The Ghost Who Loved Diamonds (11 page)

“Maybe you don’t know
him as well as you think,” Danielle grumbled.

“Let’s keep this
between us,” Joe suggested. “The fewer people that know those two knuckleheads
are joy riding with the Missing Thorndike, the smaller the chance someone will
try to take it from them.”

“You are wrong, Joe.
This is not a simple joy ride.” Danielle said as she and Joe followed Lily down
the stairs.

“What car did they
take?” Joe asked.

“I don’t know. I just
saw Adam come into the library and whisper something to his grandmother. When I
looked outside a few minutes later I saw him and Cheryl holding hands in the
back yard, running toward the street. They got into some car and drove off. I
think it was white or tan. Didn’t get a good look at it.”

Not everyone in
Frederickport was sleeping on Saturday morning when the sun began to rise in
the east. It cast a yellow orange glow over the quiet beach community, burning
off the morning fog. Joe had just returned home to catch a few hours of sleep
when he got the call that Adam Nichols’ car was spotted parked next to a beach
bungalow on the south end of town. According to the deputy on the phone, it was
one of Adam’s rentals.

Cheryl still hadn’t
returned, but her car remained parked on the street in front of Marlow House,
where it had been when she ran off. Adam hadn’t shown up at his place, and
until Joe received the phone call from the deputy, he was beginning to suspect
Adam and Cheryl had slipped out of town, though no one had seen Adam’s car
along that stretch of highway.

Instead of going to bed
to grab a little sleep, Joe got back into his car and headed to the south side
of town. He was tempted to give Danielle a call and let her know what was going
on, but he didn’t want to wake her up if she had managed to fall asleep. She
was annoyed with her cousin, but was hesitant to treat the situation as a
robbery. But, if the necklace didn’t resurface she would be forced to do that,
in order to collect on the insurance.

 When Joe pulled up to
the rental bungalow Adam’s car was still in the driveway, partially hidden by
the shrubs along the property line. Everything was quiet on the street and by
all appearances most nearby residents were still sound asleep.

After parking his car,
Joe got out of his vehicle and began walking up the driveway to the front door.
The house’s front windows were wide open, and he didn’t hear any sounds coming
from inside; no voices, television or radio playing.

 Irritated that Adam
and Cheryl’s prank had caused him a sleepless night, he pounded on the door. It
took a few minutes of intermittent knocking before Joe heard sounds coming from
inside the house.

“Hold on, I’m coming.
Don’t break the damn door down,” came Adam’s voice from inside the house.

The door flew open.
Wearing just boxers and socks, his uncombed hair damp from perspiration, Adam
stood in the doorway staring at Joe. He frowned and glanced around the front
porch, as if he expected someone else to be there.

“I thought you were
Cheryl,” Adam blurted out.

“Where is she, Adam?”
Joe asked, pushing his way into the bungalow and looking around. An opened
bottle of wine sat on the coffee table with two glasses. One glass was empty,
while the second one was full.

“Hell if I know. I
thought you were her.” Joe scratched his head and stumbled into the tiny
kitchen off the living room. He grabbed the coffeepot and then cursed when he
realized there was no coffee in the house.

Joe followed Adam into
the kitchen. “Would you stand still for a moment and talk to me!”

“Hey, do you have to
shout?” Adam rubbed his right temple. “My head is killing me. What are you
doing here anyway?”

“I’m looking for
Cheryl.”

“Why?”

“For one reason, she
didn’t come home last night.”

Adam laughed and asked,
“Did Danielle Boatman send you looking for her cousin because she doesn’t
approve of my company? I’m pretty sure she’s reached the legal age of consent.
Don’t you think you’re overstepping your legal authority by tracking down grown
women who simply want to stay out all night?”

“Not if she’s staying
out all night with a million dollar necklace that doesn’t belong to her.”

“What are you talking
about?” Adam frowned.

“That’s pretty
obvious.”

“Are you trying to say
she had the Missing Thorndike with her?”

