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It was one of the rare moments where they were all in the break room at once. Tim and Sasha were crowded around the table with Jon, whom they’d managed to coax out of his office for the moment. Martin was busy trying to get the microwave door to latch properly, but he was still close enough to join in the conversation. They were all griping about the state of the archives. (Except for Jon. Jon never griped, simply commiserated.)
“I swear,” Tim said, “Gertrude’s filing system will be the death of me.”
“It certainly seemed to be the death of her,” Jon joked grimly.
“Guess that’s why she quit, then,” Martin said, as he gave the microwave another smack.
Sasha frowned. “Did she quit? I thought she went missing.”
“What? No,” Jon said. “She died.”
Martin hummed. “Always thought she’d retired.”
“I’m with Jon on this one,” Tim said. “Gertrude’s dead as a doornail. Don’t you remember all the rumors about her ghost?”
“Okay, but how?” Sasha asked. “How did she die?”
“If some of the more outlandish rumors are to be believed? Probably alien demon monsters.”
“Sounds about right,” said Martin. He gave up on the microwave and went to join them at the table, bringing his cold take-out container with him. “Seriously, though, how did she die? Like, what did the coroner find?”
“I don’t know,” Jon said. He didn’t seem all that concerned, until he saw the thoughtful looks on the others’ faces. “What, are you all really worried about this? I’m sure we’d have heard something if it were anything other than natural causes.”
Sasha bit her lip. “Did they even find a body?” she mused.
“Elias told me she died, so they must have done,” Jon said simply.
There was a pause. Then Martin said, “I suppose he would know. Being the Head of the Institute, and all.”
Sasha, still unconvinced, asked, “Are you sure he said she was dead?”
Jon nodded. “Yes, it’s why he apologized for being unable to answer my questions about Gertrude’s filing system. Believe me, if she were alive, I’d have had a word with her.”
Sasha snorted, and just like that, any tension that might have been in the room disappeared. They finished their break and went back to their desks.
The next day, however, Sasha came into work with the speed of someone who had an axe to grind. She marched to her desk and tossed her bag on her chair before quickly pulling something up on her phone. “I was right about Gertrude,” she announced to the room at large, then shoved her phone under Tim’s nose.
Tim blinked, then realized she was trying to show him the article on the screen. He skimmed it. “Okay, so Gertrude’s missing,” he said. “Good to know. Hey, Sash, is this a news article or an official police report? This is public record, right?”
“Sure,” said Sasha. She passed the phone to Martin to let him read for himself.
“What’s going on?” Jon asked from the door to his office.
“Turns out they didn’t find Gertrude’s body,” Tim answered.
“No one knows what happened to her,” Sasha continued. “There’s an investigation.”
Martin handed her phone back. “She probably died at her home and no one’s found her yet.” He frowned at the thought.
“I’m sure they’ll find her,” Jon said, turning to go back to his desk.
“Jon,” Sasha called after him, “You said Elias said she’d died.”
Jon paused. “He… did say that, yes.”
Martin’s eyes narrowed. “What exactly did he say happened to her?”
“That she passed away at work.” Jon turned this over in his mind. “If she had been in Research or Artefact Storage, I’d be inclined to believe him. But how many ways to die in the Archives could there be that wouldn’t leave a body behind?”
Tim slammed his hand down onto his desk. “That settles it,” he announced. “Elias killed her.”
Jon didn’t roll his eyes (He was their boss now, it wouldn’t be professional) but he did scoff, slightly. “Elias did not kill her, Tim.”
“You’re right, he hired the alien demon ghosts to do it.”
“It is kind of odd that Elias was so insistent she was dead,” Martin said. “Do you think something happened before her disappearance to make him think so? Maybe she was researching something dangerous before she died.”
Jon gestured to the file boxes scattered haphazardly through the Archives. “This doesn’t exactly look like the workplace of someone doing dangerous research.”
“Unless the files themselves are dangerous,” Sasha said. She meant for it to be a joke, but it didn’t quite land. They all read the statements, and they knew how it felt to listen to the recorders play them back.
