Lockwood & Co. The Secret Of Penelope Fittes

Chapter Ten

After this meeting, it took five minutes for us to process what had happened. I was still sitting in my chair wiping thoughtlessly over my rapier, George stared into his teacup and Lockwood wandered thoughtfully through the room. Suddenly he stopped abruptly.
"Okay, I'll sum it up!", George and I flinched, "Penelope Fittes thinks we broke into her mausoleum..."
"Which we did," I put my polish away.
Lockwood looked at me.
"You know, the one night you almost died?"
George grinned: "That's not a fair point, Luce. That could be every night."
I grinned too. Lockwood rolled his eyes.
"Haha, very funny. But that's not the point. Penelope just told us not to interfere, which means we shouldn't reveal her secret. If we fight her, she'll shut us down. So I'd say..."
George and I looked at each other. That guy wouldn't give up now, would he?
"George! You go to the archives and don't stop looking until you find something! Lucy," he looked at me, "We're going to Kipps. I don't think he's told us everything he knows about Penelope yet! She can't break us down that easily! We..."
"Wait!", I got up and went to Lockwood, "You want to go to Kipps now?"
"Uh, yeah?", Lockwood looked down at me in surprise.
"And you forgot that you have three very serious wounds?"
Lockwood puffed, "Not that again."
"Yes! That again! That is not like the other times where you got ghost touched and got away with barely a scratch. This you almost got yourself killed!"Lockwood puffed:"Nice way of putting it. If I remember correctly I saved your life back than."
I narrowed my eyes:" That's low Lockwood. You know how that's bordering me! And now you want to jump around again after two days? You sure don't!"
Lockwood mockingly raised an eyebrow and grinned at me: "Which means we're even. Oh, Luce. Don't look at me like that. You know what I'm like, I'm not resting!"
He turned to George, who nodded, and Lockwood reached for my hand.
"Come on," he said, and I was pulled out of the room.

..........*****..........

I refused to say a word in the cab and stared out the window. Lockwood looked at me from the side for a long time.
"What is it?" I asked a little harshly.
Lockwood smiled slightly: "Lucy, please don't be angry. I won't drop dead if I spend a little time out in the fresh air. But it's sweet that you care about me."
"I'm not mad!" I didn't sound convincing at all.
"Even my great-grandmother lied more convincingly, and she always used to tell the truth."
"Shut up," I mowed at my backpack.
"All I'm saying is the truth! And besides, I'd explain our little chat to your friend. He looks at you with a mixture of wonder and anger. So hurry up: Go on!"
I ignored the last sentence nodded towards the backpack. Lockwood nodded in understanding and pointed to a light blue house.
"We are here."
I didn't really know what I expected, but certainly not what was in front of me. The house was a bit shabby and the plaster crumbled in some places. Otherwise it was quite nice to look at. Ivy stood high in some places and two thujas and two flower pots with lilies stood in front of the entrance door. Flower pots with a wide variety of flowers were also hanging by every window.
"Even my great-grandmother couldn't live here! What kind of soft house is this? I expected more from Kipps. On the other hand, a lot of things make sense now!"
For once, I had to agree to the skull. The house looked really nice, but couldn't be the apartment of KIPPS.
"You're sure Kipps lives here?" I asked Lockwood with a horrified look.
He grinned: "Kipps has a different appearance from the outside..."
"You're not gonna tell me he's an amateur gardener, are you?"
Lockwood laughed, "No, don't worry. His place is different."
Thank God Lockwood was right (as always).
When Kipps opened the door for us, he was surprised at first, but quickly caught himself.
He grinned gloatingly: "Hello, Tony!"
"Hello Quill! May we come in?"
Kipps nodded and stepped aside. As I passed him, he looked at me briefly.
"Hi Kipps!"
"Hello, Lucy. Long time no see."
I swallowed. Last time he saw me I was kissing Lockwood in front his eyes.
I put on a fake smile: "How's your arm?"
"Getting better every day."
I nodded and followed Lockwood into a simple living room.
"So, Tony, to what do I own the pleasure?" Kipps sat down on a sofa chair and asked us to sit down as well.
"Firstly...", Lockwood began, "... I wanted to apologize for dragging you into such a dangerous operation and..."
"And I'm going to stop you right there! Honesty Tony, you don't need to do that," Kipps grinned, "That was one of the best missions I've ever been on! I've never felt more alive"
Lockwood seemed a little surprised. I blinked a few times.
"Ok, the I'll cut the small talk and go straight to business. I don't think you've told us everything you know about Penelope Fittes!"
Kipps apparently hadn't expected that .
"I... what? What makes you think that?"
Lockwood didn't answer, he just raised an eyebrow. Kipps closed his eyes for a few moments and took two deep breaths.
"Anthony, I told you everything I know. Believe it or not. I wasn't one of Penelope's favorites. Accordingly, she didn't trust me with any of her secrets. Everything I know, and that's also everything I told you already, are pits and pieces I gathered while working there, and that's not much. Right now I'm very glad I quit my job there!"
Well, I certainly didn't expect such a serious talk from Kipps. Lockwood seemed to think the same. He nodded.
"Well," he turned to me, "Well, then we're as clueless as at the beginning."
He got up and I followed. We said our goodbyes politely.
"Still Kipps, thanks. I'll get back to you when we get another big new case. Goodbye." Lockwood was about to step over the threshold, but Kipps held him back.
"Wait, Tony, I think I can still help you."
He immediately disappeared into a small room and came back seconds later. He put a little card in Lockwood's hand.
"Here, I think he knows more about Penelope than her closest associates!"
Lockwood briefly looked at the map: "Erich Willow, who is that?"
Kipps smiled lightly: "Penelope's ex-boyfriend!"