by Robin Caroll
Dimitri’s disappointment in his sister was second only to his concern for Adelaide’s faring against his father. He could understand Lissette wanting to get into Claude’s good graces, but throwing Adelaide under the bus was dirty pool at best. As soon as he was able, he’d certainly discuss the situation with Lissette and let her know this was not acceptable.
“Yes, Lissette seems most interested in putting this hotel first. Before personal feelings.” Claude seethed.
Dimitri recognized the signs all too well of his father’s fury. He was riled up good. Loaded for bear, as their housekeeper, Tilda, liked to say. Speaking of Tilda . . . “Father, Tilda asked if we had any openings here that we could consider for Elise. I was wondering if you could use another assistant in your office.” Claude had always liked their housekeeper’s niece.
“Perhaps Elise might be better suited to work in a different area.” His father spoke in a level tone. His anger was still there, but was subsiding.
Dimitri just needed to continue to deflect Claude’s attention.
“She’s enrolled in the community college, taking several accounting courses. Perhaps we could use her in payroll?”
“Fine.”
Before Claude could say anything else, the lobby door opened, and the driver preceded an older gentleman. The man stood about six feet tall, but his suit hung off of his frame like limp pasta off a spoon. His face carried deeply etched lines that weighted down the sagging skin, his cheeks wilting to hide behind a long, scruffy white beard.
Dimitri crossed the lobby to meet the man, extending his hand. “You must be Mr. Orlov. I’m Dimitri Pampalon. Welcome.”
The man shook his hand, his skin as thin as parchment to the touch. “Yaromir. My pleasure to meet you.”
Claude extended his hand. “Claude Pampalon, owner of the Darkwater Inn.”
Yaromir shook his hand and nodded.
Lissette followed Claude in extending her hand. “Lissette Bastien. Welcome to the Darkwater Inn.”
“Is Her Highness, Princess Katerina von Pavlovna, ready to speak with me?”
Dimitri nodded. “Yes, sir. She asked that we notify her when you are settled in your room and ready to meet her.”
“I will speak with her now, please.”
Adelaide stepped up beside Dimitri and took Yaromir’s hand between hers. “Hello, Mr. Orlov. I’m Adelaide Fountaine, general manager at the Darkwater Inn. It is our pleasure to have you here, no matter the circumstances.” She could charm a cobra.
Yaromir smiled at her like she was the only person in the world and patted her hand holding his. “Thank you, Ms. Fountaine. You are very kind.” Dimitri understood how he felt. Adelaide had that way about her that made you feel like you were royalty yourself.
Adelaide smiled and included everyone in her gaze, even Claude, while not letting go of Yaromir’s hands. “Wonderful news too. I just now got off the phone with the police. They have recovered the tiara.” She smiled at Dimitri. “And the cash that was taken out of the safe.” She looked back at Yaromir. “The police would normally have the princess come to the station and claim her property once the case is concluded, but because of the extraordinary circumstances, they will bring it here today, to the hotel, for you to inspect and to return to the princess.”
The tiara was recovered? This was amazing. Dimitri wanted to scream and shout for joy. The money had been recovered and the tiara. This would certainly make his father happy. He glanced at Claude’s face.
He didn’t look very happy. His expression hadn’t really changed. “This is magnificent news. We must tell Her Highness, Princess Katerina von Pavlovna, immediately.” Yaromir finally released Adelaide’s hand. “When will your police bring the diadem? I need to set up to inspect.”
“Of course. Whatever you need, we’ll have set up in your suite.
Let me take you there now, and you can tell me what you need.”
“Yes. Thank you. Let us go now.”
Adelaide waved over a bellhop. “Bring Mr. Orlov’s bags from the car out front to suite 113, please.” The young man rushed to do her bidding as she placed a hand under Yaromir’s elbow and looked at Dimitri. “I’ll be back directly.” She turned the Russian toward the elevator, speaking as they walked.
