A rider carrying a Western Union satchel dismounted before the Holland house and headed up the front path. Captain Holland himself answered the door. He accepted the telegram, reading it while the messenger waited. Holland stared at the card for an entire minute, then glanced up, tipped the messenger, and closed the door.

“No return message,” Luke said.

“It might still be coming.” The message would be a shock to Holland, and he might take plenty of time to analyze the implications.

Nathaniel strolled over to his horse, methodically checking its saddle to be sure it was ready to follow Holland if he left the house.

“He’s leaving,” Luke whispered, and sure enough, Holland had donned a light jacket.

But instead of leaving by horseback, he was cutting across his lawn to a neighboring house, walking up the path and knocking on the front door. To his dismay, Nathaniel noticed the telephone wire leading from the neighbor’s house to the street.

“That house has a telephone,” he warned. This was a development they hadn’t foreseen. If Holland started the wheels in motion via that neighbor’s telephone, they would have no way of tracking it.

“I’m going in,” Luke said, taking a step toward the house, but Nathaniel dragged him back.

“Don’t be insane,” he whispered sternly, but Luke still stared across the street where Holland had already been invited inside the neighbor’s house.

“I’ll get in through a basement window, and you’re not going to stop me.” Luke jerked his arm away, loping toward the house in long strides.

“Get back here,” Nathaniel said in a furious whisper, but Luke ignored him, jogging toward one of the basement windows. A quick glance up and down the street showed no passersby, and Luke was now crouched in the window well. What was Nathaniel supposed to do? The fool was going to be caught, but trying to haul him out of there would only call more attention to him.

He plopped back down onto the park bench, staring at the house in helpless frustration. Sunlight glinted on the glass of the window as Luke pried it open. Nathaniel’s stomach turned as Luke wiggled through the window, compromising their entire investigation.

Minutes passed, and a bead of sweat trickled down Nathaniel’s neck as he waited, counting his heartbeats. He glanced at his watch. Five minutes had passed. Then ten. When the tension became unbearable, he moved behind a screen of trees to pace, but he still kept an eye on the house. How much was this rash move going to cost them? It was hard to believe this scoundrel was actually Caroline’s brother, for although she could be impulsive and frivolous, she was sensible. She could be reasoned with, not like this—