by Robin Caroll
“Thank you, Vicky.” Dimitri nodded at Adelaide’s assistant. “Please keep us informed if the elevator attendant brings him back down.”
“Yes, sir.”
Adelaide had connected. “Beau, Edmond Jansen just returned to the hotel. What do you want us to do?”
Dimitri liked how she used the plural pronoun referring to them. Made them sound like a couple, which he definitely liked.
“Okay. We will.” She set the phone on the counter. “He said not to do anything. He and Marcel were already in the car, so they’ll be here really quick.” She scooped a last bite into her mouth, then lifted the plate.
Dimitri took it from her.
“I’m quite capable of washing my own plate, thank you.”
“I know that, but you don’t have to.” He moved to stand very close to her. Close enough that he could smell the Chanel perfume she wore. The heady one that, whenever he caught a whiff anywhere, immediately made him think of Adelaide. She’d made the scent hers. He ran his thumb down her inner forearm, from elbow to wrist, then took the plate from her and set it on the counter by the sink. “I like doing things for you.”
She looked up at him, and his lungs froze. Everything in his world was right here, right in front of him. Did she feel the pull too? The undeniable draw like two magnets.
Gaze never leaving hers, Dimitri bent his head to hers. Slowly. Softly, he brushed his lips against her, his skin barely touching hers.
His heart raced as if he’d run a marathon.
He wrapped his arms around her, moving to touch her lips again.
Zzzzzaaaa—
They both jumped at her cell’s warbled vibration, then chuckled. She lifted her cell. “Hello.” Her cheeks flamed bright red. “Beau. You’re here?” She smiled and nodded at Dimitri, but headed out of the kitchen.
Detective Beauregard Savoie had the worst timing ever. Or the best, depending upon who was asking.
Dimitri followed her as she crossed the marble floor and met Beau and Marcel in the lobby. He nodded to both men.
“Edmond is in the princess’s suite.” She led the way to the elevators. “Katerina isn’t here. She’s on the krewe’s float as planned.” She held up the master key card. “I’ll be able to open the suite even if he doesn’t answer.”
Beau looked like he was eager to question the man. “We just need to bring him in for questioning. See if he’ll turn against Claude and be willing to testify.” He looked at Dimitri. “The inspection of the painting was concluded, and it is the missing Van Gogh. Your father is being charged with a myriad of things. We’ll probably need you to be willing to testify to what you overheard if Jansen won’t own up to anything.”
Dimitri nodded. Claude might be his father, but he’d already come to terms about doing what was right. “Any chance his lawyers will get him out today?”
Beau shook his head. “Not likely. The DA is ready to contest his request for bail once we finish charging him. His legal team is none too happy, but he has the means to flee, so the DA thinks the judge might deny bail, or set it really high.” He hesitated. “I don’t know how anything works legally, but maybe you should ask a lawyer about freezing your father out of access to the hotel accounts and such. Just in case he does get bail and gets out. You might not want him to be able to run.”
Oh, Claude Pampalon wouldn’t consider it running, he’d tell people he was taking a leave of absence, but he’d make sure it was in a place like Montenegro—the former Yugoslav country in Europe that didn’t have an extradition treaty with the United States, unlike its neighbors of Serbia and Croatia.
“Thanks. I’ll call my attorney and see what I can do.”
Beau nodded as the elevator opened. All four of them stepped inside.
The tension, while obvious to all of them, wasn’t as suffocating as it had been before yesterday. Dimitri felt he and Beau had . . . well, they hadn’t really connected, but they had formed a sort of truce. It made moments like this bearable.
“Willie Neyland will probably be released on his own recognizance today, though.”
Adelaide’s head snapped up. “Oh?”
“Yeah. The attorney Dimitri sent over has really pushed to get his hearing before a judge today.”
She turned to Dimitri. “You hired him an attorney?”
He nodded.
“Thank you.” Her bright smile was truly all the thanks he needed.
