Jake sat up in time to see the sedan fishtail around the circular drive, crash through a section of garden, then blast away down the driveway. One of Morgan’s shots shattered the rear window, but the sedan kept going and disappeared over a wooded hill.

They’d both gotten away.

Morgan returned, his face beet red. He pointed at Jake. He plainly wanted to yell, to bluster; but instead he kept his words as taut as a bowstring. “Next time I tell you to keep out of sight, boy, bloody do it.”

Jake nodded, relieved.

Morgan crossed to the library. Uncle Edward was tied to an office chair. One of his eyes was swollen shut, his lower lip split and bleeding. But from the flush in his face, he was plainly more angry than hurt. Morgan and Aunt Matilda set about freeing him.

A whimper drew Jake’s attention to the other side. Watson came limping up.

“Oh, no …”

Jake slid on his knees across the limestone floor to meet him. Watson wagged his tail, panting hard, tongue hanging. He looked more embarrassed than wounded. Still, Jake ran his hands over Watson’s side to be sure. He felt no broken bones or ribs. Likely he was only bruised.

Jake hugged the old dog. He was more brother than hound. “I’m so sorry, Watson.”

Morgan appeared behind him. “It wasn’t your fault.”

Jake stared up at him, then down the main hall. Half of the cabinets had been smashed open, the contents scattered or crushed, priceless treasures that went back generations: pinned beetles and rare butterflies, stuffed extinct specimens, precious artifacts and totems from around the world, fossils from every era and epoch.

How much had been lost forever?

His voice was dull with shock. “Then whose fault was it?”

Jake swung to face his aunt and uncle. Aunt Matilda had straightened her cap and tucked her white curls back into order. She had already fetched an ice pack for her husband. Edward had it wrapped in a towel and pressed it over his swollen eye. He had never looked more frail.

Jake’s heart ached.

Edward and Matilda were not really his aunt and uncle. The married couple had been friends of Jake’s grandfather and had managed Ravensgate Manor for three generations. With no surviving relatives to look after Jake and Kady after their parents disappeared, the elderly couple had taken over their guardianship, while continuing to oversee the estate. The pair were as doting as any parents and sometimes as stern.

“What did the thieves want?” Jake asked.

Edward answered. He’d recovered his spectacles from the floor, but they were broken. “That’s just it. It made no sense. They kept asking about your father’s watch. The gold anniversary pocket watch.”

Jake felt his stomach sink. Now he knew whose fault all of this was. He only had to look in a mirror.

Matilda shook her head. “We tried to tell them that it had vanished with Richard and Penelope, but they wouldn’t believe us.”