“What?” Robert said and pulled out the report. He and George went through the names twice and were equally surprised.
“What do you think?” George looked at Kiara.
“If it was not Burt then it means she bought it illegally from some other group, or maybe she was the one behind everything,” Kiara explained. “The chances of her being the mastermind are very high, otherwise she wouldn’t have taken Burt’s name.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. Why would Brendon steal it from her if she is the mastermind?”
“Maybe, he was not there to steal it. Remember, the ring was lying separately from the jewelry. Maybe they were there to leave it for her.”
“That sounds like a long shot to me,” George said, nodding his head.
“Well, Burt and Rebecca may shed some light on it.”
“What?” George asked.
“I have few questions regarding the case. Just ten minutes with each of them. Please,” Kiara insisted.
“The case is solved. What possible questions can you have now?” he was getting tired of her demands.
“It’s not solved yet. I just wanted to ask something about the ring,” she urged.
George took a deep breath. “Okay, let them speak to them for ten minutes. This is the last favor that I’m doing. You understand that? I still feel it’s a conspiracy theory and nothing else.”
“You can send one of your men with us. There is nothing to hide from you,” Kiara assured him.
George shook his head.
“Thanks a lot, sir,” Kiara said and hesitated a bit. “I need another thing.”
“I thought I was clear. No more favors,” George said.
“It’s not a favor,” she said softly.
“What’s it?” George said in frustration.
“If we are right, Natalie will be planning her escape from the country,” she said. “We need to catch her before she leaves New York.”
“I will do that,” Robert said before George could’ve said something. “Where is she now?” Kiara knew he smelled another big catch to add to his successful year.
“I have her number. Let me check,” Jake said and dialed the number. “It’s coming out of coverage area.”
“Any address?” George asked.
“Hotel Radisson,” Jake replied at once.
George looked at Robert. “Go and see if she’s still there. With this case solved, other gangs will be feeling much safer. This is the right time for them to carry out their transaction, as the police are thinking that they have caught the right person. Maybe she indeed bought it from some other gang.”
Robert nodded. “I will get her here as soon as possible.” He was about to leave when he noticed Kiara and Jake discussing something. He gestured to George as he got out.
“Nothing should go outside without my knowledge,” George warned as they waited for someone.
“Absolutely,” Kiara replied.
An officer knocked at the glass door. George gestured him to come inside.
“Take them to Burt and Rebecca … the one whom we caught during the antique case.”
The officer nodded. Jake and Kiara got up and as they were about to step out, George called the officer.
“Keep an eye on them. I need to know everything that they ask. Is that understood?” he said while looking towards them.
“Yes, sir,” the officer replied with a sense of confidence.
Kiara looked at Jake. They were going to the prison, but it seemed they were the one trapped. However, they had no other option.
“What’s in your mind?” Jake asked as they walked past the cells.
“Burt will definitely know his rivals,” Kiara replied while looking at the officer walking in front. “He’d sold the two rings. He may also know about their thefts too.”
“What about Rebecca?” Jake asked.
“Well, she’s the one who was given the task to steal the ring. Maybe she’ll know something that could help?”
“He’s already there,” the officer accompanying them said as he opened the door of the meeting room.
Kiara was a little taken aback as she looked at Burt wearing prison uniform. His shoulders were drooped. Looking at him, no one could tell that he was the same guy hobnobbing with the wealthiest and the most influential people of New York.
“How are you, Burt?” she asked while sitting opposite to him.
“Oh … it’s you. What do you want now?” he said. “I should have heeded to Ralph’s advice.”
“What advice?” Jake asked.
“That she is not any ordinary cop and I should stay away from her,” he said ruefully. “My overconfidence brought my doom. I should have left the country the day he told me about you.”
Jake and Kiara looked at each other. Nothing that Burt said made any sense to them.
“But, why would he say that? I didn’t even ask him anything other than the ring,” she said with surprise.
“You stopped near the portrait … his uncle’s portrait. Didn’t you? The idols that cops recovered from the car crash are in the background of the painting,” Burt said in exasperation.
Jake again looked at Kiara, who smiled this time. “Well, I have to disappoint you. I didn’t even notice anything in the painting apart from the striking resemblance between Ralph and his … um, uncle.”
“What?” Burt almost yelled. “That’s it. How did you reach me?”
“That’s why we’re here. I believe it to be a coincidence but need to clarify something,” Jake said.
“Burt, I know you are angry, but we need your help. We believe there’s someone else benefitting from the closure of this case,” Kiara tried to calm him down.
Burt looked at her. “What do you mean? Ralph was behind all of this. I was with him all the time. He gave all the instructions, made the entire plans. I heard the police found everything in his computer?”
“We also think that to be true. Still, we have a few unanswered questions,” Kiara said and looked at him with anticipation.
“If it doesn’t make my life any more miserable,” he replied.
“Even we don’t want to do that,” Kiara reassured him.
He nodded. Kiara leaned towards him.
“The pictures of the ring that I showed you that day. To whom did you sell those rings?” she asked.
