Unpacking the Backpack: Part 4
It came as no surprise that Edwin and Crystal insisted that Niko and Charles stay behind while they investigated the Marble Arch mystery. Nor was it surprising that Charles protested. What did surprise Niko was how quickly he conceded defeat in the argument. Crystal promised to keep in touch with Niko via text. What went unspoken was that, if anything did go horribly wrong, there wasn’t much that Niko or Charles would be able to do about it.
Charles was much quieter today as he continued sorting through items in the backpack. Fewer objects caused him to smile or launch into a story, but he still remained distracted. They were making good progress, but Niko was more concerned about Charles’ well-being than his productivity. She started asking him questions about what they found, hoping to prompt him into a better mood.
“What are these for?” she asked after Charles laid out a set of pots and pans on the floor. “I didn’t think you did much cooking.”
“They’re made of blessed stainless steel,” Charles told her. “The wizard who sold them to us said they could be used to prepare food that ghosts can taste.” He snorted. “Got properly swindled, didn’t we? But Edwin uses them for alchemy experiments.”
Niko added them to her list. Charles returned the cookware to the backpack and extracted a small model of a suspension bridge. “That looks pretty mint,” Niko commented.
“It’s a souvenir from our trip to New York City back in 2012. Edwin wanted to see the Brooklyn Bridge.” His fond Edwin-smile softened his features. “He was explaining that only a fool would try to buy the bridge, since it was impossible, so naturally I had to find a replica in a gift shop to give him.”
Niko beamed. “What else did you do in the city?”
“The usual tourist stuff. Central Park, the Empire State Building, a couple museums. Then we took a case from this heiress who claimed she needed to find her long-lost diamond necklace.” His expression soured. “Turned out she was really an energy vampire leading us into a trap. She did that to a lot of tourist ghosts, but she should’ve known not to mess with the Dead Boy Detectives. Guess we didn’t have as much of a reputation across the pond in those days.”
“What’s an energy vampire?” Niko wondered.
“You know how ghosts are mostly made of memory and energy?” Niko nodded. “Some creatures feed on that energy.”
“Like the ghost-eating fungus in the Tall Forest,” Niko remembered.
“Yeah.” Charles didn’t look happy about the reminder. “Anyway, the city was pretty mint apart from that.” He tossed the model bridge back in the bag and Niko added it to the inventory.
The next several items were books—ones Edwin had lost to the backpack in the early years. Charles was happy to rediscover them, and promptly moved them to the pocket where he kept Edwin’s reference books. “Most of them we keep here in the office,” he explained to Niko. “But sometimes we need one on a case. Speaking of cases, have you heard anything from Crystal?”
Niko checked her phone. “No new messages, but there probably isn’t good cell service underground.”
“I guess not.” Charles fidgeted. He’d been very good about not trying to stand up or walk today, but Niko knew it had to be hard for him to sit still for so long. She certainly found that challenging. It was made more difficult because they were both trying not to worry about their friends.
“Crystal and Edwin are good detectives,” Niko reminded Charles. “They can handle themselves. And they have worked together before. Remember the Case of the Devlin House?”
Charles nodded, but he looked even more unhappy. Niko belatedly realized that Charles probably didn’t want to think about that case, for a number of reasons.
“Edwin will be happy you found his books,” Niko pointed out.
That cheered Charles up a little. “Yeah. Let me see if there are any other ones missing.”
He rummaged around in the backpack for several minutes before frowning and pulling an oversized volume out. “Don’t remember this one,” he remarked. The binding was dark blue, edged with gold. Pictures of stars and planets spilled across the front cover. It was a very pretty book, but Charles frowned at it as though it had offended him. Or worse, offended Edwin. “Didn’t think he was still reading this astrology stuff,” Charles mumbled.
“I think that’s technically astronomy,” Niko said. She reached for the book and opened it between them. “See, it’s about the science of the cosmos.” She paged through it, admiring the photos and complicated diagrams, and paused on a page filled with constellations.
“I asked Edwin once what he missed about being alive,” Charles said quietly. “He didn’t answer then. But later, he admitted he missed the stars. You used to be able to see the night sky a lot more clearly back in his day.”
Niko considered that. There was a lot about the boys being dead that was very sad. Still, she’d always privately felt that Edwin and Charles were happier in the present than they would have been in their own respective eras. Technology was more advanced now, and a lot of progress had been made in human rights and equality. But Edwin did have a point about missing the stars. Niko had never seen them.
