Jewelry Can Be Deadly (Sage Gardens Cozy Mystery Book 6) (9 page)

W
hen Eddy
and Jo arrived at Eddy’s villa, Samantha and Walt were already there.

“So, no luck?” Walt stepped back to let Eddy unlock the door.

“All we did was run into Roger breaking into Tony’s house to get the necklace back.” Eddy shook his head.

“But we didn’t find the necklace.” Jo frowned.

“Well, that just means we have another chance to look for it.” Samantha smiled. “I have to say that I’m rather enjoying the hunt.” The eyes of all the others turned on her. Jo raised an eyebrow. “What?” Samantha shrugged. “We’re essentially hunting for lost treasure. That doesn’t seem like fun to any of you?”

“Maybe it would be fun if we had a solid clue about where to look.” Jo frowned. “I am the most experienced treasure hunter out of all of us, but I can’t get it right. My instincts are going haywire.”

“Oh, trust me.” Eddy clapped her lightly on the shoulder. “That’s called old age.”

“Speak for yourself.” Samantha raised an eyebrow. “Jo, maybe you just need some rest.”

“Maybe.” Jo nodded and joined the others as they entered the villa.

“I found out that the estimated time of death was around ten,” Samantha said. “Shortly before the body was found by Roger.”

“So that rules out Roger again because he was at the buffet,” Eddy said. “He couldn’t have murdered her before going there.”

Jo settled on one side of the couch. Eddy pressed a drink into her hand, a few minutes later Samantha presented a sandwich. Jo couldn’t focus on what was being said or done. She heard snippets of conversation about Valda’s body, the absence of any trouble from Valda’s past, and their inability to locate the necklace. But what really occupied her mind was that the front door was left open. As much as she wanted to believe that Tony might have been in the house, she was almost certain that someone else was there.

“Jo, can I talk to you?” Samantha sat down next to her. Jo nodded and looked over at her. Samantha waited until Eddy and Walt were engaged in an argument over the justice system versus rehabilitation, then she scooted closer to Jo on the couch and lowered her voice.

“While I was going around in circles I did a little research on Drew. I hope you don’t mind.”

“What kind of research?”

“Well, I know the two of you have been out of touch for a very long time, so I just wanted to look into what he’s been up to.”

“Oh.” Jo frowned. “What did you find?”

“It isn’t good.” Samantha lowered her voice even further, to a whisper. “There have been two charges of assault, but he was not prosecuted on either one.”

“Well, then he probably didn’t do it.”

“Maybe. Or he might have cut a deal of some kind, or there wasn’t enough evidence to hold him.”

“He’s not violent, but knowing Drew, even if he punched a police officer in the face he would find his way out of it. He’s highly intelligent and very charismatic.”

“Which makes him even more dangerous.”

“Samantha?” Jo leaned towards her.

“Listen, I’ve done my best to hold my tongue on this, but I don’t want you to be at risk. Whoever you thought Drew was all those years ago, you don’t know if he still is.”

Jo grimaced. “I know that. I’m not so foolish to think that I can trust him. I don’t think he’s a murderer, but lately my instincts have all been wrong.”

“I don’t think that they’re wrong. There are a ton of emotions involved in all of this for you, Jo. I’m sure you’re just having a hard time sorting through them to get to the truth. But in time you will figure it out. Until then, I just want to make sure that you use caution around Drew. I have instincts, too, and Drew strikes me as someone who will do whatever it takes to get whatever it is that he wants.”

“You’re right about that.” Jo sighed. “I think I need some air.” As she walked out of the villa she passed through Eddy and Walt’s heated conversation.

“You can’t throw a person away based on a mistake,” Walt insisted.

“Some mistakes you can’t come back from,” Eddy argued.

Jo closed her eyes and closed the door behind her. Had Drew made a mistake that he couldn’t come back from? She hated to think it, but she knew that it was possible.

Jo stood outside the door and stared into the distance. It kept bothering her that the front door of Tony’s house was open. Had he been there when they arrived? Was that why the necklace was gone? She shifted from foot to foot. He might have hidden it somewhere, but where? The curtain rod seemed like the perfect place. Despite her breaking in they were no closer to knowing who had the necklace or who murdered Valda. It made her uneasy to think that maybe Tony somehow knew she was on her way there and had taken the time to grab the necklace before bolting out the door. Or perhaps, her instincts were wrong and the necklace was never in the curtain rod. What they needed was a way to draw Tony into admitting that he had the necklace.

