I’d have to look that up later. I sighed and shifted, impatient and ready to force the killer into the open.
Mrs. Ulich spent a few minutes examining the stone. It didn’t fit all the way into the first loupe she’d brought out, so she set out another cylinder, as well as a typical loupe to examine the facets of the diamond, calipers, an LED flashlight, and a small scale.
I watched her go through her examination, trying to read her face. She wasn’t giving away any secrets for free. I wondered if she went to Vegas much for vacations. She had a great poker face.
Too soon she polished the stone, reset it, and put it back in Reyes’s hands. He wrapped the ring in a clean cloth and place it in an envelope which he sealed, signed and dated. He called for someone to return the item to the locked evidence room.
During all this, Mrs. Ulich quietly put away her tools.
Reyes looked at all of us, and then shrugged. “You may share the findings, Mrs. Ulich.”
She had been writing on a blank sheet of paper, something so foreign these days I had to wrack my brain to come up with proper terms. She signed the paper, obviously her statement, capped the pen, and straightened. “Very well. I certify the diamond presented to me for examination on this day to be a slightly pink-hued near colorless diamond, ideal round cut, VVS1, or minute inclusions, one point nine carats.”
Ha! It wasn’t two carats after all.
Ulich raised her brows, a sign of a lecture coming on.
“As you may not be aware...”
Yep.
“Rose or pink hues are not caused by contaminants, but by the natural structural realignment of the crystal on the molecular level as the diamonds rise to the surface.” She inclined her head toward Reyes.
“Thank you, Mrs. Ulich. We’ll contact you again if we need you.”
“I’ll be sure to make myself available. Good day.”
Jason’s face went whiter. After the gemologist left, he put his hands over his eyes and leaned over the table. “No, no. That’s not right.”
“What’s the matter?” Elvis asked.
Jason stood and leaned his knuckles on the table. “Maybe that wasn’t Ivanna’s ring after all.” He pleaded with Melody next. “You weren’t sure, either, were you. That wasn’t the ring I gave Ivanna.”
I couldn’t make heads or tails of what was going on. What was Elvis trying to prove? I jumped up. “Who cares about the ring itself?” Everyone looked at me. “I’m sorry.” I backed up a step and hit the edge of my chair. “I’m, uh, sure Officer Ripple and Detective Reyes have a good…are doing the right, best thing for now. I apologize for my outburst.” I bent my head, disappointed my patience had run thin. I checked the time on my phone. We needed at least fifteen more minutes. “If that isn’t her ring, why did someone plant it in my house?”
Adam pulled me back to my seat. “What Ivy means is why don’t you believe this ring is the same one you gave your fiancée, Mr. Clark?”
Which still wouldn’t give me the reason for planting a diamond ring that wasn’t mine in my sock drawer. I needed to install a good alarm system and cameras right away. This was the second time a stranger with bad intentions had rummaged around in my house since I’d moved to Apple Grove. Even when I’d been there. Creepy. Maybe I shouldn’t let my mother live there. Then again, wasn’t possession nine-tenths of the law? Or was that an old wives’ tale? If no one claimed the ring, it would be mine, right? Another question to ask Virgil.
Detective Reyes prodded Jason. “Mr. Clark? Please? Why couldn’t this be your fiancée’s engagement ring?”
“Be-because the one I gave Vanna had a fake diamond.”
24
A dead woman’s stolen fake engagement ring replaced by one with a real diamond used to try and frame me for murder. This whole thing was getting weirder and weirder. I studied Elvis, whose poker face matched the gemologist’s. I’d like to see them play Texas hold ’em. We needed to kill five more minutes before Elvis’s Plan A started to unfold. Unless we had to come up with a different tactic now that Melody surprised us by showing up at the station.
“So,” I said, once more getting up to pace in the confined conference room at the Apple Grove police department on a Sunday morning when I’d rather be in church, “you gave your fiancée a fancy fake engagement ring.” I pointed at Jason.
Aunt Chris whispered, “Go, girl.”
I spared her a peek before saying in my best lawyer voice, “Did she know? Or did she find out later, threaten to expose your secret?”
