Book Scavenger

Emily compares a printed edition of “The Gold-Bug” with her copy from Griswold to see if she can uncover any more coded typos. She and James finally assemble a secret message that reads, “For the most wild yet most homely narrative which I am about to pen, I neither expect nor solicit belief” (151), which is later revealed to be a line from the Poe story “The Black Cat.” When this clue stumps the pair, they decide to ask Raven about it. Raven, who is Griswold’s game assistant, confirms that this is the first clue to Griswold’s new game and Emily is thrilled to have achieved her fantasy of “moving to San Francisco and participating in one of Mr. Griswold’s games” (153).

Raven explains that the game isn’t due to start for three weeks and that 50 copies of “The Gold-Bug” have been hidden in various places. Raven also gives the gamers a cryptic hint that a second story will reveal the next clue. Before Emily logs off the Book Scavenger site, an anonymous guest (really Barry and Clyde in disguise) claims that Surly Wombat has his missing book. When the anonymous guest can’t tell her how many stories are in the book, Emily ends the session.  

Barry and Clyde have been cyber-stalking the Book Scavenger website, hoping that “Surly Wombat” would log in. When Emily does, Barry fails to convince her to give him the Poe book. He is furious. The two thugs dig into Surly Wombat’s profile. There is no photo, but they learn that she attends Booker Middle School and plan to track her down there.

In the school library, Emily scans more Poe stories and realizes that the decoded clue matches the first line of a Poe story called “The Black Cat.” Meanwhile, James is hard at work cracking Maddie’s latest cipher. So far, neither Maddie nor James has won the competition.

Later, at Hollister’s bookstore, the kids run into Remora again. Remora is impatient because a book he ordered hasn’t arrived, and he stalks out. Hollister tells the kids that The Black Cat is also a restaurant in San Francisco. 

Emily and James take a bus to The Black Cat restaurant. They annoy the manager by asking to look inside for a missing book. He tells them to leave. On the bus ride back home, James speculates that maybe Griswold didn’t finish planting all his clues to the new game, but Emily rejects this idea. 

In school the next day, James solves Maddie’s cipher and stops her from claiming victory in their competition. After class, Quisling informs Emily that a man called the school claiming that a student from Book Scavenger had one of his books. Quisling knows that Emily has a copy of the Poe book because he saw it in her backpack, but Emily lies and says that she already hid it for another scavenger to find in order to buy herself more time to solve the puzzle. Not knowing that Barry and Clyde are on her trail, Emily assumes the caller was Remora. Emily is confident that she will solve the puzzle and eventually return the book to Remora, believing that this way “Everybody would win” (179).

Back at Hollister’s, the kids inform the store owner that they went to his favorite café, The Black Cat. When they mention the address, Hollister tells them that it isn’t the right location as the café he meant closed years earlier. When the kids travel to the closed Black Cat restaurant, they find a clue. A flyer with a black cat reads: “LOOKING FOR A BLACK CAT? CALL SAMUEL” (186). The bottom of the flyer is fringed with what look like tear-away phone numbers.

Emily puzzles over this new clue all weekend because the numbers on the poster aren’t for a telephone. She also becomes demoralized by the speculation on the Book Scavenger forum about Griswold’s dim chances of recovery, and she worries that she will “lose not only Mr. Griswold but Book Scavenger, too” (189).

In the afternoon, the Crane family goes to an outdoor concert in Golden Gate Park. On the way, they pass the Fillmore Auditorium, where Matthew’s favorite band, Flush, will be playing in a week. In the park, Emily hides a book in the fountain for another scavenger to find. She recalls the days when Matthew was an avid Book Scavenger player and misses her brother’s company.

Almost everyone in Quisling’s class has dropped out of the cipher challenge except James and Maddie. James proudly shows Emily his latest cipher, which is written in binary code. In the library, Maddie eavesdrops on their conversation and turns in an identical cipher, claiming it as her own. A dispute breaks out, and Quisling must intervene, warning both students of the penalty for cheating. James later tells Emily that Maddie cares more about James losing than about winning herself.

Meanwhile, Emily realizes that the numbers on the Black Cat flyer are ISBN references to a book title. She is directed to find her next lead in The Maltese Falcon, a detective novel by Dashiell Hammett. 

Barry and Clyde are sitting in a car outside the Booker Middle School, hoping to catch a glimpse of Surly Wombat. They’ve been on this stakeout for a week with no luck. Suddenly, as the students emerge, they recognize Emily and James from the BART station incident earlier in the novel. 

As James and Emily walk home from school, they realize they are being followed. When Barry and Clyde try to intercept them, they take a shortcut down twisty Lombard Street, where a traffic jam is in progress and the thugs’ car gets stuck in the middle. When Barry and Clyde get out of their vehicle to chase the kids on foot, Emily finally recognizes them from the BART station.