Page 28 of Family Jewels

Neely Kate lifted her gaze to his, raising her chin enough to give him a snooty look. “I know, Mr. Wagner, and I’m tryin’ to change that.”

He chuckled again. “I suspect if anyone can, it’s a cute thing like you.”

Resisting the urge to make a face, I moved to the far end of the case.

“I guess it doesn’t have to be diamonds,” Neely Kate sighed out. “Aren’t there other stones besides diamonds that are clear?”

“I’m much more likely to have something like that,” Hugh Wagner said. He bent down and slid the back door of a case open. “What do you think of this?”

Neely Kate slid closer as he lifted out a necklace and draped it over his palm.

It wasn’t the necklace we were looking for, but it sure was gaudy. There were several larger stones at the bottom, centered between ten smaller stones on either side. “What stone is this?” she asked.

“White topaz.”

“It’s kind of yellow.”

“If you’re looking for clear stones this large, they’re gonna have a yellow cast. Unless you go with that cubic zirconia. I have some of that.” He thumbed his free hand toward a case on the other side of the room. “But nothin’ with a vintage look.”

“Does it have a story?” she asked.

“It sure does. It belonged to a woman up in Columbia County. She’s eighty-one years old and has hit on hard times and had to sell some of her jewelry.”

“That’s so sad,” Neely Kate said, and I could tell that she was being genuine.

He shrugged. “Aww . . . she was happy. She said St. Peter wasn’t gonna let her take it past the Pearly Gates, and I paid her good money for it.”

Neely Kate took the necklace and held it up to the base of her throat. “Whaddaya think, Beth Ann?”

I pretended to give it serious thought. “I dunno. It doesn’t seem quite right.”

“You got a mirror?” Neely Kate asked.

“Sure,” Wagner said, fumbling over himself to get to the small round mirror standing on the other end of the counter.

Thiswas the man who was wanting to take over James’ territory?

He brought the mirror back, and Neely Kate feigned giving it serious consideration as I continued to search the cases. I didn’t hold out much hope for finding the necklace here. Raddy’s missing necklace had more stones than the one Wagner had produced, and based on the dollar signs dancing in his eyes, he would have pulled it out if he’d had it.

Neely Kate was handing the necklace back when something in the case caught my eye.

“Can I see this?” I asked.

He returned the necklace to the case, then moved down to where I was standing. “Which one?”

I pointed. “The owl pin.”

Neely Kate’s head jerked up, and she moved closer to get a look. “Oh,” she fawned. “That’s darling.”

He handed me the brooch, and even though I hadn’t seen a photo of Raddy’s piece, I was certain this was it. The gold pin was about an inch and a half tall, with etchings outlining the owl’s wings and face. It had two one-eighth-karat-sized red stones for eyes.

“What’s the story behind this one?” Neely Kate asked.

“Dunno,” he said. “I got it from some guy at the other pawn shop, believe it or not.”

I looked up at him. “You don’t say? Do you do that very often? Swap things back and forth?”

“There weren’t no swappin’, little lady. I bought it from him.”

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