Jon bit his lip. “I suppose,” he began, “we might gain some insight if we tried retracing Gertrude’s research. But by the look of this place, we have very little hope of that.”
“Plus, we have enough work already,” Tim added. “Organizing everything, and all.”
“I’ll talk to Elias about it,” Jon concluded.
“And I’ll come with you,” Sasha said.
“You know what? Count me in as well,” said Tim. “I want to hear about the alien ghosts.”
Jon frowned. “This isn’t an office party, this is serious. We’re researching a coworker’s disappearance. I won’t have anyone use this as an excuse to get out of doing their work.”
“Jon, on the very slight chance that Elias is somehow responsible for whatever happened to Gertrude, I think we should come with you,” said Sasha.
“Buddy system, boss,” said Tim.
“Fine.” Jon turned to Martin. “Do you insist on coming as well, or will we have someone stay behind to actually run this place?”
Martin sat smaller in his chair. “I can stay.”
“Good. Tim, Sasha, I’ll email Elias and find a time we can all meet. Preferably sooner than later. I get the feeling we won’t be in the most productive mindset until we can get this all sorted out.”
They agreed to meet in one of the smaller conference rooms, because neither Jon nor Elias had enough chairs in their office, and the meeting was likely to take some time. When they were all seated, Elias turned to the Archivist and asked, “So what is this about?”
“We were wondering what exactly happened to Gertrude.”
“She was an old woman, Jon,” Elias answered. “I’m sure I don’t know the details, but it would hardly be surprising if her age caught up to her.”
“So she died?” Sasha asked.
“I’m afraid so, yes.”
“Where’s the body, then?” Tim asked.
Elias didn’t answer right away.
“She’s declared missing,” Jon added.
“I see,” said Elias. He sat still for a moment before leaning forward, fingers folded on his desk. “Well. I suppose this would have come to light sooner or later. Yes, officially, Gertrude Robinson is merely missing. However, I do have reason to believe she is dead. I confess I do not know exactly what happened to her, but before she disappeared, she indicated to me that she was researching something dangerous. She even asked that I prepare to find a replacement for her in the event of her death.”
“What was she researching?” Jon asked.
“Now, hold on,” said Sasha. “You knew she was in danger; why didn’t you go to the police?”
“The police seldom take people in our line of work seriously,” Elias answered. “And, as I have said, I do not know the details of what she was dealing with.”
“Well, can you point us in the right direction?” Jon asked, visibly impatient.
Elias hummed. “If my memory serves, she had requested some astrological materials shortly before she vanished. Something to do with eclipses, I think? But I doubt that that was her main focus.”
“Anything you can remember will be helpful,” Jon said.
“I will let you know if I think of anything else. Otherwise, my best advice to you is to go through her files and try to find her most recent notes. I am sure you will turn up something.”
Jon’s shoulders slumped. “Right. Thank you, Elias.”
“Any time, Archivist.”
Jon, Tim, and Sasha filed out of the conference room. With nothing more to go on, they returned downstairs and filled Martin in on what Elias had said. “So, what are our next steps?” Martin asked.
“We keep researching,” Jon answered. “We’ll start by prioritizing the statements that we know Gertrude worked on. That means focusing on statements given during her tenure, and keeping an eye out for any notes or recordings she might have made. In addition…” Jon hesitated. “In addition, we’re not going to spend as much time on statements that can be recorded digitally. Those can be archived and dealt with later.”
Tim, Sasha, and Martin nodded. “Right,” Tim said.
“What about the astrology texts that Elias said she’d been looking into?” Sasha asked.
“Could be unrelated, but we’ll keep an eye out. Sasha, why don’t you check with the Library to see what books she might have had on loan.”
“Aye-aye, captain.”
“I’ll check with Research, see if they know anything,” Tim offered.
“Excellent. Is everyone clear on the path forward?”
They all nodded again. There was a moment of silence as everyone contemplated the work ahead of them. Then Tim said, “So Elias killed her, right?”
“Oh, yes,” Jon said. “Definitely.”