“Well, I guess that’s that. Good police work has won out.” Dimitri almost choked saying the last sentence but couldn’t understand why his father wasn’t more relieved. “Your fifty thousand will be returned, Father.”
“Yes.” He turned to look at Lissette. “You should contact our insurance and cancel the claim. We don’t want a fraud case brought up against us.” Claude’s disdainful expression settled on Dimitri. “Did you take care of the matter we discussed?”
The matter they—oh, the PI. “I did, but I guess it’s not needed now.” He’d need to call Rodney.
“It most certainly is.” Claude cut his eyes to Lissette, then back to Dimitri. “Come see me when you’re done here.” Without any parting remarks to Lissette, he marched down the hall toward his office.
“I guess I’d better call our insurance agent.” Lissette’s voice was barely above a whisper as she moved to follow Claude.
“Just a moment.” He took her gently by the forearm and drew her off from the main lobby. “What you did, what you told Claude to get Adelaide in trouble—that was uncalled for, Lissette. I’m disappointed in you.”
Her face hardened. “Disappointed? You were more than willing to have me axed if it meant saving your precious Addy. Don’t blame me for taking up for myself.”
“Taking up for yourself? Is that what you call it?” He didn’t want to believe his sister would continue to act such a way toward Adelaide, but he’d noticed an increase in her animosity ever since Adelaide had returned from Europe.
“I only told him what Addy has been telling everyone who would listen: you, me, the police.” Her stare hardened even more, if that was even possible. “It’s not like I made anything up. You seem quite fine with her taking up for herself against Claude. I guess it’s okay for her to do it, just not me, right?”
“You told Claude, knowing he’d be furious that anyone dare to defy him.”
“They both seemed pretty adamant. Guess it doesn’t matter now anyway, does it, if he had something in there or not? If the police recovered the crown and the money, anything else that might’ve been taken was probably recovered as well.” She shrugged. “I’m going to my office to call the insurance agent like Claude asked me to.”
“You mean ordered you to.” He knew that would get under her skin. Lissette had a thing about people ordering her about. Yeah, he knew he was being petty and hated it, but he’d spoken before he could stop himself.
He hadn’t been wrong. Lissette’s brow furrowed. “You would see it that way because it wasn’t in regards to your precious Addy.” She shrugged, but her eyes had gone icy. “Whatever. I have work to do.”
Dimitri didn’t say anything or follow after her, reluctant to let his emotions cause him to say something he’d regret later.
18
Addy
Yaromir Orlov closed the jeweler’s loupe, slipping it into his pocket. He adjusted his bowtie and settled his glasses on the bridge of his nose. “Your Highness—”
Katerina held up her hand. “Yaromir, I’ve asked you several times to just call me Katerina.”
He didn’t flinch, didn’t blink. “Your Highness, most of the jewels are intact as before you came to these United States.”
She gave a little shake of her head and snuggled next to her fiancé on the loveseat. Everyone—Addy, Dimitri, Beau and Marcel, the princess and her fiancé—had settled in the gemologist’s suite for his inspection of the princess’s tiara. Her formidable guard, Luca, stood in front of the closed and locked door, even though Beau and Marcel both had their guns in the holsters at their sides. Addy and Beau sat across from the princess while Dimitri was off to the side and Marcel just hovered. The gemologist had everyone’s attention at the moment
.
“All of the gems are as they should be except for the largest sapphire. The twenty-five-carat one is not the original sapphire from Mother Russia. It is an imitation, and not even a good one.”
“What?!” Beau, Marcel, Dimitri, and even Addy herself all spoke in unison. Katerina gasped, and Edmond’s mouth went slack.
“All of the other jewels are the same as when I inspected last year for the royal appraisals, but not the large sapphire. It is not even a cheap sapphire replacing the original beauty. It is colored glass.”
“That can’t be.” Edmond finally found his voice. “Are you sure?” Marcel asked.
The gemologist ignored the princess’s fiancé and cut Marcel a smoldering look that would have put Claude Pampalon to shame. “I have inspected the royal jewels acquired from Russia every year for the past twenty years. I know each of the gems like they are my own. I am sure.” He gestured to the tiara. “This imitation sapphire has no inclusions.”
