Inside the box was a white-gold watch with a single diamond on the face.

“Holy…” Spencer said under his breath as he took the box. “This thing even smells expensive. This is probably a few grand worth of watch.”

“She’s not wearing it,” Scarlett said.

“But she took it. She accepted it. I have a bad feeling that Number Ninety-eight is going to…”

Scarlett elbowed him.

“What?” he asked.

“You’re not allowed to call him that anymore,” she said, taking the watch and carefully replacing it in the drawer.

“In front of Lola.”

“He saved you yesterday,” Scarlett said. “You have to be nice to him now. We both have to try. We have to practice.”

“But…”

“You made Lola cry,” Scarlett said, dropping her voice even lower. “Remember?”

Spencer looked like he felt a little betrayed by this remark, and then held up his hands, admitting his shame.

“Okay,” he said. “Okay. I will be nice about the watch that Chip spent many thousands of dollars on to impress my sister, who he isn’t even dating right now. And should she decide to date him again, I will never call him Ninety-eight or ask him whether his major is Letters or Numbers.”

“Thank you,” said a voice from the doorway.

Lola stepped around Scarlett, removed some product that she had forgotten to bring to the bathroom, and pushed the Drawer of Mysteries closed. She didn’t appear to care too much that Scarlett and Spencer had been going through her things.

“And no,” she said, “I haven’t made up my mind yet about what to do about Chip or the watch. It is worth about eight thousand dollars—I know you’ll just look it up online later. But I did just see Dad on his way down to their room, and they want to talk to you about the plans for tomorrow night. You know, when you give them tickets to a show and perform Hamlet for them, and they can see that you have an acting job?”

“This is where I take a long, long nap,” Spencer said. “And in my happy, happy dreams, this problem goes away. And those Dutch twins who love tall and weedy New York actors come and offer to help me prepare for my role. And we all put on the fuzzy squirrel outfits and get big bags of nuts…I’m revealing too much about my internal life, aren’t I? It’s weird between us now, isn’t it?”

He yawned hugely.

“I’ll call Mrs. Amberson,” Scarlett said. “She’s supposed to be doing all the follow-up.”

“This is the good part about being this tired,” he said. “You stop fearing for your life. This is it, beloved sisters of mine. This is the day that it really all gets decided or it all falls apart. So do me a favor…”

He got up and left the Orchid Suite with a slow, dragging walk.

“…don’t wake me up. I have a bad feeling those Dutch twins are the only fans I’ll ever have.”