The Lost Library

Al watches the graduation ceremony, momentarily soothed by it. However, she worries about Ms. Scoggin, who increasingly has not been herself, and Mr. Brock, who seems confused, constantly rereading the same page in his book.

A small boy comes to the door of the History House, and though Al is certain that the boy (later revealed to be Evan) can see her, she answers the door. The boy asks if she might be able to help him, but Al interrupts, telling him that no tours are taking place that day. However, as the boy walks away, Al calls him back.

Evan is surprised when the woman he expected—Mrs. Anne Baker—is not the one who answers the door of the History House. He is almost relieved when he is initially turned away, as the woman looks unhappy. However, when she changes her mind and invites him inside, her expression is happier.

Evan has been inside the History House several times in the past and knows that old newspapers are stored there. He asks the woman whether any discuss the library fire. The woman returns with some papers, and Evan copies information down in his journal. One article states that the person suspected of setting the fire was a library intern whose name was withheld due to his young age.

After Evan leaves, Al is overjoyed to have felt being helpful. She finally feels like a true librarian again.

Evan is halfway home when an older boy named Demetri approaches him. Demetri is on his bike and offers Evan some of the leftover brownies from graduation. He assures Evan that he will enjoy middle school and promises to sit with him on the bus. When Demetri pedals off, Evan rushes to Rafe’s house.

Seeing Demetri has jogged Evan’s memory about an abandoned treehouse in the woods. Children were cautioned not to play in it after Demetri fell from it and cut his leg, which still bears a scar.

Evan convinces Rafe to go there with him. Evan climbs the tree and reaches the door to the house, which is padlocked. He tries one of the keys he discovered in the library rubble, and it opens the padlock. As Evan opens the door, it falls to the ground, just missing Rafe.

Rafe joins him inside the treehouse, and they look for clues, Evan explaining that he wants to find an alternate suspect to exonerate his father. They poke around the debris on the floor but find nothing. However, when Evan looks out of the window at Martinville, he realizes this is the place where the Polaroid picture was taken. He is certain that this proves that H. G. Higgins, whoever he is, was in the treehouse.

After Evan leaves, Al looks through the news clippings about the library fire, remembering that day. The intern, Edward, ran to the basement after being scolded by Ms. Scoggin. Al is certain that Edward never would have harmed the library, having loved it so much. Nevertheless, he was the only one present in the basement, where the fire was determined to have started. She brings Ms. Scoggin her tea, and Ms. Scoggin exclaims that she never should have reprimanded the boy. Al knows she is thinking of Edward.

Evan runs home, yelling for his father when he arrives. He tells his father he knows that he was working as the intern the day the library burned down and that the town therefore blames him for starting the fire. Evan’s father tells him of that day, explaining that Ms. Scoggin reprimanded him but that he was not angry about this. He was indeed in the basement of the library that day but insists that he did not start the fire.

Evan tells his father of his certainty that H. G. Higgins started the fire, telling him of the Polaroid picture and of the treehouse. His father studies the photo and then tells Evan that it is not H. G. Higgins but Mr. O’Neal. His father reveals that he took the photo himself. Then, Evan’s father reveals that he is H. G. Higgins; he even has the letter that Evan sent Higgins to prove it.

The day of fifth-grade graduation is a happy day for Mortimer: Many people bring books and affectionately hug him as they visit the little free library. That evening, a new mouse whom Mortimer has never met appears. He taunts Mortimer about having six toes and then laments the difficulties of needing to find food in the wild. Mortimer feels guilty that he is fed from a bowl every day. When the mouse, who introduces himself as Fred, speaks of a six-toed cat who lives in the movie theater in Grantville, Mortimer grows excited. He wonders if this could be his lost sister, Petunia.

At Mortimer’s request, Fred returns with his eight siblings. Mortimer promises them potatoes, cheese, and apples if they will help him with a plan. He explains parts of the plan to the mice: They are to enter the History House through the five mice doors and disregard any screaming from Ms. Scoggin. Then they are to meet him at the fireplace, where the matches are kept atop the mantle.

