when not one , not two , but three relatives ( cousin mark at the strand , uncle sall at macy 's , and great-aunt ida at madame tussauds ) , independent of each other , all used the same word-snarl-to describe the notebook 's mystery boy , who thinks he 's too `` esoteric '' and `` arcane '' to tell me something as simple as his name , i had to wonder why i was bothering with this charade .