Mr. Farill paused at the open door and looked down toward the tree where Paloma had discovered the metal box. Paloma stooped low behind some thick branches and watched him. Finally, he stepped into the room. She snuck close to the door and waited, praying under her breath that Gael was safe and hidden away under the desk as they planned.
From inside the room, she heard rustling and scraping sounds. So far, so good. If he had discovered Gael, Mr. Farill would be shouting for security. When she peered inside the room, Tavo’s father was pushing back the wheelchair and pulling up the loose tile from the floor. He suddenly moved toward the ladder and grabbed a metal wand with a hook at the end of it. Paloma gazed over to where the desk was covered by a blanket. Gael was under it filming everything.
Mr. Farill moved back to the hole in the floor and dipped the metal hook. He pulled out the velvet pouch as Paloma approached.
“Is everything okay, Mr. Farill?” Paloma asked in the sweetest voice she could muster. “Do you need my help with anything?”
He looked back at her, surprised that she was there. Paloma took a few steps closer.
“Everything is fine. Please go back to Tavo.”
“She is with me,” said Tavo’s voice behind her. “What’s going on, Dad? What’s this room?”
Paloma stiffened. Why was Tavo here? Mr. Farill didn’t seem to know, either. His expression changed from surprised to annoyed, before settling back in a charming smile. Paloma stayed quiet, unsure of what to say next. From beneath the desk, she saw Gael’s phone peeking through a rip in the blanket to capture everything. Any moment she knew Lizzie would stop playing her trumpet and start broadcasting everything they were saying to the entire party.
“Nothing is going on, Son. You two should go back up to the celebration. Your mom wanted more cups, so I’ve come looking for them.”
“Cups?” Tavo’s eyes dropped toward the velvet pouch he held in his hand.
Lizzie’s playing stopped. The audience applauded. Now was the moment for Paloma to expose Mr. Farill as the true thief. But she hadn’t expected Tavo to show up, and she wasn’t sure how that would affect her plan.
“Mr. Farill, that bag you’re holding is so pretty. Is it velvet? What’s inside?” Paloma asked, speaking in a slow careful voice and loving the look of annoyance on Mr. Farill’s face.
“I’ll take that!” roared a voice with a thick Russian accent from behind Tavo and Paloma. It was the Trench Coat Man. As he limped past her toward Mr. Farill, she felt her stomach drop. Behind the silver mask he wore, she caught his angry glance and trembled. The stocky man she had seen Mr. Farill meeting at the market swaggered in, wearing a black leather coat and red metallic mask. The stocky man closed the door tightly behind him. “What are these children doing here?”
Mr. Farill handed the pouch to the Trench Coat Man.
“You’re early,” Mr. Farill growled at him. “They’re just about to return to the party.”
“Dad, what’s going on?” Tavo asked, pulling Paloma protectively behind him and looking back and forth from his dad to the Trench Coat Man.
The Trench Coat Man ignored Tavo and said something in Russian to Mr. Farill.
“Why don’t you two return to your friends?” Mr. Farill said. “These are business associates.” He smiled at Tavo. “Don’t worry, Son.”
“Let’s go, Paloma,” Tavo said, but Paloma sealed her feet to the ground. The plan was to get Mr. Farill to confess to his crimes over the speaker Lizzie had set up. Tavo’s arrival and the presence of the Trench Coat Man and his friend had not been in the plan, but she couldn’t give up now. Her heart raced as she tried to figure out what to do next.
“I really want to see what’s in that pouch. I mean, you pulled it from that hole in the ground. Didn’t you, Mr. Farill? What is it?”
Mr. Farill’s smile tightened into a toothy snarl. “I’m losing my patience with you, Paloma.”
“C’mon, Paloma. He’s being a jerk. Let’s just go,” Tavo said again, tugging at her arm.
She pulled away from Tavo and stepped closer to the Trench Coat Man. “Do you recognize me?” she said with a forced smile. The Trench Coat Man grinned and rubbed his chin where she had kicked him the night he’d grabbed her from under the desk.
“What are you talking about?” Tavo asked her. “What’s going on?”
“You should show us what’s inside the pouch,” she said. The Trench Coat Man let out a small chuckle. The stocky man next to him laughed, showing a set of gold teeth. Paloma gave a side glance to where Gael was still recording everything.
