Six days later, starting after midnight, three enormous trucks arrived at Eaton House in Southampton. Eight workers dressed in black who billed themselves as a “white-glove delivery service” loaded the artworks out a back entrance of the estate’s main house. The company was known for its discretion and didn’t question why it was taking sixteen historically significant paintings to a warehouse near Islip Airport on Long Island, where the pieces would be repackaged, addressed to their respective museums and owners, and sent via private air courier.
Two days later Nick saw that the story was on the front page of every major newspaper in the world. Because all the museums had issued amnesties on the return of each piece, no investigations would be started. Some of the museums wanted to identify the party who returned the artwork so that they could issue a reward, which, in at least one case amounted to five million dollars.
Not surprisingly, and much to the relief of the institutions, in the days that followed, no one came forward.
The day the story broke, Nick asked his father to meet him at the Society’s town house on East 66th Street. He remembered when he and Phoebe and Lauren had asked to meet his father at the town house in December, and how their request had been rejected. Charles Lawrence, the leader of the Conscripts, had met with them instead, which had given them no answers.
This time, Nick had written his father a note, leaving it on the desk in his study. Taped to the bottom of the note was a clipping from the New York Times about the return of the paintings.
That would, he thought, make the message clear.
When Nick arrived at the town house at three o’clock, Parker was waiting for him. His father was sitting in the parlor on the first floor, drinking a cup of tea. The building was quiet, and Nick wondered if anyone ever used it during the day, apart from the Administrator. Perhaps the occasional member took advantage of it, but it seemed like the house was used mostly for parties.
“Nick.”
Nick nodded at his father. “There’s something you need to see.” Nick pulled out his laptop, put it on the coffee table, and slid in a DVD.
“What is this? Nick, I have a very busy day. I don’t have time to watch some little home movie of yours.”
On the screen, an image flickered. Nick heard his father gasp.
First, there was an exterior shot of Eaton House, complete with its address in the frame. The camera led the viewer into the house, through the main entryway, down the hallway, into the kitchen, and down to the basement. A time code appeared on the footage, from two days ago.
“How on earth did you-”
“It gets better,” Nick said. “Just watch.”
The shot continued down into the basement. A team of men from the white-glove service were unpacking each of the artworks in order to inspect and record its condition. There were close-ups of each of the pieces: the Degas, the Rembrandt, the Vermeer, the Pollock, even the forged Leonardo da Vinci.
“You need to destroy this recording!” Parker said. “What were you thinking? How did you get access to this? Horatio was supposed to manage it all with the utmost discretion.”
Horatio had been told by Nick and Patch, two days earlier, that the artworks needed to be filmed for insurance purposes, in case anything happened to them in transit. The butler, whose only desire was to do right by his late employer, accepted the explanation, and had allowed Nick and Patch to film the proceedings. Nick had barely believed that they had gotten away with it. But he still needed this next part of the plan to work.
The film continued, with a shot of the paintings being loaded onto the trucks, and the trucks pulling out of the front gate of the estate.
“Nick, this is absurd. I don’t know why you would make such a film. What do you want?”
Nick leaned forward to stop the clip. His heart was pounding. “We have copies of this DVD, ready to be sent to every major news organization. The Times, CNN, Reuters, the Associated Press.” What he didn’t mention was that Patch had also sent a copy to Eliot Walker in Maine, who would put it in Patch’s safe-deposit box. Patch had also already uploaded the footage to several remote servers. Among all of them, the footage was sure to stay intact.
Parker groaned. “Nick, I cannot believe that you did this! You need to destroy all those DVDs. This is absolutely absurd. Do you realize what damage you are potentially causing? I need you not to send those DVDs.”
“We won’t send them,” Nick said, “if you grant us one thing.”
“What’s that? Do you want access to your trust fund early? I’d be happy to-”
“No, Dad. I think you know what we want. We want out of the Society. I want you to release me, Patch, Phoebe, Lauren, and Thad. You have to do it-you have no choice.”
“This is not what your grandfather would have wanted.”
“I’m not so sure about that,” Nick said. “I don’t think he was as enamored with the Society as you think.”
“Well, you’ve certainly become very plucky lately,” Parker said. “I would be impressed, if it didn’t make me so angry. You do realize this will affect your inheritance, don’t you? And as the guardian of the trusts that Palmer set up for you and Patch, I can make it very difficult for you to access them.”
“Dad, we don’t care. Money isn’t important to us. The trusts aren’t important to us. Not Palmer’s trusts, nor the Bradford Trust. What’s more important to us is our freedom.”
“You are determined to be an Infidel to the end, aren’t you?”
Nick shrugged off the comment. “You have to release us. How are you going to do it?”
Parker seemed stymied. “I don’t know-we hardly ever… I suppose I’ll have to consult the Council. There must be some kind of procedure for this.” He looked at Nick. “Do you realize what a disappointment this is, Nick?”
“Only for you, Dad. It’s only a disappointment for you.”
Nick got up, taking his laptop with him.
“We want it to happen in the next twenty-four hours,” Nick said. “If it doesn’t, we will send out the film. Electronically as well as via courier. It will be in the news by this time tomorrow if you don’t give us an answer.”
“Will you leave a copy of the DVD?” Parker said. “How will I prove to them that this needs to be done?”
“I’m sure you’ll find a way,” Nick said.
He exited the town house, leaving his father behind. The first thing he wanted to do was to call Phoebe, to tell her that they had finally won, that they would be released. It was everything he knew she wanted.
He had left her a few messages over the past several days, but none of them were returned. He figured she was probably still angry with him over their fight, but he hoped that his actions today would make things right.
He called her, but it went to voice mail. He left her a short message to call him, and texted her as well with a simple note:
THINGS HAVE CHANGED.