AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Amelia stepped forward, herpresence commanding yet respectful. "Mr. Pendergast, what did he buy fromyou the last time he was here?"
"Ah, yes, the differenceengine," Pendergast said, his eyes alight with scholarly enthusiasm."A remarkable piece, one of Babbage's finest concepts. It's a shame it wasnever fully realized in his time."
"Charles Babbage? Wasn’t hethe inventor of the modern computer?" Finn pressed, his mind connectingpotential dots behind a steady gaze.
“Yes,” Pendergast answered. “Hebuilt several prototypes for mechanical computers during the 1800s. But mostwere never completed. I was lucky to have a segment of one such prototypecalled a difference engine.”
“What is a difference engine?” Finnasked.
"Like you said,"Pendergast explained. "It's a rudimentary mechanical computer used formathematical calculations. Fascinating to think about."
“And Lucas Henshaw bought that?”Amelia asked.
"Quite. He fancied himself abit of a historian. Said something about the parallels between thetechnological revolutions of then and now. He was quite a rich man, verysuccessful in the business world. But history seemed to be his passion. "Pendergast’s hands danced with a collector's passion. "The past informingthe future and all that."
"Did he mention anythingspecific? Any project or reason he needed a difference engine?" Amelia'squestion hung in the dusty air like motes caught in a shaft of sunlight.
"Yes, as a matter of fact. Heseemed quite energized about how he had discovered something about oldertechnology. That he was onto something big, something that would change the waywe view history," Pendergast recounted, a distant look crossing his craggyface. "He believed some ideas were too ahead of their time—waiting for theright moment, the right mind to resurrect them."
"Or the right maniac,"Finn muttered under his breath.
"Excuse me?" Pendergastlooked puzzled, the spectacles slipping further down his nose.
"Nothing, Mr.Pendergast," Finn said briskly. "What did you make of hisideas?"
“He didn’t elaborate,” Pendergastanswered. “But if I had a penny for every person I’ve met who thinks thattoday’s ills can be cured by forgotten technologies, I’d be a rich man. Itnever leads anywhere. Some people can’t face up to the reality that there is nomajor cure hidden in the shadows for what ails us as human beings.”
"Wait," Ameliainterjected, her keen eyes catching a detail. She took out her phone and showedsome photographs. "These notes were in a journal we found near Mr.Henshaw’s body. Do they look like anything you’d know?"
"I’m no engineer,"Pendergast chuckled, unaware of the gravity his words carried. “But that lookslike some modification of an old counting machine. Possibly one of Babbage’sown.”
“Is there anything else you cantell us about Mr Henshaw?” Finn asked. “Where he was going, who he was dealingwith?”
“I’m afraid not,” Pendergast saidwith sadness. “But if Lucas Henshaw had a piece of a difference machine, youmight want to see if anyone else has been collecting the pieces.”
Finn nodded.
“One more thing,” Amelia said. Sheshowed another picture on her phone, this time of the pocket watch that wasfound in Lucas Henshaw’s mouth. “Does this watch look familiar?”
“No,” Mr. Pendergast said. “But Ican date it for you. That looks to be from around the 1840s, given the style.”
“The same period when CharlesBabbage was making his prototype computers…” Amelia mused out loud.
“Yes,” Pendergast said.
“And what about this?” Finn asked,pulling up a photo of the watch they found in the tree back at the cottage.
“Hmm,” Pendergast said. “A littlemore difficult. I'd need to get my hands on it. The style could be Victorian,but there are some hints there that it's anachronistic, made much later butaping the Victorian style.”
“But still the Victorianconnection,” Finn said, turning to Amelia. “I'm telling you, this is Vilne.”
“Maybe,” she answered. “But we'vethought that before in other cases and it's turned out to be barely connectedto him. I just want us to gather more evidence.”
“Sometimes you have to go with yourgut,” Finn answered.
The door behind Finn and Ameliaopened with a ring of the bell. A stout woman stepped in, smiling with rosycheeks and then perusing the shop.
“If you don’t mind,” Pendergastsaid. “I think that’s all I can say now. I have customers to tend to.”
