Old Mr. Laibury was quite surprised:
"Of course not. Why would you think that?
Here's what happened. Starting with my grandfather, our family ran the Blue Ink Library. It should have passed into the hands of my disappointing son as the fourth generation, but unfortunately, our family has now been forbidden from operating a library in this city. I accept that punishment, since my son truly did do something wrong back then. But while our whole family was imprisoned, several important books were lost from the library. I want them back."
Worried that Shade had misunderstood, he explained further:
"While I was in prison, thieves broke into the library and a batch of books was stolen. Later, when the local police were keeping the precious books from my collection, several more were borrowed and then lost. And before I was released, my old friends donated some valuable original books to save me. That was how those important inherited manuscripts passed out of my hands."
"I see. That makes sense. They're all genuine, not forgeries, right?"
"Of course."
Shade felt that he understood:
"So you want me to help you get those books back?"
The haggard old man nodded heavily:
"Yes. But I also know that recovering everything is impossible now. Three of them are unique copies left behind by my ancestors. I cannot let them be lost from my hands. Those three are all I want. The people who came here before, hoping to purchase the library, received the same request from me:
Help me recover the original design manuscript for the [Mark I Steam Engine], the 1688 edition of <Plant Illustration Book of Rare Southern Continental Plants>, and the original manuscript of Newcastle's Wuthering Heights."
Of the three manuscripts, Shade had only heard of the last one. Dorothy had