Tyber viewed him thoughtfully. "And you brought her into this case."
"Yes. When Todd told me what was happening here, I naturally asked her if she would help him. She was hesitant at first, but then agreed to take the case on."
"Interesting." Tyber steepled his fingers under his chin.
Zanita's eyebrow rose. It didn't seem that interesting to her. Just what was the Doc up to?
"Yeah, she's one of the best—both professionally and as a friend."
"She is very nice," Tyber agreed, prompting the conversation along.
"Yes, she's helped me through some tough relationship times. She's a brick."
"Are you talking about me over there?" Calendula smiled from the doorway.
"Yep, but nothing bad." Mark grinned at her.
Hubble and Auntie came in, briskly approaching the group. Zanita gave her aunt a questioning look, but Auntie ignored it. Obviously, the woman thought she was doing her own snooping.
Mark glanced down at the end table and a line of puzzlement appeared on his brow. "That's odd," he commented.
"What, Mark?" Calendula asked.
"I could have sworn that in this Polaroid picture Tyber took of Zanita last night, her eyes were shut."
"They were." Zanita walked over and glanced at the shot lying on the table exactly where Tyber had left it last night. "Oh my god, my eyes are open in the picture! Look at that!"
Tyber picked up the photo. Sure enough, Zanita's eyes were wide open. And it was the same shot, right down to the fudge-brownie nut crumbs on her luscious mouth.
"Is it the same picture, Tyber?"
"Appears to be."
"How could a Polaroid instant picture change?
"This is too weird." Zanita glanced at it again and gave a little shiver. Her own violet eyes gazed straight back at her.
"Perhaps there was more than one shot taken?" Todd asked hopefully.
"No." Mark shook his head. "Just this one." He bent down and began untangling the equipment cords along the wall.
"A hidden camera could have taken it," Hubble articulated, trying to impress Auntie.
"Could have, but didn't," Tyber announced. "That's the same angle and same shot. I took it rather close. No hidden camera."
"Horrors! Isn't this bizarre?" Auntie announced to the room, succinctly summarizing what most everyone was thinking.
"There have been instances where physical phenomena such as this have been reported," Calendula said. "I've never seen one quite like this, but I have seen many photos that, when developed, have shown images that weren't initially physically present to the eye."
"Most of them are faked!" Hubble barked. "Or there is a very logical explanation for the anomaly in the picture."
"We disagree on that, Hubble." Calendula lifted her chin. "I know you think all of these occurrences are nothing more than so much fantasy, but I have personally witnessed genuine instances of the paranormal."
Hubble harumphed.
At that point, Zanita happened to glance at the inlaid wood console cabinet that she had left the book on, only to discover that it was gone! "The book's missing!" she yelled, causing everybody to freeze.
"What do you mean, it's missing, baby?" Tyber stood up immediately and came to her side.
"Look." She pointed to the empty surface. "I left the book there a few minutes ago, and now it's gone."
"Gone?" Mark straightened at the news.
"That's downright creepy." Todd paled. "What could have happened to it? We were all on this side of the room. Since we came back in here, no one was even near that table."
Zanita nodded in agreement. "He's right, Doc."
Tyber walked over to the table, checking on the floor to see if the book had somehow fallen off. It was nowhere to be seen.
To be seen…
He opened the two cabinet doors, and there, lying on the top shelf, was the book. "
Zanita peered over his shoulder cautiously. "But how could it get there? No one was over here, and there was no way someone could open these wooden doors and put the book inside without one of us noticing."
"Yes, Dr. Evans, can you explain that one?" Mark goaded him good-naturedly.
"I suppose you are all ready to call it supernatural!" Hubble scoffed.
"Well, duh," Mark shot back.
Auntie took a healthy swallow of her bourbon. "It does seem like the only one who could have possibly done it was—"
"Maxwell's demon," Tyber finished for her.
"Who?" everyone said at once.
"The ghost's name is Maxwell?" Zanita scrunched her nose. "How do you know that?"
Blooey, who had just walked into the room, surprised everyone by rushing over to view the scene of the shifting book. "Maxwell's demon, eh, Captain? Ha, but wouldn't it be just like me to miss that once-in-a-zillennium event! Went to let this grifter out." He gave the cat a disgusted look.
Hambone nonchalantly licked his paw.
"Will someone please tell me who Maxwell is and why he is haunting my inn?" Todd beseeched anyone who would listen.
Zanita spoke at the same time, saying to Tyber, "I can't believe that you are finally going to have to admit that we just have witnessed a genuine… Wait a minute! Isn't Maxwell one of those physics dudes?"
Tybers eyes flashed. "I see those lessons are finally sinking in." He winked lazily at her, causing her to blush.
"Gads, what does this have to do with that bor-r-r-ring subject?" Auntie held out her empty glass for Hubble to refill.
Tyber gave her an indignant look, then went on to explain. "Clerk Maxwell is the father of the theory of thermodynamics. Along with Faraday, he introduced the concept of fields. He also introduced the concept of a statistical demon. The demon is not a real demon, but a figure of speech. He was referring to the possibility of heat being made to flow against temperature, thereby invalidating the second law of thermodynamics—you remember that one, baby—the principle of increasing entropy."
Zanita remembered that one very well. She examined her toe.
"I was using the term to refer to zero-point motion."
"Zero-point motion; sounds like an ice-skater's jump to me," Todd quipped.
Blooey closed one eye and stared at Todd with the other. All that was missing was a knife between his teeth. For a man who believed himself aboard a pirate ship, Blooey took his science way too seriously. "Why don't ye explain the situation to this landlubber, Captain."