“Don’t play dumb, Adam.
She was wearing it when you two took off.”

“She was not. I think I
would have noticed that!”

“Are you seriously
standing there and telling me she didn’t have the necklace with her when you
two left Marlow House?”

“If she did, I sure as
hell didn’t see it. She wasn’t wearing it.”

“I need to talk to her.
Where is she?”

“Isn’t it obvious I
don’t know? I thought you were her.”

“Let’s sit down. I want
you to start at the beginning and tell me everything you remember, beginning
when you first met Cheryl, up until this morning when I started knocking on
your door.”

Adam combed his fingers
through his hair and gave a little nod before walking back into the living room
and sitting on the couch. Joe sat on a chair facing him.

“Let’s see,” Adam
began. “I was downtown at Lucy’s on Thursday for lunch. I had just sat down at
a booth. The place was swamped. Cheryl comes walking in. There’s no place for
her to sit so I ask her to join me; after all, she’s pretty hot. I buy her
lunch. We talk. She invites me to be her date at the open house. She tells me
she might be looking for someplace to rent because she doesn’t get along with
her cousin. I bring her down here, show her this place. We spend the afternoon
together. That was pretty much it.”

“Did you have sex with
her?” Joe asked.

“You asking because
you’re being nosy or is this a legitimate question?”

“I’d say it’s
legitimate enough.”

“No, we just spent the
afternoon together. Anyway, yesterday I take my grandmother to the open house.
When I get there, Grandma pretty much does her own thing and I spend the day
with Cheryl. We ate some food, drank some beer, talked to people. You saw us.
About twenty minutes or so before we left, Cheryl told me she was getting
bored, asked me if I was about ready to leave. I said sure. She went to go use
the bathroom and I went to tell my grandmother we were taking off. I wanted to
make sure she had a ride home. I met Cheryl outside a few minutes later; we got
in my car and came down here.”

“And then what?”

“We came down here. Had
a glass of wine. Went to bed. Next thing I remember is you knocking on the
door. When I woke up and didn’t find Cheryl in bed with me, I assumed it was
her knocking on the door. Figured she’d gone outside for some reason and locked
herself out.”

“So you’re telling me,
when you went to bed with Cheryl—when she undressed—you never saw the
necklace?”

“Well actually,” Adam
rubbed his head again. “All that is a little fuzzy.”

“What do you mean?”

“After I finished my
wine things started to spin. I remember Cheryl laughing, calling me a light
weight. She sorta helped me into the bedroom. Helped me tug my pants and shirt
off. I remember her pulling down the sheets and asking me if they were fresh or
from the people who had just checked out. I don’t think I answered her, just
pretty much fell into bed. That’s the last thing I remember, until you started
knocking.”

Joe looked at the
opened bottle of wine sitting on the table. Calculating the amount of wine
still in the bottle, he didn’t think more than two glasses had been poured. Of
those two glasses, one was still full. It appeared that only one glass had been
consumed.

“Do you always get so
lightheaded after just one glass of wine?” Joe asked.

Adam shook his head.
“No. But I didn’t have much to eat yesterday and I had taken an allergy pill
right before we left Marlow House. Plus I had a few beers at the open house.
Sort of figured that’s why it hit me so hard. I don’t know. It was weird.”

“Where did you get the
wine?” Joe asked.

“Cheryl took it from
the party.”

“We need to find
Cheryl, Adam. Last night she put on the necklace in front of a room full of
witnesses and then ran off to look at herself in the bathroom mirror. She
didn’t return and the last time anyone saw her was a few minutes after she put
on the necklace—with you leaving the party.”

“Hey wait a minute, if
she took that damn necklace, I didn’t have anything to do with it. And the last
time I heard, it wasn’t a crime to spend the night with a pretty woman.”

“So why bring her down
here? Why not take her to your own house?”

“Seriously, Joe? It’s a
no brainer. Take her to my house or to a little romantic bungalow right on the
beach.”

“Maybe you wanted to
bring her down here so no one would find you.”

