Zelda was very confused now. “Why would he call Jake’s secretary to make an appointment at Standard Oil?”

“Because there is no Mr. Stillwell working at Standard Oil, and when Waterson got to the Standard Oil office building, nobody there knew anything about him or his land or his appointment,” Jake said happily. “They also weren’t interested in buying his land at any price, much less for the quarter of a million dollars Stillwell had promised him.”

Everyone took a moment to contemplate this terrible disappointment.

“Wait. How do you know all that?” Gideon asked.

“I’m only imagining what happened, but you can bet the people at Standard Oil gave him the brush-off.”

“I guess that’s why Madame Ophelia wasn’t too very upset about giving up all her ill-gotten gains, though,” Anna said. “She expected Waterson to show up with a fortune.”

“And that explains why he was so unsympathetic to Madame Ophelia giving all the rest of their money to Elizabeth,” Anna said.

“And although it’s a mere pittance compared to what Standard Oil was supposedly offering,” Cybil said, “he was also expecting Zelda and me to give him thirty thousand dollars.”

“Why on earth would you give him thirty thousand dollars?” Mother Bates asked.

“To fund a refuge for homeless girls,” Zelda said. “And you must admit, it’s a very good idea.”

“Although Mr. Waterson hardly seems the type to be interested in something like that,” Elizabeth said.

“So how much was in the bag, Lizzie?” Jake asked.

“Not nearly as much as Waterson thought he was getting from Standard Oil, but a little over a hundred thousand dollars.”

Everyone was quite impressed.

“Does that include the thirty thousand Coleman got from Waterson?” Gideon asked.

“No, but Texas John gets a little over half of that for being the inside man,” Elizabeth said.

“Texas John?” Zelda echoed. “Is he with Standard Oil?”

“No, dear, that’s the real name of the man who took the money in the hotel room,” Cybil explained.

“Texas John is someone’s real name?” Zelda asked in amazement. It took a few minutes to explain that con men sometimes adopted colorful nicknames.

“Coleman is donating part of his cut for the greater good, and Stillwell is going to settle for a couple thousand,” Jake reported, “since his part of the con didn’t actually net any money and it only took him about an hour to do.”

“I’m in the wrong business,” Gideon muttered, making Elizabeth smile.

“But we’ll still have a lot left to return to the people Madame Ophelia cheated,” Anna said.

“You’re forgetting about me,” Jake said. “I should get a cut of the entire thing.”

“I’m not sure how you figure that,” Elizabeth said. “You can claim a share of the thirty thousand from the hotel room take, but—”