Jo bit into her bottom lip and closed her eyes. She ran through memories of different break-ins she had taken part in. Then she recalled one particular event. Drew wanted to steal a particular collectible, but it was already stolen. No one knew who had it. He decided to set a trap by baiting other thieves with the idea that he had the item. He leaked to them that it was in a particular place. Then he sat outside and watched as one by one all of the thieves attempted to find it. All except one. He knew then, the one who had not attempted to get it, was the one who had it all along. As far as she knew he never successfully stole the item, but he did find out who had it.

“Eddy?” Jo poked her head inside the villa. “I have an idea.”

“What is it?” Eddy stood up and walked over to her.

“You’re not going to like it.” Jo eyed him hesitantly.

“Why not?”

“Because we’re going to need Roger’s help to pull off what I’m planning.”

“What?” He frowned. “That man is not trustworthy. I’m not convinced that he didn’t have a part in the necklace going missing and the murder. He’s one of our suspects. How can we work with him to find out who the killer is if it might be him?”

“I’m not convinced that he’s innocent either, but we need to make him think that we believe him, that way he will cooperate with us. In the long run it will pay off. I want to set a trap. I want to tell Roger that we believe that he doesn’t have the necklace, but that we’re going to pretend that he does to get Tony or whoever else might be interested in the necklace to come looking for it.” She lowered her eyes as she wondered if Drew would be one of them. She couldn’t worry about that, as she knew that she had to focus on solving the crime, not protecting Drew. “So, we’ll tempt them and then wait for them to show up. If Tony doesn’t show, then we’ll know he has it.”

“What if Roger has it?” Eddy asked.

“I don’t think he does, but even if he does, he’ll play along, he’s not going to admit to having it, right?”

“Right, he probably won’t.” Eddy nodded.

“And if he does admit to it then we’ll at least know that he has it,” Jo said.

“So, if Tony does show up, we’ll know Tony doesn’t have it, and we don’t have to focus on him.”

“We can set up the sting at Roger’s place. That will probably give me time to do a thorough search of his house. I believe that if Roger has the necklace it will be somewhere in the house,” Jo stated.

“All right.” Eddy ran his hand back through his hair.”

“I’ll leak the information to my contact so it can get back to Tony,” Jo said.

“Good. We can have Walt monitor Tony’s movements to see if he goes anywhere. If he does have the necklace and someone else claims to have it, I guarantee you he’ll go to wherever he is hiding it to check to make sure that it is still there.”

“Good point.” Jo smiled. “I like the way you think, Eddy.”

“I think you’re the only one.” Eddy grinned.

As the two began to work out the plan for the sting the next day Walt and Samantha joined in.

“You do realize that you’ll be the target of anyone who wants this necklace right?” Walt sighed. “I’m not so sure that’s the best idea.”

“Maybe not, but it’s the only one we have right now.” Jo frowned. “The longer we let this go on, the more likely it is that Valda’s death will get swept under the rug.”

“She’s right.” Samantha nodded. “At this point there is no evidence that we know of to prove who killed her. Maybe if we find out who has the necklace it will lead us to the murderer or even a confession.”

“I hope so.” Eddy yawned. “But before we do any of that, we all need some rest. Jo and I will head to Roger’s in the morning. Let’s all plan to get into position by eight, that way we can catch Roger and Tony before either of them think about leaving the house.”

“Good plan.” Samantha nodded. “I’ll do a little more research tonight, too. I want to know if there is anything floating around on the internet about the necklace.”

“I’m going to head home.” Jo stepped out of the villa. Walt stepped out behind her.

“I’ll walk you.”

“That’s not necessary.”

“I know, but I could use the company.” Walt smiled. Jo thought about arguing, but she decided against it. If she was honest with herself she felt like company. The two began to walk in silence towards Jo’s villa. After a few minutes, Walt took a short breath and looked over at her.

“Are you doing okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Drew.”

Jo blinked. “I thought we agreed not to mention that?”

“I agreed not to mention it to anyone else. I never agreed not to make sure that you’re okay.”

“I’m fine.”

“Even after seeing him again?”

