Diamonds and Daggers

by Nancy Warren

  “Is that her?”

  Oh, great, I didn’t even get the courtesy of her using my name. I was now her. Sylvia’s tone was not welcoming.

  I could see Gran racking her brain, but what was she going to say? A pizza delivery guy had accidently knocked on a door that was almost impossible to find if you didn’t know it was there? While she dithered, I pulled my courage together one more time and stepped past Gran and into the vampires’ lair.

  “Sylvia,” I said. “I want to talk to you.”

  Every line of her body vibrated fury and loathing as she looked at me. No. Not at me. She was too angry to look me in the face. Her gaze went over my head as though I were literally beneath her notice. “And what could you possibly have to say for yourself?”

  I had to remember she’d been an actress in the silent movie days, so she was used to emoting. But man, that woman could emote. Her eyes were glacial. And her face seemed to be set in stone.

  I had to swallow before I could even speak. “I’m sorry. That’s all I wanted to say to you. I’m so sorry.”

  I thought her head might explode. “Sorry?” she shrieked. “I put into your possession a priceless set of jewels. All you had to do was hang onto them for a couple of hours in a crowded room, with security. How on earth did you manage to mess it up? A task so simple Mabel could have managed it.”

  “No need to insult me,” Mabel said from behind her.

  “Honestly, I don’t know what happened.” My voice came out wimpy and shaky. I felt Gran come up beside me, a silent, guarding presence.

  She said, “It took a lot of courage for her to come here, Sylvia.”

  Sylvia struck a pose and looked up at the ceiling. “Boring,” she said in a single, cold word, stretching it out so that I could feel the icicles prick me.

  Gran was right. It had taken every ounce of courage I possessed, and I didn’t have much left in stock. I said, “Well, I really am sorry. I never meant for this to happen. I’m doing everything I can to try and find them.”

  Now she skewered me again with her cold gaze. “Everything? What are you doing here then?” She leaned forward, right into my face, and I took a step backwards. “Everything? Everything is spending every moment of your time talking to everyone who was there. Making the police put more manpower behind this. Don’t come here with some whiny, pathetic, little ‘I’m sorry.’ Show me you are sorry by finding my jewels.”

  “That’s easier said than done. How am I supposed to make the police make this more of a priority? They’re treating the attack on me as an assault,” and I didn’t tell her that that was the part they were much more concerned about than the theft of a few jewels. “It’s not like it was a murder.”

  She looked at me, and I could read her gaze as though she’d spoken. If I had been killed, then the police would take it more seriously.

  Theodore came out of his room looking very dapper and obviously ready to go out for the evening. He looked surprised to see me there. “Lucy. How are you feeling?”

  I was so grateful to him. He was the only person who’d asked me how I was after being horribly attacked.

  I turned away from Sylvia and said, “I still have a headache, but I’m feeling much better. Thank you for asking.”

  “You should be upstairs resting,” he said kindly.

  “Resting?” Sylvia shrieked again. Then she poked at me with a long, bony finger. “You do not rest. Not for an instant until you’ve found my jewels.”

  Theodore looked at her. “Has it occurred to you, Sylvia, that instead of these histrionics, you might also help Lucy find the jewels?”

  “Me? What’s it to do with me?”

  Theodore was a good private investigator. And he thought like one. He looked from her to me and back again. “I’ve been wondering why.”

  “Why what?”

  “Why did this production company come to you for your jewels?”

  She looked puzzled by the question. I felt puzzled too, but I had an inkling of where he was going with this.

  “Who else would they go to?” she asked. She was so taken up with her anger and bitterness and grief over her loss that she was having trouble thinking clearly. Maybe there was no more room in her head.

  Theodore said, “Think about it. It’s one thing to make a movie, but what was the process by which you were somehow approached about those jewels? You’ve been out of the public eye for some time. And so have the Cartier jewels. Who even knew you had them?”

