“Can I see them, the clues?” she said hoarsely.
“Veronica, show her,” said Joshua.
Veronica reached into her sweater pocket and pulled them out.
“What are you, a kangaroo?” said Miss Helen. But her hands began to shake as she read through each note. A couple drifted to the floor, but Joshua quickly retrieved them.
“The past two days, when we were locked inside, we followed them,” Joshua said. “It was a unique way to view the art, from an insider’s perspective. It occurred to me that maybe we could incorporate these into the tours. Have visitors try their hand.”
Miss Helen stiffened. “That’s a stupid idea. This was some trifling game done for a gentleman caller, from another age.”
“Richard J. Danforth,” offered Joshua.
Miss Helen lifted her chin. “I haven’t heard the name Richard Danforth since 1919. How did you know?”
“Veronica saw it on a guest list for a dinner party, dated around the same time, and we compared it to the monogram on the watch fob we found.”
“Good Lord. I’d forgotten all about that. You made it to the end of the scavenger hunt? Mr. Danforth certainly did not. Perhaps I should marry you.”
“I, uh, we did make it to the very end,” Joshua stammered. “If you like, we can show you.”
“Lead the way, Mr. Lawrence. Lead the way.”
* * *
Veronica followed Joshua and Miss Helen through the secret door to the Frick mansion and back into the art gallery. As they neared the enamels room, her legs began to shake. She’d been so stupid to hide the diamond.
Joshua approached the first secret compartment and opened it with his pen, taking out the fob, which he handed to Miss Helen.
She rubbed her thumb along the silk. “I ordered it myself, especially for the hunt, but my intended didn’t make it this far. Funny how no one wears these anymore.” She lifted it up, holding it with her forefinger and thumb, and handed it to Joshua. “You can keep it. It means nothing to me.”
She stepped back and looked around. “When we first moved in, this was my father’s office. He used to keep a stash of peppermints inside that compartment. He thought I didn’t know, but I’d sneak in and steal a few regularly.” One hand went to her jaw. “No wonder my teeth are so bad now.”
Her voice was soft, musical, lost in her past. For a moment, Veronica could see the ghost of the younger woman she once had been. A woman with good posture and untamable hair. Not a classical beauty, more of a handsome one.
“What happened, with your beau?” asked Veronica.
Miss Helen flashed her an angry look. “I was betrayed by one of my own employees. She stole him, along with something even more valuable to me.”
“There was something else we found,” Joshua said. He opened up the second compartment and Veronica braced herself as he reached inside. He turned to Miss Helen and opened his palm to reveal the cameo.
She grabbed it out of his hand and held it up for closer scrutiny. “It can’t be. No, I don’t believe it. It’s been in there all this time?”
“I don’t know for sure,” said Joshua. “Is this what you thought your employee stole?”
“My private secretary. Yes. But that doesn’t make sense. She wouldn’t have known about the panels. She wasn’t here when they were in use.”
“What happened to her?”
Outside, the sun beamed for the first time in three days, but Miss Helen looked as pale as the snowdrifts. “I don’t want to think about that. It was a terrible time.” She stood staring into the distance, clutching the cameo with both hands like it was a rosary.
“Can we get you some water?” asked Veronica. She didn’t want to be in this room right now; everything was closing in.
“No. No. I’m fine. There’s one thing, though.” She began to laugh, a note of hysteria in her pitch. “There’s a secret compartment inside the cameo, which was discovered inside a secret compartment. Isn’t that a peach of a thing? Now, that would make a good clue for a scavenger hunt. Frick’s Folly, indeed.”
Her words tumbled out like she was losing her grasp on reality.
Veronica waited, hoping Miss Helen would stop talking, show them out, and thank them for their help. But her hopes faded as Miss Helen turned the cameo over. Her finger found the tiny button, and with a soft click, the back of the brooch opened.
Veronica was done for.
Chapter Eighteen
1919
In the library, a slew of faces stared at Lillian: Mr. Childs, Mrs. Dixie, Miss Helen, Mrs. Frick, and the attorney. She shrank into her seat, aghast at what was being implied: that she had doctored the drink that caused Mr. Frick to overdose and die.