Detective Omnibus- 7 to Solve

by Adam Carter

  “And how would you have stolen it?”

  She eyed me with curiosity and more than a little anger. “First tell me what he said about me.”

  I couldn’t see that being unfair. “He said you were there, staring at the diamond. He said you came three days in a row and eventually he talked to you and you told him your name.”

  “That’d be stupid if I went on to steal it.”

  “That’s what Holbrook said.”

  “Jane’s still around? How is she?”

  “She’s fine.”

  “Good. Well, I wasn’t at the museum three days in a row. I went there once, yes, but I didn’t go back and I certainly didn’t go around telling strangers my name.” She paused, assessing me once more. “You ever move on, Matthew?”

  “I never move anywhere. Why would Shoreham say he spoke with you?”

  “No idea, never met him. You see much of Arlene?”

  “Only when I pick up Gemma.”

  “She still a bitter cow?”

  I sighed. Shenna and Arlene had never got along, understandably, but I didn’t regret anything that happened.

  “She was never good enough for you, Matthew. That’s why you came to me. We had some fun, then you turned me in anyway and went back to work. Things like that could make a girl twisted, Matthew.” She smiled. “But it sorted out my life for me, so I’m not going to complain.”

  “Arresting you was the hardest thing I ever did, Shen.”

  “And you were right to do it.”

  Arlene and I had always had our problems, but when I was investigating a string of jewellery heists, I met Shenna Tarin. I met her several times in fact, and knew she was the one committing the thefts. She toyed with me, always stayed one step ahead of me, and flirted all the way. I got as close to her as I could and for some reason she let me. That we became lovers was one of the factors which destroyed my marriage, and nailing Shenna for the thefts was a nightmare for me. She was the cleverest opponent I’d ever faced, but I managed to outfox her. As I took her in, I remember her laughter being warm and sincere. Aside from at the court case, it was the last time I ever saw her.

  But it seemed since coming out of prison she’d turned her life around. That was good – amazing in fact. Shenna Tarin had at last turned her skills and knowledge of antiques to a legal advantage.

  “So,” I said, “how would you have done it?”

  “Like I said; that depends why you’re asking me.”

  “Because you’ve become a part of my investigation and I’m trying to figure out why.” Shenna Tarin was the most dangerous human being I had ever encountered and it was never wise to tug a lion’s mane. I didn’t like to threaten her, but my work took precedence over my feelings. If it didn’t, we might have still been together.

  “The floor,” she said.

  “Come again?”

  “The diamond was protected by a laser security system, but I’d have come in through the floor. That plinth it was on? Hollow wood. Cut a hole in the floor and you can squeeze through the plinth, unscrew the base the diamond’s sitting on and the Teardrop would fall into my lap. Screw the base back on and no one would ever know the diamond was taken that way. Until they moved the plinth and found the hole in the floor, of course.” She sipped her tea once more. “Have you checked yet for holes in the floor?”

  Once again I was amazed at her genius. “I’m betting when we do, we’ll find a great big hole.”

  “And an angry Ralph Watts.”

  That shocked me as well. “You know Watts owns the diamond?”

  “Sure. I was the one who suggested he buy it.”

  “You what?”

  “Honestly, Matthew, your research techniques are really letting you down today. What do I do for a living?”

  “You buy and sell antiques.”

  “And what did I do when you met me? Apart from cat burgling on the side, I mean.”

  “You were an independent jewellery assessor,” I said, trying to remember all the details. “You’d hire yourself out to wealthy people and help them value jewels they intended to buy, identifying faults and giving your professional opinion.”

  “I did a few jobs for Watts. He had a good knowledge of the jewellery industry, but everyone can do with a second opinion.”

  I did not like what I was hearing. Before coming to her, I had hoped Shenna would not have had any idea what I was talking about. But not only did she admit to going to the museum to stake-out the Teardrop, she also revealed she knew Watts and helped him buy the thing? It was too much of a coincidence for me to like.