  For the first time, I saw her fury begin to abate a bit as she started to think. Her eyes narrowed on Theodore’s face. “What are you saying?”

  “I’m wondering if the theft wasn’t a sudden, random event. But there was more planning behind it.”

  “Nonsense. Of course, once the producers did their research, they were going to find out about the jewels. I was very famous. So were the Cartier brothers. Jacques was my particular friend. Put us together, and you had something priceless and irreplaceable.”

  The way she said priceless and irreplaceable and stared at me while saying it was like being poked through the heart. Twice.

  Theodore seemed impervious to the stabbing. Mostly because it wasn’t happening to him. He said, “Who first approached you?”

  She shrugged her elegant shoulders as if it was beneath her notice to worry about that kind of thing. “My lawyer. I didn’t care about the details.”

  “Could you find out?”

  She heaved a great sigh as though this was all a terrible inconvenience. “I’m sure you’re wrong.”

  “Then that’s an avenue of inquiry that I can close off,” he said in his gentle way. “That’s what an investigation is, you know. I follow leads and make guesses and talk to people, and as I get answers, the path narrows. In the end, I do get there.”

  “You mean you’ll find my jewels?”

  “You know we’re all trying our best, Sylvia. It’s time for you to put away your rage and start actively helping.”

  I took another step back. I couldn’t believe he’d been so bold as to say such a thing to the furious actress. But, to my surprise, instead of flying at him, she took a deep breath. “Nothing will make me give up my rage until those jewels are found. However, I will ask my lawyer who approached him and when.”

  “And I have some contacts in the underworld. I’ll see if anyone’s tried to fence the jewels.”

  Gran said, “They’re so recognizable. Isn’t it likely they’ll have been broken up?”

  The minute she finished speaking, I could tell Gran wished she could swallow her tongue. I wish she’d thought it through too before she’d said those words. We must all have been thinking it, except for poor Sylvia. I really didn’t think that possibility had occurred to her. She turned to stare at Gran.

  “Broken up?”

  Gran scrambled to backpedal. “I’m sure they haven’t been. It’s such a marvelous set. Of course, anyone would want to keep it as is. I don’t know what I was thinking. I’m a foolish, old woman. Don’t listen to me.”

  But, of course, that was the most likely thing that had happened to the jewels. Theodore stepped in again. “Let’s not jump to any conclusions. I’ll find out everything I can. Try not to worry.”

  Chapter 10

  Patricia Beeton walked into Cardinal Woolsey’s Knitting and Yarn Shop the next morning with a worried frown on her face. She looked much less glamorous now that she was wearing regular person clothes: jeans and a chunky, green sweater with a multicolored scarf. She carried a large bag.

  “Lucy,” she said, “how are you feeling? I wouldn’t have had such a thing happen for the world.” A shudder went through me just looking at Patricia Beeton and recalling that pleasant chat we’d had while Sylvia’s priceless jewels were still hanging around my neck, earrings, wrists and finger.

  “My head still aches a bit, but the worst of it is losing that priceless set of jewels.”

  She hesitated. “I wasn’t sure whether this was the right thing to do,
but I’ve got that photograph I promised you.” From her bag she pulled a photographer’s folder, and inside it was an eight by ten glossy of the two of us standing at the gala.

  We were leaning into each other, laughing. If it hadn’t all gone so terribly wrong, I’d have loved to have this photograph and loved to show it to Sylvia. As it was, it made my stomach clench. I summoned a wan smile and thanked her. She looked at me with worry in her eyes. “Lucy, I wouldn’t have had this happen for the world. No one would. I keep trying to remember—was there someone there who shouldn’t have been? But of course, they’d hired actors to dispense the drink and food and so on. Any one of them could have been light-fingered.”

  I knew all this. “Are they having any luck tracking all those people down?”

  She made a face. “The agency’s doing its best. But nothing so far. I suspect quite a few of them would prefer not to chat with the police. Well, they’re indigent actors. Most of them have something in their past. They’ve gone bankrupt, defaulted on student loans, a bit of drug possession and some unruly conduct.” She shrugged. “They’re actors.”

