I had no idea, but I was determined to find out.
Sunshine streamed in through the windows at the top of the room, offering us good light to work. Tomorrow in this path would be the official grand opening, and we needed to be ready. Even if I had to work until midnight, I wouldn’t leave the museum until every piece of the exhibit was in place.
Sir Rothschild entered the room, and I stole a look to see his response. He had taken a risk in asking me to help Calan, and I wanted him to be pleased.
“Was this what you had envisioned?” I asked as I left the letter case where Jack’s famous correspondence was displayed under glass for the world to see. “Does it meet your expectations?”
Sir Rothschild shook his head as he surveyed the room, a smile tilting up his mustache. “My dear Miss Voland, you and Calan have exceeded my wildest expectations. This goes above and beyond what I had hoped for and envisioned for this exhibit. I cannot thank you enough for putting your life in Washington, DC, on hold to be part of this project.”
“It was an honor,” I assured him.
“I almost didn’t ask you to come,” he said as he turned to me. “But there was this small voice in my head that kept prompting me. As if this project needed you. And I believe it did.”
My lips parted as I realized the truth of his words. If he hadn’t invited me to put together this exhibit, I would never have learned the truth about Mary and I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to save her. This entire time, I’d been upset with God that He was making me choose, but until this moment, I hadn’t realized that it was a blessing in disguise. Ihada choice because He had allowed me to have a choice.
“Thank you for believing in me and giving me a chance,” I said, trying to keep my voice even. “I will always treasure my memories here.”
For more reasons than he could possibly know.
“I’ll let you get back to your work,” he said as he patted my shoulder a bit awkwardly. “It looks like things will be ready for the grand opening tomorrow. And I’m hoping that this new exhibit draws visitors to the art gallery to see Mr. Baird’s paintings, as well. It is my special privilege to find such spectacular talent and share it with the world.” He smiled at me. “You, included.”
“Thank you.”
As he left to inspect the exhibit, I thought about Austen’s paintings. Whenever I missed him, I went into the gallery to study his work. It was almost as if I was getting to know a new side of him. It was another facet of his personality that intrigued me. I wanted to know more about his painting, but we’d both been so preoccupied with the plans we were making for Mary, we hadn’t talked much about his work.
“Kathryn.”
I turned at the sound of Mama’s voice as she entered the room. It was the first time she’d come to Lancaster House, and I smiled at the unexpected visit.
But the look on her face made me pause. She was pale, and her eyes were glossed over with fear.
My heart began to hammer as I rushed across the room and reached for her hands. “What’s wrong? Is it Papa?”
She latched on to me, as if her knees were about to give way, and held on tight. “Yes—oh, Kathryn.” She began to weep, and my worst fears jumped into my mind and heart.
People turned our way, curiosity and concern drawing their attention.
I wanted to have privacy, so I led Mama out of the room and across the hall. The basement was empty since we’d closed it off to visitors while we finished the Jack the Ripper exhibit. I found a quiet corner and faced her.
“What happened?” I asked, both wanting and not wanting to know. “Where is Papa?”
It took Mama a moment to compose herself, and she finally lifted her chin to face me. I had always known her to be a strong, thoughtful, and brave woman. But when it came to Papa and her children, her vulnerability showed through.
“They don’t know where he is,” she said, her voice quivering. “Colonel Lindbergh called me personally, just an hour ago. I came as soon as I could pull myself together.”
“What do you mean, they don’t know where he is? Where could Papa be?”
“He has been with Colonel Lindbergh and Major Truman Smith for most of his visit,” Mama said, “but those two men were invited to a private meeting with other military attaché, and your father said that he would spend the day touring Berlin on his own.” She paused as she swallowed. “They were supposed to meet for supper last night, and when your father didn’t show, they assumed he was ill or indisposed. But when they went to his room to collect him this morning to fly to a factory in Dessau, he was not in his room, and there was no evidence that he had ever returned to the hotel yesterday.” Her voice broke, and she lifted her handkerchief to her mouth as she tried to compose herself.
I wrapped my arms around her, trying to make sense of what she’d said. Papa had never disappeared before. He was responsibleand trustworthy. If he said he was going to meet Colonel Lindbergh, then he would have met him. If he was sick or something prevented him, he would have sent word. “Have they checked the hospitals?” I asked.
“They have been looking for him for hours. The American Embassy has been put on full alert, and Colonel Lindbergh assures me that they will exhaust every measure to find your father.” Her tears began. “Oh, Kathryn. I knew something horrible was going to happen. I shouldn’t have let him go. It was madness to think it was safe to be in Germany at this time.”
“You had no way of knowing,” I tried to assure her. “No one else went missing. It’s not as if a whole airplane of Americans was taken out by the Germans. Perhaps he was walking around the city and there was an accident and at this very moment, he’s phoning Colonel Lindbergh to tell him what happened.”
“An accident?” Mama asked, her eyes widening. “What if he was hit by an automobile? What if—”
“You can’t play that game,” I said. “We can’t jump to conclusions. We will go insane if we think of all the possibilities. There must be a logical reason that he didn’t return to his hotel room last night.”
