“Someone threatened you?” he asked Grace.
She shook her head irritably. “He should know it had the opposite intended effect. Fear only fuels my stubbornness.”
“Did you go to the police?”
“Of course,” Lillie said. “They took down a report, but they don’t expect to recover the jewels.”
“They also seemed eager to keep the incident quiet,” Earnest said. “It can’t look good for the fair.”
That’s exactly what Sam Whitcomb said, Grace thought.
“This is crazy. Perhaps it’s time to stop investigating this,” Theodore said.
Grace frowned at him. “Why would you say that?” she asked.
“Grace—” Theodore said, exchanging a look with Lillie.
“No,” she said stubbornly. “I’m going to push even harder now. What happened with Penelope?”
Theo sighed. He had hardly touched his salad. He pushed his hair back from his forehead and said, “I tried to find her all morning, but she’s gone.”
“Gone?” Lillie asked.
“She left after the funeral. She lives in Chicago.”
“Can we find a telephone number for her?” Grace asked. “An address?”
She sensed a strange feeling from Theo. The shadows swept across his face, caressing them. He seemed distracted.
“Yes,” he said. “I’ll keep looking into it.”
“They probably aren’t very happy that you’re stirring things up right before the big dinner with the president,” Earnest said. “You told your father you’d go, didn’t you, Theo?”
Grace tilted her head. She’d read about it as she’d scoured the papers—one of the biggest events of the fair, happening the day after tomorrow—but she hadn’t realized they were all going. Once again, she felt the pinch of time.
She was running out of threads to chase. And when that happened—what would she do?
Oliver would be lost. Thrown in jail to rot, or worse. And there would no longer be any good reason for her to stay.
“I haven’t felt much in the mood for fancy dinners as of late,” Lillie said grimly.
“That’s exactly why you must go,” Earnest insisted.
Theo glanced over his shoulder more than once.
“I have to go,” he said.
“Where are you off to this afternoon?” Lillie asked.
“Meeting a friend of the family,” he said.
But he didn’t meet her eyes.
He wiped his mouth with his napkin and stood. Grace watched as he subtly paid for their lunch on the way out.
“Lillie,” Grace said. “Is there any way Oliver’s lawyer can get us a complete list of the guests who were present at the Glass Ball on the night of Harriet’s death?”
Lillie nodded. “I’m sure he must have one. I’ll see if he would be willing to make a copy for us. But—” She hesitated. Grace knew what she was going to say before she even opened her mouth.
