Cast and Story
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Here’s a quick introduction to Aileen, the star of The Lost Book, her friends and her enemies, and to the story (beware of spoilers!).
Aileen Adler
Aileen is a journalist on the Daily Gazette in Edinburgh. She was the Edinburgh Constabulary’s chief suspect in the book theft, and her Mum was arrested for the crime, so Aileen decided to track down the book thief herself. She has a secret soft spot for Kyle, but hasn’t really admitted it to herself yet.
Watson
Watson’s a super-intelligent dog of undefined breed, and Aileen’s best friend. He’s good at finding things – he has both a very sensitive nose and highly-developed search engine skills.
He has his own pages – Follow Your Nose – where he shares his thoughts on the investigation and life in general and he can also be found as @followyournose on Twitter.
Kyle
Kyle is a police officer, currently suspended on suspicion of helping Aileen. He’s in love with Aileen, but hasn’t yet had any sign from her that she might be interested – although, she has agreed to go for a drink with him.
Lyn
Lyn is a mild-mannered bookseller with an alter ego: Lynx, a member of secret society Invisible Inc.
Otto Dafé
Otto is a known K.B.E. agent and book assassin… who turned out to be a double agent. He’s really a member of secret society of bibliophiles Invisible Inc, and is Lyn’s brother.
Professor Remi
Professor Catherine Remi is a noted Belgian scientist in her seventies (although she looks a lot younger). She was a member of the 2004 expedition led by Sally Challenger, where she was rejuvenated. The journal of this expedition is the “Lost Book”.
Aileen’s Mum
Aileen’s Mum is always causing chaos. This was the first time she’d been arrested, though. She had just started a new job at the National Library of Scotland.
Beryl Potts
Dr Beryl Potts of Grazp Pharmaceuticals first appears in episode 4 – or, rather, her voice and evil laugh appear. We don’t know what she looks like. She is responsible for hiring K.B.E. to assassinate the Challenger journal.
The Lost Book
The stolen book is the journal of Sally Challenger’s 2004 expedition to Arthur Conan Doyle’s lost world. Newspaper reports have linked the expedition to a “fire in the sky” in the area and to a legendary “Black Crystal” reputed to have healing powers.
As no copies could be found, we weren’t sure what the journal contained – although we suspected there must be some clues about why it was stolen. We decoded the journal week by week and re-created it in 100-word microstories through our weekly writing competition. There were plenty of clues to help solve the crime – and a character from the expedition (Professor Remi) even appeared in the animation.
To find out what happened on the expedition, read the journal.
Episode 1 – watch
A priceless book is stolen from the National Library of Scotland – while Aileen’s mum had (accidentally?) unplugged the CCTV system. The book is replaced by a very large bone and a calling card for “K.B.E.”
Police officer Kyle shows the evidence to Aileen, despite her being a suspect.
Aileen and Watson discover that all copies of the book are missing and all online versions have been corrupted. The story, not just the manuscript, has been stolen.
Episode 2 – watch
Kyle’s interviews with the library staff have uncovered a lead: a bookshop in Iowa City might have a copy of the missing book. The shop, Doc Rebus’s, is also rumoured to be a front for a secret society of bibliophiles called Invisible Inc.
Aileen visits Iowa City, only to discover the thief has been there first. The Doc Rebus copy of the book has had most of its pages torn out. The letters “K.B.E.” are scrawled across the back page. Watson sniffs the book to make sure he knows the book assassin’s scent. Bookseller Lyn arranges a clandestine meeting with Aileen.
Episode 3 – watch
Aileen and Lyn meet at Copper Beeches Café. Lyn is a member of Invisible Inc. and she shows Aileen the information they have about K.B.E. – an organisation of book assassins called “Keep Books Extinct”. The dossier includes details of a known K.B.E. agent called Otto Dafé.
A man wearing black in the corner of the café looks strangely like the picture of Otto Dafé, but Aileen doesn’t notice him. Instead, she calls Kyle to get him to trace Dafé. Kyle can’t help – he’s been suspended for helping Aileen and has followed her to Iowa.
Meanwhile, Watson finds a familiar scent. He follows the trail until he’s certain: the book assassin was in the café, but has just left. They give chase.
Episode 4 – watch
Kyle eavesdrops on Otto at the airport and discovers details of his next rendezvous: he’s meeting Beryl Potts at an address in Christchurch. When Watson searches for this address he discovers it is the New Zealand HQ of Grazp Pharmaceuticals.
Watson been working hard to unencrypt an electronic copy of the Challenger journal. He discovers references to the rejuvenation properties of the water in the “lost world” – a secret Grazp would benefit from keeping.
The team travels to Grazp’s office, where Aileen sneaks in in disguise and overhears Otto’s report to Beryl. But, a gunshot rings out…
Episode 5 – watch
Otto flees from Beryl’s attempts to murder him, but Aileen isn’t so fast to escape. She’s captured, and held prisoner with Professor Catherine Remi – one of the members of Sally Challenger’s expedition. Aileen discovers that Remi has been rejuvenated by the water, but that the rejuvenation depends on something called the “Ikhata”.
Both Otto and Lyn converge on the room where Aileen’s being held. Once Lyn has cut Aileen’s bonds, she has a moment to enjoy being re-united with Otto… who turns out to be her brother, and a member of Invisible Inc!
Episode 6 – watch
The final episode of The Lost Book sees all sorts of loose ends tied up and Aileen back home in Edinburgh. Beryl Potts is arrested, thanks to Kyle’s contacts in the New Zealand police force. Her plan to create a new global elite by selling rejuvenation to the super-wealthy is uncovered by Watson.
The characters are free to go back to their normal lives. Both Otto and Aileen’s mum are working in libraries – Otto with a little more success. Professor Remi finds a new expedition to join. Aileen’s article about her adventures is published and she joins secret society of bibliophiles Invisible Inc.
And, at last, Kyle manages to get a date with Aileen – chaperoned by Watson!
The Lost Book is an animated web series where you wrote the plot.
