The Cartographers(36)

“Thank you,” she said.

“It means so much that you all came to say goodbye to Dr. Young,” Swann added.

“He truly was a force,” Wolff agreed, to a round of nods. “May we all be so passionate. Law pays the bills, and for my own little collection, but if my collection could also be my life . . .”

“If only.” Julian toasted the circle. “Hedge funds aren’t much of an adventure either. I complain so much, my husband is begging me to quit, despite the money.” He sighed. “In a way, I imagine it almost might have been a dream for Dr. Young, to work until the very last second. But if I were to expire at my desk—”

“Julian,” Claire admonished, gesturing to Nell. “That’s ghastly.”

Nell smiled. “That was actually my first thought, too. That he went doing something he loved.” She looked between them as she said it, curious if any of the others had also started to wonder if there was more to her father’s passing than simply old age. Her gaze landed on Francis, who looked quickly away.

Clearly he thinks so, she thought.

“I actually just heard the police are now considering Dr. Young’s death as suspicious, and connected to the burglary the day after,” Wolff began—and then gasped, horrified. “I’m so sorry!” he said to Nell. “We’ve been meeting so often these past few days, sometimes I forget we’re not in the boardroom still, discussing library business. I truly didn’t mean to gossip about your father at his own funeral.”

“I’m glad to know the police are looking into it,” Nell said.

“Lieutenant Cabe came by the library to update us this morning,” Irene explained to her and Swann. “I told him you two were already at the church preparing for the funeral. I’m sure he’s going to call you tomorrow.”

Nell nodded. She couldn’t decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Of course, the more the police dug, the greater the chance they’d figure out who robbed the library and possibly murdered her father, which was justice she desperately wanted. But it also meant that they might figure out that he’d had the gas station highway map with him at the time of his death and begin trying to find out where it had gone.

She didn’t like that at all. Not until she’d figured out why it was at the center of all of this herself.

“Nell, if you’ll excuse me and Swann for a bit,” Irene said, oblivious to her fretting. “An old donor and his family just arrived, and we should go greet them.”

“Of course,” Nell agreed.

The group was quiet as Irene and Swann departed, and then yet another toast was made to Dr. Young. Nell raised her glass and lowered it without drinking again. She wondered how anyone was supposed to remain upright by the end of one of these events.

“It will be impossible to replace him,” Wolff finally said.

Nell sighed. The sparkling crowd in front of her, all of whom were so incredibly wealthy that they more floated above the cartography industry than walked through it, likely had no idea about the day-to-day business of the library—and especially not a long-ago scandal of a lowly intern. They might not even know that she had once worked for the NYPL or been a cartographer in her own right at all. But still, the comment stung.

“So true,” Pete agreed. “Both for the library’s sake and for mine.”

“Was he helping you curate a set?” Nell asked.

“The final touches on a personal collection,” Pete replied. “Dr. Young could track a map down like no one I’ve ever seen.”

“A veritable hound after a fox,” Julian proclaimed, which drew yet another toast.

“If only he was interested in the General Drafting hunt,” Wolff said.

“Not this again,” Claire sighed, bored.

Wolff, Pete, and Julian chuckled, but Nell felt her stomach drop through the floor.

How did people like this, people who had drivers and butlers and spent their weekdays at ski resorts and their weekends at operas and art galas, know about a map like that?

“The what?” Nozomi asked, looking baffled.

“Oh, it’s just a little hunt for an old highway road map of New York State that some of the board members play in their spare time. A silly story,” Pete said to Nozomi.

Nell managed a smile. “A good one though?” she asked.

“Depends on who you ask,” Julian replied. “I find it entertaining, although some of the other collectors take it too seriously. My friend Olivia especially, but she’s always been competitive.”

“It’s such nonsense.” Claire took a long drink. “This secret game.”

“Claire refuses to play,” Wolff said to Nell, winking. “She finds the whole thing embarrassing.”

“It is embarrassing. No one with a shred of respect for their reputation has ever even heard of it, besides the two of them and some of their drinking buddies,” Claire replied.

“That’s not true,” Julian said. “You can find other amateur collectors who are after it online. There’s definitely a bit of a cult following. Small, but fervent.”

“‘Cult following,’” Claire repeated, with mock horror. “There are far better maps to spend one’s money on.”

“Like?”