“I don’t think so,” she said and jammed something hard into the small of my back. The barrel of a gun. “Walk with me, keep your mouth shut, and nothing will happen. If you do or say anything, I’ll make sure your adorable niece has an unfortunate accident and doesn’t make it home from the parade today.”

“You’re bluffing.” My voice shook. Was she working with a partner? Clay? Would he harm an innocent child?

“You don’t want to find out,” she said. “Now move.”

“Where?”

As we walked down Madison Street away from the crowds and the parade, there was no one around where a few minutes ago hundreds of people had gathered. Even the police officers and sheriff’s deputies who had been here had moved to where the action would be happening when the Hunt and Hounds Review paraded down Washington Street.

“We’re going to the horse trailers,” Victoria said. “We can talk there.”

“What do you want?” I said.

“What’s legitimately mine.”

“What’s that?”

“Don’t play dumb.” Her voice was harsh. “You were in Williamsburg and Jamestown the other day. And you went to the Folger.”

How did she know that? How long had she been stalking me? “Who told you? Were you following me?”

“I didn’t need to follow you. In my business you make plenty of contacts, especially people who work at museums, libraries, and historic sites. And some of those people owe me favors.”

“You killed Prescott,” I said.

“Prescott.” She practically spat his name. “He wasn’t going to give me any credit for the work I did for him. Finding him that copy of the Declaration of Independence. And, as a bonus, the correspondence that came with it. I helped him figure it out. Instead, it seems he confided in you.”

“So you killed him.”

“It was an accident. But he was being obstinate and greedy. Now get going.”

“You went through my father’s papers,” I said. “You broke into my house.”

“Your front door was unlocked. I walked in.”

“How did you know about the papers?”

I wasn’t sure she would answer, but she seemed only too pleased with herself, how clever she’d been.

“I was at the bank. You were so absorbed in that envelope you were holding—like it was the crown jewels—you never even noticed me. Seth’s secretary accidentally spilled the beans about why you were there. Of course, she didn’t realize I knew it was you she was talking about.”