“You were right. He got a package today—rather, a return package. It was sent on behalf of Natalie’s company to some address in China. She signed the receipt. However, the company’s certificate to send products overseas was not legible enough. They sent it back on the return address. Any guess to whom it’s addressed to?”
“Gary,” Jake said slowly.
“That’s great news, Robert. Now listen to me carefully,” she said and looked around. “Just wait for the person who will come to collect the package from him. Gary cannot send it back to China as he doesn’t have the authority to sign it on behalf of Natalie’s company.”
“You’re right. I did not think about it,” Robert said with surprise. Jake, on the other hand, was not surprised at all. He walked across the room to his side of the desk and stared at the computer screen.
Kiara noticed that and looked at him. “It may take two to three days, as he might contact Natalie, and she would tell him to keep a low profile for a couple of days. You understand what I’m saying?”
“Perfectly. We will wait and watch. No action from our side. I will keep you posted.”
“Thanks a lot,” Kiara said and disconnected. She walked to Jake’s desk.
“That’s why you were checking the tracking status on that website. You were at the shipping company that night when we were at the airport,” he said calmly. “You could have told me.”
“You were not that supportive that night. I didn’t know if you would believe me,” Kiara said ruefully.
Jake shook his head. “So, what’s in that package?”
“I’m pretty sure it has to be the ring hidden under imitation jewelry.”
“What?” Jake said with surprise. “How are you so sure?”
Kiara pulled up a chair. “Well, when you all were thinking that she was in that flight, I was thinking something else. She told you that she was going to China, but how would she be sure that you won’t go to the airport to check it? I was sure that she had misdirected us so that she could utilize that time for something else.”
“I don’t understand,” Jake said with surprise.
“Well, she could go to China easily, but what about the antiques? She could not have possibly taken them with her.”
Jake’s eyes widened as he understood what she meant. “She had to ship it beforehand.”
“Right. She was not only carrying the antiques along with the imitations across the States, she used the same technique to send it outside the country too. Remember how she said that she had business interests in Europe? That meant she had a license to send her products outside the country. She might have gotten one such license to sell in China too.”
“She had shipped everything, but the ring was still with her,” Jake said thoughtfully.
“Now, she knew that sooner or later we will come to know about her. That’s why she misled us in believing that she was leaving for China from JFK. We kept looking for her there while she arranged for the ring to be shipped.”
“But she could wear the ring herself during the flight. No one could have come to know.”
“We didn’t have any pictures of her but we had the pictures of the ring. She also anticipated that. We could have alerted all the major airports. She could not have taken that risk.”
Jake nodded. “We did disturb her plans in a big way. How did you know which shipping company she had approached? It must have been tough.”
“It was easier than you think. There are very few of them who have licenses to ship jewelry of any kind. Also, she couldn’t have risked sending it through some small player who had tie-ups with some local player in China for the last-mile connectivity. She wanted a single contact who could deliver it directly at her doorsteps. All this elimination left only three players. It took me an hour to check all of them and find the one she used.”
“Wow! Natalie has met her match, I guess.”
“Not yet,” Kiara quipped.
Jake smiled. “You must have also thought of the next step.”
“Right now, we have to just wait and watch.”
Jake knew they had entrusted Robert with a big responsibility. Kiara had instructed him two times, but there were still a chance that he would do something stupid. However, Kiara was right. They could do nothing but wait and watch.
Chapter 14
The next day was calm. There was no news from Robert’s end and neither did Kiara check on him. She knew they had to wait for two to three days, or maybe even longer. The only issue was that she did not trust Robert completely, just like Jake did. Though he had agreed to share all the information with her, she suspected that he might have done something already against her suggestions.
“What are you thinking?” Jake asked from across the room.
“If we don’t solve this case by this week, Carlson is going to give us another project.” Kiara tried to steer the conversation to the other direction. There was no point discussing her doubts when Jake was already against Robert.
“Had he received credit for this case, the situation would have been different,” he said calmly.
Jake’s words made her a bit nervous. Robert always wanted to take credit and used to make stupid mistakes because of that. What if he goes after Gary and makes all her effort go waste?
“I’ll be outside for some time,” Kiara said. “Need some fresh air.”
Jake nodded and went back to his files. She walked out of the office and called Robert.
“Hey, Kiara,” he said with a smile.
“You sound happy?” Kiara asked with a sense of fear.
“I was about to call you,” he said with excitement. “We have been keeping an eye on Gary’s movement since yesterday. A local kid met him half an hour back. Gary gave him the package that came yesterday.”
“That’s great news,” Kiara said with equal zest. “You’re following him, right?”
“We are positioned outside his house,” he said and paused for a moment. “Wait … he’s going somewhere.”
With that, he disconnected. Kiara looked at the phone for a moment and gave a beaming smile. She knew this was going to lead somewhere.
“What are you smiling about?” Jake asked as she came back.