  “Are you going to arrest me?” she asked, finishing her tea.

  “I don’t have any evidence for that.”

  “You have circumstantial evidence. You have a witness to place me at the scene of the crime and my confession to that. And I also know the victim and am very familiar with the best way to have stolen the jewel.”

  “But you didn’t steal it.”

  “No. I didn’t.” I could sense the first trace of anger from her then and warned myself once more about making her angry. I knew I had to get her on my side. Shenna Tarin did not do anything by halves: she had been the worst enemy I’d ever had, and the greatest lover.

  “Will you help me?” I asked.

  “Help you?”

  “You’re the best in the field and someone’s trying to muscle in on that.”

  “Don’t try to engage my reputational pride, Matthew. I’ll do it for you, not for me.”

  “So you’ll help?”

  “Of course I’ll help. All you needed to do was ask.”

  I suddenly felt ten years younger, but Shenna had always had that effect on me. She was such a bundle of energy and joy I began to wonder how I had ever managed without her.

  “So,” she said, shifting in the chair which was suddenly too comfortable for one who had just discovered she was going to be returning to the high life of adventure, “where do you want me?”

  She could not have more reminded me of her old ways if she had tried. The thing I missed most about my time with Shenna, I realised in that instant, was her happy flirtatiousness. Nothing bothered her, which was probably why she had always been one to take so many risks. And the greater the risk, the deeper the thrill. I don’t know whether I was ever actually in love with Shenna, or just the thought of what she represented, but I could easily have not much cared about love if it meant keeping her in my life.

  “I’m going to talk to Watts’s ex-wife,” I said.

  “Ex? That would have been Elizabeth, right?”

  “Do you remember her maiden name as well?”

  “Not sure I ever knew it.”

  “What can you tell me about her?”

  “Nothing much. She was a little younger than Watts, if I remember rightly. I always figured she married him for his money. If they divorced, could it be because he started running out?”

  “Possibly. He also beat her up.”

  “Nasty fellow. What do you mean by possibly?”

  “Watts is slowly gambling his wealth away. That diamond was pretty much all he had left to his name.”

  “And it would be tied to the museum by his contract with them.” She nodded. “It’s not like he could just sell it to raise some cash. His car, his home, his dignity … all of that could be sold, but the diamond is a museum piece. Yes, it’s his and technically he could pull it out and sell it, but he has a contract with the museum for it to be on display for another X number of years. If he broke that contract, he’d have to pay them a huge sum of money. Plus his credibility would be shot.” She thought about it a moment. “I can see why you suspect him. And why you suspect his ex. She could have taken the term money-grabbing to a whole new level.”

  “I can’t take you with me to see her.”

  “Of course you can’t. But while you’re talking with her, I can be talking to my own contacts.”

  “What contacts?”

  “In the business. I buy and sell an
tiques, remember? Someone somewhere along the line might well try to sell me the Teardrop. And, if they don’t, I may be able to find out who took it. No one takes a diamond just because they think it’s pretty. You can’t wear stolen jewels to a ball, after all.”

  “I hadn’t thought of that.”

  “So you really did come to me just because my name was mentioned by Shoreham?” She sounded disappointed, and I knew it was not an act. “In this instance, Matthew, I’m the greatest resource you have. Use me.”

  I rose reluctantly. But if I stayed there I would never get any work done. “Don’t tempt me, Shen. Thanks for the tea.”

  “Sure, Matthew. I guess I’m going to have to get some digestives in for next time.”

  I left without managing to convince myself I had gone to see Shenna about anything to do with the investigation.

  CHAPTER SIX

  I picked up Holbrook and together we paid Elizabeth Payne a visit. Along the way, I explained about my meeting with Shenna. Holbrook remained unusually quiet and I knew she was judging me. But then Holbrook was always judging me about something. If I asked her, she would say she just wanted me to be happy, and for the sake of our long friendship I chose to believe her. Personally, I just think Holbrook likes controlling people’s lives, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing in our line of work.