“Ivy! Miss Preston, please!” Detective Reyes cut in. “Please, have a seat.”
Adam tugged my elbow.
I sat, again. Ungraciously. And folded my arms.
He repeated Adam’s question. “What made you wonder if the diamond ring found in Miss Preston’s home was not the one you presented to your fiancée, the late Miss Ivanna Pressman, before Mrs. Ulich’s report?”
“It was too light,” Melody answered first. “Cubic zirconia is heavier. Jason, dear, don’t say another word until our attorney, Mr. Ranget, can get here.”
Cool. I didn’t know that about cubic zirconia. Interesting she did. But never mind that.
Elvis checked the clock. “Time to go.” He slapped the tabletop, got up, and gave a hand to Aunt Chris. “The detective and I are meeting Stanley Brewer,” he said to Jason.
Reyes put his hands on his hips, making his shiny badge more obvious. “He reported coming across a couple more suspicious pieces of Featherlight candy at Miss Pressman’s former residence when he was moving in. Said he’d be there at eleven to show us.”
“Hey, Detective, you don’t mind if Jason here comes along, do you?” Elvis said, trying not to sound obvious. “He’s between jobs.” To Jason he added, “Maybe you’ll be interested in police work.”
Reyes eyed Jason. “Sure, why not. We’re not expecting any trouble. Just do what we tell you.”
Jason nodded as if he wasn’t quite sure what he’d agreed to.
Melody narrowed her eyes.
Jason turned his back on her. What had gotten into him?
“Everyone is free to leave,” Reyes announced.
Melody turned on her dainty little heels and strode from the room like a woman on a mission.
Elvis grinned at Adam and me behind Jason’s back.
“We’re coming,” Aunt Chris said. “I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”
“Young Mr. Brewer is your client,” Virgil said to Mom.
We took a minute to sort ourselves into groups. Elvis and the policemen held a serious-looking discussion which I figured was a stall tactic.
“I must remind you we are on official police business, folks,” Ripple told us. “However, we have no control over where you might choose to drive.”
Adam quirked his mouth. “We understand, Officer.”
Finally, Reyes and Ripple escorted Jason and Elvis in an Apple Grove PD squad car.
Mom took the rest of us in her car with Virgil next to her. I was squeezed between Adam and Aunt Chris in the back for the drive over to Ivanna’s condo.
I wasn’t sure how I’d feel seeing Stanley at Ivanna’s place. I didn’t know the new Stanley well at all since we’d parted company. Again. I’d kept my insecure distance even when we’d resumed a lukewarm relationship last fall. While he was two-timing me.
“We’re visiting the scene of the original crime, correct?” Aunt Chris asked.
“Yes,” Mom said tersely.
“The judge said Stanley could reside at the condo at least while the will is being contested as long as he didn’t remove or sell anything and took out replacement insurance in case anything was damaged,” Virgil said. “I believe Elvis was happy to help young Mr. Brewer move in.”
I bet.
Mom had been awfully quiet about the case, which I understood, though it chafed.
“This ought to be interesting,” Aunt Chris murmured as she stared out the window.
Mom pulled to the curb in
front of the quiet neighborhood where Ripple had his strobes flashing.
A few of the local dads tried to hustle their curious children away from the sort of programming seen on late-night cable TV in roped off square arenas.
Mom cringed and kept her hands glued to the steering wheel. Virgil made tch, tch noises and shook his head. Aunt Chris opened her door. Adam had his hand over his eyes.
I closed my mouth when a fly got too close.
A howl rode the air across the small lawn at Ivanna’s. Doralynn Pressman, arrayed in the day’s tennis outfit, a sort of tu-tu-like affair in white that showed off powerful thighs but an oddly lumpy gut, stood in the entry. She shook herself like a Chihuahua after a bath, turned, and reached down. Seriously, not a pretty sight. A feminine scream sounded behind her, echoing in the foyer.
Stanley’s pale arm appeared briefly, then his tennis-shoe-clad foot kicked out and withdrew.
Chris got out of the car and shielded her eyes from the sun. I wondered about her little smile, twitching as it appeared and straightened.
