The Lions of Fifth Avenue: A Novel

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

New York City, 1993

Sadie spent what felt like the longest weekend of her life holed up in her apartment. Outside, she heard the cries of the children on the playground across the street, a reminder that she really should return Lonnie’s check-in call and have a chat with Valentina, but she didn’t feel like it. He’d detect her nervousness and ask why, and she didn’t want to have to explain that she’d been banished from the library by Dr. Hooper. Even worse would be pretending to be happy for Valentina’s sake. She didn’t have it in her.

Instead, she reworked the draft of the catalog for the exhibit, making the essay as taut and instructive as possible, cutting down any extraneousness prose. All the previous week, the workers had been toiling in the exhibit hall next door to the Berg Collection, placing the cases where she’d instructed them. They were so close to the finish line.

It was all she could do not to return to the library, carry on as she had before. But Nick and Dr. Hooper had made it clear that, at least for the weekend, she was not to appear, and had confiscated her key. Which was ridiculous, as now Dr. Hooper was the only one with a key, and unless he planned on running the library and mounting the exhibit as well, there was no one left to make Evergreen happen. Monday at nine o’clock sharp, she had an appointment at Dr. Hooper’s office. She hated not being able to explain what she’d seen before then.

Now that she’d had a chance to collect herself, she felt it more important than ever to be able to describe to Dr. Hooper and Nick what she’d heard—or, more specifically, not heard: that there was no slamming of the door to the cage. Whoever was in there hadn’t used the door to get in and out.

As soon as she explained that to Dr. Hooper, she’d hightail it to the Art and Architecture Room to take a close look at the original floor plan of the library. There had to be something that they were missing, a way for the thief to get access so easily and then escape into thin air. That scraping noise she’d heard before the thief fled—if she could get back into the stacks, she might be able to figure out what had caused it. There was so much to do.

She tried calling Nick at home, but his answering machine picked up, his voice growling for the caller to leave a message. She’d hung up without doing so. Whatever it was that had been blossoming between them was in terrible jeopardy. Right when she’d been ready to take a chance, everything had fallen apart.

By the time her Monday morning meeting rolled around, Sadie’s nerves were at a breaking point. Nick stood, refusing to take the chair next to her, as Dr. Hooper loomed behind his walnut desk like a Supreme Court justice. Which, in her case, he was, really.

“Please, Sadie, we’d like to hear what happened on Saturday night.” Dr. Hooper placed his elbows on the desk and put his hands together, index fingers pointed out like the silly game she used to play as a child. Here’s the church, here’s the steeple. The nursery rhyme buzzed through her head.

“Sadie?”

She gave her head a shake. “Sorry. You see, I was in the stacks when I heard something. Although I wasn’t able to see the thief, I think we can figure out how he got down there. I have an appointment with the Art and Architecture division right after this—”

“Sadie, stop.”

She did so, surprised by Dr. Hooper’s harsh interruption.

“Let me explain the way I see this. You are the only employee, other than me, with access to the Berg Collection in the stacks. On a Saturday evening, after the library had closed, we came upon you with one of the rare books hidden on your person.”

She had to clear things up, fast. “It wasn’t hidden. The thief had dropped it, and I wanted to keep it safe as I ran up the stairs after him.”

“Did you see the thief?”

“I told you, no. But I could hear him running away from me.”

“Yet we were right there and we didn’t see or hear anyone. You can see why we’re worried. About you, and about the collection.”

“I’m fine.” She pulled out the essay from her tote bag, desperate to discuss logistics, get things back on track. “Here’s the essay for the catalog, all ready to go. The exhibit cases are almost ready. In the meantime, I need to see the library’s original floor plan. The answer’s there, I’m certain.”

Dr. Hooper took the essay and placed it on the corner of his desk without looking at it. “Mr. Adriano has informed me of something else.”

She looked over at Nick, who refused to meet her eye.

“He said that you’re related to Laura Lyons. I find it curious that you never mentioned the family connection when we spoke of her. I don’t like secrets, and it makes me wonder what else you’ve been keeping from me.” He paused. “I’m afraid we have to ask you to take a leave of absence. Until we determine our next steps.”

She hadn’t even gotten to tell her own story. “Leave of absence?” Sadie shook her head. “But I can help. Don’t you see?”

“For now, no. We will not need your assistance. Nick will escort you to your office so you can take any personal effects with you.”

“But the floor plan. The exhibit.”

“Sorry, Sadie. It hurts me to do this, but we must.”

She didn’t speak to Nick until they were walking down the hallway toward the Berg Collection. “I know the way it looks, but we’re so close to figuring this out. There’s something we’re missing.”

“You’ll have to stay out of the building until the board of trustees can be informed and I can do more investigating.”

She stopped and made him face her. “You think it might be me, don’t you?”

He didn’t answer right away, but the way he avoided her eyes said it all. “You’ve been under a lot of pressure lately. Your mother’s death, this exhibit. Maybe you need some time to rest.”

“Exactly what I don’t need is rest. What I need is to figure out what’s going on.” Her heart thudded in her chest.

She reached out and touched the sleeve of his shirt.

“Sadie, no.”

He pulled away, and she let her hand hang there, in midair.

He didn’t trust her anymore. She’d lost him. But it was worse than that. “I know what you’re thinking, Nick. And you’re wrong.”

“What’s that?”