  “You should stay in touch with her,” Holbrook said once I’d told her everything. “After this is over, I mean.”

  “Even if she turns out to be the thief?”

  “Is there anyone you don’t suspect?”

  “Maybe myself. But then you never know whether your doctor’s well-versed in hypnotism.”

  “Do you suspect me?”

  “No.” I paused. “But it’s always the ones you least suspect.”

  “I give up.”

  I don’t know why I talk that way, especially to Holbrook. I don’t like letting people get close to me, I know that much. That might have something to do with Arlene, Shenna or something else I’ve entirely forgotten. It might just be because I’m a grumpy old man without even being old. Whatever the case, I don’t like talking about my feelings so I’m probably never going to know why I don’t want people close to me. Or maybe that even answers the question.

  To be honest, I’m not sure I even care that much.

  As we drove through Payne’s neighbourhood I noted how wealthy it was. Being divorced from Blake had certainly paid off, unless Payne had her own line of work. It was possible she knew as much about the jewellery business as her ex-husband, but I had no idea. It was probably, I reflected, something I should have asked Shenna about.

  We pulled into a driveway formed of a million pebbles. There was no gate to protect her front garden, but said garden was not as large as those of some of her neighbours. The house itself was a mansion compared to anything I was ever going to afford, but again it was not as large as some of those around her. I was of course searching for a motive, and if Elizabeth Payne was a woman who liked to keep up with the Joneses, there was every chance she could have arranged for her ex-husband’s diamond to be stolen. The trick Holbrook and I would therefore have to pull off would be to determine whether Payne was still bitter enough about her divorce to think Watts still owed her something.

  “You want to do the talking?” Holbrook asked as we exited the vehicle.

  “Depends whether the woman’s a viper. Sometimes bad cop goes well with vipers.”

  “I can do bad cop.”

  “Well I can’t do good cop, so we’re not switching roles.”

  By this point we had reached the front door, framed by large stone sculptures of some kind of animal. As I rang the bell I realised I had half expected to find one of those big, elaborate knockers, but it seemed Miss Payne retained at least some of the throwbacks to bring her down to the level of us mortals. It was amazing how much I had judged her before even speaking a single word to her – before even seeing her, in fact.

  The door opened and I don’t know why, but I had been expecting a butler as well. The woman who stood before us was in her early-to-mid forties, with less-than-striking features but what I can only call a royal carriage. That’s not to say she had horses pulling her forward, but that she carried herself in a royal way. Then I noticed the stone animal carvings outside her door were of horses and the image just wouldn’t fade.

  The woman was wearing jeans and I could not quite imagine this was Payne.

  “Yes?” she asked with a frown.

  I flashed my identification. “Detective Blake, Detective Holbrook. We’re looking for a Miss Elizabeth Payne.”

  She held out her hand and I briefly wondered whether she was asking me to shake it. Then I saw her palm was facing upwards so I placed my identification into it. She took a step back, one hand still upon the half-open door, and read my card carefully. When she handed it back, she looked only marginally less confused. “How can I help, Detective?”

  “May we come in?”

  She considered a moment, then opened the door fully. “Yes, of course.”

  Holbrook and I walked in to an expensive abode and I unconsciously wiped my feet. It was the second such house I had been to that day and if I was going to continue the trend I would develop an inferiority complex by the time I got home. We were not offered tea and biscuits, which was a little disappointing, but I did take a seat unasked, so I like to think I got one over my host. The room, I could see, was spacious and devoid of character. Unlike Shenna’s home, which was cosy and cluttered, Payne seemed to be someone who favoured a minimalist approach. There were one or two expensive paintings or sculptures about the room, but I got the impression she had spent all her money on these items and could not afford much in the way of personal luxury. The art would be to impress the neighbours when they came to visit, but pleasing them had restricted Payne in her own life.