“If you insist,” the Trench Coat Man said.
“Is this really necessary?” Mr. Farill asked as the Trench Coat Man opened the small box.
The Trench Coat Man’s face went white. “What’s the meaning of this?” he bellowed, turning the box to face Mr. Farill. Inside was Mr. Farill’s gold cuff link. Paloma smirked.
“Is that your cuff link?” Tavo asked. “What’s going on? Why—”
“Where’s the ring?” the Trench Coat Man growled, and lurched for Mr. Farill’s tuxedo collar. “You better not be messing with me!” he threatened. “We made a deal! Our buyer isn’t going to be happy!”
“It was there!” Mr. Farill cried. “I hid it here in the hole. I just checked on it last week—it was there!”
Tavo jumped in and tried to pull the man off his father. But the Trench Coat Man pushed Tavo back, slamming him into Paloma, who let out a weak wail.
Suddenly, Gael leapt out from under the desk. “Leave her alone!”
The short, stocky man grabbed Gael in a headlock. Every hair on Paloma’s body stood up as Gael grimaced in pain.
“Let him go!” she screamed.
The Trench Coat Man gave his friend a nod. Soon, Gael was out of the headlock, but his arms were pulled behind his back.
“Who do we have here?” Mr. Farill asked. Paloma narrowed her eyes at Gael, warning him against making his speech, but he stood up as straight as he could and locked eyes with Mr. Farill.
“My name is Gael Lorca Castillo. Son of Antonio Manuel Castillo,” he said. “You framed my father. Now you will confess like the scum you are.”
“Gael Castillo?” Tavo repeated. “Your Spanish tutor?”
Paloma bit down on her lower lip. She was scared for Gael. Who knew what Mr. Farill would do next!
“Your father was a fool!” Mr. Farill spat. “I gave him the choice to get a cut of what I was selling the ring for, but he lacked vision. He believed Frida’s artwork should stay in Mexico. He was a fool, and you’re a fool for thinking you could take the ring from me. Now hand it over! I know you have it.”
Gael gulped hard and started muttering in Spanish as he patted his pants, pretending he was looking for the ring. Paloma clutched her purse straps. The ring was tucked inside.
“What are you saying, Dad?” Tavo said. “Why are you acting like this?”
“Your father is smuggling Frida’s peacock ring out of Mexico,” Paloma said. Her heart thumped hard in her chest. Poor Tavo. She regretted him being with them, but there was no hiding the truth now. Mr. Farill didn’t love art. He loved money. His mask was off. She hoped Lizzie and the entire party was hearing everything. “He sells the artifacts he steals. He framed Antonio Castillo for it—”
“Be quiet, you conniving brat!” Mr. Farill snarled.
“You’ve really lost it, Dad,” Tavo said, shaking his head.
“Me? These traviesos have been running around together behind your back and trading notes. They’re the ones who broke into our home. Sergei here has been watching them since you told me that Paloma’s tutor was Gael Castillo.” Mr. Farill gestured toward the stocky man who stood behind Gael. Gael and Paloma exchanged a quick, confused look. They thought Sergei was the Trench Coat Man’s name. “I knew then that the Castillos were up to something.” Mr. Farill turned from Tavo to Gael. “Now you and your sister can join your dad in jail.”
“You belong in jail!” Gael hollere
d.
“That’s enough!” the Trench Coat Man growled. He tapped his chest. “We have what we need.”
Mr. Farill gave the Trench Coat Man a startled look. “What are you talking about?”
A chill went up Paloma’s spine as the door burst open behind them. A bright light pointed at Mr. Farill. The blood drained from his face, and he raised his hands up over his head.
“Step away from the children!” a loud booming voice called from the door. Paloma knew that woman’s voice. She spun around to see the Fortune-Teller holding a gun … and a badge.
Behind the Fortune-Teller, a group of police officers dressed in black uniforms swarmed into the room. She quickly handcuffed Sergei, while the Trench Coat Man handcuffed Mr. Farill, then shoved him toward another police officer to lead him out of the room.
“Dad!” Tavo cried out. “What’s going on?”