“That maybe I manufactured this thing between us, our friendship, whatever it is, so I could get away with stealing books. Is that what you believe?”

“I don’t know. I’ve gotten confused, too close, and that’s not good. I have to keep a clear head.”

She’d brought the whole world crashing down around her.

Sadie wiped her tears away before they entered the Berg, where Claude looked up, victorious, from his desk. A couple of scholars were there, which made any further discussion impossible and for which she was grateful.

She collected her things and let Nick escort her downstairs.

She was on her own.

“So are you fired? Or is it a leave of absence?”

Lonnie poured out two glasses of wine and set one in front of Sadie. Valentina and Robin were doing homework together in the other room—LuAnn was off on another business trip—and Sadie wished she could escape her brother’s questions and just sit there, listening to the singsong cadences of Valentina reading out loud.

“I really don’t know,” said Sadie. “I’m not allowed back until they’ve done their investigation.” The exhibit was due to open in three weeks, and Claude was now in charge. All of her hard work and she had nothing to show for it. She was an outcast, a pariah.

“We should get a lawyer for you, someone who can defend you.”

“From what? There aren’t any charges against me.”

“A lawyer might help you clear your name.”

“The only way that’s going to happen is if the thief shows up and confesses, which isn’t likely.”

Lonnie swirled the wine in his glass, his eyes on Sadie. Usually, talking things through with Lonnie made her feel better, but this wasn’t solvable. “I thought the missing books had been found,” he said.

“They had. But someone got into the cage and stole another one, and I chased him, but then Dr. Hooper and the security consultant showed up and there I was, holding the book he’d dropped, with no thief in sight.”

“So they think it might be you?”

“Yes, they figure it was me. Plus, only the director and I had keys.”

“Do you think the director did it?”

She considered it and shook her head. “No. I don’t think so. There’s something we’re missing, or else this thief is some kind of a ghost.” It certainly seemed as if a ghost was slipping in and out of the cage, the angry ghost of her grandfather coming back to seek vengeance on whatever it was that went wrong way back then.

“Maybe one of our ancestors?” He was teasing her, but gently.

“I’ll be honest, I do think there might be a connection. If only I could figure out what.”

She wished she’d dug further when her mother was alive, hadn’t allowed her to skirt her questions about life in the library way back when, though she could see why Pearl might have wanted to avoid talking about those years. Until recently, Sadie hadn’t really considered what it must have been like for Pearl, as a young girl, to lose both her brother and her father. Then, later, her husband. But now it was too late.

Lonnie set down his glass. “Are you okay?” He’d slipped into doctor mode, his delivery steady and reassuring.

“No, I’m not.” Her voice came out raspy. “I can’t seem to do anything right.”

“Now, Sadie.”

“Mom was so resilient, and I don’t think I ever appreciated it. She suffered so much loss, and still carried on, baking her fancy cakes, living her life.”

“Maybe it’s time for you to bake some cakes yourself.”

“Are you serious?” She burst out laughing. “That’s quite the euphemism. What on earth are you talking about?”

He gave a sheepish grin. “Explore your options. You’ve been through a lot, and maybe it’s time to take a break.”

“There’s nothing to take a break from.”

“Your job. Mom’s death. Which I’m sure reminds you of Dad’s.”

“You lost Dad as well, and you haven’t taken a break.”

“I was eighteen and off to college when Dad died. You were just eight, and you were there.” He swallowed. “You found him.”

Valentina burst into the room, holding something pearly in her hand. “Look! I lost a tooth.”

Robin followed behind her. “First one. She’ll be all grown up before you know it.”

Sadie glanced over at Lonnie, whose face was brimming with fatherly pride, as if Valentina had just won a gold medal at the Olympics. “Let’s see it, my love.” Lonnie held out his hand and cupped the tooth gently, as Valentina smiled up at him with a gap-toothed grin.

After her divorce, Sadie had thrown herself into her work at the library, embraced her new life as best she could. She’d distracted herself with facts, convinced that knowledge and logic could solve all the world’s problems, and cut a part of herself off in the process. Now she had a choice: she could continue doing so, waiting patiently for Nick and Dr. Hooper’s determination of her guilt or innocence, knowing that she’d done nothing wrong, or she could take action. The thrill she got from investigating the book thefts and her family’s history made her want to keep on moving forward, following the clues, despite her banishment from the library, and no matter what she discovered.

She’d never known her grandmother, who seemed to be the linchpin of both her work life and her family. The one woman who had all the answers had died during World War II, killed during the German Blitz on London. It was too late.

Or was it?

She turned to Lonnie. “Maybe you’re right, about taking a break. Maybe I should go to London.”

England. The home of Virginia Woolf. Of Charlotte Brontë. Of so many of the Berg’s authors. Including Laura Lyons.

“You mean where the bridge is?” Valentina launched into an off-key version of the children’s song.

“Yes.”

Lonnie studied her. “Why London?”

“Well, there’s nothing going on here for me, for the time being. And I’ve never been before. On top of that, it was part of our mother’s life, even if she didn’t talk about it much. Now that I’ve been outed as Laura Lyons’s granddaughter at work, why not go there and see what I can discover?” She didn’t say out loud the thought that maybe she could take advantage of the connection and secure something for the Evergreen exhibit. Get back into Dr. Hooper’s good graces. It was a long shot, to be sure.

“I figure, why not?”