“The stress and the tedium finally got to him. He’s quitting to become a park ranger.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously,” said her mother. “He said that he’d rather deal with bears stealing food from campers than with the police brass. No idea how this new guy is going to work out. He’s really green. Just out of uniform.”

Tess took spoonful of cereal, chewed. “Is it hard to be a cop, Mom?”

Her mother poured herself more coffee and sat down at the table with Tess. “It’s hard, but probably not for the reasons you’re thinking. Not that many people know this, but when the police department was created in the 1830s, it was to protect rich people and rich people’s stuff. That usually meant rich white people and their stuff. And even though 1830 sounds like a long time ago, it’s really not. Hard to shake that legacy. Hard to get some people to trust me when I say I want to help them find the things they’ve lost, the things that have been stolen from them. Why should they believe me?”

“Because you are trying to help?”

“Sometimes, that’s not enough,” her mom said. Then she suddenly laughed. “Wow, I sound grumpy. Maybe I should join Syd and the bears.”

“Sounds like a band name,” Tess said.

Theo shambled into the kitchen, yawning. “What sounds like a band name?”

Tess ate another spoonful of cereal. “Syd and the Bears.”

“What kind of band name is that?” said Theo, grabbing the cereal box and pouring himself a bowl.

“Maybe it does need a little more oomph,” their mother agreed. “Syd and the Felonious Bears.”

Theo splashed milk all over his cereal and a little on the floor. Nine moved in to lap it up. “I like ‘The Felonious Bears.’ No Syd.”

“What have you got against Syd?” said Tess.

“Who’s this Syd, anyway?” Theo said.

“Mom’s old partner, remember? But she’s getting a new one today.”

“Let me guess: a felonious bear?”

Their mom ruffled his bushy hair. “You’re the felonious bear.”

An hour later, Tess and Theo had finished their breakfasts and showers, and their mom had left. While they waited for Jaime to arrive, they consulted their list of possible owners of the Jennings gown—society wives, writers, poets, musicians, daughters, pirates, thieves, actresses, educators, mathematicians, scientists.

It was a very long list.

Theo said, “Mom might be right about the felonious bear thing, because if we don’t narrow this list down, we’re not going to have a choice but to break into the dry-cleaning shop and steal that dress to see if there’s anything hidden in it.” Theo dug around in his hair as if there were something hidden in there. “Maybe the dress isn’t a clue at all.”