“Don’t worry, son!” he yelled over his shoulder. “I’ve been set up. Tell your mom to call my lawyer …”
Paloma glanced over at Tavo. His face flushed red as if he’d just been smacked. A police officer moved to guide him toward the door, but he raised his hands to stop her.
“I’m fine,” he said softly, and walked out of the room alone.
Paloma remained frozen, waiting for answers from the Trench Coat Man and the Fortune-Teller.
“Who are you?” she asked them. Gael stood next to her, clearly too shocked to speak.
“We’re Interpol officers. International police,” the Fortune-Teller answered. “We’ve been tracking art smuggling between Mexico and Russia for a while now. Without your help, we couldn’t have caught Sergei or Mr. Farill.”
“And Mr. Castillo?” Paloma asked. “Can you get him out of jail now?”
The Trench Coat Man nodded and smiled. “He’ll be home by daybreak. Do you have a certain piece of evidence for us?”
“What?” Paloma asked. Gael nudged her. “Oh yeah, the ring. I almost forgot.” She chuckled, pulled the peacock ring from her bag, and handed it to the Fortune-Teller.
“Nice touch with the cuff link,” the Trench Coat Man said with a wink. “I never saw that coming.”
“Thanks,” Paloma said.
The Fortune-Teller looked over the peacock ring. “It’s beautiful. No wonder you asked me for one,” she teased. “Good job, kids.”
One of the police officers threw a blanket around Gael and started to walk him out of the room. Gael looked back and called for Paloma.
“I’m not leaving without her,” he said. Before she knew it, the Trench Coat Man had taken off his namesake coat and covered her shoulders with it. She clasped Gael’s hand as they walked out of the room together.
“Mr. Farill called us traviesos,” Paloma said. “What does that mean?”
“It means ‘troublemakers.’” Gael smiled and shrugged. “Maybe we are?”
Paloma let out a deep breath. “Definitely.”
Once outside in the courtyard, Lizzie came running up to Gael and Paloma and hugged them.
“We did it!” she squealed.
All the guests whispered and mumbled back and forth to one another as Mr. Farill and the man named Sergei were escorted through the courtyard and into flashing police cars.
Paloma’s mom rushed to her, clutched her tight, and kissed her head. “Are you okay?” she asked, pressing Paloma’s face between her hands. “Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine,” Paloma said.
Tavo ran to his mother. For a moment, he held Paloma’s gaze, but then he pulled his mask off and looked down at the floor. She had never meant to hurt him. She tried to lock eyes with him again, but his mom pulled him away toward the exit. He never looked back. Paloma felt a lump form in her throat as she wondered if that was the last time she’d see him.
“Damas y caballeros,” the Fortune-Teller announced into the microphone to gather the guests. She went on to explain that they were Interpol officers and, although they apologized for the interruption to the party, they had no choice but to take action in order to protect the three young heroes who secured one of Frida Kahlo’s most treasured pieces of jewelry. Gael translated for Paloma everything the Fortune-Teller said. Guests muttered back and forth to one another and stole glances at Paloma, Gael, and Lizzie, who huddled close together.
“Because of the bravery of these children tonight on Frida Kahlo’s birthday,” Gael translated, “the peacock ring that was stolen from Frida Kahlo, Casa Azul, and the people of Mexico has been returned safely.”
The Fortune-Teller held the peacock ring up for everyone to see. Excited squeals filled the night air as rays of sparkling blue and green light reflected around the courtyard. Everyone cheered, and Paloma finally found herself able to smile as police officers patted her back and people from the crowd blew kisses to the three children.
“That was some party,” Professor Breton said, giving Paloma a high five.
Paloma pouted. “I feel a little bad about it.”
“Why?”
“We had to ruin Frida’s party to get her peacock ring back,” Paloma said.
“Ruin her party? Have you learned nothing about the artist?” Professor Breton said, shaking his head. “I think this is exactly the kind of party Frida would have loved. International police? Russian smugglers? A fortune-teller who arrests everyone? She would have been thrilled.”
Paloma nodded. He was right. She gazed up toward Frida’s bedroom, where her urn was set atop a table.
“Feliz cumpleaños, Frida,” Paloma said softly.
