all the other Ms. Higley’s of the world.

  We walked into the little front desk area, and I asked for Ms. Higley. The tiny woman behind the desk stared at me. “I’m sorry, who?”

  “Ms. Higley? She’s about forty-five, works as a housekeeper for Mr. Left?”

  “I’m sorry, dear, there’s no-one here by that name.”

  “Maybe she lives with a family member?” Sydney looked at me questioningly. “Any ‘Higley’s’ at all?”

  “I’m sorry, dear, there’s no one here by that name.” She pulled out a dusty grey book and opened it, flipping through a bunch of pages before finally looking back up. “No-one of that name has been here in the past five years, so I can’t give you a change of address.”

  I pulled out the slip of paper that Stenway had written the address on. “But I have it right here.” I showed the lady. “Is there any place around here that he could have mistaken this place for?”

  The lady shook her frizzy grey head. “Sorry, dears.”

  I leaned forward. “Is this property owned by the Left family?”

  “I beg your pardon.” The tiny woman drew herself up.

  “You know, did the Left family build this place, or did they use to use it, or is there just any connection to the Left family?”

  “I’m sure I wouldn’t know.” The woman looked at me icily.

  Sydney tapped my shoulder. “Come on, T.J. Let’s go.”

  The lady nodded. “Good day.”

  Sydney dragged me outside. I looked at her. “What?”

  “Do you pay any attention when Mom and Dad are talking?” Sydney glared at me.

  “Yeah, usually. What’s the matter?”

  “The Left’s were going to pull down a bunch of apartment complexes at one point, to make room for their laboratory.”

  “Oh.”

  “Then they were able to get an addition to the hospital approved, which made more sense anyways ‘cause it was closer to the college. Honestly, T.J.”

  That was a fun new tidbit. But one thing at a time. “So, why wasn’t Ms. Higley there? Stenway must have given me the wrong address.”

  “People mess up all the time. He probably wrote an old address down.”

  “There’s no way he had a five year old address. He’s way more organized than that. And he wouldn’t tell me what happened to her, like what her accident had been.”

  “When we get home, we can call him!” Sydney said brightly. I should have seen that coming. I was quiet on the bus all the way home. I knew Stenway, he would absolutely have the most current information, even something as simple as the housekeeper’s address. No, something was strange here.

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  Sydney didn’t get to call Stenway, though; when we got home, Mom and Dad were there and we had dinner immediately. The puzzle of the wrong address bothered me all night, but I decided not to say anything to Stenway immediately. It seemed like the better decision to keep all the little mistakes to myself and then bring them up all at once. If I let him explain them away one by one, I wouldn’t be able to find a pattern. I ripped a sheet out of a school notebook and tucked into the back of my blue book, writing down the address of the apartment and the time and day that Stenway had given it to me.

  The next day at school, I informed the fellows about the missing housekeeper, and agreed to meet with them at the park. I passed on the sketch I’d made of the box and the book. They could get a head start on theories and I could just get caught up at the meeting.

  I’d missed the past couple of meetings and really wanted to hear their thoughts on the box. Peach probably had a dozen questions for me, too. I would be interested to see where the discussion led. I’d fed the cats in the morning, so after school I headed straight for the park, following protocol to the letter until I’d made it safely unobserved into our little shelter.

  Donny was the only one there when I arrived, and he looked up at me and sighed. “Clive got a detention and he won’t be with us today.”

  “How unfortunate for me.”

  He grinned. We waited in silence for the rest of the fellows to show up, and I looked through my Super’s book. The rest of the fellows came in a clump about ten minutes later, and Chris Blue brought the meeting to order, the called on Peach, who opened the floor to questions, comments, or announcements.

  Donny spoke up. “I actually was wondering about the details of the Left family falling out?”

  “I heard something recently about a bunch of apartment complexes almost getting knocked down by the Left family.” I looked at Donny. “I wonder if that had anything to do with it?”

  Peach frowned. “Potentially. How long ago?”

  “I don’t know, actually. Apparently my parents talked about it at one point, and I wasn’t listening.” I sat up. “It was before the laboratory was built, ‘cause they were trying to find property to put it on.”

  “Peach?” Chris Blue looked up.

  Peach reached inside his knapsack and pulled out a tan little journal with an “L” scrawled across the front. He flipped through the pages. “The Harrigan Left Laboratory was dedicated seven years ago. So clearly before then.”

  “Interesting. Why is Harrigan’s name in there? Was he the builder?”

  “No, Mr. Left Junior funded the whole thing.” That was the one thing I knew for sure.

  “Maybe he was trying to mend a rift. That would fit.” Peach looked to Chris.

  Chris nodded. “Donny, you’re for the library. See what you can find about the opening of the lab, especially if Mr. Left senior and wife were present.”

  “Say, that’s smart.” I was actually a little bit impressed. “Any ideas about the box?”

  “Not a one.” Peach frowned. “It doesn’t match any cipher, at least not in any context or any way that makes sense with the scenario. We need to know what’s inside.”

  “But how." I didn't even phrase it as a question. "Clearly there is a key, but I don’t have the key. I can’t pick the lock or break the box, I have no other way of getting into the box.”

  “Betcha anything Clive could get into that box.”

  “No way. No way I’m going anywhere with Clive.”

  “Deal with it. He’s not going to like it any more than you are.” Donny frowned a little.

  “As soon as you know of a time that Stenway is going to be out of his office, you need to get Clive. In fact, it might be easier for you to arrange something.”

  “Say, isn’t your sister sweet on Stenway?”

  “I’m not making that happen.” I frowned fiercely. “No way.”

  “It’s for a good cause.”

  “I’ll think of something else.”

  “Suit yourself. Getting it done in the next week would be ideal.”

  I really was not looking forward to this assignment. I kept trying to think of ways out of it. My doubts from a few days ago came back to me as I rode the bus home. Stenway had been super nice to me lately. I still didn’t like him, and even more frustrating, I was probably going to have to take advantage of Sydney’s infatuation with him somehow. On the other hand, Stenway owed me like three favors, so it probably wouldn’t be too difficult to call one in. I just needed a reason, a believable incident.