Hard As Ice (Fortis Series 1) (5 page)

In her comfort zone, Nia relaxed a little. She crossed her legs and rested an elbow on the conference table.

“Sometime in the nineteen-fifties, the diamond was bought by someone in the British royal family and made into the current necklace by a custom jeweler. Then, in 1954, the wife of Mohammed Al-Fayed received the necklace as a wedding gift from her brother, a wealthy Saudi arms dealer. Dodi Fayed was her only child, so he inherited the necklace when she died in the eighties. It was sold privately to Mrs. Niknam by Dodi’s estate a couple of years after his death.”

“Did you know about the necklace when you met Mrs. Niknam?”

“Not at first. But I found it in my research. In the media frenzy after the deaths of Dodi and Princess Diana, there were pictures of her wearing the necklace within the months prior, along with speculation that Dodi had given it to her. So there was some interest in the auction gemology world when it was sold to an American socialite in 1999.”

There was a pause as the two men looked at her speculatively. Nia sat straighter again, feeling as though they were reading her. Had she said something incriminating? How was that possible? It was all true.

“You must have been pretty excited by the discovery, right, Nia?” Raymond asked, breaking his silence. “Connecting with the owner of such a rare piece of jewelry?”

She turned to him, now smelling where they were going.

“Sure I was. It’s a great story connected to a stunning gem. But that’s the auction business. It’s not just the jewelry or art that holds value; it’s the background. The artists, the owners, the historical significance. That’s what we sell.”

The men looked at each other, then went back to their questions, asking her to walk through how and when she signed the agreement with Aubrey Niknam, and the final delivery of the necklace to Worthington that Monday.

“Why did you take possession so early? The auction isn’t for almost three months,” Michael asked.

“Since it’s one of the biggest and most brilliant red diamonds in the world, we’ve set up a series of charity-based exhibits around the world over the six weeks prior to the auction. It’s a great way to attract more buyers for the final sale. The first exhibit is in New York around Independence Day, so we needed the time prior to that to complete the marketing strategy and catalog.”

“Is that normal?”

“Not for Worthington. We haven’t done an auction this big before. But it’s more and more common with the big firms.”

“Mr. Worthington is concerned that the theft of these items will ruin his business, even though he has the insurance to cover the loss,” said Michael as he stood up and walked behind her.

“I don’t know if it would completely shut us down,” she responded in a quiet voice. “But it will be pretty bad. It’s not the money, it’s the brand damage. Like I said, it’s not the items themselves that we sell, it’s the history and the connection to significant people and events. A Rolex watch or Davidoff humidor is a collectible, it will retain its value over time. But one once owned by Mandela or Walt Disney is irreplaceable. Not all of the items we manage are like the Crimson Amazon, but our customers and the industry need to trust that significant items are safe in our possession. Otherwise, we might as well run a flea market.”

Michael returned to her line of vision with a smirk on his face from her sarcastic quip.

“And what about you, Nia. You’re fairly new in the auction world. What would this do to your career?” he questioned.

She shrugged.

“The lost commission would put a dent in my retirement plans, for sure.”

Raymond laughed.

“I don’t really know,” she continued, looking Michael in the eye. “I guess it depends on whether I’m found to be responsible in any way.”

“Are you responsible?” he shot back.

“No. Not intentionally, anyway,” replied Nia, honestly. “I’ve gone through all the details over and over again to make sure I did everything I was supposed to. Trust me, I’ve thought of little else since Tuesday morning. But I don’t know of anything I did that left the safe vulnerable.”

Michael nodded.

“Where were you on Monday night, Ms. James?” he asked smoothly.

Nia knew it was a reasonable question for them to ask, but it still made her heart pound.

“I was at home.”

“All night?” Michael probed.

“Pretty much. I worked until after seven o’clock, then got home before eight o’clock.”

“You didn’t stop anywhere after work? Meet anyone?”