Burt looked at her and thought for a moment. “One to Rob Hal. He’s a businessman from California and the other one to a woman named Olivia from New Jersey. Why do you ask?”
Kiara’s doubt had come true. “The woman who owns the ring now is not Olivia. But, she says that she bought it from you.”
“She’s lying. Olivia is an old client of mine. In fact, the ring was given to me by Ralph and he was with me when I sold it to Olivia.”
“What? But Ralph said that the ring was in Europe?”
“He lied to save his skin. When the Windsors gave him the charge of their estate, they also gave him one key to their bank locker. The other key was with the bank manager, who is known to the Windsors; they had full trust in him. But, Ralph was equally smart. He found Brendon, who could create a replica of anything. He had out-of-luck artists working for him. It started initially with the paintings and then with the idols, and finally with the ring. The bank manager thought everything inside the locker was safe. But within months, Ralph had replaced everything with fakes.”
“Then why did he get Brendon murdered?” Kiara asked.
“He didn’t tell me. I came to know through the media. You should know that he didn’t tell me everything. Whenever he wanted to sell something, only then would he reach out to me.”
“What about the thefts? You helped him to sell the stolen antiques too?”
“No … I asked him once if he was involved in it. He threatened me and told never to talk about it,” Burt replied.
“Two more minutes,” a voice came from the other end of the door.
“That stupid Ralph. I would have behaved differently had I known that ther
e was nothing leading me to the idols.” Burt was still in disbelief. “How did you find me?”
“What?” Kiara asked.
“Ralph thought that you had noticed the idols in the painting and that made you believe he was involved in the case. There are only few auctioneers in town and there was a possibility that you will reach out to me. But you said that you didn’t know about the idols and its connection with Ralph. Then, how did you find me?”
“Well, it’s a coincidence,” Kiara said and paused. “It can’t be …”
“What happened?” Jake asked as Burt looked at her.
“You know someone by the name Don Johnson?” Kiara asked.
“Yes, he built one of my buildings. I can’t forget him,” Burt said.
“Because he didn’t ask for a payment in cash?”
“Yes, he asked for an Egyptian idol instead,” Burt said with astonishment. “How do you know that?”
“He told me. But why would you agree to such a demand?” Kiara asked. Jake was looking at her, unable to understand where the conversation was heading.
“Ralph told me to do that, that’s why,” Burt said in anger. “I have my set of people, but Ralph insisted on taking Don’s services for one of the projects. He said that Don was an old friend of his and working on my project will raise his profile. He also told me to give him an Egyptian idol that he had shown to Don in one of my catalogues. I resisted, as I only sell to my clients, but then he threatened me with the records of our dealings. I had to succumb to his pressure.”
“This is much deeper than I thought,” Kiara said and got up. “Thanks for your help, Burt.”
“What’s happening?” Burt asked.
“You’ve been set up,” Kiara said as she got out of the room.
“Who would … ” Burt could only say before the door was slammed at him.
Jake shook his head. “Don’t look at me, I’m as dumbfounded as you. And if I don’t get out now, I won’t be able to find her. Take care,” he said and came out in a hurry. Kiara had already reached the other end.
“Wait!” he shouted and ran towards her. “Will you tell me what’s happening?”
“We need to speak to Rebecca immediately. I’ll tell you everything after that,” Kiara said, increasing Jake’s frustration.
“You didn’t even ask him about his rivals, the one who sold the ring to Natalie,” Jake said as he walked behind the officer.
“No need to ask that: Natalie’s the one behind all of this. Everything will be clear once we see Rebecca,” Kiara pleaded. “Just give me ten more minutes.”
“I hate this part of you,” Jake said while shaking his head.
Kiara ignored his complaint for the time being.
“We are here,” the officer said.
“Will you be okay?” Kiara asked.
“I’ll be fine. Don’t worry,” Jake said, though not with much confidence.
Sunlight filtered through the small window in Rebecca’s cell, though she was sitting in the dark corner and was staring blankly towards the other wall.
Kiara tapped at Jake’s shoulder. “I think you should talk to her first.”
Jake nodded. “Rebecca,” he said in a soft voice.
It took a moment for her to recognize him in the dark. As soon as she recognized him, her face turned red. She approached him immediately.
“Jake,” she said in a frail voice before recognizing that Jake had company. She stepped back a little after looking at Kiara.
“Don’t worry. We’re not here to disturb you. Did you hear that the Chief was found dead the other night?” he asked.
“But you don’t believe that he is dead,” Rebecca replied.
“What? No … ” Jake said immediately before Kiara interrupted.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“The way Brendon told me about him, I always thought that he plays the game rather than being played on. It’s really hard to believe that such a person will not only get caught but will be such a coward to take his own life,” Rebecca said with a wry smile.
“Well, reality is always strange. We found all the proof as well as Brendon’s killers,” Kiara replied.
Rebecca’s eyes turned moist at Brendon’s mention. Jake noticed that.
“They are in police custody,” Jake said. “Sorry for accusing you earlier.”
“Why are you here then?” Rebecca asked in a frail voice.