  We chatted for a few moments more, and then it got awkward. She said brightly that she was going to start work on a new knitting project. She looked up and there, on the back wall, were hanging those beautiful, diamond-stitch sweaters that Gran and Hester had made. She let out a cry of delight. “Perfect. I was wondering what to make my family for Christmas. I can do one of those in each color.”

  Since she had four people on her close gift-giving list, I busied myself pulling together the wools for her.

  While I did, I wondered if part of the reason she suddenly had all this knitting time was because the theft had caused problems for the movie’s schedule. With all those journalists there, the gala had definitely made the news, with the focus ending up not on the exciting new production of an old classic but on the jewel heist.

  “Has it affected your contract?” I asked her, counting out the blue wool.

  “What? The attack at the gala? I don’t know. I never had a signed contract.”

  I stared at her and promptly lost count. “You didn’t have a signed contract?”

  “No. Annabel had called me about the project and we discussed details, but I wasn’t officially hired yet.”

  “Is that normal?”

  She gave a brief laugh. “What’s normal in the entertainment business?” Then she grew serious. “Annabel promised me the job, so I didn’t worry about it.”

  “And now?”

  She shrugged. “I haven’t heard from her. But I think she’s got other things on her mind.”

  I’d fetched wool for three sweaters, but I was short on the red. “It’s been the most popular. But I’ve got more of the red wool on back order. It should be here in a few days.”

  “I’ll have plenty to keep me busy. Let me know when it’s in. You’ve got my mobile number? It’s the best way to reach me.”

  I pulled up her file on the computer and double-checked I had her number.

  She went away with a much more sizable bag than she’d arrived with and more sincere but not very helpful promises to do everything she could to help find Sylvia’s jewels.

  I left the folder on the counter. Normally I’d have pinned it up on my community board, where I liked to showcase my customer’s creations. But I wouldn’t be able to come into the store every day if I had to look at that first thing. If—no, when the jewels were found, I’d hang that picture up in pride of place.

  She’d barely gone when Gran and Sylvia came out of the back room. No doubt they’d come up through the trapdoor and were planning to go out the front of my shop, but one of the features of the vampire is exquisitely keen hearing. There was no doubt they’d heard every word.

  Sylvia’s face was a combination of ice and fury. Not an attractive look on anyone. And a very dangerous one on a powerful vampire. She stalked towards me, and instinctively, I took a step back. But she didn’t reach for me. She reached for the photograph folder still sitting innocently on my desk. I wanted to stop her, but my mouth was too dry to speak. For one agonizingly long minute, she stared at the photograph. Gran, looking nervous, peered over her shoulder and said in a falsely bright tone, “You’ll get them back, my dear. I know you will.”

  In answer, Sylvia picked up the photograph and tore it in two pieces. The sound of the tearing paper felt like something sharp scratching its way down my spine.

  She glared at me coldly, dropped the pieces onto the counter, turned on her heel and stalked towards the door.

  Gran looked up at me nervously. “Try not to worry, love. I’m sure we’ll find them. I’m sure we will.”

  I knew one thing. If we didn’t, I was going to have to find a new place to live. And it was going to be as far away from Oxford as was geographically possible.

  When the door shut behind them, I picked up the two pieces of the picture. Sylvia had managed to tear it so that both me and her jewels were torn in half. Perhaps the message was only one of anger, but to me it felt like a threat. I was about to throw the thing in the garbage when something caught my eye.

  In the background, behind where we’d been standing, were two people in an intense conversation. It wouldn’t have been noticeable when the picture was whole because the photographer was so good. The jewelry was so spectacular and our smiles so bright that the eye was automatically drawn there. But with the thing torn in two, the background became more visible. Bryce Teddington was in deep conversation with a pale young woman I’d never seen before.

