Because there definitely had not been a spark when she’d first opened the door and seen him.
Right?
She pushed the thought roughly from her mind.
Felix finally sighed. “I’m sorry about your father,” he said, quieter this time.
Nell massaged her eyelids. “Are you going to help or not?”
In response, Felix threw up his hands, giving in. He took the map from the coffee table and moved back to the kitchen, where the light was better. She watched him study the unremarkable design, the plain colors and simple lines that wound their way across the state between dots whose names sounded like places from a movie, not real life. Sullivan, Ferndale, Howell, Cold Spring.
A few months after their banishment from the NYPL, Nell had heard Felix had gotten a job at the giant tech company Haberson Global, in their mapping division. Money enough to live on, and at a respectable company, for which she knew he was grateful, but not happy. It wasn’t cartography. It was data mining and navigation algorithms. The day she finally got an offer from Classic, she understood how he felt. But as had happened to Nell, no other museum or library would touch Felix after Dr. Young had declared them personae non gratae—even with Swann’s behind-the-scenes attempts to help.
But seeing Felix now, older, more confident, she couldn’t help but wonder if maybe he was happy again. Haberson was so gigantic and profitable, it made companies like Amazon and Google look small. It was practically a country unto itself. She couldn’t imagine what it was like there.
After a few seconds, Felix folded the map back up again. “Well, your father was right the first time—it seems like a regular old piece of junk. I don’t know why he would still have it after all these years.”
Nell let out a sigh. “It’s ridiculous. These were worth less than pennies when they were actually in use. Why would anyone risk breaking in to the library to try to steal it?”
Felix looked up sharply. “What?”
“The NYPL was burgled last night,” she whispered, as if saying it too loud might make it happen again. “You’ll probably start seeing the news stories anytime. That’s why I messaged you.”
His face was incredulous. “And you and Swann think this map, this gas station pamphlet map, was the target. That’s what you’re telling me.”
She shrugged nervously. “It’s all just speculation at this point—”
“Do you think this map also has something to do with your father’s death?”
“I don’t know—”
“What is really going on, Nell? If you want me to actually be able to help Swann, you have to tell me!”
“Look, Dr. Young died, and there was this map, this inexplicable piece of junk map, hidden in his portfolio,” she cried. “And then a day later, the breakin happened, but Swann’s assistants swear they’ve triple-checked the inventory, and nothing was taken.”
Felix was still looking at her, but the intensity of his suspicion had cooled slightly, so she no longer felt like she was being burned through. “Why go to all the trouble of breaking into a place as revered as the NYPL only to not take anything?” he muttered to himself. “Unless . . .”
She nodded. “What they were looking for wasn’t there. This was the only thing not on display or in the back collections last night.”
Felix studied the map again with renewed, hesitant interest.
“I don’t know if they’re connected. But I want to find out—for Swann.” She picked up her father’s portfolio from the counter and handed it to Felix. “He made a copy of the library’s security footage from the breakin. He said the police found it inconclusive. He was hoping that you could look at the video, maybe using some of Haberson’s fancy tech, and tell him what you see.”