Nia blinked.

“I stopped at the drugstore near the house,” she added.

“Did you meet anyone? Or is there anyone who can confirm you were at home all night?”

She let out a deep breath. There was no way around it.

“No, no one.”

Both men looked at her hard for several seconds. She tried not to fidget under their inspection.

“Let’s talk a little bit about the other employees here. We know that Edward had changed the safe combination on Friday evening before the jewels arrived, and only shared it with you. Did anyone else know the jewels were arriving?”

“Sure,” she quickly replied. “The account managers for the other jewels had brought in their clients’ pieces in the week prior. Edward only changed the combination because of the Crimson Amazon. Taking possession of a twenty-five-million-dollar necklace makes you a little extra cautious, right? But no one else knew it was arriving on Monday afternoon. It came by private delivery directly to me.”

Michael nodded, sitting back down beside her.

“Okay. Now tell me about the other Worthington employees, starting with your people.”

She took a deep breath and provided as much information as she could about the rest of the team. It wasn’t much, beyond the specific roles and responsibilities.

“Tara Silver is the most senior account manager. She was hired directly by Edward before the Boston location opened, so she was already here when I started. She’s a solid performer with an extensive client list. The earrings she brought in for the auction put her over target for her sales quota this year.”

“And where was Ms. Silver when the Crimson Amazon necklace was delivered?” Michael asked.

“We had a standard team meeting Monday morning from eight-thirty to ten o’clock, then she left the office soon after to visit clients, and was gone for the rest of the day,” Nia recalled. “So had Cain Abbott and John English. Mimi Rodrigues was on vacation. She’s not back until Monday.”

“That’s all of your sales team?” clarified Michael. “Tell me about each of them.”

“Well, Cain and Mimi joined about the same time. I hired them about nine months ago. They both have good sales experience. Cain is doing a little better, but Mimi has enough on her plate to have a good year, I think,” she summarized. “John only started three months ago, so he’s still getting his feet wet. He had four lower-value pieces of the jewelry from the auction collection.”

“And your other two employees, Nancy Copeland and Adam Peterson?”

“They’re our sales coordinators. They help with client contracts, event planning, and other admin things.”

“Were they also aware of items purchased for the auction?” Michael asked while his partner kept writing.

“Of course, they drew up the contracts,” she explained.

“Did they know when the red diamond was arriving?”

Nia was about to say no right away, but stopped. Michael noted her hesitation with raised eyebrows, and sat back in his chair. Nancy had been assigned to the Niknam account. Nia stared at the conference-room wall, thinking through all the conversations and e-mails that had been exchanged about the Crimson Amazon. Had she let something slip?

“No,” she finally stated. “I’m sure of it.”

Michael gave one nod, then stood up.

“You’ve told us about everyone’s job. What can you tell us about them personally?” he asked, walking slowing behind her desk.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“What you know about the lives of your employees, Ms. James? Are they single, do they have children, hobbies?” he elaborated, looked down at her. “Is anyone struggling with anything that would suggest they could be involved in stealing from the company?”

She had no idea what to say. While she had a strong team and they worked well together, Nia didn’t know much about their personal lives beyond the basics.

“You’re asking me if I know who was involved in the theft? Of course not!” stated Nia.

“I just want to know a little more about them than their job title. Unless there is a reason you’re being vague.”

The formidable agent was now standing with his feet planted wide, and arms crossed. The interview was no longer cordial.

“I’ll tell you what I know, but I really can’t add very much,” she explained evenly.

“And why is that?”

“Because I don’t get involved with my team beyond work. That’s why. Office gossip is destructive, and I don’t allow anyone to participate in it,” Nia advised him. “So, I can only tell you the facts I know. Tara is a newlywed. She got married in March. Cain and Nancy are both married. Cain has a son and Nancy has three teenage kids. I can’t remember if it’s two boys and one girl, or the other way around.”

