Free Luthier's Apprentice, The by Mayra Calvani Page A

a casino?” Corey asked.
    Emma shrugged, as it was old news. “Sure. He was a gambler. He even pawned his Guarneri once.”
    “How did you know that?” Corey flashed her a smile. He seemed impressed.
    “Um, I read .” She smiled back, before turning serious once again. “How come the police didn’t take the notebook?”
    “The police don’t have any imagination,” Corey said. “Anyway, there were so many notebooks and papers on his desk, I doubt they took the time to go through each and every one of them.”
    Emma glanced at her watch. She sighed. “I have to get back. Grandpa’s waiting for me at the workshop.”
    “Any more noises?” Annika asked her.
    Emma shook her head.
    “Noises?” Corey asked.
    Annika explained about the noises coming from the attic, and about how Emma’s grandfather had always prohibited her from going up there.
    “Hm,” Corey said. “If I were you, I would have found a way to get in there a long time ago. You know, to satisfy your curiosity.”
    “Don’t you think I’ve tried? He always shows up just in time,” Emma said. “The problem is, he’s always in the house. He never goes out. He sends out for everything—food, coffee, newspapers. My mom is the one who purchases his clothes and everything else he needs. He never leaves. Except…”
    “Except…what?” he asked.
    “Except when he goes in search of wood for his violins. That’s the only time he goes away.”
    “Well, then. You must find a way to get into the attic when he goes away for the wood,” he said.
    “Didn’t you say he goes every autumn?” Annika asked.
    Emma nodded.
    “Has he gone yet this year?” Corey asked.
    “No, not yet.”
    “Which means…” Corey said.
    “He’ll be going soon.” Emma had an odd feeling of foreboding.
    “If you let me know when he’s away, I’ll be happy to help you solve the little attic mystery,” Corey said. “No—wait. I correct myself: ‘To a great mind, nothing is little.’”
    “Don’t tell me— The Sign of Four ,” Emma said.
    “Nope,” he said, amused. “ A Study in Scarlet. ”
    Emma felt like smacking the smile off his face, or better yet… kissing him. Confused by her thoughts, she tried to calm the thudding of her heart. “I really should be going. So, what do we do next?”
    “I’ll take a look at the notebook once again, just to make sure I didn’t miss anything,” Corey said, balancing the skateboard in one hand.
    “I want to take a look at it myself,” Emma said.
    “Why not?” He shrugged. “We could meet tomorrow. I’ll bring it with me. At two, like today? In front of your grandfather’s shop?”
    “Can I come too, Emma?” Annika asked.
    “Sure,” Emma said, excited at the prospect of seeing him again the next day but trying not to show it. She asked him, “By the way, what music academy do you go to? I go to the Leopold Mozart.”
    “Neat. That’s a great school,” he said. “I go to the... Sonia Ivanov Academy.”
    “Oh, that’s more than neat,” Emma said, wondering why he’d hesitated. That was one of the best music schools in the country. Sonia Ivanov had been one of the best—maybe the best—woman violinist of the 20th Century. The academy had been founded about thirty or forty years ago, but Emma didn’t know if the woman was alive or dead, or if she simply had retired from the limelight. Sometimes old concerts of hers were shown on TV. Sonia had been a virtuoso, a child prodigy, and had performed as a soloist well into her late years. Then she’d abruptly stopped playing.
    “It’s OK.” He smiled, somewhat bashfully, running a hand through his raven black hair.
    “By the way, before I forget,” Emma said. “Have you thought about that discoloration on the floor in Monsieur Dupriez’s study? The burned spot?”
    “Yeah,” he replied. “But I don’t have a theory yet. I’m working on it. It’s a small detail, but, as Holmes often said, ‘little things are infinitely the most