The elevator attendant held the door open, and all three men allowed Adelaide to step into the hallway first.
“Addy, why don’t you give Dimitri the key and you stay here?” Beau asked.
Dimitri appreciated Beau’s desire to keep her from harm’s way.
Not that Edmond Jansen was dangerous.
“I’m fine.” She moved to lead the way to the penthouse suite.
Dimitri recalled Edmond’s voice and threats in his conversation with Claude. He reached out and put a hand on her arm. “Beau’s right.” He gently took the key card from her and handed it to Beau.
He and Beau shared a look before the two detectives headed to the penthouse suite.
“I’m not some helpless female, you know.” Adelaide glared at him but didn’t move to follow the police.
“I didn’t say you were. I’m here too. It’s police business now, not the hotel’s. Just like you don’t want anyone interfering in hotel business, they don’t want anyone interfering in theirs.”
Marcel knocked on the suite’s door.
She raised one of her perfectly arched brows at Dimitri.
“What?”
“I just never thought I’d see the day that you defended Beau to me.”
He shook his head. “It’s not defending him as much as just stating facts.”
She grinned. “If you say so.”
Marcel reached to knock again, but the door swung open. From their position in the hall, Dimitri could see Edmond standing in the doorway.
“Mr. Edmond Jansen, we’d like you to come to the precinct with us to answer some questions,” Marcel said.
“About what? I’m late to the Mardi Gras parade my fiancée is in.” Edmond might sound like he hadn’t a care in the world, but Dimitri recognized the uncertainty in his voice.
“It wasn’t really an invitation, Mr. Jansen. We’re taking you to the precinct to answer some questions regarding a stolen Van Gogh titled Poppy Flowers that Mr. Claude Pampalon secured for you to auction off.”
“That painting was being sold to us by Mr. Pampalon. He assured me and my father that he had acquired it legally.” No mistaking the alarm in his voice now.
“Yes, you can tell us all about it at the precinct.” Marcel moved from in front of the door and waved him into the hallway.
Edmond caught sight of Adelaide and Dimitri in the hallway. “Your father was going to sell us a stolen painting? I had no idea.”
“Don’t respond, please.” Beau held up his hand to Dimitri. “Y’all should wait for the next elevator.”
Dimitri shook his head as the elevator door shut behind them, Edmond still proclaiming his innocence.
But, of course.
31
Addy
“I guess we need to make an announcement to the hotel staff. About Lissette. And Father. Everyone will hear about it soon enough, if they haven’t already.” Dimitri paced the floor in front of the big window in Addy’s office.
“I’m sorry. I know this has to be hard on you. I hope—” A knock sounded on her door.
“Come in.” She moved from behind her desk as Mr. Orlov stepped into the office.
“Ms. Fountaine, I apologize for the interruption.”
“Is anything wrong, Mr. Orlov?” Adelaide switched effortlessly to hotel general manager.
“Yes, yes, there is. I need to speak to you, and it is of the utmost importance.” He included Dimitri in his look. “You as well, Mr. Pampalon.”
What now?
“May I get you something? Water?” Addy gestured him to the sittin
g area in front of the window. She sat on the loveseat in her office facing the old gemologist.
“No, thank you. I am okay.” Dimitri sat down beside her.
She smiled at Mr. Orlov. “How may we help you?”
“It is about the diadem.”
There weren’t words to express how sorry she was that it had been stolen and the big sapphire removed. “Again, Mr. Orlov, I’m truly sorry. Our insurance company has the claim we filed and will remit a claim check soon. Although it can never replace the original sapphire, as you say, that’s all we can do.”
“That is just it, Ms. Fountaine. I do not believe the sapphire was recently removed.”
“What?” That made no sense. Addy glanced at Dimitri, then inched to the edge of the loveseat. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand. I thought you said the sapphire was a fake?”
“It is.” He nodded.
“Then what are you saying?” Dimitri asked, clearly as confused as she was. At least it wasn’t just her due to the knock on her head yesterday.