“An inclusion?” Beau had his notebook and pen out.
Yaromir sighed. “An inclusion in the gemology world means that there a characteristic enclosed within a gemstone, something that was trapped inside the stone while it was forming in the earth.”
Marcel walked closer to Yaromir’s work space. “And this one has no inclusions? Wouldn’t that make it more valuable?”
The gemologist shook his head. “If a sapphire over three or four carats has no inclusions, for all purposes it is not real. I have been a gemologist for fifty years and have never seen a real sapphire of any size without inclusions.” He gave a stiff nod. “Very few sapphires over five carats have the best clarity grade—what is called ‘eye clean,’ which means there are no inclusions visible without a jeweler’s loupe.”
Beau kept writing in his notebook. “So, the other gems are fine. Just that one is replaced with a fake?”
Yaromir nodded. “The largest and most valuable jewel. The original sapphire from Mother Russia is approximately twenty-five carats in size. It is nearly flawless in color and grade. Dark blue. Rare silk. That one stone alone is worth millions of American dollars.”
“That one sapphire is worth millions?” Marcel repeated, stopping his pacing in the middle of the room.
Edmond let out a groan. The gemologist nodded.
“But all the diamonds and other sapphires in the crown are real, right?” Beau asked.
“Yes, but without the original large sapphire . . . even if the sapphire was replaced with another sapphire of similar size, the value of the diadem is still greatly diminished.” Yaromir ran a slow finger along the crown.
“Diminished by how much?” Addy asked, unable to hold her tongue as she stood. This had happened in her hotel. On her watch. And she was already in Claude’s crosshairs.
The older man softened his expression as he looked at Addy. “Millions of your American dollars.”
“Millions, as in several? Even if replaced with the same size real sapphire?”
“Yes, Ms. Fountaine. The diadem loses many millions of value.” Yaromir smiled softly at her. “Do you know the story surrounding the diadem?”
Addy stared at the tiara. “About it possibly being part of the missing Romanov crown jewels?”
Yaromir nodded as he took a seat on the barstool next to the table holding the tiara. “Yes. There are many who believe this diadem was part of the Diamond Fund. My father was one of the princely family’s court jewelers before me, and his father before him. I was brought up having access to the best and most brilliant jewels known to man. My father, upon his retirement, took over the care of the jewels on display at the Kremlin. He stayed there until the day he died.”
He lifted the tiara with such tenderness. “Even though my Mother Russia will not acknowledge this beauty as part of the Romanov crown jewels, mostly because of the Romanov family legend, I know it is genuine.”
“If it’s so valuable, why does the princess get to wear it?” Marcel turned to Katerina. “No offense, Princess.”
She pulled out a pout, but Edmond glared at Marcel.
Yaromir tossed a harsh look at Katerina. “She should not have been wearing it here. It should have not left our country.” He shook his head. “However, the new His Serene Highness, like his father and grandfather before him, does not believe the legend, nor my family’s insistence and appraisals.” The older man shrugged. “So while they are valuable in their own right, the princely family does not believe the diadem as a whole is invaluable. But it is.”
Well, that made sense, but still . . .
“I guess you recovered my tiara before the thief could remove the other real jewels and replace them with imitations.” Katerina looked at Beau. “I must thank you for that.”
“Since the sapphire has been stolen, I’m sorry, but we’ll have to keep the crown in police custody for now.” Beau stood and nodded at Marcel, who moved to put the tiara back in the box they’d brought it in.
“Wait!” Yaromir reached for the tiara. “Let me secure it for you.” He gently wrapped a piece of white cotton material around the tiara before easing it into the box.
“Do you have any idea when the princess will get her tiara back?” Edmond’s tone sounded as accusing as his stare looked.
Beau shook his head while Marcel took the box from Yaromir. “I’m sorry, but I don’t. It just depends on how the investigation runs. We’ll put out details, description, and information about the real sapphire to our sources.” Beau looked at the gemologist. “Can you provide us with the description of the sapphire, please?”
