While Oliver spoke, Sam’s attention shifted to the door, wondering if the prototype of the Silver Ghost had anything to do with the men he’d seen following them. At the moment, it appeared they’d made it to the restaurant without being tailed. Still, he wasn’t about to take chances and he kept watch while they ate.
Remi did an admirable job keeping the conversation focused during the meal, the better to evaluate Albert Payton and his nephew. “They couldn’t rent from the new owners?” Remi asked, as the waiter arrived to clear the table.
Oliver gave a tight smile, avoiding any look from his uncle. “The one and only offer on the land that we’ve seen, well, they’ve refused to guarantee that they wouldn’t evict.”
Albert gave a firm nod. “We are not selling.”
“The thing is,” Oliver said, “I don’t know how we got to this point. One day we were fine, the next everything was lost. I—” He looked at his uncle, then back at Sam. “I blame myself. I should’ve taken over the books sooner. I’m still trying to make sense of it all.”
“Framed,” his uncle said, nodding. “They’re trying to take everything from me. Everything.”
“You don’t know that,” Oliver said.
“Don’t I?” He looked at Sam, his eyes lucid, sharp. “I’ll tell you exactly who it is. And why.”
3
The waiter placed a leather folder with the check in it next to Sam.
Albert watched as the waiter retreated, then looked at Sam. “I— What was I saying?”
“Someone framed you.”
He nodded. Whatever thought he’d been about to utter, though, was lost. The older man’s memory problems seemed real. That didn’t eliminate the possibility, however, that the younger man, no matter how sincere he appeared, was taking advantage of his uncle or attempting to take advantage of them. Sam directed his attention to Oliver. “What is it that you’re hoping we can do? Or what is it that my mother suggested we do?”
“She said you might be interested in using the car for collateral. For a loan.”
“My mother said that?”
Oliver shifted in his seat, looking suddenly uncomfortable. “Just enough to help me get his estate back in the black and keep our tenants from being evicted. I’m sure that if I can figure out what went wrong, whatever it was that started this tailspin, we can recover.”
“Quite my fault,” Albert said, looking at his nephew for confirmation.
Oliver reached out and clasped his uncle?
??s hand. “He’s been a good landlord. I don’t think these families could make it if we sold and they had to pay rent at full value. I—” He looked at his uncle, then back at Sam. “As I said, I blame myself.”
“Framed,” his uncle said again. But any revelations about who was behind it, if anyone, weren’t forthcoming.
Sam tucked his credit card into the leather folder, handing it to the waiter as he approached. “It sounds complicated.”
“I quite understand if you don’t believe us,” Oliver said. “Sometimes I’m not even sure what’s going on. I know Uncle Albert believes someone else is responsible. And I believe him. I’ve burned through my sabbatical time and the last of my savings. And since I’m out of funds, I have to go back to work. I— I don’t know how else to help him or learn what really happened.”
Remi reached over, laying her hand on Oliver’s arm. “If what he’s saying is true, that someone else is behind this, you should call the police.”
“My wife is right,” Sam said. “It’s really not something we do.”
“You hunt treasure, don’t you?”
“That’s different.”
“How? The actual Silver Ghost is worth fifty million, if not more. Surely the Gray Ghost has to have a similar value.”
“That certainly is the question,” Sam said. “Where’s it been all this time?”
“During World War Two, it was stored away due to the bombing. There it sat, until we were forced to start liquidating. But no one really knew its worth. We’d sold off at least a dozen classic cars by the time we came across the Gray Ghost under its dustcover in the barn. When we realized what we had, we contacted Rolls-Royce, hoping to get an idea of the vehicle’s worth.”
“Did they give an approximate value?” Sam asked.