“Don’t even think about it,” she said, standing with her feet shoulder-width apart and pointing her pepper spray directly at Grace and Jacob.

CHAPTER ELEVEN Missing the Picture

BESS MANAGED TO KEEP GRACE and Jacob from running off while George found a phone and called the police. As we waited for the police to arrive, I tried asking Grace and Jacob what they were doing back here, and why they had pretended to disappear into the DeSantos photographs. I still couldn’t figure out what their motives had been, and why they were willing to hide out in a museum for days just to ruin the exhibit.

I attempted to ask them about their supposed kidnapping, and it seemed as though Jacob might have wanted to explain what was happening. He opened his mouth and was about to say something when Grace elbowed him in the ribs and shook her head. Jacob stopped talking immediately and didn’t look at me or try speaking again until the police arrived.

I recognized the police officer as the same one I had seen that first morning in Shady Oaks, the one who had taken Susan and Emily in for questioning. He and his partner entered the room behind the bookcase and pointed their flashlights in our direction.

The officers brought all five of us in for questioning. Even after we had explained to them everything we knew, Bess, George, and I stuck around the station. I wanted to hear what Grace and Jacob had to say, and what the police officers thought of their story. This mystery just didn’t feel solved yet.

The three of us were sitting in the waiting room of the police station. George was leaning into her palm with her eyes shut and her mouth open. Every once in a while she would wake up with a jump and then slowly fall back into an uneasy sleep. Bess had so far been managing to stay awake, but I noticed her eyelids were fluttering and growing heavy.

Eventually the police officer I recognized walked past where we were sitting in the waiting room. His name was pinned to his uniform and it read OFFICER JAMES PATTY.

“Officer Patty!” I called out to him. My sudden shout startled both Bess and George. They jumped in their seats and stared blearily in Officer Patty’s direction. “We were wondering what happened with Grace and Jacob.”

Officer Patty looked a little annoyed that we had stuck around. He took a deep breath and reluctantly took a seat in front of us.

“If I tell you three, will you all go home?” he asked us.

I nodded quickly.

“Your friends keep changing their story,” Office Patty began. “First they told me they were trying to destroy the DeSantos exhibit, and then they told me they were trying to help the exhibit and that they were pulling this stunt to get the museum more publicity. They said they were acting alone, and then they said they had an accomplice. They even tried to tell me they were actually kidnapped, but they took that one back pretty quickly.”