I sat quietly and thought about everything. Really, all I had to go on at this point was Beverly’s word. But I felt as though her story made sense, and I was beginning to trust her more than I trusted anyone else I had met so far in Shady Oaks.

“So,” said Beverly. “Why is it that you came here? Earlier, you said you needed my help.”

“Right,” I said. “There’s a door hidden behind a bookcase in the museum’s staff hallway. What if the culprit hid both Grace and Jacob behind there?”

Beverly nodded. “It’s certainly possible,” she said.

“I’ve tried to get past that door,” I continued. “But it’s locked by the same combination that opens the museum’s front door.”

I paused here to see if Beverly could understand what I was asking. She knew almost immediately. “You want me to give you the combination,” she said.

“I know of only three people who have it,” I said. “Susan, Grace Rogers, and you. I already asked Susan and she said no. So it has to be you.”

Beverly stared at me and it appeared as though her guarded nature had returned. I felt a little uncomfortable under her gaze but did my best to return it. Eventually she stood and walked into another room.

I sat up straighter on the couch and leaned forward, trying to see where she had gone. Had she decided she didn’t trust me after all? If that was true, I had no idea what I was going to do next.

But then she returned with paper and a pen. She leaned forward over the coffee table in between us and scribbled down four numbers. 5796.

“I chose the combination,” she said, as she gave me the piece of paper. “Susan changes it for each new exhibit. It’s the last four digits of my grandfather’s old phone number.”

I knew the numbers probably weren’t random, but I had been assuming they would mean something to Susan, not Beverly.

“Thank you,” I said to her, trying to sound as earnest as possible.

Beverly still looked as though she wasn’t quite sure about trusting me. “I just hope you can find those missing people,” she said. “And figure out who’s behind all this.”

“Me too.” I stood up to leave and took one last look around Beverly’s house. Just before I reached her front door, I turned back around and said, “You have a lot of lovely photographs in here.”

Beverly had been walking behind me. She turned back as well and said, “I’ve kept everything. All his photographs and the souvenirs from his travels he gave me. It makes me feel closer to him.”

I thought I understood what Beverly meant. I smiled at her and thanked her once more before heading out. Beverly shut the door carefully behind me.

I hadn’t realized how much time I had spent at Beverly DeSantos’s house, but upon leaving I realized that I must have been in there for a while. The sun was setting as I walked back to the Elder Root Inn. Luckily, it wasn’t raining anymore, and once I had been walking for a few minutes my blood was warm enough that I didn’t feel too cold. There were hardly any clouds blocking the evening sky, and after the sun had fully set, I could look up and see countless stars.