“Yes, whatever we had ended a very long time ago.” Jo paused at the end of her walkway. “I appreciate your concern, Walt, I really do. But I’ve never been the romantic type. I wasn’t then, and I’m not now. Sure, at one time Drew and I were close, but we’re entirely different people now. I don’t want anyone to get the impression that I am somehow still involved with him.”

“I didn’t mean it that way, Jo. Of course I know you’re not.”

“You might know that, but I doubt that Eddy will see it that way. I’d just prefer to pretend there is no connection between us. All right?” Jo met his eyes. “Please?”

“Sure.” He nodded. “I have no problem with that. But will you be able to say the same if he turns out to be responsible for Valda’s death? You know that you don’t owe this man anything, right?”

Jo clenched her jaw. “If Drew is the one who killed Valda, trust me I will be the first person to make sure that he pays for it.”

“All right.” Walt rocked back on his heels and nodded. “Good night, Jo.”

“Good night, Walt.” She walked up to her villa and closed the door behind her. She hoped that Walt believed her. More than that, she hoped that she would be able to live up to her own words.

B
right
and early the next morning Jo found Eddy waiting on her doorstep.

“Are Samantha and Walt in place?” Jo asked.

“Samantha is getting ready to keep an eye on Roger’s place and Walt is already sitting on Tony’s house.”

“Great.” Jo nodded. “Well, I guess it’s time to see if we can get Roger to cooperate with us.”

“I thought it would be better if we walked. That way there are no extra cars around Roger’s villa to make it look suspicious.”

“Good idea.”

“Jo, I’m going to ask you something, but I don’t want you to be offended by the question,” Eddy said as they walked towards Roger’s villa.

“All right.” Jo looked over at him. “What is it?”

“Do you think that any of your old friends have realized you live here in Sage Gardens?”

Jo thought about the fact that Drew knew. “Not anyone that we need to be concerned about.”

“That’s a rather evasive answer.” Eddy quirked a brow.

“Well, it was a rather invasive question. I have no idea who might know where I live. I’ve done my best to keep a low profile, but those I knew in the past could find anything that they were looking for, including people.”

“I understand that.” Eddy frowned.

“Then why ask the question?” Jo shrugged. “I don’t know anything more than you know, unless you’re insinuating that I’m in contact with some of these people.”

“I didn’t say that. I asked you not to get offended, remember?”

“Oh right, sorry.” She sighed and paused at the walkway that led up to Roger’s house. “Are we doing this or not?”

“We are,” Eddy said. “I didn’t mean to upset you, Jo.”

“Don’t worry about me, worry about Valda.” Jo walked up towards the front door of Roger’s house. Eddy followed after her. Jo knocked on the door. After a few minutes Roger opened it. He stared at Jo and then at Eddy.

“I wasn’t sure whether to answer. I thought you might have the police with you.”

“I kind of do.” Jo offered a half-smile. “Eddy is retired police.”

“Great.” Roger shook his head. “What do you want from me?”

“The same thing that you want, Roger. We want to solve Valda’s murder.”

Roger stuck his head out the door and looked up and down the street before looking back at Jo.

“Careful what you say.”

“Why?” Jo raised an eyebrow. “Are you expecting someone?”

“No.”

“Well, you might have a few guests soon. We’re going to tell the criminal world that you have the necklace.” Eddy smiled. “Soon, everyone who wants that necklace will be headed for this villa.”

“Are you kidding me?” He stared at Eddy and Jo. “There’s no way I’m going to tell anyone that I have the necklace. They’ll come after me, they’ll slaughter me.”

“Don’t worry, Roger, I’ll be here to protect you.” Jo flashed him a bright smile. “Are you going to let me stay? Because we’ve already exposed you and spread the rumor. So, either you stay here all by yourself, or you stay here with Eddy and me to look out for you. Which is it going to be?”

“All right, all right,” he growled. “I can’t believe you put me in the middle of all of this.”

“Actually you’re the one that did that to yourself, when you stole the necklace in the first place.” Eddy shook his head. “If I were you, and I lost my wife, I’d be willing to do whatever it takes to find her killer.”

“Enough of the guilt trips, will you just get in here?”

Jo surveyed the interior of the villa. She noticed that the place hadn’t changed much since the first time she was there. She casually looked for anything that might be out of place, such as a statue in a new spot, or books on the bookshelf shuffled around. There wasn’t much for her to see. Eddy began checking the windows of the villa.

