Bats and Bling

by Laina Turner

  “And how do you plan to do that?”

  “No idea.”

  I decided that one more cup of coffee was exactly what I needed to clear my head and help me figure this out. Ok, probably not really what I needed but it was the little things that got me through the day sometimes and lately they’d not been that easy. I popped in another hazel nut Kcup and hit brew. My phone started vibrating again and I looked and this time it was Cooper. Finally, something positive.

  “Hi, there,” I said answering with a big smile on my face. If only he were here to see it. God I wish he was here.

  “Hi yourself. I got your message last night but when I called back it went right to voicemail.”

  “Yeah, sorry about that. I forgot to put the phone on the charger when I went to bed and I didn’t realize it was dead.”

  “Too much wine,” he teased.

  “Maybe. But not without good reason. Which is why I’ve called and left you a million messages.”

  “I know, I know and I’m sorry. It’s been crazy but you’ve got me now.”

  “I know you’ve been busy, it’s OK.”

  “Tell me what’s going on. You sounded upset in your message.”

  “Remember me telling you about Veronica Knapp and the fashion show.”

  “Of course. I do listen to you when you tell me things.”

  “Well, to make a long story short she brought in a very expensive piece of jewelry when she came to try on dresses, asked me to hold on to it for her, and someone broke into Silk and stole it.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah, and that’s not even the best part. Insurance won’t cover it because it wasn’t part of our stock and now I’ll probably lose everything,” I said with a sarcastic tone because if I didn’t try and pretend it wasn’t a big deal I would break down and bawl and I just couldn’t let myself do that right now. I was afraid if I let go I wouldn’t be able to pull myself back together and I had to work today. There was no calling in sick when you worked for yourself, another downside along with no direct deposit.

  “Are you ok?”

  “Not in the slightest but the show must go on.”

  “Do the police have any leads? You did call the police didn’t you?”

  I rolled my eyes, “Yes, I called the police.”

  “Don’t give me that tone, missy,” he said half in jest. “You have a bad habit of trying to take matters like this into your own hands.”

  “Ok, maybe sometimes but not this time. I did call the police, mainly because I thought I’d need their report for insurance purposes. This could kill my business, Cooper. If the cops can’t figure out who did this I could lose everything.”

  “Don’t think like that. The police will find out what happened. Is Willie on the case?”

  “Not directly but he’s keeping me in the loop.”

  “Well then you know he will make sure the cops are doing everything they can. Listen sweetheart, I’m really sorry but I have to run to a meeting. I’ll call you this afternoon ok.”

  “OK. When are you coming home?”

  “Hopefully in a couple days. I should know more after this meeting when I’ll be able to wrap things up.”

  “I’ll talk to you later then. I love you.”

  “Love you too, babe.”

  “How’s Cooper?” Anna asked when I hung up. She’d been leaning on the kitchen counter drinking her coffee while I was on the phone.

  “Wonderful as ever. If only he were here and not always flying off to places without me,” I grumbled. Cooper ran a security firm and represented clients all over the United States. If this meeting went well then maybe the world. He was currently in London meeting with the CEO of a software company who believed he had someone on the inside selling secrets to competitors. I used to travel with him sometimes but after buying Silk I didn’t have the flexibility to do that very often. I wouldn’t trade it, I loved my business, but I hated being away from him too.

  The store was hopping when I arrived. That was a positive. Though I couldn’t help but think about how many dresses it would take to pay off what that brooch cost. I had to stop obsessing. Worrying didn’t solve anything.

  Katy had opened the store for me so she hadn’t been home when I talked to the insurance company and I filled her in.

  “How are we supposed to figure out who took the brooch?” she asked when I finally stopped talking and telling her the only solution I could come up with.

  “That’s the million dollar question. I don’t know if whoever took it was trying to get at Veronica, or Silk, or me, or just really likes bats and couldn’t afford their own gaudy brooch. Though it’s not like a lot of people knew we had the brooch in the safe. Just us, Yvette, Veronica, and her friends. That significantly narrows down the suspect pool.”

  “Surely it’s someone who wants to get at Veronica. Why would anyone want to hurt Silk or you? Besides if they were out to get you then it was coincidence the brooch was even in the safe.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Why don’t you ask her friends?” Yvette said from behind us and Katy and I turned around.

  “I didn’t hear you come up,” I said.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. But maybe ask her friends who might have wanted to steal the brooch or who her enemies are. People who might be out to get her.”

  “That’s a good idea but I’m not sure her friends would want to talk to us any more than she would want to talk to us right now. I’m sure she’s already called them and told them to boycott Silk,” I said. “They’d probably hang up if I called.”

  “She has a point, Presley,” Katy said. “What do we have to lose by asking? Maybe we could even have a special shopping event to get them here. If they are shopping and getting great deals maybe they would be more inclined to talk.”

  “That’s a great idea. We could serve wine and loosen them up a bit get them talking,” Willie said. “You might be surprised at what they might say after a few drinks.”

  “I’d be willing to help you put it together. I love organizing parties,” said Yvette. “How about a Halloween themed event. We have all those props and decorations we bought for the fashion show. We might as well use them instead of letting them go to waste.”