“I’ll admit Cheryl
liked the idea of coming down here where no one would look. She asked me not to
tell my grandmother where we were going. But that was because she didn’t want
her cousin interfering. It had nothing to do with the necklace. Like I said,
she didn’t have the necklace.”

“Why didn’t you answer
your cell phone? We called a number of times,” Joe asked.

“I turned if off when I
left Marlow House.”

“Do you have any idea
when Cheryl left?”

“No. I really don’t.”

Two officers from the
local police department showed up at the door. Joe stood up and asked, “Can we
look through the house?”

“No problem, look
away.” Adam remained on the couch while Joe stood up and opened the door for
the two officers. After a brief exchange, one accompanied Joe in searching the
bungalow, while the other officer walked the perimeter of the property and
walked down to the nearby beach to see if Cheryl was anywhere in sight.

An hour later, Joe had
to call Danielle to tell her he hadn’t found Cheryl or the necklace. He hated
to do it, but he didn’t have any other choice. He needed to let her know what
was going on and wanted to see if perhaps Cheryl had showed up at Marlow House.

“Did you find her?”
Danielle asked when he got her on the phone.

“I found Adam, but not
Cheryl. I assume she didn’t return to Marlow House?”

“No she didn’t. But
what do you mean you found Adam but not Cheryl? They left together, Lily saw
them.”

“Adam admits he left
with her. According to him she didn’t have the necklace. And if she did, he
swears he didn’t see it.”

“Then why did he leave
with her?”

“I guess the same
reason any heterosexual man might leave with a pretty woman.”

“Why isn’t she with him
now? Her car is still here. Did he drop her off somewhere?”

“Adam said he brought
her down to one of the bungalows in his rental program. It’s vacant, right on
the beach. According to him, he had a glass of wine and all he remembers after
that is getting dizzy, Cheryl helping him into bed and then him blacking out.
The next thing he remembers is me knocking on the door to the bungalow this
morning. When he woke up, Cheryl wasn’t with him. He thought that’s who was
knocking on the door. Seemed genuinely surprised that I wasn’t Cheryl and has
no idea where she went. I believe him.”

“Well I don’t!”
Danielle snapped. “We all saw her take off with that necklace. He did something
to her, I know it! You need to search that house and see if he has the necklace
stashed somewhere.”

“We already looked
through it. If he has it, it isn’t in that house. I’ve known Adam a long time;
I don’t think he’s capable of doing something sinister to your cousin.”

“Why not? He already
broke into Marlow House!”

“What do you mean?”

“The break-in. When
Craig called you over. It was Adam and Bill. They knew the necklace might be
hidden in the house and they broke in trying to find it. Bill is the one who
broke the library window.”

“I don’t understand,
how do you know that? Why didn’t you say something before?”

“I…I figured after I
found the necklace they were no longer a threat. I didn’t want to upset Marie
by having her grandson arrested.”

“But how do you know he
and Bill broke into the house?”

“I can’t say.”

“Why can’t you say?”

“Please Joe, that
doesn’t matter right now. Frankly, I don’t really care about the necklace. I
never did. I know my cousin has driven me crazy most of my life but I don’t
want anything bad to happen to her. I have this gut feeling something has.”

Danielle sat at the
kitchen table reading the Frederickport press’ Saturday morning headline:
Missing
Thorndike Goes Missing Again.

“I really wish they
hadn’t run this story,” Danielle groaned.

Coffee pot in hand,
Lily walked to the table and refilled Danielle’s mug. “You really can’t blame
them, Dani. That reporter was here when Cheryl took off. And you said you
wanted publicity.”

“I suppose you’re
right. This will certainly bring the bed and breakfast more publicity than I
imagined.” Danielle set the paper on the table. After adding cream to her
coffee she took a sip.

“I wonder where she
went.” Lily sat down at the table and picked up the paper.

“I could slap her. Such
a stupid stunt. She’s just put herself in danger by running around with
something that valuable. And now that the newspaper ran that article with her
picture, what happens if the wrong person finds her?”