Al speaks with Ms. Scoggin about the night of the library fire. She wonders why Mr. Brock was there since it was closing time and all of the patrons should have left the library. Ms. Scoggin explains that she and Mr. Brock planned to attend a movie in Grantville after the library closed and that he was waiting for her.

Suddenly, Mr. Brock, who is seated nearby, begins to rise from his chair. At the same time, several mice appear in the room. Ms. Scoggin grabs on to Mr. Brock’s leg, and she too rises. Al catches on to Ms. Scoggin and also holds on to the mantle. She tells Ms. Scoggin that she is keeping them from floating away, but Ms. Scoggin asks Al to release her. She explains that Al has found her place in the world again.

Al lets go of both Ms. Scoggin and the mantle. Al falls to the floor while Ms. Scoggin and Mr. Brock continue to rise and then disappear.

Evan has a lot of questions for his father. He learns that his father made up the name H. G. Higgins when he checked out How to Write a Mystery Novel. He went on to author and publish mystery books under the pseudonym with only Mr. O’Neal knowing his true identity. The envelope that Evan saw Mr. O’Neal give to his father was Evan’s letter. He continues to write books in their basement, only pretending to be an exterminator.

Evan remembers the second of the two keys he found; he discovers this key fits their front door, proving that the keys belong to his father. He retrieves the second library book that he took from the little free library. Examining its plot, he realizes that it was through reading this book that his father gained his love of mice. Evan wants more than ever to clear his father’s name. He wonders if the cat that guards the little free library might also provide a clue as to how to do so.

Al confesses that she is not actually a ghost. Unlike Ms. Scoggin and Mr. Brock, she did not perish in the fire. Instead, Edward (Evan’s father) helped her to escape from the building. She then moved in to the History House with Ms. Scoggin and Mr. Brock, pretending she was a ghost. It never occurred to Al until now that the two of them wished to be someplace else.

Al continues to reflect on the love Ms. Scoggin has shown her until she hears a knock at the door.

Mortimer scratches at the door to the History House, but Al does not let him inside. One of the mice exits the house from one of the mouse doors, telling Mortimer that Al is lying on the floor and that the other two ghosts have disappeared. Suddenly Evan arrives; Mortimer tries to signal to Evan about the hidden key that will unlock the front door, but Evan does not understand. Then Evan’s father appears. He knows that there is a hidden key that will help them enter the History House. Mortimer is worried about the mice when he sees the exterminator, Evan’s father.

Inside of the house, Evan, his father, and Al watch Mortimer and the mice. The mice march in a circle, each with a matchstick in its mouth, Mortimer directing them. They realize that the animals are reenacting what happened on the night of the fire: Mortimer and his sister, just kittens, chased a mouse who held a matchstick in its mouth. In the scuffle, a fire was accidentally set.

Al and Evan’s father thank each other for saving them in the fire, each one certain the other deserves the credit. As Evan and his father walk home, Evan wonders if they might convince the fire marshal to reopen the case and whether his father has enough money from the profits of his mystery novels to construct a new library.

Mortimer and his sister, Petunia, watch a movie at the theater in Grantville. They are overjoyed at having found one another. Two ghosts—Ms. Scoggin and Mr. Brock—appear and settle in to watch the movie too.

On the first day of middle school, Evan rides the bus, saving seats for Demetri and for Rafe. Rafe boards the bus with a bag of tomatoes that he grew himself over the summer, having learned how from the book he obtained from the little free library.

They pass by the site where construction on the new library has begun. Rafe has heard that it will be named “H.G. Higgins Library,” but Evan is certain this is just a rumor. The bus passes by the History House, and they wave to Al, who is outside shelving books in the little free library.

Evan and his father were able to convince the fire marshal to reopen the case, and the fire was ruled accidental. Evan is pleased to have finally obtained justice for his father.

One year later, the new library is complete. It is modern and features technologies not available when the former library existed. Al, the head librarian, and her intern, Rafe, prepare to begin the new Wednesday Book Club.