Page 38 of Nothing Left

"They're not helping us," she explained, still seething. "Delgado is refusing to acknowledge that this might be a possibility. So we're on our own, and what we need to do now is find all the second-hand stores, all the pawn shops, all the online traders in Barcelona. And we need to call them, and message them, and circulate a description of that piece of jewelry, together with the diagram that Heather drew."

She glanced at the door to the small interview room that they'd used earlier.

"Seeing they're not willing to believe that any more suspects need questioning, we might as well base ourselves in there," she said.

The least the police could do was provide a quiet place for them to work as they hunted for the killer.

***

Three long, hard hours later, Juliette's temper had ebbed. Anger had fueled her determination, but now it was starting to congeal into discouragement. Call after call, message after message. And they were getting nowhere.

Sierra had done an excellent job in tracking down every second-hand trader in Barcelona that dealt in jewelry. Juliette thought they had a very comprehensive list. And they'd made sure to beg whoever answered the phone that if any such piece came in, they needed to know about it.

But so far, they'd had no calls back, and all the answers to whether it was there had been nos.

Trying not to feel discouraged, Juliette turned to the next name on the list. All it would take was one, she told herself. Maybe this one?

She blinked, her eyes feeling tired in the harsh overhead lights, as she keyed the number into her phone.

"Si?" a man's gruff voice answered after one ring.

"Is that Barcelona Joyas?" she asked.

"It is, yes," he said. "You want to sell or buy?"

"Neither. I'm FBI," she said. "We're looking to trace an item that might have come in for sale at your shop. It's a rose gold pendant with an emerald inset and initials on the back. It's vitally important that we trace the seller."

She waited, feeling expectant, the same way she'd felt the last ten calls. But he said, "No, senorita, no such item has come in."

"Please, notify me if it does?" She read out her number and disconnected, feeling totally discouraged.

She knew this must be important and must lead somewhere. But it was proving to be a waste of time.

"Chin up," Wyatt said, looking at her keenly. "Don't start feeling down about this. I can see you are. Remember, all we need is one yes from them. Just one. And then, we have him."

She felt cheered by his words and grateful that he'd seen how badly she needed support and had offered it at just the right time.

"Thanks," she said. "As long as we can help Heather. That's all that matters now."

Wyatt and Sierra both nodded somberly.

Juliette returned to her list, checking through it, searching for the next name to call.

But before she could dial it, her phone rang. She quickly checked the number, seeing to her surprise that it was one of the numbers she'd dialed two hours ago at the start of this frustrating exercise.

"Agent Hart speaking," she answered.

"Agent, it's Jose here, from Barcelona Segundero. You called me earlier."

She recognized the voice. The second-hand store owner Jose had been one of the friendlier people in this exercise, sounding alert and bright, as if he was two coffees ahead of the game. And now, he was calling back?

"Yes, I did. About the pendant."

"I was out for the past hour, collecting some pieces. And when I came back, what do you think I see in front of me?" He sounded excited.

Juliette nearly dropped the phone.

"The pendant?" she practically yelled, causing both Wyatt and Sierra to swivel around and stare in amazement.

---