“I’m surprised you’re
so worried about her safety. After all, it may not be a stunt. Have you
considered she might have actually stolen the necklace and has no intention of
returning? She might be out of the country by now.”

“Absolutely not, Lily.
Why would Cheryl so publicly steal something like that?”

“Umm…for the money?”

“Maybe I’d agree with
you if Cheryl didn’t already have money. Her parent’s estate was worth over
five million dollars. No way would she so publicly become a fugitive over
something of less value than what she already has. That doesn’t make sense. No,
Cheryl is simply pulling one of her stunts.”

“Maybe she’s spent all
her parent’s money. That happens, you know,” Lily suggested.  

“I don’t know. I
suppose that’s possible,” Danielle said with a weary sigh.

“I’m sorry, Danielle. I
should have stopped her,” Walt said when he appeared by the table.

“Good morning, Walt. It
wasn’t your fault.”

“Walt is here?” Lily
looked around and sniffed the air. “I don’t smell cigar.”

“Please tell Lily I
don’t have a cigar in my hand every minute.”

Lily’s eyes widened as
she watched the chair seemingly move by itself as Walt sat down at the table.

“He’s not smoking right
now. He’s trying to cut down. Not good for his health,” Danielle told Lily.

“Glad to see you still
have your sense of humor,” Walt said.

“Really?” Lily asked
with a frown.

“I’m teasing, Lily. He
doesn’t have a body to worry about.”

“Well, that’s what I
thought,” Lily mumbled.

“So where were you
Walt, when she tried on the necklace?” Danielle asked.

“I’m afraid I got
distracted in the attic. A couple of your guests were up there discussing my
murder and speculating where exactly it happened.”

“And you couldn’t tear
yourself away?” Danielle asked.

“What is he saying?”
Lily asked.

“I would’ve thought
you’d wait until I was in the room to let her try on the necklace, so I could
keep her from taking it.”

“I certainly didn’t
think she would just run out of the house with the necklace. Especially not in
front of a room full of people.”

Walt shook his head and
said, “Well, your friend Joe was certainly no help. None at all.”

“It’s not Joe’s fault,”
Danielle said. “It all happened too fast. If I want to blame anyone, it’s Mr.
Renton.”

“Your lawyer? Why is it
his fault?” Lily asked.

“It was his bright idea
for Cheryl to go look at herself in a mirror.”

Lily’s cell phone began
to buzz with an incoming text message. Picking up the phone, she read the
message and then sent a return text. “That was Ian, he wanted to know if we
were awake and if Cheryl ever showed up. I told him she was still missing, and invited
him over for coffee.”

Instead of coming up
the front walk, Ian and Sadie entered the grounds by the side gate and came to
the kitchen door. Lily got up from the table and let them in. Sadie immediately
rushed to Walt and jumped up, her front paws landing first on his lap and then
the chair.

“Get down, Sadie, you
know better than to jump up on the table,” Ian scolded.

“That’s okay girl, but
you better get down,” Walt said gently. Sadie let out a little whimper and put
her front paws back on the wood floor. She sat next to Walt’s chair.

“Good morning Ian,”
Danielle greeted after Lily gave her hello.

“Morning Danielle.
Still no word from your cousin?”

“I’m afraid not.”

Lily handed Ian a cup
of coffee. When he started to take Walt’s chair, she gently guided him to an
empty seat. “No, sit here. I spilled something on that one and just wiped it
down. It’s still damp,” Lily lied.

“So what’s going on?”
Ian asked as he sat down.

“Joe called a little
while ago. He tracked down Adam.”

“I thought Lily said
Cheryl is still missing?” Ian asked.

“She is. Ian found
Adam, but Cheryl wasn’t with him. Apparently they spent the night together at
some beach house in his rental program. Adam insists she didn’t have the
necklace with her. He says she left sometime during the night, but he doesn’t
know when.”

“When he says she left
during the night—did she take his car? I see hers is still parked on the
street.”

