Research
"This looks familiar," Joyce said, looking out of the TARDIS view screen. "Are you sure that formula took us to the right place?"
"If we were given all of the correct inputs, yes," Romana said. "If someone is playing games... we could be anywhere."
"It feels like the right place," Missy said. "A little later than I left it, but it still has that boring small town feel to it."
"Where are we exactly?" Joyce asked. "Other than in a field."
Romana looked down at a panel on the console. "Mammoth Falls," she said.
"That's why it looks familiar," Joyce said. "Before or after we were here the last time? Looks kind of Spring-ish."
"Several months," Romana said. "Maybe half a year."
"So where do we go looking for it?" Joyce asked.
"I was very busy at the time," Missy said. "The world was a mess. Everybody planning for war."
"With a little help from you?" Romana said, shaking her head.
"I can't say," Missy said, though her smirk said otherwise. "For reasons not worth going into, I'd put the second crystal in a safe in the local bank, right after this country's Civil War. I came back here to get it."
"When?" Romana said. "That'll help us narrow it down."
"Possibly 1910?" Missy said, frowning. "As I said, I was very busy."
"So, it's in the bank? Why don't you just go there and get it?" Joyce said.
"Because it isn't in the bank," Missy said. "There was a bank robbery and it disappeared."
"So we just have to find the bank robber and get it from them?" Joyce said. "We have a time machine. Why don't we go back in time, and stop them? Easy."
"Mammoth Falls and everything within fifty miles was in a time lock back then," Missy said. "That's why it seemed like the perfect place to hide it."
"There isn't a time lock now," Romana said, looking at a screen on the console. "And hasn't been for decades."
"So, we go somewhere outside of the time lock and travel to it," Joyce said. "Still easier."
"No," Missy said.
"Then explain why this is the best time to get that crystal?" Joyce said. "Why now and not earlier?"
"Because it must happen this way," Missy said. Turning, she stomped out of the console room and through the inner door.
"That doesn't make any sense," Joyce said. "Does it K-9."
"Affirmative, Miss," K-9 said. "Time and Time Lords rarely make sense to those of us temporally restrained."
"So we just go with it?" Joyce said, looking at Romana. "Do it Missy's way?"
"She does have a great deal of experience dealing with Time," Romana said. "Trying to work around her will just make it more difficult, as long as she's telling the truth."
"So, we need to research that bank robbery?" Joyce said.
"Correct," Romana said.
"So, can you just pull up the local newspaper here?" Joyce said. "Like you did in Riverton?"
"No," Romana said, after typing into the console keyboard. "Apparently the newspaper gave all of their archives to the local library, and there was a fire in the 1980's, before they could be scanned into the local data archives, that destroyed them."
"That's convenient... I mean horrible," Joyce said, sighing. "Want to go to the library?"
"You can take K-9," Romana said. "The auto temporal circuits are in need of maintenance before we go anywhere else."
"Just you and me then, bud," Joyce said. "Library, and then a milkshake?"
"Yes, Miss," K-9 said.
"At least it's a nice day," Joyce said, stepping out of the TARDIS. K-9 beeped in agreement. "If I remember correctly, the library is just off Main Street." Nodding to herself, she set out across the field and the sidewalk into town.
"Remember the rule, K-9," Joyce said, at the library entrance. "No loud noises. Be unobtrusive."
"Yes, Miss," K-9 said. Joyce opened the door for them and he followed her in.
"The newspaper archives probably haven't moved since last summer," Joyce said. She walked up to the Reference desk. "I'd like to look something up in the Gazette archives," she said.
"Do you have a library card?" the librarian said.
"Not for here," Joyce said.
"You must wear these gloves, and nothing leaves the archive room," the librarian said. "And no disturbing the other patrons."
"Yes, Ma'am," Joyce said, taking the white cotton gloves. "Thank you." Nodding, Joyce headed to the back of the library and the long narrow room that housed the newspaper archives. She'd spent only an hour in it the last time they were in Mammoth Falls, but she expected this to take a lot longer.
"Looks like we're not the only ones looking at the archives," Joyce said in a low voice, looking through the glass wall that separated the archives from the rest of the library. A familiar looking teen boy and a girl were sitting at one of the tables in a corner of the room.
Opening the door wide enough for herself and K-9, she headed towards an empty research table. Putting her satchel on the table, she took out a pencil and notepad, and put on the cotton gloves before turning to look at the rows of shelves.
"So, 1910," she murmured in a low voice only K-9 could hear. "That's over there." She headed towards a shelf with years etched on them. It only took her a minute to discover that every newspaper for that year, 1910, had been removed.
"Hmmm," she said biting her lower lip. "If things can't leave the room, then it's here somewhere. If you could find anything from later years, that would help," she told K-9. "I'll check with them." She pointed at the other table."
"Yes, Miss," K-9 said, moving several shelves over and scanning the shelves.
Joyce walked over to the other table, observing the two people sitting there for a moment before saying anything.
"Hi!" She said. "You wouldn't happen to have the Gazette for 1910? Oh hi, Homer!"
"Joyce?" Homer Snodgrass, said, jumping in surprise. "You're back in town?"
"Yup," Joyce said. "And doing some research. You wouldn't happen to have the 1910 Gazette?"
"What do you need it for?" the girl asked.
Joyce raised an eyebrow at her tone. "I'm researching the 1910 bank robbery."
"Not the cannon?" Homer asked. "Daphne is writing a story for the school paper about it and we found some interesting things."
"You can't just tell everyone about that," Daphne said, sighing.
"I trust her," Homer said. "She's helped the Club in the past. What's so important about the 1910 bank robbery?"
"Something disappeared from the bank at the same time. We're looking for it," Joyce said.
"The Gazette doesn't say anything about anything missing from the bank," Homer said. "The robbery is covered in those." He pointed at a small pile of large archival envelopes.
"I don't think it was reported at the time," Joyce said. "It was supposed to be a secret that it was in the bank, but now they want it back."
"We think we know what happened to the money from the robbery," Homer said, in a whisper after looking around to make sure no one else was listening.
"Really?" Joyce said, picking up the 1910 papers. "Is it a secret? Or can you tell me?"
"Come to the Club this afternoon," Homer said. "We can talk about it then."
"Allowing girls into your club now?" Daphne asked, frowning at him. "Can I come too?"
"You have that game tonight," Homer said. "And they already know her. She and her scientist were here last summer about the sea monster."
"I'm not actually in their 'boy's only' club," Joyce said. "I'm an artist, not a scientist, but I do work for one." Daphne, apparently mollified, nodded. "K-9 and I will see you later," Joyce said.
"K-9?" Daphne said, looking around.
"My dog," Joyce said, pointing at K-9 over at the shelves.
"Oh," Daphne said, taking in the sight of the metallic dog in front of the shelves. "A metal dog?"
"A robot," Homer said. "Henry Mulligan was impressed."
"I'll leave you two to your research," Joyce said. Nodding, she took the envelopes over to her table and started looking through them.