Bess and George both looked up at me. George had her brows furrowed, and Bess was tilting her head.

“What do you mean?” asked Bess.

“Yeah, and why are your clothes so dirty, Nancy?” asked George. They had clearly both just noticed that I was covered in dust.

“Um,” I said. I wanted to tell them everything, but I felt strange explaining what had happened in front of someone I’d just met. I didn’t know Lucas yet, and sometimes people can react a little strangely when you tell them you’re an amateur detective. Especially since my story would involve me sneaking into a hallway that was off-limits and then lying about why I was there. Things may have gone well with Riley, but I didn’t want to risk it twice in one day. Plus, I didn’t want the whole town knowing I was there to investigate.

Luckily, Bess seemed to figure out exactly what I was thinking.

“Hey, Lucas,” she said. “How about you give me that tour of the town? Nancy, you probably want to go back to the hotel and change.”

George quickly picked up on what Bess was doing. “Actually,” she said, “I wanted to grab something at the hotel too. So I’ll go with Nancy.”

“Great!” said Bess. “Lucas, is that all right with you?”

Lucas was smiling and nodding in Bess’s direction. “Yeah,” he said. “Sounds good.”

“Then I’ll meet you both at the hotel later today,” said Bess, giving us a pointed look. “Ready, Lucas?”

Bess and Lucas stood up from the bench and began walking in the direction of downtown. They were talking animatedly, and even though I could no longer hear them, I could see that Bess was already making Lucas laugh. Just before they rounded the corner, Bess turned back to George and me to give us a quick wave. I knew she wanted to hear what had happened to me, but I was also grateful she’d managed to give George and me some time to talk privately.

I didn’t really need to change my clothes. Most of the dust had just gotten on my coat. Now that the sun was out, it was easy enough to take off my jacket and shake off anything that was clinging to the fabric.

There was a steady stream of people entering and exiting the museum next to us, and I didn’t want to be overheard. “Do you think there’s anywhere more private around here?” I asked George.

“What about the park on the other side of the museum?” she suggested. “I saw a picnic table there that looks pretty secluded.”

“That sounds perfect,” I told her.

We headed over in the direction of the table. Now that it wasn’t raining, it was much easier to look around and see that Shady Oaks was actually a really beautiful town. Almost everywhere there were large trees, most of the buildings were brick, and the walking path of this small park was lined with black metal lampposts to help guide the way. I could understand why a photographer would want to retire here and spend his final years taking photographs of the town.