“I have few questions that only you can answer,” Kiara said. “I promise after today, we’ll never disturb you.”
“What do you want to know?” Rebecca asked. “I have told everything.”
“You lied to us about meeting Brendon,” Kiara said firmly. “You were the one who approached him first. Not the other way.”
Sweat drops glistened on Rebecca’s forehead. “What … what do you mean?”
“We know where you lived before meeting Brendon and also that you first inquired about him before reaching out to him. That means you not only married him knowing beforehand his criminal background, you also assisted him in the crimes willingly,” Kiara said. “Most probably you were the one painting the fakes for Brendon.”
Rebecca’s face turned red. “You people don’t know half of it. I am good at what I do. I always was. I tried to sell my art, but everyone shoved me with rejections. I knew Brendon had something to do with the smuggling of artwork. I had seen him meeting people who dealt in fake art. All of them started from the same place I belonged to. I wanted to get out of that neighborhood and Brendon was the only ticket I had. But as I got to know him, I found him to be a gentle person who was also trapped in this business against his wishes. He had the same background as mine: a troubled childhood and a rejected adulthood. He did not know who the Chief was, but he gave Brendon what he wanted.”
“Money?” Kiara asked with a faint smile.
“Money alone can’t bring happiness. He was given a chance to steal from those who had no right to have the wealth at the first place—those who had always rejected the likes of Brendon. Besides, the plan was foolproof. For two years there was not a single case registered,” Rebecca said.
“But, you said that he was trying to leave this work?” Kiara inquired. Jake was listening patiently.
Rebecca looked at Kiara. “Slowly, the demands from the Chief started increasing. Initially, Brendon was supposed to just steal relics and leave them at some small stores. But, after some time he started to ask Brendon to make arrangements for moving the steal from one state to other and finally …”
Kiara looked at Jake, who looked at Rebecca in turn. “What happened?”
“When two of the couriers tried to steal some idols, he ordered Brendon to kill them,” Rebecca said in a frail voice.
“The car crash,” Jake mumbled.
“Brendon resisted, but there was no way out. He threatened to turn Brendon in.”
“But he didn’t do a clean job. The police recovered the idols from the crash site.”
“Brendon was not a criminal. He panicked as he saw the crash and they cried for help. He ran away leaving the idols behind.”
“That must have made the Chief mad?” Kiara asked.
“Brendon had to work for free or else go to jail,” she said. “He was trapped and wanted to leave, but there was no way out. And to add to his woes one of the couriers made mistake and one of the packets was caught. The Chief gave him clear instructions to eliminate anyone who could pose a threat to his operations including …”
“Me?” Jake said.
Rebecca looked at him with moist eyes. “He assured the Chief that the department had suspended you and you posed no threat. Then you came to Lake Sivan and all hell went loose. We didn’t know how you got our lead. There was only one way left.”
“But, you had a change of heart?” Kiara said softly.
“No. Brendon told me to reduce the dose,” Rebecca said.
Jake could not understand. “I thought it was you.”
“It was our
last job. We were going to be free after it. There was no point killing you,” Rebecca explained further, surprising Kiara and Jake.
“Last job?” Kiara asked.
“It was all the Chief’s plan. Maybe, because it was getting risky. After the second time a package got caught, the Chief did not call for three months. Then one day his call came. He said that there was one last job and if we do it cleanly, we will be free, plus we were going to get our hands on the loot too.”
“The jewelry?” Jake asked.
“Yes, we were told to keep the jewelry for ourselves,” Rebecca replied.
“Oh … we thought you stole the jewelry for yourself and the ring for the Chief,” Kiara said.
“No … we were not there to steal the ring. We were to deliver the ring,” Rebecca said wondering why they didn’t know that.
A shiver ran down Kiara’s spine. “We were right. The ring did not belong to Natalie.”
Jake’s eyes widened as their fear had come true. Sweat drops glistened on his forehead. “Natalie is the Chief.”
“Natalie?” Rebecca said with surprise. “I don’t know her. I just took her name from the nameplate.”
“We were right about how the antiques were being transported from state to state. Natalie has an imitation jewelry and paintings business. She had all the permits. No one was going to suspect anything. She told them to leave it in her lake house while she conveniently slipped out for three days. And the last job that she gave to them was not theirs but her last job. She was wrapping up her business.”
“What makes you feel so?” Jake asked.
“It’s all been a setup,” she said. “We would have never found about Burt had it been not her. She told you about Burt the same day I came to know about him from Don. I’m pretty sure she was behind the theft at Don’s house. She knew I will reach out to him. In fact, even that idol was a setup. Don wanted that idol and Ralph made sure he was given that by Burt in return of his work so that when the idol is stolen, the police will ask from where he got it, and he’ll say Burt’s name. As soon as Natalie came to know that I’ve been informed about Burt, she told you about him so that we go after Burt. Now she was never in the picture for both Don and Burt, so there was no chance the trail will lead to her. There was only one common link.”
Mystery: Double Cross - The Davenport Mysteries (Suspense novel series of adventure mystery books and Crime mystery thrillers) Page 16
