As she climbed the stairs, she again started thinking about her discussion at Don’s place. His wife was so much passionate about the old relics that even after a two-month gap between her meeting with Natalie and Burt offering a job to Don, she remembered about the catalogue and the idol. Natalie might have planned about showing her the catalogue, but how would she have ensured that she remembered it even after so long? Did she share the catalogue with her? But they would have mentioned that to her. Maybe she was actually that passionate about the idol or maybe Natalie sent her the catalogue just in time to raise her curiosity. But, if Natalie had couriered the catalogue to her, again she would have mentioned that in the discussion. Secondly, the courier would have left a trail back to Natalie that she could not have risked.
Kiara knew the night was getting onto her. She was getting some wacky ideas. She gave a muffled grunt as she was about to open the door. As she was about to turn the key, something struck her.
“How could have I missed it?” she said and punched the door in excitement. Wow, that’s why she created the whole deception of going to China. The wacky ideas had actually given her a lead.
She opened the door hastily and ran towards her computer. She was brimming with excitement. All tiredness and sleep had gone away. She started the computer and waited impatiently as it booted.
“So, it was another wild-goose chase,” Jake nodded as they came out of the airport back office.
“It’s as if we’re chasing someone who doesn’t even exist.” Robert was equally disappointed. Jake looked at his watch as Robert got inside the car. It was almost four in the morning. Natalie had made them run from pillar to post without finding anything.
Jake thought of calling Kiara. He knew she would be awake. The case was bothering her even more than it did him. She was not going to give up until she felt that all doors had been closed on them.
Kiara took more time than usual to answer the call.
“Hey,” Jake said, but there was no response from the other end. There were some sounds coming from a distance.
“When is it due?” Kiara’s voice came from the other end.
“Kiara, are you there?” Jake said with surprise.
“Give me a sec,” Kiara said in a low voice.
Jake did not know what to say. He gestured Robert to wait for a minute while he kept waiting for Kiara’s response. She was definitely somewhere outside and talking to someone who was not cooperating.
“I asked, when is it due?!” she shouted.
“You wake me up at four and now you’re shouting at me? So much for being a law-abiding citizen,” a voice came from the other end. Jake could sense the other person was at some distance from Kiara.
“Don’t be dramatic. You want me to press the charges against you too?” Kiara said firmly.
“OK … OK … Let me see the register,” he said and then everything went silent for a moment. “Yeah … It’s not due till the day after tomorrow.”
“That’s great. Show me the return address,” Kiara asked.
“Here it is,” he said.
“Are you kidding me?!” Kiara shouted, making Jake take the phone away from his ear.
“What’s happening?” he asked again but there was no response from Kiara’s end, adding to his frustration.
“I need this to be sent to the return address,” she ordered.
“I can’t do that.”
“You’re willing to do jail time?” Kiara asked firmly.
“Okay, okay. You are one crazy woman,” he said in exasperation. “I have to tell them why it’s being returned. What reason should I cite?”
“Tell them that the certificates provided by them were not legible,” Kiara said in a stern voice.
“Why would they believe that?”
“That’s my headache!” Kiara shouted. “You do what I’m saying and make a poor photocopy of the certificates. Send that to the same address too.”
“OK … will do that,” he conceded. “What option do I have?”
There was silence for a minute before Jake heard the sounds of vehicles, as if she came out of a building.
“Yeah Jake … you were saying,” Kiara said nonchalantly.
“What was that?” he asked.
“What’s your update?” Kiara replied. “My answer will apply only if you did not find her footage.”
Jake took a deep breath. “How do you do this?”
“What?”
“She didn’t board any plane today. We checked the whole footage as well as the passenger database for the day,” Jake replied and got inside the car. “But I guess you already knew that and have hatched another plan.”
“I had a hunch,” Kiara said knowing that she was getting a bit predictable by now.
“How did you get that hunch?” Jake asked with surprise.
“Are you with Robert?” Kiara ignored his question.
“Yeah. Why?”
“Put your phone on speaker. I need to speak to him.”
“Why?”
“Just do what I’m saying.” Kiara knew Jake did not like any attention that she gave to Robert, but time was short.
Jake gave a stifled grunt before enabling the speaker mode. “She wants to speak to you,” he said while placing the phone between the two of them.
“Why?” Robert asked.
“Let’s ask her,” Jake said. “Kiara, go ahead.”
“Robert, I need the two of you in the station, right away. I’m on my way and will take another half hour. We need to discuss something that requires your help,” Kiara said hastily.
“Station?” Robert said while looking at his watch. It was almost half past four in the morning.
“Do as I say. I have a lead in the case. Can’t do it on my own,” Kiara replied and took a deep breath. “Both of you are equally important to this case. Please help me out. Will you?”
There was a momentary silence. Robert looked at Jake, who nodded reluctantly.
“We will be there in about twenty minutes or so,” Robert said thoughtfully.
“Thanks,” Kiara replied.
“Coffee and donuts are on you,” Jake said.