"A body in an enclosed space has a certain motion associated with it—"
"Don't go there," Zanita warned under her breath.
Tyber glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "No?" he whispered seductively.
She shook her head.
A naughty dimple grooved his cheek. "One of the most intriguing aspects of quantum theory is that it is impossible to contain anything within an enclosure if there is enough motion/energy available after it might have crossed the barrier."
"What does that mean in English, Doc?"
"It means it's theoretically possible for anything to 'leak through' a barrier. What we have here is a statistically astonishing event. The book leaked through the wood to the shelf below. We should all be amazed that we were able to witness such an event. The odds of it happening are—"
"You'd go to any lengths not to accept this as paranormal, wouldn't you?" Zanita shook her head back and forth in disgust.
Hubble had the opposite reaction. "Bravo, Doctor!"
Calendula just raised her eyebrows and went over to the sideboard to pour herself a drink of water.
Everyone quickly dispersed after that eggheaded proclamation.
"I can't believe you came up with that one!"
Zanita shoved the flat of her hand against his forehead. Physicist attitude adjustment.
Tyber seem perplexed. "What?"
"That was so ridiculous!"
Tyber shrugged. "It's physics."
Zanita stuck out her tongue at him.
He hummed a low tune under his breath. It sounded suspiciously like "Jeopardy." "I never said how long that event would take to happen, did I?"
Her head snapped up. "What do you mean?"
"Try about a zillion years. That's about how long it would have taken that book to leak through that table top."
"Oh." She viewed him speculatively. "Then you don't believe it, either?"
"Not likely."
"You were observing something at the time?"
"Mmm-hmm."
"Gonna tell me?"
"Not yet."
She was beginning to hate that answer. "Well, how did the book move?"
"Guess that will remain a mystery for now."
Zanita sighed. "I really think there is a ghost here, Tyber. I don't think you're going to explain this one."
"We'll see."
"What about the photo? You know my eyes were closed. How do you explain that one? Supposedly Polaroids can't be altered because there is no negative to alter."
He smiled slowly, looking remarkably like Hambone when he was about to pirate-pounce.
"You're not going to tell me that either, are you?"
"Nope. Not yet."
She tapped her foot. "When?"
He folded his arms over his chest. "You know, you sound just like a"—he shuddered theatrically—"wife."
Zanita's features narrowed. She had accused him of sounding like a boyfriend in the past in much the same manner. He was baiting her again. Sexy, irritating thing. "You're not throwing me off by annoying me. When?"
"Later, in our room," he whispered. "Where I can really annoy you." He blew her a kiss.
"Hmf!" She turned away. The rogue took advantage of the opportunity to trail his palm over her backside. And give it a little slap.
In full view of the rest of the room.
Zanita's mouth opened in shock; she stared at him over her shoulder.
"Sorry, baby. My hand just leaked through this space here." He swept the air between them to illustrate. "Must be the li'l Maxwell's demon in me."
The brigand had audacity to grin.
"Want me to demonstrate zero-point motion?"
"No."
Tyber chuckled and caught her pouting lower lip between his teeth. They were lying in bed. The rest of the night had been relatively quiet after the discovery of the picture and the book. Even Calendula thought it best not to provoke the spirit further by having a channeling session, since whoever it was seemed content to leave clues at its own pace.
"Now, why are you sulking, baby, hmmm?" He played with her lip a bit before releasing it.
"Because you are being your usual impossible self, Mr. Evans."
"How is that, Mrs. Evans?" His nose nuzzled her neck. '
"And don't try to use the 'nuzzling nose of forgiveness' on me—it won't work!" She sighed blissfully and stretched her toes out against his calf.
"Oh. I see."
"I've been waiting ever since we came back to the room and I haven't heard one peep out of you yet."
"Peep."
Zanita tried to wiggle out of his arms but he held her fast, laughing. "Tyber! You know what I mean. Tell me about the photo!"
"Tell me about this cute little beauty mark." He poked the small dot on her chest lightly with his index finger.
"Argh!"
His handsome face reflected his amusement. It was hard to stay mad at a man who seemed to enjoy you so much. However, there was one way to catch the Captain at his own game. She caught his lower lip in her mouth and suckled sweetly on it.
Tyber sucked in his breath. "Mmmm."
"Ahuh." The tip of her tongue slipped between his lips and licked inside. "Mmmm… ?"
"That's right."
Tyber paused, breaking away from her mouth. "Am I to assume that you are going to try to coerce the information out of me by teasing me into compliance?"
"There's no trying about it." She gave him a knowing grin. "You're done for, Doc."
"We'll see about that. I'm made of pretty stern stuff. Go ahead and do your worst… or best, baby," he whispered as he feathered his lips over hers.
Zanita delicately licked the small indentation next to his mouth. Tyber narrowed his eyes a bit. Ever alert. Next, with the lightest of touches, she strummed the backs of her fingers up and down his broad back, letting her fingers dip into the lower curve of his spine.
"Mmmm, nice." He attempted to capture her mouth with his velvet lips, but Zanita turned her head simply to deprive him of the gratification. She knew her pirate; it would soon drive him crazy.
Sure enough, a frustrated gust of air was exhaled through his flared nostrils.
"Ready to give in?"
"Not even close."
Sliding her palms down, she cupped his naked, firm buttocks, pressing her fingertips deep into the muscular globes. Whereupon she ran her index finger lightly over the center line of his cheeks.