“No. If Adam is to be
believed, then she walked somewhere.”

“I take it you don’t
believe him,” Ian asked.

“Think about it, I know
he and Bill were willing to break in here to find the necklace before we did.”
The night before Danielle had told Ian about Adam and Bill breaking into Marlow
House.

“You suspect they broke
in. I’m still not convinced they actually did,” Ian corrected.

“I told you, Bill fixed
the window and didn’t balk when I refused to pay him.”

“There could be several
explanations for that,” Ian said.

“Why are you being so
contrary?” Lily asked.

“I’m not being
contrary, Lily. I’m trying to be objective and look at the situation from all
angles.”

“I’m worried about my
cousin, Ian.”

“I thought she drove
you nuts? Something I can understand.”

“That doesn’t mean I
want something bad to happen to her.”

“Who says anything bad
is going to happen to her?” Ian asked.

“How safe can it be,
her running around town with that necklace?”

“I’m just not convinced
she’s in any danger. Every day people walk around wearing expensive jewelry and
nothing happens to them,” Ian said.

“Right, and you also
hear of someone getting killed over a pair of expensive tennis shoes,” Lily
quipped.

“True, Lily. But this
is quiet Frederickport, not exactly a hot spot of criminal activity. It’s just
that I’ve met Cheryl and spent a very awkward afternoon with her. I can see her
sitting in some little beach cottage posing in front of a mirror as she models
the necklace while all along laughing her butt off over the fact that she’s
driving her cousin crazy.”

“But she took off with
Adam, and now she’s missing and he claims she never had the necklace,” Danielle
reminded.

“I’m not saying Adam is
telling the truth. I’d be surprised if he didn’t know she had the necklace with
her. But I imagine when he woke up this morning and found her and the necklace
gone, reality sunk in. Who knows, she could have had him convinced she was one
of the rightful owners of the necklace and had as much right as Danielle to be
wearing it. But by this morning, it probably dawned on him that he might very
well be seen as an accomplice to a very public jewel heist and that the only
way to protect himself was simply to lie.”

“So you don’t think he
has the necklace and…well…did something to Cheryl to make her disappear?”
Danielle asked.

“I suppose anything is
possible. But publicly leaving with her like that makes me doubt it.” Ian
shrugged.

“Joanne’s here,” Walt
announced. A moment later there was a knock at the kitchen door.

“It’s Joanne,” Danielle
said from the table, waving for her to come in.

Joanne opened the door
and walked into the kitchen and set her purse on the counter. “Good morning. If
I can believe the morning paper, your cousin and the necklace are still
missing.”

“I’m afraid so.”
Danielle went on to tell Joanne about Joe finding Adam, while Joanne poured
herself a cup of coffee.

“I wonder when I should
call the insurance company?” Danielle asked a few minutes later. “I really
didn’t want to go public with this yet. But since Joe and the local police
department are looking for Cheryl and the necklace, it’s a mute point.”

“I was wondering,” Lily
began. “Since Cheryl claims to rightfully own half of the Marlow estate,
couldn’t the insurance company argue the necklace isn’t stolen—it’s with one of
the owners. Therefore they aren’t required to pay?”

“According to Mr.
Renton, the necklace legally belongs to me. So I don’t see why the insurance
company wouldn’t pay the claim.”

“Yes, but if they prove
she had a legal claim to the estate…” Lily went on.

“Wouldn’t Cheryl have
to be here to do that?” Joanne interrupted.

“Oh…I suppose so.” Lily
shrugged.

“So if the necklace
isn’t found, it would be in Danielle’s best interest if Cheryl wasn’t found
either. With her gone, there is no one to contest the will and Danielle can
claim the insurance money,” Joanne suggested.

“Goodness Joanne, you
make it sound like I had a motive to make my cousin disappear!”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I was
just thinking aloud. I didn’t mean to imply you had anything to do with her
disappearance.”

“Obviously not,” Lily
said. “After all, we all saw her take off with the necklace.”