Page 75 of Gem Warfare

“Yeah, seems improbable just reading the notes. One of Huff’s colleagues testified he saw him load the paintings, plus, he was the only one in the van when he got pulled over. The kicker is the homeowners had a security camera that recorded everything. He didn’t even try to disguise himself. It was a slam dunk.”

I pulled a face. “He doesn’t sound like a criminal mastermind.”

“He sounds like an idiot. I’m going to check with the Federal Bureau of Prisons and find out where he is now. Ah, Detective Phipps emailed copies. I’m going to forward them to you. Take a look while I run Wright through a few other databases.” Garrett reached for his computer mouse, staring intently at the screen.

On my phone, I opened the file he’d forwarded me, skimming through the volume of paperwork that Phipps wrote in his email was only a fraction of the file. The images he’d sent of Timothy Wright and Kelvin Huff were black and white and grainy but as I zoomed in on Wright’s features, I had to agree. I could see Charlie Black in Wright, but was it enough? There were plenty of differences too although Phipps’ comments about hairstyles and facial hair had merit. If he were the same man, we had a starting point and an end point and we knew what had happened in the middle.

Two questions remained: who put him in that shallow grave? And why hadn’t they taken the jewels?

“I’m not coming up with anything,” said Garrett. “Nothing on Timothy Wright at all.”

“How do you feel about splitting the task?” I asked.

“Took the words right out of my mouth. Why don’t we reconvene here tomorrow and hopefully, we’ll have more to work with by then. Plus, you never know, the public might provide a tip, thanks toTheGazette’sstory.”

“It’s a plan,” I said, rising. I reached for the donut box but Garrett’s hand landed on it, even though he was looking the other way. I rolled my eyes and withdrew my hand. “I’ll see myself out,” I told him.

“Try not to cause any trouble on your way,” he said.

I resisted the urge to stick out my tongue. Instead, I crossed my fingers and nodded.

As I left Garrett’s office, navigating my way to the exit on autopilot, I thought about the Blacks and how they were the opposite of my family. The Blacks had made a business of lying and stealing. My family had made a commitment to law and order. Could we easily have gone the other way? What would my life have been if we were the Montgomery Mafia? I could see myself as a very glamorous boss lady. However, I could also see myself developing a heart condition before I hit forty and needing to spend a lot of time hyperventilating. I couldn’t see myself getting caught and doing hard time in an orange jumpsuit. Some things were just not meant to be so I had to get on with fighting crime in nicer clothing hues.

“Excuse me,” I said, sidestepping the two plainclothes women coming around the corner.

“No problem,” said one, barely giving me a second glance as she continued talking. “So there I am staring at my locker, scratching my head, wondering where the heck my uniform went. Did I put it in the wrong locker? Or did I leave it on the bench and the cleaners threw it in the lost property? All I know is my sergeant is going to have choice words for me if I don’t find it before the next shift!”

“Someone is pranking you,” said her friend. “I’ll bet…” Then her words were lost to me as they moved further along the corridor.

“Lexi!”

I looked around for the source of my name, seeing Jord ahead of me, waving. I waved back and we walked towards each other, meeting at the corridor junction. “I’ve been hearing about your case non-stop.”

“Lily?”

“Yeah. And Mom? She’s texted seventeen times today already. But also everyone in the building. Are you working on it now?”

“We got a great lead,” I told him. “Garrett’s doing the heavy lifting with the background research.”

“There’s a lot of buzz about keepingthatkind of item in the evidence locker.”

“Why? It’s the safest place for it.”

“That kind of thing brings out all kinds of thieves looking for the biggest payday of their lives. I bet the jewels get an armed escort out of here, wherever they end up getting sent. Although, that said, smart criminals are all about the cyber crimes now. Digital theft is even bigger business and you can do it from anywhere in the world.”

“A few million in jewels is small fry to that kind of thief.”

Jord nodded. “True. Anyway, we’re thinking game night next week. Cards, beers, pizza. Daniel and Alice can’t make it. Can you and Solomon?”

“I’m sure we can.”

“Cool. Catch up soon. And thanks for not getting my wife into trouble.”

“You’re welcome?” I said, my intonation suggesting I wasn’t sure that had anything to do with me. Nor did it suggest he knew Lily and I had crashed a wake, bumped into a corpse, and received a soaking during our escape. Well, what he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.

“Take care!” said Jord as his cell phone rang in his pocket. He gave me a wave as he reached for his phone, our conversation over.

I turned to head down the hall, colliding with a uniformed woman. She muttered, “Pardon me” as we bumped shoulders in passing, then hurried away. A few paces later, and I stopped and turned, frowning at something I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Then I shook my head. She was probably someone I’d gone to school with and forgotten, or someone who’d dated one of my cousins. It was hard to tell in a small city with my big family.

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