“You help me with this, I will take you out for dinner,” Kiara said with a hint of smile.
Jake shook his head knowing that there was some crazy plan in her mind. He thought of saying goodbye to her but did not want to prolong the conversation, lest she made another request. He disconnected and looked at Robert.
“She’s one of a kind,” Robert said as they entered the main city. Jake hoped that he was right. He didn’t have courage to meet another one like her. He looked out the window. The city had started to come to life slowly. Both of them knew that they were not going to get any sleep tonight. As a matter of fact, with Kiara around, they were not going to get any rest the whole of next day too.
Kiara, on the other hand, was brimming with excitement. There was not a single sign of tiredness on her face. As soon as Robert and Jake entered, she came running to them.
“What took you so long?” she shot immediately.
“We took only twenty-three minutes, Kiara,” Jake said in annoyance. “Will you tell us what do you want from us?”
“Yes. But first, I need to tell you what I’ve discovered. My guess was right. She told you about her plan to go to China, because she wanted to divert our attention.” She beamed.
“From what?” Robert asked.
“She knew that we’ll come to know that she was behind this, today. She also knew we will never discuss the ring with anyone as long as it is with us. But, once we will get the list of Burt’s clients, her secret will be out and we will go after her,” Kiara said in a single breath before realizing that Jake was gesturing to stop her, though it was too late by now.
“What ring?” Robert asked with surprise.
Kiara knew she had made a mistake. She looked at Jake, who stared back at her.
“We have to tell him. He’s the only one who can help us.” Kiara s
hook her head. Jake threw his hands in the air with frustration.
“Is someone going to tell me what is happening?” Robert asked.
Jake walked to the other end of the room. Kiara took a deep breath and looked at Robert.
“It’s a ring that the queen had given to a selected few families for their loyalty towards the royalty. It’s about two hundred years old. One such family is the Windsor family,” Kiara said and looked at Robert whose eyes widened at the mention of Windsor.
“So, it’s also one of the antiques that she stole from Windsor Estate?”
“Actually, she wanted to but could not. It was the last antique that she wanted to steal before leaving the country, but before she could have it, Jake got hold of it. He gave it to me and I brought it to New York. Even we were not sure if it was that old. I got it checked and when I came to know about its value, I didn’t know what to do with it. I kept it with me till we solved the case. Once the case was solved we thought that if we give it to police, there will be questions raised about it. So, we decided—”
“So, you decided to give it back to her,” Robert finished Kiara’s sentence while scratching his forehead. “That’s why she was in New York today?”
Kiara nodded. “Jake gave it to her at the hotel.”
“You know that I have to report this. I can’t hide it from George,” he said while Jake shook his head in anger.
“What if you get the ring back?” Kiara said and looked at him.
Jake almost jumped from the chair. “What?”
Robert walked to her. “It’s almost daybreak. I’m not in a mood for jokes.”
“I am not joking. I called the two of you here to tell about something,” she said and looked at Jake, who too walked near them.
“You’re saying that the criminal, who did not let us know a single step in her plan and who left the country without leaving any proof, is within your reach?”
“No, I’m only saying that I found something that may help us in making some headway in this case before we put a lid on it.” Kiara raised the stakes making Jake even more nervous.
“What’s in your mind?” he asked finally.
Kiara pulled a chair while putting her thoughts together. “I believe she has not eliminated all of her connections. One of her connection is still active.”
“Who?” Jake raised his eyebrow while Robert tried to make any sense out of it.
“Gary,” Kiara said. “She might have left the country, but she had to have someone as a fallback in case her perfect plan was disturbed.”
“Just like Lake Sivan!” Jake mused.
“Yes,” she said. “In case she was caught, or maybe because of any other reason she was not able to leave the country, there had to be someone who could help her. I’m pretty sure if we had nabbed her, Gary would have used his contacts to ensure her release.”
“But that could have put him in a trouble too,” Jake said.
“Just think of it: if you caught her today, what charges would you put against her?” she said and turned towards Robert.
“Well … the antique theft and the two murders, I guess,” he said.
“And how will you prove those?”
Jake and Robert looked at each other. Kiara had a point. Burt and Rebecca did not know who she was. All the evidence pointed at Ralph and anything else such as her being at Lake Sivan was circumstantial.
“You’re right. Even if we caught her, we wouldn’t be able to do much,” Robert accepted.
Kiara looked at both of them. “Exactly. And she’s not someone who leaves any open windows. She had kept Gary as her last resort. He would have taken care of her in case we caught her.”
Jake nodded in agreement. Robert looked at both and then raised his hand.
“What?” Jake asked.
“I still don’t know who Gary is.”
Jake looked at Kiara.
“He’s her local contact in Lake Sivan. He knows a lot of influential people and threatened me with poisoning in case I did not give her ring back.”
“But, you didn’t. You had the ring till yesterday with you?” Robert asked. “How did he leave you unharmed?”
“I gave him a fake ring and the actual one to Kiara.”