Yaromir nodded, moved to the hard-sided leather case he had opened on the desk, and pulled out a folder. “Here is the legal description from the official appraisal I completed last year for the princely family.” He handed Beau a piece of paper that looked like an award certificate. “This copy is for the police to have.”
Beau tucked it into his notebook, then looked back at Katerina. “Princess, you said in your initial interview that you didn’t know Jackson Larder, is that correct?”
“She said she didn’t know him.” Edmond put his arm around Katerina’s shoulder.
“Mr. Jansen, I appreciate your thoughts and concern, but this is official police business, and I need to ask some questions and get direct answers from the person I ask. If you can’t accept that, I’ll have to ask that you leave.” Beau looked more foreboding than Addy had seen him look.
It suited him in a macho, super cop kind of way.
“No, Detective, I did not know this Jackson Larder. I never met him.” Katerina’s accent had thickened with the arrival of Yaromir. Intentional? Perhaps not. Addy couldn’t tell.
“The reason I ask is because we received his cell-phone records, and there are several calls logged from the number belonging to Rubin Hassler. These calls began about two weeks ago and ended on Wednesday, the day of the robbery and the day Rubin was killed.”
Tears filled her eyes. “I do not know how they would know each other.”
“Nor do we just yet, but we will find out.”
Marcel met Edmond’s harsh stare. “What about you, Mr. Jansen—did you know Jackson Larder?”
“I did not. Never met the man in my life.” He tugged Katerina closer to him. “And I resent the implications of these questions.” He shot a stare at Dimitri. “I’ll be sure to let my father know how we were treated like common criminals.”
“You’re hardly being treated like a criminal, Edmond.” Dimitri pushed off the table he’d been half sitting on the edge of and took a step toward the rest of the group. “The detectives are just asking a few questions. I would think you would want to know what happened not only to your deceased guard but the princess’s missing sapphire as well.”
Addy resisted the urge to clap. She’d never thought she’d see the day that Dimitri took up for Beau, but here they were.
And she liked them all being on the same side.
“Of course we want answers, Dimitri. A royal employee was murdered here in yo
ur hotel. The princess’s tiara was stolen from your supposedly secure safe. Yes, we most certainly want answers.”
Addy’s small victory crashed at her feet, and the back of her throat burned with acid. She looked at Katerina. “Again, we are very sorry and are working alongside the police to do whatever we can to find who murdered Mr. Hassler and to recover your tiara— Well, now the sapphire taken from it.”
“Which would not have been available to be stolen had it never left our country.” Yaromir’s voice seemed to boom off the walls.
Katerina burst into tears and turned her face into Edmond’s chest. He whispered softly as he kissed her very blonde temples and rubbed her back.
Yaromir let out a very loud and exasperated sigh.
Beau leaned closer to Addy. “The records show Hassler and Larder carried on lengthy conversations, thirty or so minutes, from two weeks ago through Wednesday mid-morning.”
Marcel came along the other side of her. “Our cyber unit is pretty sure there had to be an inside man. It’s looking an awful like that person was Jackson Larder.”
Addy hated to admit she hadn’t known her employee all that well. She’d let Sully hire his own replacement when she’d had to promote Sully up to replace Geoff last year. She should have followed up. She should have paid better attention.
Dimitri was at her side in a moment. “You couldn’t have known, Adelaide.”
All her life, Addy had heard the phrase about cutting tension with a knife, but never fully understood it. Not until that exact moment, standing between Beau and Dimitri, who seemed to face off with a volume of unspoken words flying between them.
She wanted to vomit, but she needed to think. There had to be something she could do. Some way she could help. Something— “Luca!”
The guard turned at the mention of his name.
Katerina stopped her sobbing and turned from Edmond. “What about Luca?”
“Ask him if he knows Jackson. Or if he knew Rubin and Jackson were communicating. They were friends, yes?”