“We want to make sure that everything is secure so that we don’t have any surprises.”

“Am I supposed to offer you drinks?” Roger frowned as he stood near the entrance of the kitchen. “This is the strangest party I’ve ever hosted.”

“Roger, we’re here to help you, a drink wouldn’t hurt.” Jo smiled.

“I’ll see what I can do.”

Once Roger was in the kitchen, Jo grabbed Eddy by the elbow. “Do you have contact with Walt?”

“Yes, he’s texting me his every movement.” Eddy squinted at his phone. “Apparently he just disinfected his phone and is horrified by what came off it.”

“Great.” Jo tried not to laugh. “Any news on Tony?”

“He hasn’t seen any movement.”

Jo’s eyes flicked to the window. Would Drew find out and take the bait?

“And Samantha?”

“She’s got her finger on the pulse of all of the police movement in the area, and she is driving around the block to spot any incoming vehicles or anyone on foot. We should have a good amount of notice before anyone tries to break in.”

“Maybe this wasn’t such a great idea.” Jo wrung her hands nervously. “We’re putting Roger in danger.”

“I don’t mind.” Roger returned with two glasses of water. “I just want this to be over.”

Jo took her glass. Eddy took his as well.

“We’re all working towards the same goal then.” Eddy nodded. Jo went to take a sip of her water, but stopped when Eddy gave her a slight shake of his head. Jo nodded. Roger turned on the television and sat down on the couch.

“I’m just going to use the bathroom.” Jo set her glass down.

“Feel free. You can look in the toilet tank and under the rug, you’re not going to find it. I told you I don’t have it.” Roger shrugged.

“I didn’t say you did,” Jo said.

“I’m not stupid. I know that you want to search the place. Go ahead and tear it apart. All you’ll find are boxes waiting to be unpacked and memories of my wife that I can’t even look at.” Roger sniffled. Eddy frowned.

“I’m sorry this must be hard for you.” He sat down beside Roger. “I bet she loved that necklace.”

“Of course she did, it was the only nice thing that I could offer her. I never had anything else. She was the one that had some money. I couldn’t get any good job, I wasn’t actually a good thief, I just did that one job. I would have been a millionaire if I had been able to sell that necklace, but I couldn’t. It was too recognizable and I knew that whoever saw it would know what it was. The one thing I could give her was that necklace. And that’s what got her killed.” He put his head in his hands. “I wish I’d never listened to Tony. If I had just refused to get involved, none of this would have ever happened.”

Jo studied him with sympathy. His story echoed her own feelings about how she got caught up in being a cat burglar. It was easy to get into, and very difficult to escape. If it wasn’t for prison, she might never have found a new life.

“But you didn’t refuse.” Eddy looked over at him. “You went ahead and did whatever Tony told you to do, and you haven’t paid the price for that.”

“Isn’t my wife a price?” Roger looked up at him. “She’s gone, isn’t she?”

“Yes.” Jo sighed. “This discussion isn’t going to help matters. It’s just going to distract us.”

“You’re right.” Eddy nodded. “Roger, why don’t you see if you can find us something to watch?” Eddy gestured towards the television. Jo moved closer to Eddy and whispered in his ear.

“I’m going to take a quick look around. Keep Roger distracted.”

“All right, I will, but be careful, Jo. Who knows what he might have hidden in one of those boxes.”

“He seems like a run of the mill guy.”

“A run of the mill guy who once had in his possession one of the most expensive pieces of jewelry in this country. That makes him someone who might have a few secrets. Don’t you think?”

“I do.” Jo nodded. She looked over at Roger as he fought with his television.

“I knew they didn’t set up the damn cable right. I told the guy he wasn’t doing it right. He didn’t want to listen. Now it’s going to be ten business days before anyone else will come back out.”

While he griped Jo slipped down the hallway towards the back bedroom. As she walked the heel of her boot got caught on the edge of the carpet. She looked down to see that the carpet was pulled back from the wall. She crouched down beside it and took a closer look. With a finger hooked under the surface of the carpet she tugged it back further from the wall. Tucked far beneath the carpet was a thin envelope. Jo glanced up and back towards the living room to ensure that Roger was still occupied with the television. He had just settled down onto the couch. She pulled the envelope carefully and quietly out from under the carpet. It wasn’t sealed. She opened the envelope. Inside were several hundred dollar bills. There wasn’t a large amount of money, maybe a few thousand, but someone valued it enough to pull back the carpet and hide it underneath.

