“Cheerful?”
“Human.”
Wallace poked his head into the kitchen. His mustache twitched when he got a look at them all. “What the hell happened to all of you?”
Maggie held up her hand. “Sy and I got engaged.”
“I remember that part,” Wallace huffed.
“You did?” Michael sounded confused.
“Congratulations. We’ll celebrate later,” Dean offered.
“Much later,” Dayana agreed.
“Sounds like a real Campbell party,” Wallace said, rubbing his palms together.
“What’s with this guy?” Dean demanded. “Where’s his snarly face and mean stage whispers?”
“Maybe he got some,” Silas suggested.
All of the heads, including the hungover ones, whipped up to study Wallace’s face. He wasn’t smiling, but his perpetual frown was absent.
“Florence?” Maggie asked gleefully.
Wallace schooled his features into his usual disdain. “A gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell.”
“Yes, we do,” Silas, Dean, Michael, and Cody said together.
“Let’s table this and focus on what’s important,” Maggie said.
“We get it. You guys are engaged. I’ll be happy for you three days from now when I’m sure my head isn’t going to snap off my neck,” Dayana groaned.
“I’m talking about the fact that we are pretty certain that A. Campbell was actually Ava Campbell, who is not a descendant of some wealthy European family but is in fact Anna Potter, granddaughter of Bowman Potter, one of the men who robbed the stagecoach in Dead Man’s Canyon,” Maggie announced. “Anna allegedly disappeared in Dead Man’s Canyon when she went looking for the gold. Only, I think she didn’t disappear. I think she came out of the canyon with the gold and a new name.”
It didn’t get the reaction she’d hoped for. Silas handed her a Bloody Mary to make up for it.
“Good for her,” Dayana murmured into her coffee with zero enthusiasm.
“Is there a reason for your theories or are you currently drunk?” Dean asked.
“Well, as you all know, it started with the gold coin in the mantel. It happens to match the only other recovered coin from the coach robbery,” Maggie said.
“Yeah. Fast-forward beyond that,” Dayana said.
“In the secret room, we found some clues—including an unfinished manuscript in Ava’s handwriting—that hinted at her being the famous A. Campbell instead of her husband,” Maggie continued.
“That’s cool,” Cody said, helping himself to a plate of food and shoveling it into his face.
“We were also able to trace Bowman Potter’s lineage forward and found an overlap with Ava Campbell’s descendants. We’re waiting for some of that DNA testing for confirmation,” Wallace put in.
“Does anyone else think the earth is spinning faster today?” Michael asked.
“Maybe you should tell them the part about Ava only taking half the treasure and leaving the rest,” Silas suggested.
That perked them up.
Dayana raised her face out of her coffee mug. “Huh?”
“Are you saying there’s half of a treasure out there in some canyon?” Dean asked wearily.
“Yes!” Maggie said. “From what we can surmise, Anna worked as a lady’s maid for a wealthy family in Boise. Her grandfather Bowman must have left a clue or told her where the gold was. Because in 1895, she was reported missing by the local newspaper after a young woman matching her description told fellow stagecoach passengers that she was going on a treasure hunt. We think she not only found the gold, but that she took half of it, reinvented herself, and met Aaron Campbell shortly after.”
“Less enthusiasm, please,” Dean told her.
“Okay. If all of this is true, I don’t suppose Ava/Anna Whatever-Her-Name-Is left a treasure map?” Dayana asked, attempting to open a bottle of green sports drink and then giving up and handing it to Silas.
“As a matter of fact,” he said, unscrewing the top and pointing at Maggie.
She reached behind the island to grab the topographical map she’d stashed there. “We think she did.”
“I know you guys think you’re being cute, but really, the Vanna White routine makes me want to murder your faces,” Michael told them.
“If I wasn’t convinced my head was about to split in two right now, I would laugh. Because that was fucking funny, and it makes you even more attractive than your good looks and top-shelf hygiene,” Dean said earnestly.