A Groom wirh a View

gears grinding. Finally Shelley said, with uncharacteristic timidity, “Jane, I know this is nuts, but everybody seems to know something about this story of a hidden treasure. But nobody admits to believing in it. Don’t you find that a bit suspicious?”
    Jane kept petting the cat. “I guess so, but let’s define ‘everybody.’ Layla vaguely remembered the story. Eden more so, and it was she who said the aunts came up with the theory and Jack checked it out and denies that there is one. But that’s all.”
    Shelley shook her head. “Larkspur is roaming around with spade and shovel and a wild, greedy, non-floral gleam in his eye.“
    “That’s right. I’d forgotten about him. How would he know?“
    “We must ask,“ Shelley said. “If he’s heard it, there are probably hundreds of other people who also have.“
    “So where’s this leading us?“
    “Well—“ Shelley hesitated. “Not that I think this is necessarily right, but suppose there really is a treasure here—“
    “If there were a hidden treasure,“ Jane interrupted, “why would it necessarily be at the hunting lodge? If I had a treasure, I’d buy a big old safe and stick it in there.“
    “But then it wouldn’t be hidden, just locked up,“ Shelley said irritably. “Just hear me out, will you? Suppose there was a treasure, and it was in Mrs. Crossthwait’s room. If I’d been O. W. and wanted to hide something here, I’d have hidden it in my own room or the one next to it so I could check on it while I was here, and be sure nobody else would be staying in the room when I wasn’t here.“
    “Okay,“ Jane said. “I’ll buy that. So you think Mrs. Crossthwait found it?“
    “She seemed to be a bit on the deaf side, but her eyesight must have been a wonder. You’ve seen her work. All that meticulous, tiny handwork.“
    “But Shelley, she was here for less than a full day. How could she have found something Uncle Joe has never noticed? And if the whole Thatcher family and circle of friends plus a few strangers have heard this rumor, how could he not know about it? He’s had years and years to look for it. My God! I’m starting to sound like I think it exists.”
    Shelley was prepared to counter this argument. “Look at the way he dresses. No one on earth has taste that bad unless they’re at least color-blind.“
    “Wrong. My grandfather was very fond of checks, plaids, and stripes together in his old age. And he had good vision. Just no taste.“
    “Okay, I’ll give you that one,“ Shelley said. “Paul’s father wears the most awful hats in the world and doesn’t seem to have any idea how silly he looks. But you do have to admit that Mrs. Crossthwait must have had exceptionally good vision.“
    “That one I agree with.“
    “So suppose she dropped a pin on the floor, bent over to get it, and realized the joints in the flooring formed a little door?“
    “The room has a linoleum floor.“
    “Don’t be so picky. It was just an example,“ Shelley snapped. “Just suppose she spotted something that didn’t look quite right, investigated, and found something valuable? It could have been something very small. The corner of an envelope barely visible at the edge of a rug or something.“
    “What if she had?“ Jane said. “We don’t know enough about her to guess whether she’d just pocket it among all that stuff she brought along and live the rest of her life in luxury or whether she’d have turned it over to the rightful owner.“
    “The rightful owner, who is presumably Jack Thatcher, wasn’t here yet when she died—“
    “That we know of,“ Jane reminded her. “We have no idea where he was last night and it’s only about an hour and a half from Chicago to here.“
    “—but she might have dropped a hint to someone about having found something important. She was up in that room most of the time she was here and everybody else was roaming around wherever they wanted. Anyone could have visited her up there and no one else might have even noticed.”
    There was a loud yelp from one of the football game participants. Jane watched in horror as two of the young men rushed over to where Dwayne Hessling was spread-eagled in the grass. But before she could act, he’d gotten up and was bending his arm experimentally. “It’s okay,“ he said. “I can still move everything.”
    Jane let out the breath she’d been holding. “All we need him to do is break an arm or leg,“ she said.
    “We’d just have