Me, Frida, and the Secret of the Peacock Ring

Two days pass and Paloma receives no note from Gael. Then, during her school break, he and Lizzie appear. Paloma confronts them about their father’s imprisonment. Gael explains that their father was framed: After noticing that several items were missing while cataloging them at his job at Casa Azul, he tried to alert authorities. His alerts went unaddressed; then, someone placed the jeweled necklace inside of his bag. Gael insists that, because personnel were ignoring the alarm that his father was trying to sound, it is Mr. Farill who is responsible for the items going missing.

Lizzie and Gael are certain that Mr. Farill has stolen the peacock ring and that he is working with the man in the trench coat; Mr. Farill will pass the ring to him, who will then smuggle it out of the country. Paloma realizes that this theory fits with many details: Mr. Farill told her that he disapproves of the security cameras installed in Casa Azul after the theft; he decided to make the Frida party a masquerade at the last minute (which will allow him to pass along the ring to the trench coat man without exposing his identity); Gael was indeed in a taxi when Paloma visited their home; Lizzie and Gael were the ones who broke into the Farills’ home, looking for the ring.

Paloma understands now that the twins are in search of the ring in order to exonerate their father. She is moved because she knows how it feels to miss one’s father. However, she is unsure why they enlisted her help. Then she recalls speaking with Tavo on her first night in Mexico and noticing the twins observing her. Lizzie admits that they believed that if Paloma developed a friendship with Tavo, they could use her to obtain information about the Farills. Paloma, angry that she has been lied to, returns the Aztec eagle medallion to Gael.

Instead of going to class, Paloma goes to Casa Azul to see her father’s favorite painting, “My Dress Hangs There.” As she is studying it, Tavo appears, explaining that he is looking for a cuff link that his father lost. Paloma is certain that it is the one she found in the storage closet; this means that Mr. Farill must have been inside the closet, too. She suspects that both he and the trench coat man were searching for something there.

After Tavo leaves, Paloma goes to the storage closet, but it is locked. She tries to break the lock with a rock but has no success; she tosses the rock to the ground but is surprised by the metallic sound that it makes when it hits the ground. It has landed on a metal box, which Paloma opens. Inside she finds a key and a note in Spanish saying only “the morning” at 8:15 am.

Paloma uses the key to unlock the storage room. She searches it until she comes across a loose tile in the floor. She removes it and plunges her hand into the hole, and inside is a small box containing the peacock ring. She quickly pockets it, deciding that she must come up with a plan to prove that it was taken by Mr. Farill.

As Paloma exits Casa Azul, she hears the mariachi band rehearsing a song with the word “mañanitas” (“tomorrow morning”) in it. She asks an employee about the song and learns that the band is rehearsing for Frida’s party. Paloma suspects that the note she found in the box refers to the playing of the song.

She rushes to the churro stand to tell Gael and Lizzie about the ring, but she arrives just in time to see them getting into a taxi. Paloma hails one too and asks the driver to follow the taxi in front of them.

The taxi arrives at a market. Paloma follows Gael and Lizzie on foot through it until she realizes that it is Mr. Farill whom the Castillos are trailing.

Gael and Lizzie see Paloma. They explain that they wish to confront Mr. Farill about the theft; he is now inside a room with the trench coat man. They are certain that the transfer of the ring must be currently taking place, but then Paloma shows them the ring. The three decide that they will invent a story that will convince a nearby police officer to confront Mr. Farill.

After telling an officer that Mr. Farill stole her phone then ran into the room, Lizzie brings the officer over. He breaks the handle off of the door with his baton, but no one is inside. In the room, however, there is a wastebasket with Paloma’s note inside.

That night, Paloma again dreams of Frida. She asks Frida whether she can help her solve the mystery, but Frida insists that only Paloma can solve it.

Paloma meets with Gael and Lizzie to come up with a plan to trap Mr. Farill. Lizzie explains that all of the mariachi bands are scheduled to play “Happy Birthday” together at the moment that Frida’s birthday cake is presented—this is when they believe that the trench coat man will take the ring from its hiding place. Paloma insists that what they should do is confuse Mr. Farill by sending him a note that he believes to be from the trench coat man that insists that the plan has to be changed. A second element of the plan will be to have Gael place something in the place where the peacock ring was hidden in the locked room’s floorboards.

On the night of the party, Paloma puts on a peacock mask. Her mother gifts her with a necklace made with the opal from her wedding ring.

At Casa Azul, Paloma spots Mr. Farill wearing a black suit and a gold mask. She confers with Lizzie and Gael about their plan, then heads out to the courtyard, looking for Mr. Farill. She spots him but then panics to see him heading toward the locked room, as it is not yet the scheduled time for him to meet the trench coat man. Paloma watches Mr. Farill enter the room and can see that Gael is hidden safely inside underneath a blanket, filming with his phone camera. The plan is for Lizzie to broadcast the conversation via the audio system, exposing Mr. Farill to the entire party.

When Mr. Farill begins to search for the ring beneath the tile, Paloma approaches him to ask what it is he is doing. As she does, however, Tavo appears, asking the same question. Mr. Farill tries to get them to leave, but then the trench coat man appears, demanding that Mr. Farill give him the item that he has recovered from the floor. Tavo is confused; Mr. Farill hands over the box, snarling at the trench coat man for being early. When the trench coat man discovers Mr. Farill’s cuff link in the box, a fight breaks out. Gael rushes out of hiding and he is captured by a man with the trench coat man. As Gael and Paloma explain to Tavo what his father has done, a woman suddenly appears: It is the fortune teller. She holds a gun and a police badge.

The police officer, who has been disguised as a fortune teller all along, handcuffs Mr. Farill. The trench coat man, too, is a police officer who has been trying to catch Mr. Farill with the ring. As Mr. Farill is led away, he calls Paloma, Gael, and Lizzie “trouble makers.” Paloma is saddened that Tavo must learn that his father is a thief, but then she is relieved when police tell them that Mr. Castillo is being released.

As the party continues, Professor Breton assures Paloma that Frida would have been thrilled to have such justice carried out in her honor.

The mayor hosts a ceremony to honor Gael, Lizzie, and Paloma for their role in ensuring that the ring was returned. Paloma is gifted a new moniker: “la Palomita Valiente” (211), meaning “the brave little dove.” The fortune teller, whose real name is Rosa Zuniga, and the trench coat man, whose real name is Mikhail Alexeev, have been tracking underground art smuggling between Mexico and Russia. They learn that Mr. Farill has made a deal to avoid jail time but that he is barred from living in Mexico. Paloma worries about Tavo and what will happen to him. Mr. Castillo comes back, however, and he joins others in thanking Paloma for her help.

Before the day ends, Rosa gives Paloma a note from Tavo. In it, he explains that he and his mother will be relocating to Spain where they will live without his father. He understands why Paloma and the twins had to take steps to reveal his father’s wrongdoings and does not fault them for this. He hopes that he and Paloma will one day be able to see one another again.

The night before she and her mother are scheduled to depart from Mexico, Paloma looks through the notecards in her memory box. She is grateful that she has been able to add new memories that involve Gael and Lizzie. Then, she hears music: The twins are serenading her once more from the street below.

Gael gifts Paloma a painting that he has made depicting he and Lizzie with a large peacock. Paloma, in turn, has painted a self-portrait which she gifts to the twins to remember her. The three friends stay up all night, chatting, laughing, and eating churros.