It took less than two days for the supercomputer at Lovecraft AeroSpace to decipher the entire text of Mr. Wiltshire's encoded notebook.

By the end of the second day, it had been e-mailed to Howard, and what he found there was quite intriguing. Howard had thought that the notebook would contain notes on Mr. Wiltshire's journey into the occult. That was simply not the case.

Instead, it quickly became apparent that Mr. Wiltshire had been investigating his son's past, with each entry painting a grimmer picture both of Nathan's life and of Nathan's last days.

'That means that there are additional alchemical notebooks still waiting to be found inside the house,' Howard thought as he briefly flipped through a few pages of the text on his portable. 'But why did he use a complex cipher to protect this particular notebook?'

It all made little sense to Howard. After all, practitioners of magic usually kept their notes in cipher just in case someone stumbled across them. Magic and alchemy were both dangerous lines of study. One wouldn't leave directions on how to make a pipe bomb out in the open after all. This was much the same concept.

'I guess this means that we will have to do a more thorough search of Wiltshire Manor,' Howard thought. Considering the mess in the laboratory it made sense that he and Catherine had missed additional notebooks in all the clutter.

"It looks like we will be back at the search this upcoming weekend," he muttered as he closed the document and began reading his work-related mail.

---

The following Friday, Howard and Catherine once again stood at the door of Wiltshire Manor. The sun had set just a few minutes before and they were both wearing work clothes once again. After a long discussion, they had left the children at home since they were going to be spending most of their time in the laboratory. They didn't want the ghost of Nathan or whatever it was to even know that Howard had kids. After all, those girls had enough problems without worrying that an evil spirit might latch on to them.

Sunny had also stayed behind to watch over the two young ones.

"Ready?" Howard asked as he produced the key to the mansion.

"Yes," came Catherine's curt reply after a cute yawn. She was still waking up, after all.

"Okay," Howard replied. Then he unlocked the door.

After entering and securing the entryway behind them, Howard asked, "Do you want to search a bit more, or go to the laboratory as planned?"

"Let's look around a little so I can fully awaken. It should only take another fifteen minutes."

"Okay."

With that, the couple did a cursory sweep of the first floor from the servants' hall to the ballroom. As expected, they saw nothing out of place, nor did they find any additional magical signatures.

"Shall we go upstairs?" Catherine asked. Howard could tell by the glint in her eyes that she was finally fully awake.

Just to be thorough the duo did another sweep of each floor as they made their way to the alchemical laboratory. As expected, they found no additional clues.

Upon reaching the door to the target location, Catherine gave Howard a reminder. "Remember, we are here cleaning up the laboratory. If 'Nathan' asks about his father's whereabouts you need to lie. After all, the last thing we need is for it to attempt to break free. The resulting magical backlash would be like a bomb going off in the servant's quarters. We might survive, but the house would need major repairs."

"I agree. In fact, the less information that we give to 'Nathan' the better for everyone concerned." With that, Howard unlocked the door, and they proceeded inside.

---

The room was just as much of a mess as it had been the week before. Books were strewn all over, piles of them on every bench and table despite the large number of bookshelves lining the walls. It was as if Mr. Wiltshire had been too engrossed in his research to even bother putting the books away after he found the information he was looking for.

As before, a ghostly image was floating just above the floor in one corner of the chamber. Still imprisoned in its magic circle, a dully glowing barrier separated the entity from the rest of the room. Whether it was the ghost of his old friend or it was another spirit pretending to be him still remained to be determined.

"Howard and Miss Catherine, it is good to see you again," the apparition said as the duo entered the laboratory. Judging from the ghost's expression, he was quite glad to have come company Howard realized.

"Nathan, it has only been a week since we last came to visit," Howard pointed out. It was hard for him to stay disconnected from the apparition on an emotional level. After all, he had been close friends with Nathan for their entire lives up until the young man's sudden and tragic death. It took all of his resolve not to feel bad about visiting so rarely.

'I can't think this way,' Howard strongly admonished himself. 'I have to stay aloof.' After all, the ghost might not be his friend, but a malevolent entity trying to deceive all those it met.

"Only a week? It seems much longer, but then there isn't much to do stuck in a magical circle," the being said with a chuckle.

Howard couldn't help but smile at the entity's jest. It was just what Nathan would say to try to lighten the mood.