  I wondered who she could be. I remembered how intense he’d been with me. What had he been talking about with that young woman so shortly before disaster befell us all? Could she have been an accomplice?

  If we could find the mystery woman, might we find Bryce Teddington and Sylvia’s jewels?

  I contacted Theodore immediately, and I think I got him out of bed, but he promised he’d be with me as quickly as possible. I stared a minute longer at that picture and then called Rafe and told him what I’d found.

  I debated with myself, then told him about the incident with Sylvia. “She ripped me in half. Do I need to be worried? You know that expression, if looks could kill? Every time Sylvia looks at me, my blood gets a bit colder.”

  In a low, furious undertone, he said, “If she touches so much as a hair on your head…” The menace seemed even deeper when he didn’t finish the sentence. I began to think I might not be in as much danger as the glamorous vampire.

  Before I could even tell him about the photograph, he said, “I’m coming over.”

  He must have already been in Oxford doing business, for he arrived at the shop in about ten minutes. I’d never been so glad to see anyone. I had to remember that as much as they were my friends, and as good to me as Sylvia had been, a vampire didn’t have to play by the same rules as mortals. If she completely lost her head and took my life, what repercussions would there be?

  Rafe would probably make an end of her. And my poor gran would then lose both her granddaughter and her best friend. I couldn’t let that happen. The only way to get Sylvia back to looking at me without hatred and bloodlust in her eyes was to find those diamonds. And fast. That or I was seriously going to have to leave Oxford. As much as I’d come to love it here, and as much as I loved my gran and had strong, if complicated feelings for Rafe, I couldn’t continue. Not like this.

  Rafe arrived, and the cheerful tinkle of the bells on the door was at odds with the cold, hard expression on his face. “Where is she?”

  “She’s out,” I said, having no doubt at all who he was referring to.

  He made a sound far too much like a growl for my comfort. He said, “You are not going to be in this store alone. Not while she’s a danger.”

  I’d already thought of that. “I can get Polly and Scarlett to help in the shop when Violet’s not available.”

  He shook his head sharply. “Not mortals. And not a self-involved witch. The only ones who are strong
enough to stop Sylvia are her own kind.”

  I looked at him. “Who are you suggesting? Mabel and Clara?”

  “Don’t discount them. They’re more powerful than they look.”

  “As powerful as Sylvia?”

  He tapped his fingers on the countertop. “Probably not. Better that you don’t come into the shop at all. Let your lazy cousin do some work for a change. She should earn that generous salary you pay her.”

  Since he had no idea how much I paid Violet, I knew he was just letting off steam. “You’re coming back with me. Go pack a bag.”

  “Rafe…” I didn’t get any further. He reached out and grabbed my hand. His eyes bored into mine and I saw, not for the first time, how much he cared.

  “If anything happened to you…” He didn’t have to finish the sentence. I knew one thing. While I was in Rafe’s care, I’d be completely safe.

  But I wasn’t a shrinking violet. I didn’t want to be pampered and kept in cotton wool. I’d go crazy. So I leveled my own tough-guy stare at him. Well, as much as I could do a tough-guy stare, which wasn’t anything to be proud of. “One condition. We do everything we can to find these jewels. And you do not shut me out. Otherwise I’ll stay here and take my chances.”

  A shaft of humor lightened those wintry eyes a little. “You with your bargains. Always so American.”

  That was his way of saying yes.

  Rafe went to the door and turned the open sign to closed. My heart rate bumped up. “What are you doing?”

  He walked back. “This isn’t where I intended to have this conversation, but there is a little matter of a marriage proposal before you.”

  My pulse went all fluttery. “Rafe, this isn’t exactly the best time.”

  “Marry me. At least then I’d have you under my roof. I could keep you safe.”

  I felt so wretchedly indecisive. It wasn’t that I hadn’t been thinking about his proposal. When I wasn’t sick with dread about Sylvia’s missing jewels, I thought of little else. “But you would lose me. I will age as a normal, human woman. I’ll get old and wrinkly and sag.”