“Yoo-hoo, Grandmother, are you in there?” called a familiar voice. I peeked out from behind the canvases to see Zeke, Diana, George, and Bess tumble through one of the eight identical doors.

CHAPTER TWELVE A Low-Speed Chase

“NANCY, YOU’RE SAFE!” BESS CRIED. “When you disappeared from the ballroom, we thought you might be in terrible danger!”

“I had a little fall, but I’m all right.”

“Ezekiel!” the Duchess exclaimed.

Zeke bent his lanky frame to plant a kiss on his grandmother’s cheek.

“Who have you brought with you? You know I don’t allow just anyone into my studio.”

“This is the lovely Bess Marvin and my dear friend Diana Yip.” When Zeke said her name, Bess blushed a fetching pink. “I think you already know George.”

George bowed. “A pleasure to see you again, Duchess,” she said.

“Ah yes, my charming escort. You’d better tell me why you’re here.”

Diana Yip spoke up first. “I thought Zeke was crazy when he told me about your ledger book. He said you’d made a whole career as a forger, but I couldn’t believe you’d even gotten one fake painting past the experts at the auction houses. But then I found the proof hidden in the pedestal in your drawing room, just where Zeke said it would be.”

“Whoa!” said George and Bess in unison.

The Duchess looked sad. “I regret deceiving people, but it was what I had to do. May I have my ledger book back, please?”

“I’m sorry, Grandmother, but … no, you can’t,” said Zeke.

The Duchess looked at him, shocked.

Mr. Gatewood advanced on Zeke and Diana, spluttering with rage. “How dare you disrespect your grandmother!” he shouted. “Give her the book this instant, or I will take it from you by force!”

“We can’t give the book back, because we don’t have it,” Diana said.

The Duchess groaned. “You haven’t lost it, have you? Imagine what would happen if that book found its way into the wrong hands!”

“No, Grandmother, we didn’t lose it. The book is in good hands,” said Zeke.

“Whose hands?” demanded the Duchess. I couldn’t help thinking in the moment that it was the perfect name for her.

Rufus Le Crous had been in the off-limits hallway just after Diana Yip had locked me in the drawing room. Could he have been there to make a handoff with Diana?

I turned to Diana. “You gave the book to Rufus Le Crous, didn’t you?”

But it was Zeke who answered, with a mischievous smile. “There’s no sneaking anything past you, Nancy Drew.”

“That’s right!” said George proudly. “She’s the best sleuth in River Heights, and probably the whole state!”

Now it was my turn to blush. But I was worried, too. Could the pompous writer really be trusted with a secret as earth-shattering as the Duchess’s forgery career?

“Then you must be the top-secret source Rufus was talking about earlier. What is Rufus going to do with the ledger?” I asked.