Adam ambled over to Ripple, who stood poised as if he would do something about the fracas. Any minute now. Reyes was on the radio, presumably calling for backup while Jason leaned against the window inside the squad, eyes shut.
What a zoo. The neighbors must be scared at all the commotion.
I was a bit unnerved, myself. I met Elvis on the sidewalk. “This is Plan B?”
He shrugged. “It wasn’t even Plan C, but it’s pretty exciting, don’t you think?”
I cocked my head toward Jason. “Chief Hackman was really allowing you to arrest him for withholding evidence. Now what?”
Aunt Chris turned her bright eyes on us, eagerly listening.
I grinned.
“Let’s say I’m developing a working relationship with the local authorities.” Elvis saluted Aunt Chris, who turned back to the chaotic noises coming from the condo.
Reyes and Ripple started making their casual way toward the open door.
“If Melody hadn’t shown up at the station to rescue her son, and presumably ruined your plan,” Aunt Chris said idly, “what would you have done?”
Stanley hurdled out of the condo and backed away. He stumbled over something on the grass and fell on his seat. I hid a giggle behind my hand. He held up a woman’s shoe. It looked like the one Melody had worn with her yellow dress.
Elvis pondered Aunt Chris and her question, watching her shrewdly. “The plan was to get the two mothers here together.”
“I’m impressed you didn’t freak out when Melody turned up at the station. Who did you text before? Doralynn or Stanley?” I asked Elvis.
He hooked his thumbs in his belt loops and studied the scene. “I thought it was only fair to give Brewer a head’s up.”
He clapped Stanley, who’d wobbled over, on the shoulder. “How’s it going?”
“Yeah.” Stanley turned the shoe over and over in his hands.
Mom and Virgil joined us.
“Stanley,” Mom said.
“Professor.” Stanley hung his head when more shrieks echoed from the unit.
“This isn’t your fault, Stanley,” I said, sympathetic he’d gotten caught so flat-footed. The condo on Ivanna’s right was empty, thankfully, or the residents would have been evacuated.
Ripple and Reyes finally entered the premises.
“I assume Mrs. Pressman took exception to Mrs. Clark’s visit?” Mom asked.
Stanley looked sideways at Elvis, who stood back on his heels, apparently enjoying the sound of Reyes trying to shout Doralynn down.
“Mrs. Pressman!” I heard the detective holler. “Please, let go of Mrs. Clark!”
“Check her pockets!” Doralynn shrieked. “She had no business crawling around in my daughter’s home!”
Another scream.
“Stand back, Mrs. Pressman, or I will use force,” Ripple said. His voice was clear but not nearly as loud as that of Reyes.
Elvis had theorized the killer wouldn’t have relied on one source of poison and must have come prepared with backups. I agreed, and thankfully, so had Chief Hackman when we presented the plan late last night. Despite cyanide’s reputation as fast-acting, no one could tell if Ivanna would get enough on her at one time to cause her death. Hackman let it “slip” over the police band he was not happy over the sloppy police work at the victim’s residence. He announced they might have missed something important at the scene of the crime, hoping to entice the killer into a compromising position.
“What happened, Stanley?” I asked.
He shuffled his feet. I took Melody’s shoe, which he was bending and flexing. “Well, uh…” He shrugged helpless at Elvis.
“Yeah, what did go on before we got here?” Elvis asked.
“So, I did what you told me. I called Ivanna’s ma and got her to come over and get Vanna’s stuff. ‘Personal effects.’” He used air quotes. Like anybody did that anymore. “At eleven, as you said. She said she’d come and check out how big of a job it would be on the way to her tennis match.”
Adam rejoined our group. “Then what happened?”
“She showed up. The Clark woman. Demanding I return everything Jason gave her. She just barged in and started crawling around the floor like she was looking for something.”
“Melody must have come directly here after leaving the station,” Virgil said.
Another squad car peeled in, strobes cycling, siren blaring.
“There goes the neighborhood,” I muttered.
Mom frowned.