“Oh … So it was not a burglary at your place. Rebecca and Brendon went to your house to retrieve the ring,” Robert said thoughtfully, trying to put all the pieces together.
“So, now you know everything,” Jake said with a fake smile. Robert was not as slow as he looked, after all.
Robert ignored it and looked at Kiara. “You were saying about some help from me?”
“Yes, about that. Gary knows both of us, so we can’t go to Lake Sivan. We need you to contact the local authorities and keep an eye on Gary,” she said. “I suspect that Natalie is going to contact him in the next couple of days.”
“Will do that. Anything else?” Robert asked.
“I have another request,” she said softly.
“What request?” Robert asked.
“Do not catch the guy without informing us. We don’t want to alert her,” she said hoping that he will agree.
“Don’t worry. I’ll keep you posted on all the developments,” he assured her.
“Thanks,” Kiara said and looked at her watch. “We’ll leave now.”
“We are not going to our homes, I guess,” Jake said looking at the urgency in Kiara’s demeanor.
“Of course we’re going home,” she said and gestured him to keep quiet. He shook his head and came out of the station quietly.
“What’s happening?” he asked as they got out.
“Nothing. I need to go to the DA’s office. Are you coming?” she said calmly.
“What is there now?” he asked in frustration.
“I went to meet Don and his wife while you were at the airport. They were also made a part of her plan, just like us, without even knowing about it. She knew that Don’s wife was interested in old relics. She works in the DA’s office. Natalie showed her Burt’s catalogue and then ensured that Ralph gets her husband a job at Burt’s. Don’s wife thought that it was a godsent opportunity and made Don ask for the Egyptian idol that she wanted instead of the fee for his work.”
“And when the idol was stolen, Don gave you Burt’s name?” Jake said.
“At the same time when Natalie told you about Burt.”
“Wow! That is some serious level of planning,” he said as they reached the car. “So, what’s our plan now?”
“Just trying to find any lead at the DA’s office. Are you coming?” She looked at him.
“Of course I am.” Jake grinned. All his complaints had taken a backseat to Kiara’s findings. He knew working with Kiara was tough, but it had its own rewards.
“So it was another shot in the dark,” Jake said as they came out of the DA’s office. It was almost ten in the morning.
“She only came here to show Burt’s catalogue to her. No need to take any appointment for that.” Kiara shook her head. “She was very careful from the beginning. She didn’t leave any footprints.”
Jake looked at her. The morning sunrays pierced his sleepless eyes. “I don’t know about you, but if I don’t sleep in the next half an hour, I’m going to fall,” he said hoping that Kiara did not have any other follow-up plans.
“Even I am feeling a bit tired,” she said tersely.
Jake raised his brow. “A bit?”
“My body wants sleep but my mind’s still running.”
“Well, give some rest to the body. Maybe some new idea will come in your dream.” Jake was making any excuse that could let him sleep for some hours.
“You are right. Maybe Robert will bring some good news,” she said and opened a website on her phone.
Jake tried to peek, but she took the phone away. “You’ve visited that page ten times since we came here. What are you tracking?”
“Nothing,” Kiara said and locked the phone screen. “Let’s go. I’ll drop you off at your place.”
“Wake me up when we reach there,” Jake said and covered his face with a kerchief. Kiara looked at him for a moment before turning the ignition on.
By the time they reached Jake’s place, he was half asleep. Kiara almost pushed him out of her car. Once alone, she also started to feel sleepy.
Within two minutes of reaching her apartment, she fell asleep. She did not even bother to change her clothes.
Kiara looked at the clock while rubbing her eyes. It was almost five in the evening. She had slept for six hours. She checked the website one more time and gave a muffled grunt. She scrolled down to Jake’s number. Jake did not pick up as she had expected. However, as she was about to disconnect, Jake’s feeble voice came from the other end.
“You’re still sleeping?” she asked.
“Any update from Robert?”
“I haven’t called him yet,” Kiara said tersely.
“Then call him,” he suggested.
“There’s no point.”
“What?”
“Nothing. You go back to sleep. Let’s meet tomorrow morning,” Kiara said and disconnected. The whole day had gone by and they had not made any progress. Natalie by this time would have reached Shanghai and must be arranging the antiques in her bedroom. The thought irked her even more. She kept looking at her phone for some time, hoping that it brings a positive call from Robert.
The day went by and so did the night. There were no calls or messages from Robert. Kiara dragged herself to the office reluctantly.
“Any luck?” Jake asked from behind.
Kiara immediately closed the webpage she was looking at and turned around. “No … no, he hasn’t called.”
Jake kept staring at her more few moments. “Who are you? Rather, what are you?”
“What do you mean?”
“You think I don’t know that you’ve planned this thing against Gary?” He looked into her eyes.
Kiara was about to say something, when her phone rang. Kiara looked at the number and answered it immediately.
“Any news?” she asked with bated breath while putting it on speaker.
Mystery: Double Cross - The Davenport Mysteries (Suspense novel series of adventure mystery books and Crime mystery thrillers) Page 19
