“I’m looking.” She was carefully turning the pages. But she was nearly at the end of the book when she noticed a thickening on the inner back cover. She hurriedly flipped it and saw the inch-thick surface that was hiding the exterior cover. “That’s too thick to be another letter.” She gently worked the edge of the upper cover loose. “It’s not sealed, it’s a kind of envelope.” She pulled the object slowly away from the back cover. “But it feels like a letter. Maybe I’m wrong…” Then the object came free and slid out into her hand.

“What on earth!” She stared blankly down at the slick colorful surface. “It looks like a cheap paperback book that was hidden inside Jamie’s historical train book. Why would Fiona have done that?”

“You’ll have to figure it out.” Rodland was chuckling. “But maybe she had a sense of humor. Look at the title and the artwork on the cover.”

Jane could see what was amusing him. Daring Cowboy Bob Stops the Train Robbery. And the artwork showed a dashing cowboy shooting at a train that looked like a dragon chugging down a railroad track. The art was excellent, and it reminded her of something…Then it came to her.

“It’s a dime novel,” she murmured. “I studied them in one of my art classes. They were popular in the U.S. from around 1860 until 1915. They were only about twenty-five thousand words and they all had colorful covers. They cost a nickel or a dime and were shaped to fit the pocket. Fiona wouldn’t have had any trouble hiding this in the book. But why would she have wanted to?”

“If she was never in the U.S., someone must have sent it to her. I can’t imagine it would have been imported here.”

“You may be right.” Jane was looking through the novel. “There are words and passages underlined.”

“Someone who had a connection with the railway? My, my.”

“Be quiet.” She was smiling. “You’re lucky I’m too happy about finding these Fiona treasures to properly put you in your place. Now let’s go through the rest of this library and see if we can find anything else.”

“I doubt if we will. She put two of her treasures in one single book. She probably wanted to be able to grab and run if she had to.”

“Maybe. But we’ll try anyway.” She opened another book. “Hurry, I want to finish before dark. Get to work, Rodland.”

*  *  *