“I grew up in a big city,” she told Charles. “I suppose I could have seen more stars in Port Townsend than I ever could have in Osaka or London. But I never thought to look.”
Charles didn’t meet Niko’s gaze. “Do you think Edwin ever went stargazing in Port Townsend?”
“I don’t know.” Niko frowned, considering. “Maybe with Monty?”
Charles winced. It was almost imperceptible, but Niko was looking closely and caught it. And then suddenly several things made sense at once.
Charles wanted to give Edwin things to make him happy—even impossible things, like the Brooklyn Bridge or the starry night sky. Here was an instance where Charles had failed, and Monty had made Edwin happy instead. Charles was still jealous of Monty. And he was upset about more than just that.
“Are you still beating yourself up over what happened with Monty?” Niko demanded.
“I should have known the Tall Forest was a trap,” Charles insisted. “I should have kept us safe. That’s my job.” He tugged the book away and shut it with a snap.
“You did act suspicious when Monty told us about Gladys,” Niko reminded him.
“I should have come up with a better argument!” Charles threw his hands up. “Monty said Gladys was important to him, but he’d literally never mentioned her before. I knew something was off, but I couldn’t make anyone see it.”
“To be fair, everyone was worrying about their own problems that day,” Niko reflected. Jenny had been avoiding her, Crystal had just lost her powers, and Edwin had been working up the courage to confess his feelings to Charles. He’d even asked Niko’s advice in picking out suitable attire, and she’d decided on the green sweater vest—for emotional stability and to bring out the color of his eyes. “I don’t think people were listening to you, and we should have,” she realized.
Charles shook his head. “I shouldn’t have gone along with the case. I had a bad feeling, and I didn’t press it, because Edwin prefers facts.” He stared down at the cover of the astronomy book. “And I wasn’t sure I could trust my feelings just then.”
“Edwin trusts your judgment when it comes to people,” Niko insisted. “You’ve got good instincts.”
“But I was wrong about Brad and Hunter.” Charles sounded absolutely miserable. “And I nearly let Crystal get poisoned because I underestimated Maren. And…” He sighed heavily. “I didn’t like Edwin spending so much time with Monty, but I didn’t want to be a bad friend about it. He really struggles to make friends, and I wanted him to be happy. So I didn’t protest as much as I should have when Monty came to us for help. And we nearly got eaten by a giant mushroom because of it.”
“That wasn’t your fault,” Niko declared. Charles started to protest, and she cut him off. “No, it wasn’t. We’re all detectives, and Monty tricked all of us. If anything, I was the one encouraging Edwin to spend more time with Monty. Most of my matchmaking attempts ended in disaster.”
“Oi, you couldn’t have known that librarian was a violent stalker,” Charles objected.
“And you couldn’t have known that Monty was a witch’s familiar,” Niko countered neatly. She was getting better at this. “I’ve read Edwin’s books about witches. Familiars taking human form is really rare.”
Charles didn’t look entirely convinced. “Still…”
“Hey, we’re a team.” Niko laid a hand on Charles’ shoulder and took it as a good sign when he leaned into the touch. He couldn’t feel it, any more than she could feel him, but he clearly found some comfort from it. “None of us have to be perfect, because we all look out for each other.”
“I’m not much use to anyone like this, though,” Charles muttered. He gestured to the cast on his leg. “I hate being stuck here.”
Niko bit back her instinctive response that she knew exactly how he felt. She really missed going out on cases, doing proper detective work in the field instead of paperwork in the office. But telling Charles that wouldn’t make him feel better. He’d only feel guilty. Their circumstances weren’t the same. Once Charles’ leg healed, he’d return to casework as usual, and Niko would stay behind. Because Charles could defend himself in a fight, and Niko could not. They’d already lost her once, and nobody wanted that to happen again.
“This is only temporary,” she told Charles. “You’ll be out in the field again in a few days. And in the meantime, we’ve managed to inventory items from over five hundred pockets. That’s nothing to sneeze at.” She paused for a moment. “Can ghosts sneeze?”
Charles huffed something close to a laugh. “Only under certain circumstances.” He turned to survey the backpack and the pages of notes Niko had made of their progress. “You’re right,” he declared, sounding more cheerful. “We’ve done good work so far. We’ll find those knitting needles soon enough.”