“I have been reviewing my photos and records from my inspection and appraisal last year as well as photos taken with members of the royal family wearing the diadem since.”
“You mean aside from Katerina? I thought she was the only one who wore that one.” Dimitri leaned forward as well.
“No. Some other princesses in the princely family wear it on occasion. Weddings and the like.”
Addy nodded, although she had no idea where Yaromir was taking the conversation.
“I concluded my inspection of the diadem last April, as that is when I do all inspection on the royal family jewels. Princess Marie wore it at a wedding in June. Look at the photos.” He pulled pictures from his jacket pocket and set them on the table in front of them.
“What are we looking at?” Dimitri asked.
Yaromir tapped the picture of just the diadem. It was stunning, no doubt about that. The sapphire and diamonds, elongated and pear shaped, shined in the silver setting. “You see the sapphire here in the center, the one that has been replaced?”
Kinda hard to miss a jewel that large. Addy nodded. “Look at the metal around the sapphire.”
Addy did, but saw nothing. Just the shiny silver.
Yaromir touched the other photo. “This is Princess Marie wearing it at the wedding in June. See the sapphire in the center?”
Again, hard to miss the big jewel, but Addy nodded.
“Look carefully at the metal around the sapphire in this picture.” Addy lifted it and studied. She squinted, having no idea what on earth she was supposed to be looking for. Maybe the bump on her head had really— Wait a minute. She glanced at Yaromir, then back to the photograph. “Are those little scratches up on the left side, by those little diamonds?”
Yaromir grinned and nodded. “You see.”
Dimitri shook his head. “What does that mean?”
Addy had a strong feeling she knew exactly what it meant.
Mr. Orlov sat back in his seat and ran a finger along the side of his nose. “I, of course, noticed the scratches when I inspected the diadem here. They were clearly caused by the sapphire being removed and replaced with the imitation. I assumed that the replacement and scratching had occurred here, after it was taken from the safe.” He sat up and tapped the second picture again. “This photograph tells a different story.”
“So, what are you saying?” Dimitri asked.
“I am saying that based on these photographs, I believe the original Russian sapphire was stolen before. Sometime after April third but before June fifteenth.”
Addy stared at the photographs, then met Mr. Orlov’s eye. “Stolen months before, back in Liechtenstein?”
Mr. Orlov’s head bobbed. “Yes, that is what I believe.”
“Which would mean that Jackson Larder didn’t steal the sapphire at all. He stole the tiara itself from the safe, but he didn’t remove any of the jewels. Is that what you’re saying?” Dimitri asked.
“Yes.”
“But . . .” Addy shook her head. “I don’t understand how that could have happened.”
“I have checked my records, and the diadem was only worn three times in April, May, and June. In early April, Princess Katerina wore it to Easter church service. Princess Katerina again wore the diadem to an event in conjunction with the Treisenberg spring festival. It was not worn again until Princess Marie wore it at the wedding where she is photographed in it there. Where it already had the scratches.”
“I’m sorry, but we don’t know the policy of how the diadem is kept. You might need to be a little more specific.” Dimitri might have spoken without inflection in his voice, but Addy could feel the tenseness of his posture. He was on the edge of his seat with excitement.
So was she. If that sapphire had been stolen back in Liechtenstein, the Darkwater Inn wasn’t responsible.
“All of the royal family’s jewels are kept in a highly protected manner, much like you have a safe and vault here. The royal family has a safe place as well. The prince and princesses can access these areas and remove the jewels for when they are wearing them, under the permission of the hereditary royal family. These are the only people who have access.”
“So, someone couldn’t have gotten the tiara, pulled out the real sapphire and replaced it, then put the tiara back without anyone noticing?” Dimitri asked.
Mr. Orlov shook his head. “Absolutely not. There are, as you say, surveillance cameras and other security measures. I have reviewed them as well. No one touched the diadem except when one of the princesses wore them to approved events.”
