by Cindy Bell
“He could be very dangerous, Jo. I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Samantha repeated.
“I think that you are being paranoid.” Jo smiled sweetly. “I’m having coffee. That’s all.”
“But there’s a good chance that Roger had something to do with the murder, remember? You’re going to have coffee with a murderer?”
“I’m going to offer sympathy to a widower.” Jo set her jaw. “I will be just fine. Now, if you’ll excuse me I need to get home and get some rest.”
“Jo, please be careful.”
“Samantha, you’re always encouraging me to be more social.” She winked at her friend as she walked away. She could feel Samantha’s gaze following after her. She knew that Samantha was concerned, but she also knew that this was the fastest way to find out the truth about Roger. What Samantha didn’t understand, and couldn’t, was that as long as that necklace was floating around somewhere thieves willing to kill to get what they wanted, would draw closer and closer. When she settled into bed that night and closed her eyes, the image of the necklace popped into her mind. Maybe, just maybe, a small part of her hoped to be the one that found it once and for all.
Chapter 7
The next morning Jo woke early. She received a few calls from Samantha, but she ignored them. She didn’t want to be talked out of her plan. She dressed quickly and did her best to ignore the fact that her necklace was gone. It brought back some of her best memories, but it also reminded her of a deep pain that she had never been able to shake. When she reached the small café beside the main office she noticed that Roger was waiting for her outside. A smile rose to her lips that didn’t feel genuine.
“Be nice Jo, you can do that, just be nice,” she muttered to herself before offering her hand to Roger. “Thanks for agreeing to meet.”
“My pleasure, but I’m afraid we can’t stay here.”
“Why not?”
“They’re cleaning the floors. The place is shut down for the morning.”
“Oh, what a shame.” Jo shrugged. “I guess they have to clean some time.”
“Still, this has to be the worst time.”
Jo wondered if Samantha might have had something to do with the café being closed. She became even more determined to get to know Roger.
“Well, I suppose we could reschedule.” She kicked her foot against the sidewalk.
“We could have coffee at my house?” Roger offered a half-smile. “Is that too weird?”
“No.” Jo’s eyes widened. “No, that’s just fine, Roger. Don’t worry about anything being weird.”
“Great.” He brushed his hands against his trousers as if they might be sweaty, then he began to walk across the street to the road that led to his villa. Jo matched his pace. Her heart pounded with a mixture of fear and anticipation. Although she knew it was quite dangerous to go back to his house, especially since no one had any idea that she was, she was thrilled by the thought that she would have a chance to look around for the necklace. Jo suspected that Roger stashed it somewhere inside the villa before he called the police. If that was the case it would likely still be there. As she walked along she kept looking over at him. He looked very much like the suspected accomplice to the robbery, but his hair was blonde. Jo was certain from the picture that the robber she was looking for had dark hair. Did he dye it?
“What do you do for a living, Roger?”
He looked over at her, startled by the question. “Oh, I’m retired.”
“Me too.” Jo smiled. “I guess I should say, what did you do for a living?”
“I was uh, in antiques. You know, buying and selling.”
Jo raised an eyebrow. Was it possible he was a fence? Maybe he wasn’t the robber at all, but the man that the robber had sold the missing necklace to. Not that it mattered much to Jo.
“Wow, it must have been fascinating to deal with such valuable and historical objects.”
“It was. It was also dusty. Very dusty.” He laughed. Jo laughed, too. It seemed like the right thing to do.
“Do you think there is anyone out there that ever knows what treasure they have before they try to sell it in a yard sale?”
“You’d be surprised. Most of the time the moment an elderly relative keels over, the ones who inherited their junk carry it all into a shop to be appraised. Ninety-nine percent of the time it belongs in the dump.”
“That’s sad, isn’t it? To think that all of the items we collect over the years might one day end up in the dump?” She bit into her bottom lip as she realized how insensitive she was being. “I’m sorry if that comment upset you.”
“Why would it?” He shrugged. “It’s true.”
“Well, with Valda passing.”
“Oh trust me, none of Valda’s things are going to end up in the dump. The woman had a voracious appetite for all things expensive and fashionable. In fact if you want to take a look through her closet you’re welcome to.”
“Oh no, I couldn’t do that.”
“She wouldn’t have minded.” He grinned. Jo swallowed back a few choice words. His casual nature about his wife’s death was another reason to believe that he was involved in her murder. How could anyone offer their wife’s clothes within a day of her sudden death?
“Well, that’s quite kind of you.”
“Jo, you know, you’re the first person that reached out to me. It meant a lot to me, considering that we don’t know each other at all.”
“I just don’t want to see anyone go through loss alone.”
“I really appreciate that.” He paused a moment to look into her eyes. “Maybe moving here wasn’t such a bad idea.”
Jo did her best to fake a look of affection. She wasn’t sure if it worked out well because he quirked an eyebrow and then walked up the path to the front door. Jo followed after him. Just before she was about to go inside she sent a quick text to Samantha to let her know where she was.
