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Tosh sighed, turned to Oscar. “It does sound crazy.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Oscar assured her. To Ellery, he said, “Ell, you have to have noticed Chelsea is obsessed with Freddie.”

“I know she always liked Freddie.” Ellery hesitated to use the wordobsessed. Partly because it was such a loaded word, but partly because he had never really paid enough attention to Chelsea to know if she was obsessed with Freddie or not.

“She always had a thing about Freddie,” Tosh said. “But I didn’t think about it because we always joked about it.”

“Who? You and Freddie?”

“No. Me and Chelsea. She used to joke about stealing Freddie from me, but I didn’t take it seriously because shewasjoking about it, making fun of herself. But also, because it’s ridiculous for grown-ups to talk about stealing people from other people.”

“Sure.” It was also ridiculous for grown-ups to steal photos of their crushes, from their friends.

“I assumed she’d outgrown it. We’ve all moved on from those original— But then when we met up at Point Judith and she was dressed like...like...”

“Your mini-me,” Oscar supplied.

“Well, yes. Honestly? This is going to sound terrible, but I actually wondered if she’d been stalking me.”

Ellery said uncomfortably, “I did notice her taste in clothes had changed.”

None of this made sense to him. Why would Chelsea start stalking Tosh after all this time? And to what purpose? To get fashion tips? Yeesh.

Tosh said, “It’s a lot more than her taste in clothes. It’s increasingly obvious to me that she’sstillinfatuated with Freddie.”

“The mystery is, why he’s encouraging her,” Oscar said grimly.

Ellery and Tosh briefly met eyes. Tosh said, “I don’t want to make things awkward, especially for you, Ell. But I want my photos back. They have a lot of sentimental value for me.”

“Of course, they do,” Ellery said quickly. “Of course, you want them back. What would you like me to do? Do you want me to talk to Chelsea?”

He couldn’t think of anything helesswanted to do.

“No. How fair would that be?” Tosh said. “No, I can talk to her. It’s just, I know Chelsea. I know there’s going to be a giant scene, no matter how I try to approach the subject. I don’t know that thereisa tactful way to approach this. And I don’t want to ruin the weekend for everyone.”

“No. Right,” Ellery said absently. He was thinking about the logistics of Chelsea taking—and keeping—a box that size in a house that was not her own.

“But...”

Ellery said again, “Right.”

Tosh said, “I could wait until we’re closer to leaving?”

Oscar said, “Maybe? That way if she has a meltdown...”

“Actually, I have an idea.” Ellery put Watson on the floor and rose. “Do you know if Chelsea’s up yet?”

“I didn’t hear her moving around.” Oscar said, as Tosh pushed her chair back.

“Good.” Ellery headed for the library, Tosh and Oscar and Watson on his heels.

When they entered the library, Ellery went straight to the bookshelves at the far end of the room. He reached the hidden door leading to the secret passage and pushed the door, triggering the spring latch. A gust of damp, dark air floated from deep inside the tunnel.

Oscar whistled. “Verycool.”

“Right?” Tosh said. “Ellery says the house is riddled with secret passages.”

Ellery stepped inside the passage, saying over his shoulder, “Don’t block the doorway, I need the light.”