Addy’s mind raced. “You’re telling us that the sapphire had to have been taken when it was in Princess’s Katerina’s custody?”
“Yes.” Yaromir scooped the pictures up and looked at them. “That is my conclusion after a thorough investigation.”
This was . . . Addy didn’t even know what this was. “So how can we help you?” Dimitri asked.
“If the sapphire was not stolen here in the United States, your policeman can give me the diadem to take back to Liechtenstein, is this correct? He said he only had to keep it for the investigation, but if it is intact as it was when Princess Katerina arrived here, then we can have it returned.”
Well, it did make sense.
“So I need you to tell the police this and have them return the diadem to me to take home.”
Put that way, it seemed very logical. Addy nodded. “I can’t guarantee anything, of course, because I have no authority over the police, but I can call Detective Savoie and have him come here, and you can show him the pictures and tell him what you’ve told us and see what he says.”
“Thank you, Ms. Adelaide Fountaine. You are a lovely woman.”
She smiled and pulled out her phone. “Let me call him right quick.” She stood and stepped a few feet away and called the number she’d known by heart for years.
“Hello, Addy. We just finished up with Jansen. The DA is working out a deal with him right now as we speak. Looks like Claude Pampalon’s not going to get away this time.”
She was happy, of course, but also sorry for Dimitri. Not because Claude was a good father, but because he wasn’t.
“I think I need you to come back to the hotel,” she told Beau.
“Yeah? Why’s that?”
She quickly told him what the gemologist had told them. “He’s pretty adamant, Beau. I studied those pictures hard, and I think he’s right.”
“Good gravy, this is getting complicated, but uncomplicated too.”
“Yep. So, will you find a magnifying glass on your way? Just to see the picture better.”
“Of course. I’ll be there quickly. I want to make sure I get off work on time today. I have a hot date tonight.”
Her cheeks heated, and she couldn’t stop the smile. “Do you, now?”
“I do. With the most kind and wonderful and beautiful woman in the whole French Quarter.”
“Wow, lucky man. Guess you’d better hurry
then so you aren’t late for your very important date.”
“Consider me on my way.”
She ended the call, took a moment to wipe the grin off her face, then returned to the little sitting area in her office. “Detective Savoie said he’ll be on his way shortly. Can I get you some water or something while we wait?”
Yaromir Orlov shook his head. “No, thank you, Ms. Fountaine, but you can tell me when Princess Katerina will return. It seems I need to ask her a few questions.”
Beau
“So the sapphire wasn’t stolen here.” Beau shook his head. But those facts . . . “What that implies is just crazy.”
“I just can’t believe the princess would allow this to happen.” Addy looked at Yaromir Orlov from the loveseat in her office, where Beau and Dimitri flanked her either side. “There has to be some other explanation.”
“I cannot think of one. The evidence shows what it shows. Princess Katerina is the only person who had access to the diadem during the timeframe.”
Marcel stopped pacing. “What about royal housekeepers or whatever? Wouldn’t they have access to the crown?”
Orlov frowned. “No. No housekeepers or other employees have access to the royal jewels. They are kept secured until being worn.”
It made sense in theory, but realistically?
Beau just couldn’t wrap his head around it. “I can’t see Katerina having the foresight to find a stone the same size and shape of the sapphire to make the switch.” It didn’t fit with her as a person, and in his line of work he’d learned that people, for the most part, didn’t really go against their ingrained natural bent.
Sitting in the chair across from them, Orlov’s brow puckered even deeper into his aged skin. “I did not imply that Her Highness Princess Katerina physically did this herself. I am stating that it happened when she had the diadem in her possession.”
“That she had it done? That’s what you’re saying?” Dimitri asked. He sat on the other side of Addy on the loveseat facing Orlov.
“Yes. As much as I do not want to believe it, that is what the evidence shows. She had the diadem with the sapphire, then it was replaced before it went back to safe keeping.”
