This is not that office. This is a cramped room, dark and windowless. There is a small desk, an uncomfortable-looking chair and bookshelves filled with ledgers and boxes that I’d wager containmoreledgers, along with receipts and correspondence. If there is a single actual book in the office, I do not see it. What I do see are endless places where Norrington could put important notes. The most likely spot, though, is the black iron box squatting in a corner.
“Do you know how to operate a lock like that?” Nicolas says as we peer down at the safe. “I have never seen one.”
“They are rare.”Even in my time.“But I have opened them.”
“Then I will leave you to it.”
He scans the office and heads for a row of boxes. I kneel in front of the safe and then glance up at Lord Thomas.
The ghost gives me the first number. I turn the dial, with my ear to the safe, and hear the faintest click of the tumblers. When I tell him, he exhales in relief.
“Good. Then he has not changed the lock. May I give you the rest of the numbers and then stand guard in the hall?”
I take a pen from the desk and write down the remaining numbers. He confirms them. Then he slips through the wall and promises to pace the hallway, letting us know whether anyone even seems to be heading this way.
When he is gone, Nicolas says, “If we are discovered, trouble will come from the main section of the house. We need only run into the next room, where I have left open a window for our escape.”
“You are rather good at this.”
He smiles over his shoulder. “I am a quick study of that which interests me, and while I never imagined thievery and espionage would qualify, I have discovered I have a knack for them, so long as they are in pursuit of good.”
“There is nothing quite as thrilling as misbehaving for a cause.”
“Very true. You shall need to show me how to open locks. That is a skill I have not yet attempted.”
As we talk, I continue working the safe lock, and he continues searching the boxes. We also keep our voices low. When he says something else, though, I do not hear it. I am too busy frowning at the safe.
“Is something wrong?”
I shake my head. “I must have made a mistake. I heard the clicks for all but the last number, and it is not opening. I shall have to restart.”
I do that, and again, I catch the faint sound that signals success with all but the final number. As I peer at the paper, Nicolas comes over.
“That is a six, non? Not a five?” he says. “Non, it could not be a five. You would not have misheard the two numbers in English.”
“I had Lord Thomas confirm them. Let me try again. Would you put your ear to the safe, please? The noise isveryfaint, but you might hear it.”
I run through the combination again, and again, the last number fails. With a growl of frustration, I rock back on my heels.
“There!” Nicolas says.
“There, what?”
He points at the dial, which is on the seven. Then he turns the door crank, and it opens.
“Something must have shifted in the workings,” Nicolas says as he reaches inside.
A flicker beside him, and Lord Thomas appears. He sees the safe open.
“We have done it,” I say. “The last—”
I see his face then, agitated and wide eyed, as he flutters his hands at me. “Close it up! They are coming.”
“Who’s coming?”
“My son and his men. Close it!” He sees Nicolas pulling out papers. “Put it all back! Quickly! You can still get out of this if he does not know what you’ve done.”
“Nico?” I say. “Norrington is coming.”