Page 29 of Sleigh Bells and Snowstorms
And the excitement buzzing through my veins was hard to resist. My job had its share of intensity, but this was different. It felt like an adventure. And that stirred something deep inside me—a flurry of almost-forgotten dreams.
“What does this necklace look like?” I went over to the table and took a seat next to him.
He clicked on an image to expand it. “This is it.”
I gazed at the screen. I’d never seen anything like it. The necklace was displayed on a black velvet jewelry mannequin stand, and I couldn’t fathom how much it weighed. It looked huge. Diamonds set in gold created a netlike effect, with red rubies set in the middle of each square. A large teardrop emerald draped in the center. It reminded me of a crown, only worn around the neck.
“I can see where it got its name,” I said. “It’s all real, isn’t it?”
“Of course.”
“How much is it worth?”
“Hard to say for sure. On the black market, I’d expect at least five million.”
“Wow. That’s a lot of money.” I touched my collarbones. “I can’t imagine wearing something like that.”
“This piece doesn’t get worn. The family brings it out each year at Christmas and puts it on display.”
“It does look Christmassy, now that you mention it.”
“Originally, it was a Christmas gift to the Countess of Beaufort in the eighteenth century. The family has had it ever since.”
“For five million dollars, no wonder someone stole it. Are you sure the thief didn’t already sell it?”
“We can’t dismiss that possibility, although it’s unlikely he would have had time. He also could have handed it off to someone else en route. But we have no evidence of that, so for now, we search here.”
Jensen brought up another screen with a few grainy security photos.
“Is that him?” I asked.
“He’s our thief. I don’t suppose you recognize him.”
Scrutinizing the photos, I shook my head slowly. “There’s not much of him to see.”
“No, he was careful. We don’t think he’s a known entity, so either he’s new to this, or he’s experienced, but we’ve never caught sight of him before. Hard to know at this stage.”
“Do you think he stole it for himself? Or did someone hire him?”
Jensen’s mouth turned up in a smile. “Excellent question. You’re already good at this.”
“I’m an emergency nurse. We’re problem solvers.”
His eyes held mine for a second, and the intensity in his sent a tingle down my spine. “It’s possible he’s working on his own and plans to sell the necklace. It’s also possible he was hired. It wouldn’t be the first time a wealthy collector was behind a heist.”
“What if someone hired him, but he’s double-crossing them and plans to sell it himself? That’s a lot of money.”
“Always a possibility, but I don’t see that as often as you’d think. Gets messy if the thief thinks he can demand more money or decides to make off with the goods himself.”
“I guess there’s not a lot of trust among thieves.”
“Not at all.”
“Have you found anything so far?”
He let out a frustrated breath. “No. I went to the antique store, hoping to find out if there was a wealthy collector in the area. Usually people who deal in antiques are aware of that sort of thing. But no luck there.”
“You went to the Treasure Chest?”
