Chapter 17

Summary

• Gabe and Sylvia continue their investigation into the theft of the Medici Manuscript, posing as people with information about a news story to the suspected thief, Mr. Scarrow.
• They confront Mr. Scarrow at his home and manage to capture him, with Gabe landing a punch and restraining him.
• The manuscript is found hidden in Mr. Scarrow's wardrobe, wrapped up in a blanket. They take Mr. Scarrow to Scotland Yard and return the book to its rightful place.
• Despite the successful retrieval of the manuscript, Sylvia is curious as to why she was so able to locate it so quickly in Mr. Scarrow's home. Suspicion arises that Sylvia might be a magician, with an unexplained connection to the magic within the book.
• After deliberation, it is deduced that the book is written in coded Italian, with the pentagram symbol (associated with magic) appearing frequently. The contents of the decoded book seem to be gossip about people, including scandals and controversial incidents from that era.
• A suggestion is made that Luigi Pulci, a famous Italian writer of the time, known for his wit, biting sense of humor and propensity for tavern visits, is the possible author of the book. The presence of three fleas (Italian: "pulci") next to the author's name in the book further supports this claim.

• The characters are studying a coded book and speculate that it suggests a man was smuggled out of the Ottoman Empire to use his magic to improve silver quality for profit. They connect this man to the rise of the wealthy Medici banking family.
• The silver magic was allegedly passed down through generations of the family. A proposal is made to create records of magician families and their abilities, but no one volunteers to undertake the project.
• The group decides to place the book back with the collection it was originally part of, now held at Sidwell House.
• The mystery of whether one of the group, Marianne Folgate, is connected to or descended from the silver magician remains unsolved.
• Despite feeling victorious for decoding the book, the characters realize they still have a lot to uncover about their own identities and the history of magic.
• They conclude their meeting late into the night, and after one of them, Stanley, experiences a shaking from his ongoing treatment for an unspecified condition.
• Stanley's trembling shows that he is struggling with his health, which might be related to the practice or eradication of magic.
• The main characters discover a newspaper article that falsely quotes Gabe Glass, implying he endorsed a product deemed faulty. Gabe resolves to investigate the matter the following morning.