Elizabeth gave him an adoring smile. “That’s right, boodle. Sometimes they wrap up bundles of blank paper with a real twenty on the top and bottom so a casual glance will make people think it’s all real money. Waterson didn’t have to be that fancy, though, since no one was going to open the bag again, so he’d stuffed the other bag with just blank paper so the weight felt right.”

“How do you know it was all blank?” Jake asked with a frown.

“Oh, I know that,” Anna said with great delight. “Because Madame Ophelia dumped it out when she told Persephone to put the money from the safe into it.”

“That’s right, which was also how I knew it was the bag they had used at the hotel,” Elizabeth said.

“So it was identical to the one that had the real cash in it,” Gideon added.

“It had to be,” Elizabeth explained, “because Waterson was supposed to set it down in front of the door to the suite’s bedroom, and when everyone was distracted by whatever Waterson was going to do, Persephone would open the door and switch the bags.”

“But Coleman moved the bag before Persephone could make the switch,” Jake said. “When she opened the door, she saw Freddie stabbing me, and then Coleman ran out with the real money so she never had a chance to make the switch.”

“But didn’t you switch the bags again?” Mother Bates asked, still looking confused.

“Yes, strangely enough,” Elizabeth said.

“One thing I’m dying to know: Did you know Madame Ophelia would really give you all the money to return?” Anna asked.

“Truthfully, I thought we’d only get the thirty thousand from the land deal, or at least the half of it that Mr. Coleman would give us after taking his share. I didn’t imagine she’d give the rest of the money to me, but I was hoping she’d decide to give it back herself. I’d done everything I could to frighten her, and I think your contempt went a long way toward convincing her that she should, too.”

Freddie reached over and patted Anna on the shoulder. Anna smiled. “We almost got away with it, too, but then Waterson barged in and ruined everything.”

“Yes, thank heaven Texas John had left the other carpetbag behind.”

“And thank somebody that I was still hiding out at Dan the Dude’s place when you telephoned,” Jake said.

“And how lucky you had some more chicken blood handy,” Anna said.

“I may have had the carpetbag, but I didn’t have any chicken blood,” Jake lamented. “I had to use red wine. It’s just not the right color.”

“It worked though,” Elizabeth said, “and that powder on your face was positively terrifying.”

Jake tried to look modest. “I could’ve done better, but you didn’t give me much time.”