In 1941, the attack on Pearl Harbor ended debate as to whether the United States should become involved in World War II. The hasty entrance into war brought changes few expected. Two hundred thousand women enlisted in the military and twelve million, many who had never worked outside of their homes, took jobs in factories, offices, and as civilian workers on military bases.

This new supply of laborers quickly increased aircraft production. Eighty-five hundred planes a month rolled out of factories, twice the number previously manufactured in an entire year. More than half of the aircraft arrived at bases, ports, and other locations around the country, ferried by civilian women pilots of the Women Airforce Service Pilots, known as the WASP. Charlotte Mercer was one of those women.

Charlotte's career as a pilot nearly ends before it begins when an army major removes her from her training because she refuses his proposition to do something other than fly. She's sent to work at the defense plant with a female FBI agent to look for German spies.

Charlotte goes from WASP trainee to Rosie the Riveter on a hunt for a German agent who's an expert in demolition. She and her riveting partner, FBI agent Ellie Frazier, learn that catching spies is almost as hard as riveting.

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Monet's Palette

The screams are hers. They have to be, she’s the only one there, but why is she screaming, and why is there Alizarin Crimson paint splattered all over the back of the van? Then comes the pain, and with it, the knowledge that, though she’s breathing, her life is over.

An accident crushes the hand that Rayna Hunt painted with for thirty years, but not everyone believes that’s a bad thing. A few years earlier, Ray discovered a forged Claude Monet acquired by assistant curator at the Stratford Museum, Richard Keller.

Keller believes she ruined his career and sets out to destroy her. Rayna, her students, the curator, and a Chicago Police detective recovering from her own loss, go to work to stop him from stealing great works of art and killing Rayna.

Mrs. Quigley's Kidnapping

Mattie Draper remembers one of her earliest big cases when she opened her detective agency in 1968. She thought for while that it might be her last

Mrs. Quigley’s kidnapping took place in the woods surrounding the Quigley’s ten-acre estate. The grove of ancient trees offered refuge for small animals and relief for people seeking a peaceful hideaway. Although located in the exclusive Chicago suburb of Lake Oak, where privacy and safety were of utmost importance, the sanctuary failed to protect Diana.

The sheriff’s department relied on statements from two of the Quigley’s employees to determine events leading up to the kidnapping. Mrs. Anna Allen, the housekeeper, and Mr. Josh Spencer, the stable hand, and gardener.

Mrs. Allen told the police that she helped Mrs. Quigley lay out clothes that she had planned to wear to a meeting later in the day. She said that Miss Diana commented that she wouldn’t have much time, and wanted them ready to slip on when she came home from her ride. Diana Quigley, according to Mrs. Allen, was excited because the art museum board, on which she sat, had purchased four new paintings for the gallery. She wanted to be present when they arrived that afternoon.

Josh Spencer stated that he saw Mrs. Quigley approaching the barn as he brought Vagabond, her gray quarter horse, out for a morning ride. Josh also reported that Vagabond seemed uneasy and that Diana rubbed the horse’s neck but it did little to calm him.

How differently things might have gone for Mrs. Quigley, if she'd understood Vagabond’s warning.

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