“Gary has given the package to one of his men for delivery. Robert is on his trail. Let’s see who it’s going to be.”
Jake got up and came to her. “You mean she has some other local contacts besides Gary?”
“Well, if she needs the ring back, she had to take someone’s help,” she said.
Jake nodded. “This is indeed an exciting update.”
While Kiara was thinking of something that could help her put a strong case against Natalie once they got hold of the person helping her, Robert was on the trail of the boy with the package. Once he entered the narrow streets, Robert and his men had to abandon their car. And that’s where they lost the advantage. The boy was one of the locals and knew all the nook and corners of the town. They were finding a great difficulty in keeping track of him and finally they lost him where the street forked. He turned at the right corner that immediately split into three more streets. By the time Robert reached there, the boy was not in sight. They had to divide the three streets amongst themselves.
After half an hour of the frantic chase through the maze of streets, he finally gave up. He did not even know which end of the town he was standing in. There was no point looking for the boy anymore. The only thing that he could do was to call Kiara. His overconfidence had backfired once more and he knew Kiara was not going to forgive him. Anyway, he was not answerable to her, he thought and dialed her number.
“You got him?” she asked immediately. She looked around. Jake had gone for lunch and so had everyone else.
“No. We lost him,” he said softly.
“You did what?” Kiara screamed.” You fool. You lost our last link to her.”
There was a momentary silence. Kiara took a deep breath. “I am sorry for what I said. Where are you right now
?”
“I am not too sure. He led us to the other end of the town.”
“You remember where his house is, right?” Kiara asked calmly.
“Yes, I guess.”
Kiara contained her anger somehow. “Go there and wait for him. Do whatever you want to do with him, but get the information about the person to whom he delivered the package.”
“You’re right. He doesn’t know about us. He will go back to his house as if nothing has happened,” Robert said as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
“Go now,” Kiara said firmly before he disconnected. She punched the table in angst. Her worst fear had come true: Robert had shown his incompetence one more time. She hoped the boy had not noticed Robert’s presence, otherwise the case was done and dusted for them.
Jake was about to leave for the day as Kiara came from the cafeteria.
“I heard your trusted man screwed up big time.” He smirked.
“Who told you?” Kiara said in frustration.
“He called me. Can you believe it? He wanted to make sure I could help him in getting your forgiveness,” Jake said while making a sad face.
Kiara shook her head and looked at her watch. “It’s been over an hour and that stupid hasn’t called back. I hope he doesn’t screw again.”
“Let me call him,” Jake said with a smile. “This is turning out to be a fun day for me.”
Before Kiara could have said something, he dialed Robert’s number. Robert took some time to respond. Jake looked at her. “He doesn’t have guts to answer my call.”
“Yes, Jake,” Robert’s voice came from the other end, startling Jake.
“I am putting you on speaker. Kiara is also with me,” Jake said and kept the phone on the table.
“So, did you catch the kid?” Kiara asked.
“We are questioning him. He doesn’t know much though. He left the package in a car. There was no one inside it. Gary paid him a hundred bucks for this work. We sweat for nothing.”
Jake shook his head in disbelief and looked at Kiara, who gestured him to go ahead. Jake was dying for this moment.
“Don’t you think you have to find information about the car?” he said softly, knowing beforehand what the answer was going to be.
“He doesn’t know the number,” Robert said immediately.
“We don’t need the number—the car must be a hired one. Ask him if that’s the case. If yes, then go catch Gary. He will know from where he booked the car,” Jake said and covered the speaker. “Thanks for giving me this chance.”
Kiara punched him and pushed him aside. “Robert, we need to know where the car went. Only Gary will know that. You don’t have much time.”
“OK, will do that. And tell your partner not to act smart,” he said angrily.
“Yes, he can be an ass sometimes,” Kiara said and disconnected. “When will you grow up?”
“When will you learn to accept defeat?” he replied. “I’m not able to understand anything. Why are we chasing these people? The real culprit is already gone. What do you want to achieve from this?”
“Well, we can’t put pressure on the Chinese government for the antiques that she has stolen. But if we could establish that she was behind Ralph and Brendon’s murder, they will definitely deport her.”
Jake understood what she was saying. “That can actually work provided we have some proof.”
“Maybe this will lead us to those,” Kiara said slowly.
Jake nodded. “It’s great working with you. You’ll keep running till you get a closure on this case. You will do all the work and I’ll have a paid holiday till that time.”
“I am trying to save your ass. You’re the one who gave the ring to her,” Kiara said and smiled.
“Don’t try to blackmail me. I know you’re enjoying my misery, but I will not go down alone. You were the one who was carrying the ring the whole time,” Jake mocked her smile.
Kiara was about to say something, but didn’t. She ignored him and sat down.
Jake kept looking at her for few seconds. “Okay, I’m leaving.”
“Good night,” Kiara said while staring at her phone’s screen.
Kiara hoped Jake was right and Gary had arranged for the whole drama. By the look of it, they did not have much time or many options with them.