As soon she arrived at Casa Azul for the award ceremony, everyone started taking pictures of Paloma and her mom. Several people gave her flowers and called her la Palomita Valiente. The brave little dove. The newspaper even ran a story with that headline detailing how Paloma, Gael, and Lizzie had confronted a Russian jewelry smuggler and the wealthy and powerful Mr. Farill, and returned Frida’s missing jewelry to Casa Azul.
Paloma enjoyed the attention and looked forward to receiving a medal from the mayor, but mostly she wanted to see Gael and Lizzie, the Fortune-Teller, and the Trench Coat Man one more time before she returned home to Kansas.
The Trench Coat Man’s real name was Mikhail Alexeev. From newspaper articles, Paloma learned how Mikhail and Rosa Zuniga, fortune-teller/Interpol officer, had been tracking art that was being smuggled between Mexico and Russia. For a year, Mikhail had spent time infiltrating underground operations, when he received a message from a man named Sergei Rykov who was helping an unknown client sell a valuable artifact designed by the popular artist Frida Kahlo. Mikhail quickly called his fellow officer Rosa Zuniga to help him with the case because he believed an innocent man was in jail for stealing the artifact from Casa Azul. So Mikhail quickly disguised himself as a Russian smuggler and made contact with Sergei, who then put him in touch with Mr. Farill. Tavo’s father had been so anxious to sell Frida’s peacock ring—which was worth over five million dollars—that he became sloppy when he framed Mr. Castillo. None of the museum staff believed Mr. Castillo could do such a thing. Suspecting something strange was going on, they quickly began to install security cameras all over Casa Azul.
While Mikhail was waiting for the right moment to capture Mr. Farill and Sergei, Rosa was charged with watching Mr. Castillo’s children. They knew that Gael and Lizzie were actively trying to free their father and needed extra protection. Rosa disguised herself as a fortune-teller to keep an eye on them. But Interpol couldn’t figure out how Paloma was involved.
Paloma remembered how the Trench Coat Man had given her a look of confusion when he saw her under the desk. Now she knew it was because he was expecting Gael or Lizzie. According to the newspapers, Mikhail and Rosa were blindsided when the twelve-year-old American showed up asking about a peacock ring and hanging out at Casa Azul. They praised Paloma for her bravery and smarts in finding the ring and setting into motion a plan to get a confession from Mr. Farill that would set Antonio Castillo free. Rosa even called her a “future Interpol detective.
” And now she and her friends were being honored by the city!
As Paloma entered the courtyard, Gael and Lizzie rushed up to her with their dad close behind them.
Mr. Castillo gave Paloma a big hug.
“I still can’t thank you enough,” he said. “You are part of our family now.”
Paloma nodded. She felt like she might cry. This, for her, was the true reward of the day. She didn’t need anything else.
A mariachi band started to play, marking the beginning of the ceremony. As the mayor introduced Rosa Zuniga to present a medal and check for five thousand dollars to each of the kids, Paloma glanced to the side of the courtyard and noticed a boy with brownish hair staring into the fountain. He wore a light blue polo shirt and beige pants, and looked very familiar. “Tavo,” Paloma whispered. When she looked again, she caught a better glimpse of the boy’s face. Her heart sank. It wasn’t Tavo.
She’d tried calling him the day after the masquerade party, but he hadn’t answered. She didn’t blame him. Since the party, news of his father’s crimes was in every local newspaper. For all she knew, Tavo wasn’t even in Coyoacán anymore. Today she was hoping to learn more about what was happening to his family from Rosa or Mikhail. She didn’t feel right returning to Kansas without knowing if he was okay.
After the ceremony, Paloma, Gael, and Lizzie sat at a long craft table with the other kids in the audience. To celebrate Frida’s legacy, they would create their own self-portraits. Some press hovered around them and took pictures as they painted. Paloma was just about to throw her first attempt away and start a new portrait when suddenly Rosa and Mikhail took a seat next to her.
“I have an update for you, traviesos,” Rosa said. “It’s not great news, I’m afraid.” Paloma braced herself for news about Tavo. “The Farills are going back to Spain tomorrow. As part of the deal they’ve made, Mr. Farill won’t go to jail, but he will no longer be welcome in Mexico. They will be forced to sell their house and all their property here.”
Me, Frida, and the Secret of the Peacock Ring Page 14