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“Are you telling me you don’t remember those summers in Manchester? You and Oliver used to play together.”
“Other than the picture I just saw, can’t say it’s ringing a bell. Why’d we stop?”
“Life, your father’s job. And after the terrible accident—the fire—”
“What fire?”
“At Payton Manor. If I recall, it had something to do with the old gas lighting, which hadn’t been converted to electricity yet. There was an explosion, and the entire east wing went up in flames. Albert managed to get the children out, but his own son died from smoke inhalation. I’m afraid his wife never forgave him, as if it had been his fault. She divorced him not long after that. And Oliver’s parents were killed just a few years later. The family’s just had a string of bad luck.” She gave a deep sigh. “Time and distance . . . you know how it is. We lost touch.”
“I saw a photo of you and Albert’s brother sitting in the Gray Ghost.”
“Is that the old Rolls-Royce? I loved that car!”
“The same. I don’t suppose you know anything about it?”
“Any memories I have are from decades-old photos stuffed in some box somewhere.”
Sam eyed the photo in the album. “Albert told me that you and his brother were always searching for something in that car.”
She laughed. “Heavens, but I’d forgotten all about that. Albert’s dad was so mad when he’d discovered us in the barn. And when he learned we’d found the car, I thought he was going to die of a heart attack. He said the car was cursed and ordered us not to tell anyone about it. We were kids, playing treasure hunters. No doubt where you got your fascination for treasure hunting from.”
Remi made no effort to refrain from laughing.
“Back to this curse. Did he say why?”
Libby laughed again. “To keep us out of the barn. If I’m not mistaken, they hid it there during the war. You are helping them, I hope?”
“I’m reserving judgment,” he said.
“All they’re asking for is a loan, Sam.”
“The loan, I have no problem with.”
“Then what?”
He thought about the men who’d followed them in Pebble Beach—not that he was about to worry his mother with that sort of detail. “We have a few things we need to iron out first. I’ll let you know when it’s all taken care of.”
“At least you know they’re not trying to pull one over on us,” Remi said, once he disconnected.
“The only thing I know for sure is that they want money, and someone wants something they have.”
“Obviously, the car.”
“But why follow them all the way out to Pebble Beach when the car is here?”
They were no closer to answers the next morning when they met Oliver and his uncle for breakfast. Oliver dismissed the matter when Sam brought it up. “Why would it have anything to do with the car? Way out there?”
In a rare moment of lucidity, his uncle said, “They want the Gray Ghost. That car’s cursed. Nothing but trouble ever since.”
“That’s what my mother remembered,” Sam said. “A curse. Any idea what sort?”
“Haven’t the foggiest,” Albert replied.
Oliver cleared his throat. “You should have sold it years ago.” Deciding to change the subject, he smiled at Sam and Remi. “Sorry I wasn’t here for dinner. A bit of an issue on one of the farms. I trust your evening was pleasant?”
“Very nice,” Remi said. “Your uncle was showing us the photos you’d put together. Mrs. Beckett brought them down.”
He looked at his uncle, then Sam. “His memory of those days is better than mine. Apparently, you and I were mates. Don’t remember a thing about that.”