"How are you this evening?" the shimmering person asked Catherine.

"I am well, thank you," Catherine replied curtly as she efficiently shelved a pile of books taken from Mr. Wiltshire's workbench. "How are you?" she asked, her eyes never leaving her work.

"The same as ever," came the ghost's curt reply.

While Catherine was being a bit rude it was not enough to garner such a quip and Howard raised an eyebrow at his 'friend'.

"Forgive me," the entity said as he bowed deeply, showing his sincere contrition. "I get cross so easily nowadays. I do apologize for being so short with you."

"I would be in a bad mood if I was confined as you have been. Your apology is gladly accepted. I was partially to blame." Then, after shelving the last book in her pile she asked Howard, "Aren't you going to help clean up this mess?"

Howard had been so busy chit-chatting that he had forgotten the reason that they came to the laboratory in the first place. "I am sorry, Catherine," he replied as he picked up a stack of books and began sorting them according to the arrangements on the shelves.

"Demonology?" Howard commented as he saw that one book in his hands was the Greater Key of Solomon. "Why would he need one of the Keys of Solomon?"

"The Greater Key of Solomon is concerned with summoning demons, knowledge that would be helpful when trying to summon a ghost. It's not like they have a 'Summoning lost loved ones from the dead' class at Miskatonic University." Catherine commented while swiftly shelving books.

"Ouch!" Howard commented as he finally began shelving the stack of reference materials. "You seem to be in a bit of a mood."

"No, we just don't have time to dwaddle. This room is a pig's sty. If we don't concentrate on what we are doing, then we won't even put a dent into the work before bedtime."

"Oh, I didn't realize that you two were in such a hurry to complete your project. Forgive me for distracting Howard," 'Nathan' said with yet another bow. "However, I would like to chat with the two of you during your breaks, if that is acceptable."

"You have got yourself a deal," Catherine quickly replied.

---

That evening, the two rapidly cleaned up the laboratory while covertly looking for any additional notebooks.

They took several breaks throughout the night because of Howard's periodic fatigue. After all, he did not take any of his special tonics that evening, deeming the search insufficiently important for him to deal with the potions' side effects. If he didn't impose such rules on himself and used the elixirs nightly to stay awake, he would now look to be in his mid-teens instead of his mid-thirties.

After a late dinner break and yet another fifteen-minute break, Howard was still feeling fatigued. He had worked a full day at his practice before arriving at the Manor and they had been cleaning up, sorting, and shelving books for a good six hours. Even with multiple breaks, he was quickly beginning to tire.

Catherine, of course, was good to go. One advantage of her sleeping all day was that she would remain fresh until morning. That, combined with her apparent age, made it logical that she would not tire as quickly as her older companion. Of course, while logical, this conclusion would ultimately be incorrect.

To make a long story short, Howard was running out of steam while Catherine was not.

Howard did his best to hide his fatigue, but finally, he stumbled and almost fell while holding a stack of heavy tomes.

After noticing Howard's stumble, the entity called out "Howar-".

Catherine, of course, was at Howard's side before he could blink, taking the books from him and giving Howard her shoulder to lean on.

"Thank you," Howard muttered, ashamed of his own weakness.

"Why is the male ego so fragile that it is impossible for them to admit that there are limits to their strength?" she asked with a wry smile.

"I don't know," came his muttered reply. Howard was mortified, not so much because he needed help from Catherine as to the fact that the apparition had witnessed his fragility. Catherine was family, and she had seen him both at his worst and at his best. The two had helped each other through many struggles. He thought about this as he stared into her eyes as the wry smile became something more genuine.

"I hate to interrupt," the specter began, "but Howard, if you are that tired why don't you call it a night? It has gotten late, after all."

"That would mean that Howard here had to admit his own frailty, something which he is loath to do," Catherine quipped.

"Ha, ha, very funny. I was planning to stop after I finished sorting this pile of grimoires. Unfortunately, I stumbled before I could mention that fact."

"That is a likely story," Catherine replied. "Still, it is a good idea. We should stop soon. There is always tomorrow night."

"So you will return that soon?" the apparition asked, his hope clear in his voice.

"Yes, it looks like we will be at this for a while more," Howard admitted.

'Who knows how long it will take for us to find those notebooks?' Howard thought as he finished up his stack of books.