Was it Roger’s or Valda’s stash or did it belong to both of them? If it was Valda’s stash then maybe she was not only hiding it from robbers, but from her husband. Maybe she wanted to have some ‘run away’ money, which meant she was not as happy as she seemed. Maybe because of Roger’s strange behavior of not allowing her to wear her necklace outside of the house. Maybe there were other issues in the marriage that were hidden beneath the surface, just as the stash of money had been. Jo slid the envelope back under the carpet. She knew that asking Roger about it wouldn’t help anything.

When she stood back up she pushed through the bedroom door. The bed wasn’t made. There were a few boxes in the closet. On one side of the bed a lamp stood bare of any shade. It was clear that Valda hadn’t added her touch to the room just yet. She started inspecting the areas she could see. There was nothing on top of the dresser or on the shelves that drew her interest. When she looked under the bed she noticed that all of Roger’s shoes were lined up nice and neat.

On the other side of the bed all of Valda’s shoes were lined up in the same way. She had taken the time to make sure they had what they needed exactly where she thought it should be, so maybe she wasn’t on the way out the door straight away. Maybe she had gotten wind of Roger’s past and wanted to make sure that they had a back-up plan. Or maybe she simply knew that her husband didn’t have much and she was saving for them.

Jo opened the drawers of the dresser. Inside the top right drawer was a pile of assorted socks. They were neat and tidy as well. It was clear that Valda liked things to be neat and tidy. If she found out about Roger’s past, everything would have gotten very messy. So far the only sign that she might have known was the hidden money. Jo couldn’t be sure if that was even Valda’s money. She sighed and sat down on the end of the bed. There wasn’t much to find in the bedroom, it was another dead end. It seemed this entire case was a series of dead ends. She did her best to refocus. She didn’t think it would take very long for word to get out that Roger had the necklace. Once it did she hoped they would be able to get a lead. Until then, she could question Roger and hope that he told her the truth.

Jo started to walk back into the living room when she noticed Roger’s phone on the kitchen table. She paused and glanced towards him. He was still occupied with Eddy and the television. She picked up his phone and checked to see if it had a password. The screen went straight into recent calls. She skimmed through the numbers on the phone. She noticed that there was one call that came in on the night of the murder at eleven minutes past ten, so around the estimated time of death. She looked at the information and saw that the call lasted three minutes and six seconds. There was no name, only a phone number. She pulled out her phone and quickly dialed the number, both so that it would be saved in her phone, and to see who it belonged to. A voicemail picked up, but it was a recording that only stated the phone number. She hung up and dialed Samantha.

“Nothing yet.” Samantha didn’t even bother to greet her. “I’ve seen a lot of people walking dogs, but no one that looked like a thief.”

“They don’t wear signs around their neck.”

“Okay, I know that.” Samantha cleared her throat. “No need to be rude.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be snappy. Do you think you can find out who a phone number belongs to?”

“It should be fairly simple. What’s the number?”

“I’ll text it to you.” Jo hung up the phone and quickly texted the number to Samantha. Samantha texted back.

Got it. Will update you when I find out.

Jo carefully put the phone back down on the counter. Her suspicion of Roger had waned, but this brought it right back to the surface. Maybe he was at the buffet, but knew exactly what was happening at his villa. Maybe he hired someone to do the job, and they called to let him know that it was done. The money under the carpet could have even been payment to the assassin. It was possible that the murderer ran without looking for the payment because he was spooked by someone or something.

Jo lingered near the kitchen and waited to hear from Samantha. She knew it might take some time for her to find out who the owner of the number was. As the minutes slid by her stomach knotted tighter and tighter. She could only hope that Samantha would find something before she couldn’t hold back any longer and demanded to know the truth from Roger. She kept her eye on the phone screen as she still had her phone on silent. A few minutes later Samantha called. Jo stepped through the kitchen and out the back door before she answered.

“What did you find?”

“I found out that number belongs to our recently liberated friend, Tony.”

“So, Tony and Roger spoke at the time of Valda’s death for about three minutes?” Jo frowned.

“That seems to be the case.”

“All along, they must have planned the whole thing together.”

“That’s one possibility.”

“Well, it’s time I found out the truth.” Jo hung up the phone.