The Mind of Theodore, Part 2

I delivered Theodore’s notebook to Hector. “In three days,” he said, rubbing his nose, “I shall have ascertained the authenticity of this document.”

Meanwhile, I telephoned Ms. O in Spain. “Yes, Marie is my dear friend. A real comrade! Born in Mexico City, educated in France,” she affirmed.

“What distinguishing physical characteristic does she have?” I asked.

“A black sun tattooed on her left palm,” Ms. O responded.

“Yes, that’s her,” I replied. “A real beauty,” I added.

“I was waiting for that, Rocky,” Ms. O groaned.

“Well, a man’s a man … or, rather, a tomcat’s a tomcat,” I laughed.

On the appointed day I returned to Hector’s basement laboratory to discover if he had been able to authenticate Theodore’s notebook.

“First I acquired 13 writing samples from public records,” he stated.

“How were you able to accomplish that?” I queried.

“Simple: I presented myself as Hector Collection Agency Inc.,” he chuckled, stroking his spade-beard.

“Clever!” I replied.

“Indeed. Then I reprogrammed my Language-Cruncher Machine as the Handwriting-Cruncher Machine and fed high-resolution copies of the writing samples and pages from the notebook into it. The samples matched. I can say with confidence that this is, in fact, Theodore’s notebook!”

He handed me the notebook. I looked at the front cover, and chuckled. “Theodore von Trevlac!”

“Yes, Theodore von Trevlac,” Hector said with a look of pain on his face.

“You know, Hector, I have not even looked inside this notebook yet. I’m interested to see what it contains.”

“I think you will be amused, fascinated and alarumed,” Hector said.

“Alarumed?”

“Yes, alarumed. You know me, Rocky,” he replied, adjusting his pince-nez, “I’m an old-fashioned guy.”

Next week: The Mind of Theodore, Part 3