“I can’t explain it; I don’t know who they are. But they all have the same shade of blond hair; they all wear the same color red dress. We’ve seen them in a bunch of places.”

“And one of them was the woman who accused Nine of biting her. She might be the one who took her,” Tess added.

“We overheard them talking about a place in Brooklyn,” Jaime said, catching on. “In Green-Wood Cemetery.”

“I love the cemetery,” Priya said. “So many important people buried there.”

“And notorious people,” Imogen said. “Boss Tweed for one. The Tiger of Tammany. Died in 1878.”

“What did he do?” Jaime asked.

“What they all do. Steal from ordinary people,” Omar said. “He held all sorts of offices including New York state senator. He used his positions to push through various building projects with overinflated prices so that he could skim off the top.”

“More than skim,” Imogen said. “The construction of the New York City courthouse was supposed to cost two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in 1858. It ended up costing twelve million, with all the extra going back to Tweed and his friends.”

“Wow,” said Jaime.

“New York City politics have always been ugly.”

“Slant’s going to run for office,” Tess said.

“Ugh,” said Gunter. “Don’t remind us. Imogen will start yelling again and then Auguste will start another round of his sad songs and I will be forced to move back to Austria.”

Adrian arranged his peas in a row on his plate. “Getting back to these blond ladies you mentioned. Why would they be talking about the cemetery?”

“We think they’re hiding animals there,” Theo said. “Hybrid animals. My mom suspects that someone must be collecting them for some reason. We think it’s the blondes. We think that’s why they were following us. To get to Nine and then to Karl.”

“But hiding animals in the cemetery?” said Omar. “That doesn’t seem like a good idea. Where would you keep them?”

“I suppose you could build a facility that resembled a tomb or mausoleum if you had the money,” said Gunter. “Still, it seems very strange.”

“Or smart,” Imogen said. “Hiding in plain sight like that. Tourists go in and out all day. Who would notice a bunch of blond ladies or anyone else?”

“We were hoping to look around the cemetery,” Tess said, “but we don’t want to do it during the day. We don’t want to be seen again. If we’re caught on video or in photos again, my mom will have a fit.”

Imogen clapped. “Ooooh. A midnight reconnaissance mission! I like it.”

“I’m in,” said Adrian.

“Me too,” said Gunter. “Against my better judgment.”

Gino and the rest also agreed to come. It had been too long since they’d had a real adventure, they said.

“But,” Imogen added, pointing at Omar and Priya in turn, “this time, we lose the trench coats.”