Larkin and Dow rushed inside, joining the fray, adding more shouts to the bedlam. About thirty seconds later, Dow pulled Doralynn Pressman, handcuffed, toward the second squad car. Dow looked grimly dangerous, her hair unpinned and hanging across her left ear. Doralynn squirmed and wiggled and tried to tug at her tennis skirt with her bound hands. Next time maybe she’d dress more carefully before leaving home. Warm-up pants and jacket would have helped. Maybe. Melody had gotten in some stripes, I saw, as Doralynn’s cheek was scratched and bleeding. Dow hustled her prisoner to the squad car and sat her on the curb before getting a medical kit and tending to her.
In the meantime, Reyes showed up, walking a barefoot Melody Clark, also handcuffed, along to the first police car. I shoved her shoe behind my back. Melody looked lopsided, until it occurred to me a good-sized hank of hair at her temple was missing. I wondered if that was the result or the cause of Doralynn’s facial scratches.
“Sir, you’ll have to exit the vehicle,” Detective Reyes told Jason.
Jason tumbled out and knelt on the street, retching.
“You were just kidding about him joining the police force, right?” I asked Elvis.
“Check her pockets,” Doralynn yelled from her position on the curb. Dow drew back and told her to be quiet.
“Check hers,” Melody countered. “She stole from my son. What kind of person does that?”
Ripple and Larkin came outside too and milled about.
Our tax dollars at work. I immediately berated myself.
Reyes opened the back door of the police car and ushered Melody to a seat. He left the door open and went around to close the side Jason left open. “Sir, are you all right?”
I couldn’t hear Jason’s mumble, but it didn’t matter. He popped upright and stumbled to the gutter where he flopped on the grass.
“Officer! Officer! You must help my son. Can’t you see he’s ill?” Melody got to her feet.
Reyes told her to stay back or he would lock her in.
Was that the example of being a good mother? Doing anything, even commit murder, out of…love?
Motion on my right caught me off guard. Aunt Chris had a notebook and pen and was scribbling furiously. I glanced at Mom who looked away.
“I have something,” Melody said. “Something to make him feel better. Please, let me give my boy some treats. He always loved candy. That’s why he went to work at the candy company. I had to put in a good word for him, of cour
se, but what mother wouldn’t do that for her child? Her only son?” She scowled at Doralynn, who’d gone still.
Mom wiped her face. Was she crying? Virgil smiled gently and sadly at me, and then led her away to her car. “Let’s just wait over here, out of the sun,” he murmured.
No, I decided. Neither crazy Melody nor self-important Doralynn knew motherly love, much less how to behave like a mom.
Virgil, who’d never had children of his own, showed love to me, but more importantly, care and concern, even love, to my mother. That was the example I should follow.
“Come here, Jason. Come to Mother. I’ll take care of this, I promise. I’ll take care of everything. Just as I did before. The waitress wasn’t the right one for you. When that Brewer boy wouldn’t stay in jail, I made sure the other girl would be the one. I was rushed…” She said the last bit, frowning, as she muttered in her lap. “The wrong one. I had to hurry. I don’t like to be rushed. Stupid cat scratched me.” Then she looked up toward Jason. “It won’t hurt. I’ll show you.” She was able to reach the pocket of her dress before anyone, not even Reyes, who’d been on the com system again, could stop her. She held foil-wrapped cubes in her right palm.
Jason groaned and rolled over. Ripple bent near him and put a hand on his shoulder.
Doralynn began to weep and snuffle and wipe her nose on her forearms. Larkin handed her something to wipe her face, but no one uncuffed her.
Detective Reyes and Officer Dow converged on Melody. Dow swept the candy from her hand and Reyes shoved her back in the car and closed the door. They glanced at each other before Reyes called in again. “Stand by. We have the suspect in custody. En route momentarily.” Both got in the car and Reyes hit the siren again, disturbing an otherwise lovely Sunday late morning.
“No kidding?” Stanley said to the group at large. “I really didn’t believe you about her, Hillert. Honest.”
Adam touched my cheek. I hadn’t realized tears were running down my face too. “You were right to be obsessed with the candy wrapper,” he said. “Melody planted the cyanide on the paper, enough that Ivanna didn’t have a chance once she touched it. It’s over now.”
Meow Matrimony Page 24