  “That’s brilliant! It’s already Thursday. Do you think we could pull this together for Monday? We could close an hour early and have an invitation only sale? Mondays are slow anyways so maybe we could drum up a little more business with all this great new fall merchandise,” I said.

  “It’ll be a lot of work but we can pull it off,” Katy said.

  “I’ll print off our preferred guest list, which I know Veronica and most of her friends are all on, and start making calls since there isn’t time to mail invites. Do you want to have a store wide discount or just selected merchandise?” said Yvette.

  “Let’s do store wide with a deeper discount on the markdowns. We need to get rid of that stuff to make way for the new merchandise that’s sitting in back or hasn’t even made it in. Might as well pull out all the stops. Even if no one shows up we can at least say we tried.”

  “Don’t be so negative, Presley. Things will work out. You’ll see. These women won’t be able to resist a sale. It’s in their DNA to shop,” Katy said.

  Yvette headed to the back to make some calls and a couple women walked in with a man following closely behind. I didn’t recognize any of them so I was excited. New shoppers. I loved it when new people came in. It made me feel I was doing something right and gave me the opportunity to win people over to regular customers. Even with the current drama surrounding the place I still got excited. Katy was right. I needed to have a positive attitude about things. Negativity didn’t get you anywhere,

  “Hello and welcome to Silk,” I said and then filled them in on the layout of the store. The two ladies headed back to the evening dress section while the man lingered in the front. I quickly got the feeling he wasn’t here to shop since he didn’t seem to be wit
h the ladies as I’d first thought. I decided I might as well approach him and see what he wanted.

  “Can I help you find something, sir? Are you looking for a gift for someone?”

  The man smiled and held out his hand. “I’m Bert Tremain with Windy City Insurance. Are you Presley by chance?”

  My heart dropped as I shook his hand but I kept a smile plastered on my face. This couldn’t be good and just when my day was starting to look a little brighter with new customers. Windy City wasn’t my insurance company, so I could only assume it was Veronica’s. She certainly worked fast. “Yes I am.”

  He must have noticed the distress in my face because he quickly added, “Don’t worry dear. I’m just here to ask you a few questions about the brooch that was stolen.”

  That was his purpose for stopping by and he expected me not to be worried. I was confused by his demeanor.

  “My insurance company has the police report but I’m not yet sure what they are going to do,” I lied, not wanting to admit that they wouldn’t cover the loss and hoping he might not know that yet. I needed a little more time to think about all this, maybe find a solution, or find the brooch.

  “I’m not here about that exactly. I’m representing the jewelry store that gave Ms. Knapp the brooch on loan, not Ms. Knapp.”

  That took me by surprise. “I thought Veronica had said she had the piece custom made for her.”

  “She did, but it hadn’t quite been paid for yet. The store was just gracious enough to allow her to take it home before paying for it.”

  What kind of store let someone take an expensive piece of jewelry without paying? It seemed as if Veronica might also be in trouble over this. I couldn’t help but feel a glimmer of hope that if Veronica hadn’t paid for it, maybe she’d be accountable for the loss not me. I felt bad for even thinking that but I couldn’t help it.

  Bert pulled a notebook out of his pocket and looked back at me.

  “If you could please run down the events of how the brooch came to be in your possession?”

  I recounted everything from when Veronica and her friends came in the store to opening the safe the next morning to discover the brooch was missing.

  “And you have no idea who could have gotten into the safe?”

  “No,” I shook my head. “The police are of course investigating but I haven’t heard anything yet. There are only a few of us who have access and I can’t bring myself to believe it’s one of us but then that leaves me at a loss as to who could have not only got into the store but also the safe.” As I was telling him all this I started to wonder if maybe I was giving out too much information. Though the cat was out of the bag so to speak so I couldn’t take it back.

  “Well thank you,” he said. “I think I’ve got what I need. For now anyway.”

  “Really?” I couldn’t help but be surprised that’s all he asked. It didn’t seem very investigative like. But before I could say anything else he turned and quickly left before I could ask any of the million questions running through my mind.

  “What was that all about,” Katy asked as she walked back up to me. She had been helping customers when I was talking to Bert.

  “A guy from an insurance company who is representing the jewelry store. He said that brooch was out on loan. That Veronica hadn’t paid for it.”

  “Who let’s something that expensive out without payment?”

  “That’s exactly what went through my head when he told me.”

  “I might not have the answer to that question, Pres, but what I do know is those two ladies who just came in are definitely in the mood to drop some cash. So let’s see how much we can sell them and brighten up your day and Silk’s bank account.”

  As I went with Katy over to the shoppers I couldn’t help thinking about the fact Veronica hadn’t paid for the brooch. There was something not quite right about that. She was loaded. At least that’s how she portrayed herself and with all the money I knew she’d dropped at Silk in the last couple months she’d have to be rich or seriously in debt. Though maybe she was in debt and didn’t have the money to pay for it.