Michael watched her hard with lowered brows. Nia tried not to bite the side of her cheek with nervousness.

“Adam and John are both single, I think, and Mimi has a boyfriend.”

His brows lowered farther.

“I don’t know what else to tell you,” she added, feeling pressured and annoyed. “They have lunch together sometimes when they are in the office. And they all go to the bar across the street with others in the office on Fridays after work for drinks. But I can’t see how that helps your investigation.”

Michael didn’t react to her sassy comment. Instead, he took the slow path behind her chair, back to the other side of her chair.

“How well do you know Chris Morton and his team?”

She shrugged.

“I won’t have much to add there either, unfortunately,” she admitted. “Chris started with Tara when the office opened. He’s the operations manager, so he has Emma Sterling reporting to him. She’s the receptionist and handles any walk-in sales for the gallery.”

Michael stopped again, refolding his arms. Nia shrugged with frustration.

“I don’t socialize with any of them,” she insisted again. “Emma seems to come from a big family. She’s always talking about brothers and sisters and cousins. And I think she’s dating someone.”

“And Mr. Morton?” he probed.

Nia sighed. There wasn’t much to add there either.

“He’s divorced, no kids that I’m aware of. He’s really into sports. I think he even plays basketball for some kind of city league.”

There was a few seconds of silence.

“Ms. James, I don’t think I have to outline the seriousness of your situation,” declared Michael, before he went ahead and did just that. “You are the only person other than Mr. Worthington who knew when a twenty-five-million-dollar diamond arrived here. And the only other person to know the security code to a very secure safe, surrounded by motion sensors and in a building with comprehensive video surveillance. This is not the time for polite discretion.”

“I’m perfectly aware of what’s going on here, and how this looks,” she shot back coldly. “I don’t have any more information to give you. If I did, I promise you I would.”

“What about the rest of Morton’s team. He manages the three security guards and the warehouse staff?” added Michael.

“Yes. The security guards work shifts through an agency, but Chris supervises them. We also use laborers in the warehouse, from a staffing company, I think. Chris brings them in hourly when needed. But I don’t think we have any in this week.”

“And Matt Flannigan? He was the security guard on shift Monday night,” Michael stated, and Nia swallowed. “I’ll assume you’ve seen the news? He was shot to death yesterday. What do you know about him?”

“Not much, really. He was here before me, also. But, he used to have the day shift until a couple of weeks ago,” she told him.

“Do you know why he changed shifts?”

“I don’t know for sure, but I got the sense from Emma that it was for something personal,” Nia explained. “Something about his girlfriend, I think? I’m sure Chris will know the reason.”

Michael nodded as he sat back down in his chair.

“I think we both know Matt Flannigan was involved in the robbery, and was killed for his efforts,” Michael said in a silky voice. “Did you work with him to steal the jewels?”

“No!” Nia immediately replied.

“Did you give him the security code to the safe?”

“No! I had nothing to do with any of it!” she insisted.

“Well, someone gave the safe code to either Flannigan or another party. Who could have done that other than you?”

Nia couldn’t answer. What else could add to her defense? Without proof, it was fruitless.

“I don’t know who it was, but it certainly was not me,” she finally told him, her throat tight with anger, fear, and frustration.

“Okay, Ms. James. We only have a couple more questions for you. Let’s start with last Friday when Edward changed the security code and gave it to you.”

Nia went through the details that she was certain Edward has also provided.

The password administration for their digital safe was managed through a secure cloud solution, with a private key encryption code and digital signature validation. It allowed Edward to remotely generate a unique access code to the safe remotely. That Friday, Edward was in town, and gave Nia the new code verbally in her office. She memorized it, with nothing written down anywhere. That was their protocol, though they had only employed it twice in the last eleven months.

Then, Michael asked her to walk them through everything that happened from the time she woke up on Tuesday morning, through opening the empty safe just before noon. There was nothing significant that she could provide.