The next morning I told Bess and George that I wanted to stop by the police station one last time. I was eager to know what would happen to Lucas, Grace, and Jacob now that they had confessed. My two friends said they would meet me at the museum whenever I had finished speaking to Officer Patty.

By the time I left the police station, the sun was peeking through the heavy clouds that had been hanging over Shady Oaks for most of the morning. I took my time walking in the direction of the museum. It was one of the first strolls through Shady Oaks where I could really enjoy the town and all its fall foliage. I had my red raincoat on once more, though I really didn’t feel as though I needed it, and Riley’s camera was still hanging around my neck. I hadn’t yet had a moment to find her and give it back to her.

I reached the Carlisle Museum and noticed that Susan and Beverly were standing outside and pointing toward some of the more run-down sections of the building. Even from a distance, I could tell that their relationship was looking much less strained than it had been in the past. Susan seemed much happier to be speaking to Beverly, and Beverly was even smiling. Well, as much as I imagined Beverly DeSantos ever smiled.

I waved at them both as I approached the museum.

“Nancy!” said Susan. “Come to take one last look at the DeSantos photographs?”

“Sort of,” I said. Really, I was there to meet Bess and George, but I supposed I could take a final look around.

“Well, get your fill of these photographs, and then make sure to come back in the spring,” said Susan. “Beverly here has just agreed to donate an entirely new exhibit, as a permanent installment.”

“Wow,” I said. “Really?” I looked toward Beverly as I said this. After her experience with this first exhibit, and with the way I knew she felt about being in the public eye, I was surprised she was willing to donate more of her personal photographs.

Beverly shrugged. “I think it’s what my grandfather would have wanted,” she said. “And if someone tries to sabotage the exhibit again, we can just call you.” She said this lightheartedly, and I couldn’t help but smile back at her.

Before I could really respond, however, Susan began speaking again. “That’s not all,” she said. “With the publicity the museum’s received from this whole debacle, we’ve made enough money to reopen the closed sections of the museum! I’m going to make the DeSantos photographs that were tampered with a permanent exhibit. People love looking at them!”

“Oh,” I said. “Great.” Memorializing a faked curse didn’t seem like a very good idea to me, but it didn’t feel like my place to say anything.

It appeared that Beverly felt the same way I did. I watched as she rolled her eyes behind Susan’s back. So maybe their working relationship wasn’t entirely fixed.