Page 30 of Steal My Heart

“Have Gran call Grant right now.” Hilliard had been afraid of something like this. They were casting doubt on the status quo, and that had made someone pretty scared.

“She already did. He’s on his way over.”

“Then touch nothing. I’m assuming that you were in here this morning and there was no little silver angel thing in the drawer at that time.” He already knew the answer. “Go sit with your grandmother and let me have a look around. Just leave the drawer open and come with me.” He was pissed as all hell. Hilliard went to the front door as Brian sat with Beverly in the living room. He checked to see if it had been jimmied but found no sign of that. He was heading to the back when he heard a knock out front and let Grant inside.

“What happened?” Grant asked, dressed in his uniform.

“Our little evidence planter is at it again. Brian found it when he was getting dressed. Go on up—we left the drawer open.” Hilliard followed him up and showed him what turned out to be an angel-decorated silver napkin ring, obviously part of Violet’s missing set. “It wasn’t here this morning when Brian dressed, so it must have been planted sometime today.” He was going to insert the version of the story that he wanted to keep at the forefront in Grant’s mind.

“Okay….” Grant turned skeptically.

Hilliard rolled his eyes. “Please. I saw the report, and so did you. The police executed a search warrant on this house at the time he was arrested. Are you saying they didn’t look in his sockdrawer? And like he was going to move evidence to incriminate himself just when we have the proof that he never perpetrated the burglary in the first place.” He put his hands on his hips.

“I believe you,” Grant said, making a placating gesture. “This is a frame-up if ever I saw one.” He pulled on a pair of gloves and put the silver bauble into an evidence bag.

“Don’t be surprised if you find a print on it. That seems to be their MO.” Hilliard didn’t like this at all.

“I know.” Grant took a few photographs and left the room. He checked the front door and then the back, smiling when he found a few wood scrapings. “This is how they got in. Used a small screwdriver to jimmy the lock. You can see the scrapings if you look closely enough.” He made notes before going in to speak with Beverly and Brian. He went over where Brian was all day and got a detailed account.

Beverly said, “I went to the church for a few hours this afternoon for a meeting. My ladies’ group is working on school sets for needy children for the fall, and I was there helping to fill backpacks. It’s something we do every year.”

“Which explains when they got in,” Hilliard said. “But not who is doing this.” He could tell that Brian was as anxious as anything. “Brian and I were supposed to go out tonight,” he explained when he noticed how Grant kept looking at each of them. He doubted that Brian would be up for it and excused himself to call the restaurant to let them know that something had come up. When he returned, Grant was still speaking with Brian. “What else do you need?”

“Nothing, actually.” Grant headed for the front door and paused. “Actually, something just occurred to me.”

Hilliard snorted. “The Columbo routine doesn’t look good on you.”

Grant grinned. “Why now?”

“That’s easy. We went to see Violet yesterday, and I think she understands that Brian isn’t the thief. We were asking her who might have known where some of the items were located, since none of it had been on public display since the house tour. And her jewelry would take someone time to find.”

“You think this was an inside job.”

“Aren’t most of them? Burglars aren’t going to break into a house that doesn’t have anything easy to steal, and if they do, they take televisions and electronics. They certainly aren’t going to go rummaging through drawers and stuff to find things, and if they do, they are going to leave a mess. According to Violet, there was no mess. Something else the police missed originally.” Hilliard was glad the original investigator was no longer on the case, though an idea tickled the back of his mind. Something was just too far off. Yes, the police made mistakes, but he doubted that anyone was this stupid. There had to be more to it.

“All right. I have to say for the record that I’m not in favor of what you’re doing.” Grant’s eyes were hard.

“These boys are shaking the trees, and the fruit is falling,” Beverly replied.

“All we’re doing is talking to people.” And someone’s name just moved up on the list, but that could wait until the current drama had passed. “If there’s no more questions?’ Hilliard said, letting Grant out and closing the door.

“Well, that was not the evening I was expecting. But Grant is convinced that someone broke in and planted evidence while you were at your church meeting. Why they kept the pieces all this time I have no idea. And whoever they are, they’re getting more and more jumpy.”

“So we back off and let things die down?” Brian said hopefully.

Hilliard shook his head and opened his mouth, but Beverly beat him to it. “We shake the trees harder and scare the ever-loving crap out of them,” she said with a grin, taking Brian’s hand. “We need to bring this to a close and let you get your life back.”

“We’re close, I can feel it. Just a few more facts and the picture should become clear. Then we can give what we have to Grant and let him bring this to an end.” Hilliard sat down and tugged Brian onto the chintz sofa next to him. “Right now, you need to relax. This is progress, and more evidence than we had before. The only person we spoke with was Violet, and that was yesterday.”

“True, but she could have spoken to half the town by now.”

“No, she couldn’t. Violet came down with the flu. She has been sick since right after you spoke with her and wasn’t at church today.”

Hilliard nodded and tugged Brian against him, listening as he sighed softly. “There will be time to figure this whole thing out.” Right now, he needed to make Brian feel better, and he knew just how to do it. “Will you be okay here for a few hours?” he asked Beverly softly.

“Of course,” she whispered, and Hilliard took Brian by the hand and led him outside. He waited while Brian locked the door and then got him in the car and made the return drive home. This hadn’t been how he had seen the evening going, but he intended to make sure Brian got what he needed.

“WHAT AREwe doing?” Brian asked once Hilliard had fed them each a microwave dinner. Maybe in the future he could see if Brian’s grandmother would be willing to cook for him and he could put meals in the freezer or something.

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