The 39 Clues [Cahills vs. Vespers] 05 - Trust No One by Linda Sue Park Read Free Book Online Page B

see? The first is the recto — that means ‘right’ in Latin, the right-hand page —”
    “Recto?” Dan snickered. “Any relation to the word
rectum
?”
    “Actually, yes.” It was Dr. James who answered. “The Latin root for both words means ‘right,’ but it can also mean ‘straight.’ The rectum is straight, as distinct from the other parts of the intestine.”
    “Oh,” Dan said, blushing.
    “Cool!” Atticus said. “Anyway, the other side is the verso, the left-hand page, see?”
    Dan put his mind back on task. “Seventy-four,” he hissed. “Look up seventy-four.”
    Jake flipped gingerly through the manuscript. Dan counted under his breath: “Seventy-two, seventy-three, seventy —”
    “Hey, look — a plumbing picture!” Atticus said gleefully.
    Pools and basins and canals, all filled with naked women. But this time, Dan wasn’t interested.
    “Turn back one,” he said to Jake.
    Seventy-three.
    “Now forward.” To the plumbing picture again.
    Amy frowned and leaned closer. “Seventy-five?” she said, and her eyes met Dan’s.
    About time she caught on!
    There was no doubt about it.
    Folio 74 was missing.

Dan’s thoughts were crashing into one another like a multicar pileup on the highway.
    Where is it? Who stole it? It couldn’t have been the Vespers — they sent
us
to steal it for them! How can we steal it if it isn’t here? And if we don’t — can’t — what will happen to the hostages?
    He saw the stricken expression on Amy’s face and knew that she was having the same thoughts.
    Dan forced himself to concentrate.
One thing at a time.
    “Do you see that?” He put on a fake-excited voice. “Page seventy-four — it’s missing!” Dan turned to Dr. James. “Did you know that already? Or did we, like, discover it?”
    Beside him, he could feel Amy’s muscles tense.
    “We did know about it, but thank you anyway,” Dr. James said. “There are several folios missing — the online records give a complete list.”
    “Do you know when the missing folios disappeared?” Amy asked.
    Dr. James shook her head. “No, but they were already missing when Wilfrid Voynich bought the manuscript.”
    “In 1912,” Jake reminded them.
    It seemed that Atticus had finally noticed the Cahills’ distress and was puzzling things out, too. “Dr. James, did you just say that the list of missing folios is online?”
    “Yes, that’s right.”
    “Oh,” Atticus said. “That’s nice. That way, ANYONE CAN TELL WHICH ONES ARE MISSING.”
    In Dan’s opinion, Atticus would be well advised to stay away from acting as a career. But his message came through clearly: The Vespers had to know already that Folio 74 was no longer part of the manuscript.
    Then why do they still want us to steal it?
    Unanswerable, at least for the moment.
    The hastily scraped-together plan called for Dan to create a distraction, aided by Amy and Jake. It was Atticus’s job to pilfer the manuscript and get it out of the building somehow, the thinking being that as the youngest, he would look the most innocent.
    Dan moved away from the manuscript and toward Dr. James. Then he clapped one hand to his eye.
    “Ow!” he said. “My contact, I lost my contact!”
    He dropped to his knees right next to Dr. James. Just as he hoped, she bent over and began helping him search for the imaginary contact lens.
    Then Amy grabbed his elbow.
    “It’s okay, Dan,” she said with a forced smile. “You — um, you DON’T REALLY NEED IT, do you?”
    “What?” Dan almost yelped.
What’s with her?! She can’t have forgotten the plan already!
    “He doesn’t need his contact lens?” Dr. James looked up in surprise.
    “Of course I need it!” Dan pulled his arm away from Amy and glared at her. “Thanks for your help, Dr. James. ISN’T SHE NICE TO BE HELPING?”
    Amy glared right back at him. “What I meant was, you have all those extra pairs in your suitcase, so THERE’S NO NEED FOR DR. JAMES TO LOOK FOR IT.”
    Meanwhile,