  The morning flew by, the new customers adding a healthy number to our daily sales which we sorely needed and did help my mood. Anna came in to join us for lunch and the three of us were trying to decide what to eat when the door chimed and we looked up to see it was Willie.

  “Willie,” I exclaimed and walked around the counter to give him a hug.

  “Do you remember my friend Anna?” I said, motioning to her.

  “Of course,” he smiled and held out his hand. “Good to see you again. You too, Katy.”

  “So what do we owe the pleasure?” I asked.

  “I was in the neighborhood and thought I’d stop by and fill you in on what we have so far about your break in.”

  “I thought you weren’t working on the case?”

  “I wasn’t but I asked Detective Braden if I could take over since I knew you so here I am. How lucky are you?”

  “Super lucky. We have the best detective in Chicago.”

  Willie smiled and I was thrilled that he had taken over this case. I felt comfortable with him and knew I could bug him with updates at any time.

  “Unfortunately there isn’t much to go on yet. They did find several sets of fingerprints on the safe and around the back door and we need you all to come to the station so we can eliminate your prints and see if we have anything left to go on.”

  “Some guy was in here this morning from Windy City Insurance. He said he represented the jeweler who made the brooch. Apparently they let Veronica take it when it wasn’t paid for,” I said.

  “That’s the information we got too,” Willie replied.

  “I can’t believe they let her take something that expensive out of the store!”

  “I’m sure they wished they hadn’t now,” Willie said with a small grin. “Lesson learned I suppose.”

  “We were just heading out to lunch. Join us?” Katy said.

  “I wish I could, but I’ve got to get up town. Crime never slows down. Job security I suppose. You ladies have fun though.”

  “Bye Willie,” I said.

  “He is so damn cute,” Anna said as we watched him walk out the door. Taking in what was a great view of his backside. Anna was right. Willie was very handsome. Not what you’d expect from a cop. Not that cops couldn’t be handsome, he just had a different way about him. His presence, his demeanor, just didn’t scream cop. At least not to me. He had awesome taste in clothes. Expensive suits when he was on duty as a detective and full sleeve tattoos visible when he wasn’t. He was very Wentworth Miller in Prison Break. Just the heterosexual version. I wondered whatever happened to Wentworth Miller. I hadn’t seen him in anything in the last few years and I really liked him.

  “So are we ready for lunch?” Katy said.

  “Lunch can wait. I want to go talk to the jewelry store that made that brooch,” I said, grabbing my purse from under the counter.

  “But I’m starving,” Anna said. “You lured me here with the promise of food,” she teased.

  “Me too, Presley. You must feed us!” Katy added.

  “We can gulp and go something on the way,” I said. I was hungry too but I was much more focused on getting more information on this brooch than I was on food. Definitely a first for me. I called goodbye to Yvette leaving her with one of our part time associates to run the store while we were gone and we headed down First Street toward the store we were looking for.

  “How do you guys feel about a falafel? There’s a cart right there,” I said, pointing to the corner.

  “Smells wonderful,” said Katy.

  “Fine with me,” Anna added. “I just need food.”

  We quickly grabbed our sandwiches and kept walking the remaining blocks to Garrett Jewelers.

  “Eating and walking is harder than it looks,” Katy said as I watched the sauce drip over her hand. “Thought we’re burning the calories just as quickly as we’re eating them. Tha
t’s a plus.”

  “You have to eat fast and have a lot of napkins,” I said, pulling a few from the handful I had stuffed in my pocket. “It’s a practiced skill us Chicagoans have.”

  “What are you hoping to find out from the jewelry store?” Anna asked in between bites.

  “I’m just going to lead with the truth and see how far that gets me.” Since I had absolutely no idea what I should say or what their reaction would be, I figured it was my only option.

  “And what is that exactly?” Katy asked.

  “That Veronica left her brooch with me and it was stolen and I want to figure out by who. It’s not like they don’t already know it was stolen from Silk.”

  A few more minutes and we arrived at our destination.

  “I don’t have any sandwich stuck in my teeth do I?” I asked Anna and Katy.

  “Nope,” they replied.

  Feeling a little nervous, I swung open the door that led into a very posh environment. By the looks of the dark wood furniture pieces that were antique even to my untrained eye and the huge crystal encrusted light fixtures, this was a very high end place.

  “I bet there’s not a single thing in here we could afford,” Katy whispered. “Even if we all went in on it together. This place looks like the high end of the high end.”

  “It sure looks that way,” I said at almost a whisper, this place was intimidating.

  A woman, probably mid-fifties, impeccably groomed and in a gorgeous suit that fit her so perfectly it had to be custom tailored for her svelte body, walked out of the back. She looked exactly as I’d imagined someone working here would. No more touchable than any of these high end diamonds.

  “Can I help you ladies?” the woman said in a smooth cultured voice. If she thought we didn’t look like her typical customers she didn’t show it.

  “I sure hope so,” I said a little too cheerfully. A side effect of my being nervous was sometimes being too upbeat and this wasn’t exactly an upbeat sort of place.

  The woman raised her eyebrows as a signal she was waiting for me to finish whatever it was what I wanted to say.