“But then you overheard my conversation at the diner,” I finished for her. “And you thought you were my number one suspect.”

“I was upset enough that I no longer wanted your help,” admitted Beverly. “I went to Susan later that day and tried to convince her to shut down the exhibit instead. But she won’t let me out of my contract. I signed on for at least ten weeks of this. We were arguing about it the day we ran into you in that back hallway.”

I hunched my shoulders and did my best not to look too guilty. “Yeah,” I said. “I heard some of what you said. It sounded like you were maybe threatening Susan.”

It was Beverly’s turn to look a little embarrassed. “I let my frustrations get the better of me,” she said. “I was trying to save my grandfather’s name and reputation. But instead, this exhibit was just making things worse. There isn’t a curse on my grandfather’s work. It’s all ridiculous.”

“Can I ask what did happen with your grandfather and Terry Lawrence?” I said. I couldn’t help but feel that the relationship between the two former partners was still important in some way.

But Beverly only shrugged. “It’s not such an interesting story,” she said. “Terry was always jealous of my grandfather. He tried to steal credit for a photograph in order to boost his career. Their friendship never recovered. That was all.”

“Do you have any proof that your grandfather took that photo?” I asked.

Beverly looked unhappy. “If I had any proof,” she said, “I would have showed people a long time ago.”

“Everyone in town seems so suspicious of you,” I said. “Is there any reason besides the article that would make them think you’re behind all this?”

Beverly shook her head. “Ever since that interview came out,” she said, “everyone thinks I didn’t love my family. People in this town were so proud that my grandfather lived here, so that was always difficult for them. But really, I just don’t like the attention. I’m not always very good at making friends with people. The things I say often get taken the wrong way, and I think I frighten people sometimes.”

I nodded sympathetically. It looked as though my hunch about Beverly was correct, but I couldn’t feel very happy about that at the moment.

“I meant what I said in the article,” said Beverly. “I do sometimes wish I was born into another family. But not because I didn’t love my grandfather.” She glanced up at the portrait of her and Christopher DeSantos as she said this. “I donated the new exhibit as a kind of peace offering to my grandfather’s fans. I also thought it might help ease some of the controversy surrounding what happened with him and Terry Lawrence. I thought it would give people something new to talk about. But now there are people missing and everyone is saying that the photographs are cursed. I don’t know what to do.”