Then she followed him inside. There was no way she could turn down the opportunity to have a look around his house. She might be able to find something that implicated him in his wife’s death, even if she couldn’t find the necklace itself. As she stepped through the front hallway where Valda’s body was found she felt a twinge of guilt. Would Valda approve of her trampling on the carpet where she took her very last breath?
“Coffee? Tea?” Roger smiled.
“Coffee please.”
Roger went to the kitchen and set about preparing the coffee. As Jo waited she scanned the living room for any signs of a scuffle. She didn’t see anything out of place. She also noticed that there were many tiny touches of what she presumed was Valda’s personality throughout the room. What might have been bland was splashed with color. Whatever surface was available was waxed and shiny. In the short time that Valda lived in the villa she had left her mark.
“Here we are.” Roger returned with two cups of coffee. The two sat down on the couch. Jo’s cell phone rang. She saw that it was Samantha and turned the volume of the ringer off.
“A friend?” Roger leaned a little closer to her.
“Yes. Sorry for the interruption. Roger, you look so familiar to me. It’s strange,” Jo said, she wanted to see if she could get any information from him.
“That’s funny, because you look familiar to me too, Jo. As if I’ve seen you somewhere before.”
“Oh?” Jo glanced away from him. “Perhaps we have crossed paths before.”
“Maybe. But I think if I met you before, I’d remember. You’re quite beautiful.”
Jo’s stomach churned. His wife’s body wasn’t even in the ground yet. It was easy for Jo to assume that because of his history with antiques and obvious callous nature he likely was the accomplice in the robbery. But was he a killer?
“Excuse me, Roger, do you mind if I use your bathroom?”
“Of sure. It’s right around the corner. I’ll just clean up our cups.”
“Thanks.” Jo stood up and made her way around the corner. When she got to the
bathroom door she paused and tried to peek into the bedroom. The door was only open far enough for her to see a black box sitting on the edge of the bed. She heard the clatter of cups in the sink and ducked into the bathroom. Once the door was closed she grabbed onto the vanity unit to steady herself. She was disgusted by Roger’s behavior. She looked at herself in the mirror and noticed that the medicine cabinet was slightly open. She wanted to look to see if there was any indication that Roger had killed Valda. She titled her head to the side so she could get a closer look. She looked on the top shelf and all she found were toothpaste, bandages, and an assortment of other toiletries, nothing unusual. Then she looked down to the bottom shelf and she spotted a box of blonde hair dye right away. That was it, her heart rate quickened slightly. She didn’t think it was Valda’s, as her hair was dark. She presumed the dye belonged to Roger, which meant that he might have the dark hair that the suspected thief did.
As good as it was to discover this information it also left Jo a little more nervous. If Roger was the thief, and also a murderer, then she was alone with a very dangerous man. When she stepped back out into the living room, she didn’t see Roger. She paused in the center of the room and listened. There was no sound of running water, no sound of footsteps, not even the swish of pant legs. Her heart pounded as she wondered where he might have gone. Just when she was about to leave the villa he stepped out of the bedroom.
“Sorry, I had to take care of something.” He smiled. “Thanks for spending some time with me this morning, Jo.”
“I enjoyed it.” She watched him as he stepped closer to her. “I’m very sorry about Valda. I’m sure that she was a wonderful woman.”
“She was all right.” Roger shrugged. “As long as she had new clothes and fine wine she was just fine.”
“Nothing wrong with enjoying the finer things.”
“Do you, Jo?”
“Do I what?”
“Appreciate the finer things?”
Jo tilted her head to the side and studied him. “Why?”
“I just think a woman as beautiful as you, should have something special to wear.”
“I’m not sure I understand.”
He held out a small red jewelry box. Her heart fluttered. Was it really going to be this easy? Was he just going to hand her the necklace?
“Oh really, this is too much, Roger.”
“Please. I’m sure Valda would want it to be worn.”
She tried to hide the tremble in her hand as she took the jewelry box from him. She opened it up to discover a silver bracelet with jade beads. It was beautiful, but not what she expected.
“Thank you, Roger.”
“I hope that you like it. There’s so many things to give away, and I just knew this was meant for you.”
“It’s very pretty.”
“Would you like me to help you put it on?”
Jo met his eyes. She got the feeling that if she declined she might regret it. “Sure.” She held out her wrist to him. He ran his thumb along the back of her hand as he positioned the bracelet. Her stomach twisted. She tried to keep a smile on her face so as not to tip him off to the fact that she was absolutely disgusted by his behavior. He fiddled with the clasp for some time before letting go of her hand.
“Now every time you look at it, you can think of me.”
“Great.” Jo forced her smile to grow wider.
“Maybe we could have dinner sometime?”
“Maybe, Clem.”
“Who?”
“Huh?”
“You just called me Clem. My name is Roger.”
“Oh right, sorry.” Jo frowned. She couldn’t believe she had made such a stupid mistake, but she noticed that he didn’t even flinch when she called him Clem. “See you soon, Roger.” She walked over to the door to let herself out. Roger’s friendly expression transformed into something much darker. He didn’t speak as she stepped out of the villa and closed the door behind her. The second she stepped out of the villa, Samantha popped out from behind one of the large bushes at the end of the driveway. Jo was so startled she let out a yelp.