  I knew all of this could well have been totally untrue, but as first impressions went, it was certainly a clear one.

  “Would you be Miss Payne?” Holbrook asked.

  “I would. Please, sit.”

  Holbrook did so, Payne sliding into her own chair as though she had never bent her spine in her life. She looked upon me with the eyes of a tigress whose home had just been invaded by a particularly slouchy tiger. It was a good enough impression to have made on her and one I had spent long years trying to perfect.

  “Do you know why we’re here?” I asked.

  “Why would I know why you were here?”

  “Quite. When was the last time you spoke with your husband, Miss Payne?”

  “Ex-husband.”

  “Quite.”

  She glared at me. I resolved to drop that word into conversation more often.

  “I haven’t seen or spoken with Ralph for a long time, Detective. What’s he want with me? Is he suing me for something?”

  “Does he do that often?”

  “He’s never sent the police around to me at all, actually.”

  “We’re not here at the behest of Ralph Watts,” Holbrook said. “That’s not how the police do things. You have a nice home, Miss Payne.”

  “Is that a crime?”

  I noticed she was unusually touchy and could see Holbrook had noted it also. That meant I wasn’t just seeing the worst in people. Payne felt guilty of something, that much was definite.

  “Do you know what the Teardrop is?” I asked.

  “No. What?”

  “Really?” I raised an eyebrow. Shenna had told me she had helped Watts purchase the Teardrop, and that would have been back when Watts and Payne had been together. “Your husband’s had that diamond for years, Miss Payne.”

  “Ex-husband,” she reminded me sourly. “And yes, I remember the Teardrop. It’s a common word, Detective. If you want me to equate the word to a diamond you could just ask.”

  It was a fair enough point but I did not believe her for a moment. “What did you think of it?” I asked.

  “The diamond? Nothing. It’s a diamond.�
�

  “Are you in the jewellery business, Miss Payne?”

  “The jewellery business? No.”

  “And what work do you do?”

  “I’m a solicitor.”

  It explained the big house.

  “Do you live alone?”

  “No. I live with my fiancé. Roger Anderson. You want for me to call him so you can interrogate him as well?”

  “And what would Mr Anderson do for a living?”

  “He’s a judge.”

  “Ah.”

  “So between us we know all the ins and outs of proper legal proceedings.” She settled a little more comfortably at last; there was even a small smile to her face. “So, Detective, what can I do for you today?”

  Holbrook took up the questioning. She was always better at spelling things out for people, since I had a tendency to delve into sarcasm.

  “The Teardrop’s been stolen,” Holbrook said. “We’re looking into who might have had a motive to take it.”

  “Anyone who wanted money, I’d wager. I appreciate you coming over to tell me, but I have no financial ties to the diamond any more. It was bought during my marriage, it’s true, but Ralph was allowed to keep the Teardrop when we divorced. I’m sorry if you’ve had a wasted trip.”

  She was clever, this one. She had threatened us with her legal knowledge and then offered us a dignified exit. Dignity has never been something I’ve much bothered with, and I was glad when Holbrook said, “Be that as it may, we’re actually here in the search for suspects.”

  Payne put on a thinking face, then made a theatrical display of realising what we were talking about. “Surely you don’t mean you think I stole the jewel?” It wasn’t a guilty display, just an insulting one. In the sarcasm department this woman could well have given me a run for my money.

  “I suspect everyone,” I told her. “Don’t take it personally. I even suspect Watts, if it makes you feel any better.”

  She looked confused: the first genuine emotion I’d seen on her face. “You think Ralph stole his own diamond?”

  “Heck, I’d suspect his cat if he had one. Does Watts have a cat?”

  From that moment on, Payne decided to ignore me and spoke directly to Holbrook. “Tell me when the diamond was stolen and I’ll see what alibi I can provide.”