So you want to take a look in Henry’s notebooks. The best way to get a look in Henry’s notebooks is to buy the books starting with The Alibi Library. Here you can see one or drawings and a brief explanation of how to organise your ideas if you want to start your own collection:
Kneeling on his bed, Henry began to scan the spines of the notebooks. They were organised neatly on the shelf above where he slept, and Henry had been careful to buy them in different colours, so that the spines could be grouped in red, yellow, orange, green, blue and black. Here the organisation appeared to end, for the notebooks were stuffed with out-sized pieces of paper and scraps cut from newspapers or magazines. Yet, on careful examination, these scraps and snippets folded out into maps and diagrams, each illustrating in some way the explanations on the pages beside them. Each story was coded and numbered for easy reference and each story contained an escape from, a lie and an alibi for a multitude of possible scrapes and scenarios. One thing was certain, Henry would never be caught out, or caught red handed, and that’s when he could even be seen.
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Red File No 3
Author: Henry Horatio Heldur
No 72, 73,74 and 75. How to avoid school trips. How to stay out of trouble on school trips. How to spread the blame on school trips. Time out on school trips.
NB The words time out, refer not to recreational activities, but to the more serious matter of disappearances and reappearances.
3. 75. Y. Event: Disappearance of school children on visits to Science Museums* in London*
1. The best place to disappear may be in a subway, underpass or other kind of subterranean passage
- Alternatives may include; busy street corners; queues outside museums and theatres; shops; the entrance to the underground; large groups gathered at pedestrian crossings
- In all cases try to take advantage of bends or corners which restrict visibility
2. Always disappear shortly after a count, for example after getting off the school transport and forming lines
3. Make sure your partner is sufficiently distracted by the friends s/he would rather be with
- Ideally s/he should resent being your partner
- For best results avoid being allocated a partner altogether
* there is potential for such events to take place in other locations
The blue book: Hiding, Hideouts and Hideaways by Henry Horatio Heldur Hunter
5.7.1 Terrible hiding places: a list of the sort of places people always choose as hideaways.
| Trees – safe from dogs but open to the elements. | |||||
| Attics -full of spiders. | |||||
| Corners of rooms or Inns * in Lord of the Rings intends to be discovered and merely uses shadows to increase the impact of his reveal. | |||||
| In cupboards and wardrobes. | |||||
| Under beds. | |||||
| Behind curtains – good for eves-dropping . | |||||
| Behind sofas (can find useful lost pencils or coins.) | |||||
| Hedges – damp (but full of bugs to study if you have to lie low for some time.) | |||||
| Pantries – useful if you’re hungry. | |||||
| Under staircases NB do not serve as bedrooms. | |||||
| Basements – no alternative way out. (Cellars do offer this.) | |||||
| Caves and caverns – require lighting and heating (on the plus side they may also have bats.) |
Why not start your own notebooks. See the activities page for ideas.
To find out more read The Alibi Library.
The Alibi Library 