Winning Appeal(38)

“Oh! I’ve read her books!” Caitlin looked happy.

“And last, but not least, Beth will be Irene Adler and Mark will be Sherlock Holmes.” Adam laughed. I glared. Great, I could walk around in a deerstalker cap and a cape, and Beth could wear enough clothing to assure that I never get her naked. Then I remembered that this Friday would be the first night her pill was working and I felt like I might cry.

“What’s the schedule like?” Lily asked.

“We show up in costume Friday evening for a late dinner at seven,” Gab answered. “After dinner, we’ll break into teams of two and each team will be given a story card with clues. We try to figure them out and solve the mystery. Saturday morning we’ll have a full breakfast and we’ll all explain our theories about the solution.”

“Wait, I don’t have a partner,” Caitlin said sulkily.

“Yes you do!” said a voice from the corner. We looked at Bruce, who stood there positively glowing, “Meet Charlie Chan.”

“You’re not Asian,” Lily pointed out.

“Neither was anyone who ever played Charlie Chan,” Bruce shot back and she rolled her eyes. Yeah, this was going to be fun.



Friday 6:00 PM

We had all left early to go change and grab an overnight bag, and then met back at the office. I had managed to secure my Sherlock gear, and while I wasn’t thrilled about it, at least it was better than the schoolboy outfit. It had been a week from hell in court, but somehow I had held out for tonight. I seriously needed to unwind, though, and after we got done with whatever we had to do, I was locking Beth and I in our bedroom until morning.

When I got there Adam, Lily, Beth and Caitlin had already arrived. I looked over at Adam wearing a trench coat and a fedora. He looked a little older than twenty-eight maybe, but basically normal. That bastard. Lily was dressed the same way. Caitlin had a red wig on her head and was dressed like she was going to a sock hop. Amazingly, Beth somehow managed to look hot in a Victorian high-collared dress. At least it wasn’t hard to tell she and I were together.

I heard a bark and in came Braden, Gabrielle and Bruno looking like a rich married couple with a dog. That was a stretch. Jess and Cam came in behind them and I tried not to laugh. Cam had an enormous black mustache and a bowler hat, and Jess looked like my grandmother. The best, though, was yet to come. To my great joy, the final person to arrive was Bruce, who actually looked even more stupid than the rest of us put together in a long satin gown, a glue-on Fu Manchu, and a hat that made him look like a Shriner. Adam promptly cracked up and Lily gave Bruce a disdainful look.

“What in the hell are you supposed to be?” she asked.

“Charlie Chan!” he answered irritably.

“Charlie Chan wore suits. You look like a walking White Sale. Are those drapery tassels on your head?”

“It’s a traditional Chinese costume. At least I don’t look like a flasher.”

“Okay break it up,” Braden said, like a good Director.

“I have a question,” Cam broke in and we all looked at him expectantly.

“How do we get him to invite us into the study, especially since Caitlin will be there and he knows she would recognize the painting.” Damn. He had a point. We all looked at Gabrielle.

“I’ve given this some thought,” she began.

“Of course you have,” Adam interrupted.

“As long as he invites us into the house, and doesn’t specifically say the study is off limits, we should be okay. So, I say we wait until everyone is asleep and then we head down there. If anyone stops us or catches us, we’ll say we were looking for something to read.”

“All of us together?” I asked. This plan sounded kind of lame.

“You and Beth do things together with the Roth’s,” Bruce said with a smile at Lily who gave him a death glare in return.

“What are they going to do, accuse a senator’s son and daughter of attempted burglary or something?” Gabrielle asked.

“Maybe we should take a picture of the painting while we’re there,” Jess suggested and Cam gave her a proud look. He was rubbing off on her.

“Good idea,” Beth agreed. “Now Caitlin, you’re going to have to be really careful, because Gerard will probably be watching you.”

“I don’t think it will be a problem,” she replied. “Like you said, he’s got lots of hummus.”

“Hummus?” Adam asked, looking confused.

“Hubris,” I said with a smile and he nodded with understanding.

“I guess we have a plan. I think it’s Go Time,” Braden announced, and we all turned and headed out to solve The Mystery of the Nitwit’s Stolen Painting.