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The scavenger hunt.
“I’ve heard about this,” Leo told Robert, who had wandered over to stand beside him where they’d gathered in the backyard. “Annual tradition, right?”
Amelia peered curiously over from his other side as Robert nodded. “Spans the whole property. One year it went into Stirling proper as well, but we’ll see about this year. You have to take pictures at every location on the list and post them on the company’s social media. When the time runs out, the team with the most pictures up wins.”
“A prize?” Amelia’s eyes brightened.
Leo couldn’t resist the urge to curl his arm around her shoulders. She was so cute when her face lit up like that. Mischievous and tempting. It was almost as good as her scowling irritation.
A whistle sounded, and all the guests gathered on the back patio overlooking the pool. A vast lawn stretched out as far as half a football field, surrounded by old forest. Garden beds lined the house, with a well-maintained flower garden to the right of the patio taking up a big chunk of the lawn space.
Percival appeared near the French doors leading inside, followed by Fred and Nadia. Two more staff members trailed, carrying trays full of envelopes.
“Welcome to the Goodhew Scavenger Hunt,” Fred proclaimed, all traces of his suspicion from last night gone. Leo craned his head to try to catch a glimpse of Nadia’s finger and saw she wasn’t wearing her ring. It was still gone. Or maybe they’d found it and she decided not to wear it? His gaze lifted to Nadia’s face; the woman’s nose was red, and it looked like she’d been crying. Her dog came trotting out, and she leaned over to pick him up one-handed, nuzzling into his fur, looking for comfort.
No ring. He was sure of it.
“This morning’s event is designed to show you the best of the Goodhew Estate,” Fred said. “You’ll work in pairs to check all the items on the list. When the siren sounds, the team who has uploaded the most pictures to their social media profile and tagged Goodhew will win the hunt’s prize. You’ll find a list of locations in your envelope.”
Amelia vibrated beside him. So she liked prizes and had a competitive spirit. Good to know.
The envelopes were handed out. Most people were paired up with their partners, with Ari ending up with another single guy, and Cora pairing up with a young woman out of the Midwest office. When everyone was ready, Fred gave the signal to tear open the envelopes. Teams immediately started sprinting in all directions.
Breathless, Amelia laughed and hopped beside him. “Hurry! Why are you opening it so slowly?”
He finally pulled out a thick sheet of paper, on which a long list of locations and items was written.
“That vase is in the Blue Room,” Amelia whispered, pointing. “And that painting is in the powder room near the foyer.”
“It’s as good a place to start as any,” Leo said, taking her hand to lead her inside. They hurried down the hallways, nodding to passing staff members and glancing around for other teams. About two-thirds of the people had started with items on the grounds outside the house, so the mansion was mostly empty.
Down a hallway and around a corner they found the Blue Room. Ducking inside, Leo closed the door.
“There.” Amelia pointed, and sure enough, a large vase, striped blue-and-white, was bursting with pink roses, just as indicated on the list.
Caught up in the moment, Leo pulled out his phone, put his arm around Amelia, and snapped a picture. He uploaded it to his Signal profile while Amelia crossed the item off with a swipe of her pen. Then Leo’s gaze drifted to the little dais at the end of the room.
“This is where it happened,” he said. “Nadia’s ring went missing somewhere in here.”
Amelia looked up from her paper and bit her lip. Her eyes narrowed as she scanned the space. “Do you really think someone took it?”
“Doesn’t matter what I think. Fred and Nadia obviously believe it.”
“How could you steal a ring right off someone’s finger? It doesn’t make sense.”
Leo wandered over to the dais and poked around the bookcase behind it, not really thinking he’d find anything but feeling compelled to look. Then he glanced over his shoulder and said, “No one is in their room right now.”
Amelia froze. “You want to go snoop?”
Leo shrugged. “The longer this goes on, the more chance there is of someone figuring us out.”
Amelia’s eyes darted back and forth, and she finally nodded. “Okay. Who do you think did it?”
Leo hummed. “I remember seeing Ari move toward the door when the screaming started. But I also think he’s a raging asshole on a good day, so I might be biased.”
“He and Vanessa exchanged a weird look,” Amelia said, nodding. “Let’s start there. What room is Ari in?”
“Two doors down from us. I saw him leave his room this morning.”