After going through some of the old files to find any connections to the case, Kiara thought of calling it a day. She looked at her watch; it was already half past seven. By now, Robert would have gotten the car details from Gary. She knew he was pissed by Jake’s attitude. She called him, but he did not pick up the call. She tried one more time, but there was no response. She thought of calling him after reaching home one more time. She knew that without knowing who was in the car, she was not going to get any sleep. Jake was right: maybe she had found her match in Natalie and without getting a proper closure in this case, she was not going to take up another one.
The whole way home she kept thinking about the case from start to end. She had thought about it umpteen times but still she was not satisfied. Her mind was running, but her thoughts did not reach anywhere. As soon as she parked the car and took the stairs, she called Robert one more time; again there was no response. She felt something was wrong. She thought of calling Jake, but then maybe she was overreacting.
She reached her floor and tried one more time. Robert’s phone was switched off. Now, she had enough of it. She called Jake.
“Hey, any news?” he asked.
“He’s not picking up the phone and now it’s switched off.”
“Maybe he left it in the car,” Jake said. “Don’t worry. He will call back.”
“I hope everything is fine.”
“It would be. If he doesn’t call by morning, we will check with George,” Jake suggested.
Kiara nodded. “You are right. I am overreacting.”
“Yeah, that’s your thing. It will be alright. Don’t worry.”
“Thanks for speaking to me. Now I can at least sleep,” Kiara said with a smile.
“I am not completely useless after all,” Jake replied back.
“Coffee is on me tomorrow,” Kiara replied.
“Lucky me,” Jake quipped.
“Good night,” Kiara said and disconnected. She knew the case had made her suspect everything and Natalie’s meticulous planning had to be blamed for that. Once it was over, she was going to take a break. With that thought, she pulled out the pack of frozen dinner from the refrigerator.
Though Kiara slept well after Jake gave her some confidence, she was woken to a surprise. There was no call from Robert—maybe it was a bit early in the day. But, when there was no call till nine o’clock, she started to feel restless. Finally, she called Robert. There was no response from the other side again. As she was about to disconnect, it was picked up.
“What the hell, Robert?” she almost shouted.
“What happened?” he asked indifferently.
“Didn’t you see the missed call?”
“And, didn’t you notice that I don’t want to speak to you?”
Kiara was stumped at Robert’s behavior. “What’s happening?”
“What do you think?” he gave a terse reply.
Kiara took a deep breath. She knew something was wrong.
“Did you find the car?”
“Yes. Actually, we found it yesterday evening. As a matter of fact, I am in New York right now.” He said casually.
“And you didn’t have the courtesy to inform me?”
“I don’t report to you. Why should I inform you?” he said with a hint of anger.
“So, this is all about Jake’s behavior?”
“See, Kiara, you still haven’t understood why I was helping you. I wanted the leads that you had and beyond that, I have nothing else to do with you,” he said. “We got our catch and now we’re going to take this case forward.”
Kiara shook her head. “It’s Natalie, isn’t it?”
“What?” Rob
ert said immediately.
“It was Natalie in that car,” she said calmly.
There was a momentary silence. “I … I have nothing to say about that. It’s confidential. We made a fool of ourselves by going public the last time.”
“You are making a huge mistake. She did not take such a risk of coming back without understanding the repercussion. She has a plan. You won’t be able to do anything to her,” Kiara said with a sense of urgency that angered Robert.
“Both of you think that no one is as smart as you. I have been solving cases before you came and will keep solving them after this case too. Don’t think that you are indispensable. And, I don’t want you to call me again. Tell this to your stupid partner too,” he fumed. Kiara knew there was no point arguing with him.
She heaved a sigh. “In case you need any help you know where to find me.”
Robert disconnected without saying anything. Kiara threw the phone onto the bed. She cursed herself on not thinking about such a possibility. Natalie was in police custody and before long, she was going to be free. Robert and George were not even going to know what hit them.
Jake looked at Kiara as she entered. As she came closer, he noticed that she was not looking good.
“You look upset,” Jake said as Kiara pulled the chair opposite him.
“Natalie is in police custody,” she said softly.
“What?” Jake said and approached her.
“She was the one in the car hired by Gary,” Kiara said while booting her computer.
“Again … what?” Jake said and shook her chair. Kiara looked at him blankly.
“We spent the last whole week running from pillar to post for a clue that could point to her. Beyond our wildest imaginations, we have her in our custody now. And you’re saying that as if it’s not a big deal. Even a pickpocket deserves more enthusiasm than that.”
Suddenly, Kiara’s demeanor changed. “First of all, she is not in our custody. She is in Robert and George’s custody. Second, Robert doesn’t want us to do anything with that. You know what that means?”
“That he wants to take all the credit,” Jake said slowly while stepping back.
Mystery: Double Cross - The Davenport Mysteries (Suspense novel series of adventure mystery books and Crime mystery thrillers) Page 20
