Page 32 of Gem Warfare

Carrie had been to medical school on the West Coast and a few public comments on her social media pages mentioned growing up in Europe before returning to the States in her mid-teens. Pete worked in marketing since graduation and set up his own agency last year. He had attended my old high school, then college locally.

No debts, drove older cars, their last few vacations had been a splurge honeymoon to the Caribbean and then they’d taken several short city and beach trips over the years. There was a charge to a storage unit taken out when they moved into the rental, which I figured had to be for their household goods before they could transfer them to their new home. Nothing extravagant. No wild hobbies. Pete played squash. Carrie liked horseback riding. No arrest records or poor credit markers. They seemed like two regular people.

So how had a body gotten onto their property?

Had they really been so unlucky to simply discover it?

I had to wonder if someone had decided to play a cruel trick on them but it seemed unlikely. Their social media was minimal and non-confrontational. Their relationships with friends and family weren’t showing any glaring red flags. Their finances showed no signs of stress.

No, the incident had to pre-date them.

They were just the unfortunate finders of a decades-old secret.

I had to give them peace of mind, just like they asked, but they also wanted answers. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any to give.

Before I headed out, I called Garrett.

“I don’t have anything for you,” he said, “but if you want my thoughts on whether the Dugans did it, I’m still leaning no. I ran a couple of checks and nothing.”

“Same here. Everything they’ve told me so far is verifiable. They didn’t own the property until three months ago and haven’t even lived in it during that time. It doesn’t look like Carrie moved to town until eight years ago, which rules her out as a youthful murderer.”

“The ME is saying the body was definitely there before that. I’m not wasting any more time on the Dugans’ histories. No hits on missing jewel merchants that fit the profile either. I’m looking at prior homeowners and hoping there weren’t any gaps in residencies.”

“Gaps mean anyone could have access,” I guessed.

“Bingo, and then the case goes from cold to icy.”

“Did you speak to the neighbors last night?”

“Some. Mostly for reassurance that they don’t have any need to worry. I’ll circle back around to them soon when I have a little more info.”

“Mom can probably fill us in on the details. I’m thinking of heading over there. She texted me and suggested lunch.”

“Now?” asked Garrett.

“Yes. It’s lunch time.” Right on cue, my stomach rumbled.

“I’ll join you.”

“Cool.”

“Hey, Maddox just called me before you. He was asking some weird questions.”

“Oh?” I frowned.

“Apparently, he heard about the jewels on our body. Did you tell him?”

“No, but he has plenty of contacts in MPD,” I reminded him. “He was a detective long enough.”

“Yeah, I guess. I’ve been trying to avoid news of the jewels getting out just yet until we figure out exactly where they came from and who might be looking for them. The last thing we need are fortune hunters turning up at the front desk trying to make a claim.”

“I don’t think Maddox will tell anyone. What was weird about his questions?”

“Nothing about the questions particularly. More abouthowhe was asking them. Like he was really interested but didn’t want to appear that way. He was less interested when I said the body was a man and how long it had been there. Anyway he says he’s going to Germany soon so he’ll be out of my hair.”

“Germany?”

“I didn’t ask. I assumed it was work-related.”

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