The Beverly Gray Series #23-25

Beverly Gray Uncovers a Fake Art Ring and Exonerates a Friend

Any person who has not yet read the Beverly Gray series is warned that the following summaries will reveal important plot information that not all readers would wish to know before reading the stories.

#23 Beverly Gray's Discovery

Shirley pays a high price for an original Dumier from an art dealer in Philadelphia. Lois is skeptical, because she thinks she recognizes the child in the painting. Beverly tells Charlie Blaine, who informs her of a fake art ring that has been operating internationally and tells her to make it her new assignment. Beverly speaks to the art dealer who sold the portrait, Jason Smith, and does not trust him. She follows Smith at night to a house in the country and sees him working on a portrait that appears to be the Mona Lisa.

Pierre Valadon, a friend of Lois from Paris, is staying in Philadelphia. He knows both Jason Smith and a wealthy art collector, Mr. Dorsay. Beverly worries that Pierre may be involved, because she finds a picture of a girl in his album who looks just like the girl in Shirley's portrait. Dorsay and Smith are sponsoring an art show for Pierre, and Smith is keeping Pierre's paintings in storage.

Beverly learns the names of several people who have purchased valuable paintings from Smith. She focuses on Elvira Grant, who has sold some of her own paintings to other people. Beverly speaks to Mrs. Grant, who is evasive, and shortly thereafter sees Mrs. Grant talking to Jason Smith. Beverly obtains Mrs. Grant's old address, and while in that community, notices a vacant shop with Jason Smith's name on the window. Beverly questions the landlord who informs her that Jason Smith sold misrepresented antiques with the help of a Mrs. Grant.

Beverly discovers that Shirley's painting was done by Pierre who gave it to Jason Smith to keep for his art show. Smith aged the painting and replaced the signature with Dumier's and sold it for a high price. Pierre denies ever copying famous works of art. Beverly locates a young French artist with whom Jason Smith has been in contact. He admits to copying famous paintings and then handing them over to Jason Smith. The young people spring a trap for Jason Smith, and the authorities arrest the fake art dealer.

#24 Beverly Gray's Scoop

Explorer Frank Stanton asks Beverly to interview him the next day, and then a mysterious stranger asks to speak to her and leaves a package in her car which contains two emeralds. Frank Stanton dies of a heart attack before Beverly can meet him. Both a young woman and the young man who accidentally left the package in her car show up at Stanton's home claiming to be his heirs. The young man claims that he is James Stanton. Beverly learns from Jim that Jim is Frank Stanton's nephew and that the young man is an imposter. Jim is to inherit his uncle's estate.

Beverly takes the emeralds to be appraised and learns that they are fake. She speaks to the fake James Stanton and concludes that he is unaware that the emeralds are fake. The young man flees when he sees that he is being watched by a young woman. Beverly speaks to the young woman, whose name is Julia Peters. Julia says that she was hired by Mrs. Marsden, a friend of Frank Stanton, to watch James Stanton.

Julia and Beverly decide to work together and learn that Mrs. Marsden is trying to find out about the jewels. Meanwhile, Beverly learns that the fake James Stanton is Johnny Saunders, a steward on the ship on which Frank Stanton came home. Beverly and Julia overhear a conversation between Mrs. Marsden and Johnny. The two are now working together in an attempt to find the emeralds. The culprits are soon captured, and Beverly and Jim find the real emeralds. Jim has the emeralds set in a brooch for Lois, and he and Lois plan to be married immediately.

#25 Beverly Gray's Surprise

Michael McKay has been working in Montana with a man named Mr. Brewster, who found a rich gold deposit. Mr. Brewster became very ill, and Michael had him flown home while Michael took care of registering the claim and had maps to the location made. He brought the maps to Mr. Brewster, but they were stolen. Mr. Brewster is convinced that Michael is the thief, and Michael has gone into hiding.

Mr. Brewster heads to Montana to find Mike, accompanied by Larry, Beverly, and Lenora. Beverly uses a horse that Mike preferred to ride, hoping to draw him out of hiding. A mysterious young man with red hair named Leahcim comes to Beverly's rescue when she gets caught in a hunter's trap. Beverly correctly guesses that the young man is Michael McKay in disguise. Mike hopes to uncover the real thief before he comes out of hiding and asks Beverly to tell no one of his whereabouts.

Beverly learns that Mike had put the maps in code, making them worthless to the thieves and giving the thieves reason to look for Mike. Mr. Brewster continues his search for Mike. Later, Beverly wishes to talk to Mike again, but he isn't in his trailer. She traces him to the old mine where she finds him trapped in a cave-in. After Beverly rescues Mike, she heads towards camp and discovers Betsy Fuller unconscious after falling off her horse. Beverly is shocked to see Betsy, because Betsy was a girl who claimed to know Lois and stayed with them right before they left New York. Beverly goes to get water for Betsy, but Betsy disappears while Beverly is gone. Beverly now realizes that Betsy must have been seeking information about Mike. Mike disappears, and Beverly is taken captive by Betsy while she is looking for Mike. Beverly escapes and gets word to the others who come to help. The thieves are captured, Mike is exonerated, and Mike gets his job with Mr. Brewster back. Everybody prepares to head back to New York City.

The series was cancelled without us learning the answer to one important question: Who would Lenora have married, Michael McKay or Terry Cartwright? In Beverly Gray's Surprise, Mike mentions that when he began to work for Mr. Brewster, he felt that he could finally marry Lenora. Lenora had been undecided as to which man she would prefer to marry, but would she have agreed when Mike finally asked her? We'll never know. At least we can be fairly certain that Beverly did finally end up with Larry even though they never married before the end of the series.

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