“Jo!” Samantha hit her on the shoulder.
“Ouch. Why did you do that?” Jo frowned and rubbed her shoulder. The swat didn’t really hurt, but the surprise of the strike was enough to make her heart race.
“How could you go to his house for coffee? That was stupid and dangerous.”
“And exactly what you would have done.” Jo frowned. “Besides, I found something interesting.”
“What?”
“He has blonde hair dye in his bathroom. I also spotted a box on his bed. I think it might have the necklace in it.”
“Did you actually see the necklace?” Samantha met her eyes.
“No, I didn’t see it. But I’m going to keep looking.”
“Well, I have some information to share with you. That’s why I called you first thing this morning, and then again, and then again.”
“I’m sorry, I thought you were calling to talk me out of it. I just didn’t want to be distracted.” Jo glanced back over her shoulder at Roger’s villa. “I really thought I would be able to figure out if it was him. I mean with the blonde dye I’m pretty certain, but he barely reacted when I called him Clem by mistake.”
“I do really think it’s him,” Samantha said.
“You know that for sure?”
“No, but I’m almost sure, he just looks so much like the picture. Eddy was able to connect with some friends in the department that got him the transcripts of the questioning. It was clear that they dropped the ball. He had no real alibi and his fingerprints were at the scene of the crime.”
“But they let him go? Why?”
“Eddy’s not sure. He did mention that bribery was rampant in that particular department. Maybe Clem offered them something that they wanted.”
Jo glanced down at the bracelet on her wrist. “I think he’s used to bribing people to do what he wants. He gave this to me, it belonged to Valda.” She shuddered, she wanted to pull the bracelet off her wrist, but she didn’t want to risk Roger seeing her without it, yet. “To think he killed his wife and now he’s giving away her jewelry to other women.”
“He didn’t kill her. At least not according to Eddy and Walt.”
“What do you mean?”
“While Eddy was looking into Clem, I mentioned that we thought maybe he had killed Valda. He told me that both he and Walt saw Roger at the buffet.”
“Walt, went to a buffet?”
“I know right?” Samantha grinned. “I thought that was odd, too. But Eddy said he talked Walt into it because the meal was cheap and Walt’s trying to experience new things. But when they got there he couldn’t get Walt to eat anything besides a bread roll. Anyway, they saw Roger there. He was getting a lot of attention as the new resident. Eddy insisted that Roger could not have gotten home in time to kill Valda.”
“So, it looks like he is the accomplice, but he is not the killer?”
“Remember, on the night that we found Valda’s body, Roger said that he should have been there. Valda was home alone while he was at the buffet. A woman like that probably wouldn’t be caught dead at a buffet. Especially seeing as she claimed to be carb-free.”
“Good point.” Jo ran her hand along her chin. “So, if Roger was at the buffet and Valda was home alone, it’s possible that the necklace was the target the entire time. The murder might have just been an unplanned consequence.”
“Which means that someone knew Roger had the necklace.”
“Or, someone always knew that he did.”
“What do you mean?” Samantha paused in front of her villa.
“Look, I was pretty much always a solo thief.” She softened her voice as she knew that Samantha probably didn’t want to hear too much about her past and she certainly didn’t want anyone else overhearing her. “But I learned that if you did a job together, that was a bond, almost like a sibling bond. So, if Tony and Roger did this job together, but Rog
er kept the jewel of the crime, then Tony has likely been seething about it all of these years. Maybe he put a hit out on Roger from prison?”
“Or maybe…” Samantha took a sharp breath. “Maybe he’s out! Think about it. No one was injured in the ‘Rose Burglary’, so Tony may have finished his time by now, and even if he didn’t he might have gotten paroled early.”
“Well, if Tony is out then he is going to be our main suspect.”
“I’ll find out what I can from my contacts. In the meantime, Jo please, stay put. I’ll let you know whatever I find out, I promise.”
“All right.” Jo tugged at the bracelet on her wrist. “I’ll keep this on a little while longer in case we need to keep Roger on our good side. But Samantha you have to find out as fast as you can. If Tony is out, he’s not going to be satisfied unless he has the necklace and payback. He may still be hanging around waiting for the right moment to strike Roger.”
“Who knew thieves could be so dangerous?”
“Most aren’t.” Jo lifted her chin. A surge of defensiveness caused her cheeks to grow hot. “For most the goal is to get in and out with minimal damage, human or property. But there are some that are reckless.”
Samantha stared at her for a long moment. “I wasn’t talking about you, Jo.”
“I know. I’m sorry. This whole thing has my head spinning.” Samantha reached out and gave Jo’s arm a squeeze.
“Try not to let it get to you, Jo. This is not your life anymore. We all have pasts, okay?”
Jo nodded. She swallowed back the words that would point out how different their pasts were. Samantha had been gracious to her about her past from the first time they met. She was very grateful to her friend for that.
Chapter 8
Samantha watched Jo walk away and then she walked up to her villa. After speaking to Eddy about the Clem connection she felt that solving this case might become very complicated.
Samantha’s phone rang as she stepped inside. She answered it with a tired greeting.
