The Case of the Stolen Art Work

by Karen Stillwagon

  “Do you know if anything else is missing?” Michael asked Dee.

  “We believe there were also some paintings stolen.” Lorelei answered for her, but she didn’t look at him. She kept talking to Amy.

  “Any idea which ones?” Amy asked, turning to Dee.

  “I’m sorry, I just don’t know that much about their art to know what the paintings were, only that they acquired them on their trips abroad. Only reason I know they’re missing is because of the empty spaces on the walls.” Dee twisted her napkin between her fingers.

  “We are going to have to call this in,” Amy said to Michael. “If this burglary is related to the others, which I am sure it is, we have to get the fingerprint team down here, and go over the place.”

  “You said something about photos?” Michael said to Lorelei, ignoring his partner’s comment.

  Lorelei straightened as she pulled out her phone. She felt gut-punched, unable to understand the man she had dinner with on Friday, and breakfast this morning, to the man who is sitting across from her. Now anger burned inside. She had gone to him, she was the one who was tried to do things correctly, by going to the police. And this is how she is treated?

  After unlocking her phone, she opened up her photos as she went around to the other side of the table. She leaned in, between their chairs and showed the photo of the man sitting at the Black Jack table with Michael, from Friday night. What Lorelei also noticed was how Michael was looking at her when she took the photo.

  “This is the man who Dee saw in the house?” Amy looked over at Dee, who was nodding her head

  “You were at the casino Friday night taking these pictures?” she asked Lorelei.

  “Yes. When Dee wasn’t comfortable talking to the police, I decided to take pictures, see what I could find. And apparently I was able to find the guy, but it was just dumb luck.”

  “We need to find out who this guy is,” Amy said to Michael. “And is there anyway I can get a copy of that photo?” she asked Lorelei.

  “I’ll just text it to your partner,” Lorelei looked down at her phone, and after a few clicks, sent a picture, and stared at Michael until his phone pinged. She neither blinked or turned away. He finally broke the contact when he retrieved the image. He didn’t open the picture, just saw the text was from her.

  “I’ve got it,” he said as he stood to leave.

  “If there isn’t anything else, I will show you to the door.” Lorelei kept her composure, and headed for the top of the stairs. She waited for the officers to follow. Amy stayed back to talk a little bit more with Dee, giving Michael a chance to talk to Lorelei alone, to defuse the situation, as Amy had said.

  “We need to talk,” he said as he walked down the stairs, to the back door. Lorelei looked for the other officer and when she didn’t show up, she figured she and Dee were meant to be separated. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Bindi was already at the door waiting to be let outside.

  Lorelei opened the door and Bindi bounded out, coming back with a ball which she placed at Lorelei’s feet. She picked it up and threw it across the yard, waiting for Michael to say something.

  “I want to apologize to you. If I didn’t do it by the book, and someone found out I had been out with you on two different occasions, all the evidence could be tossed out.”

  “The least you could have done was tell me, not have it sprung on me.”

  “I didn’t have time,”Michael replied.

  “Actually, you did. You could have called before your partner picked you up, you could have sent a text on the drive out. You had ample opportunity to let me know. I promised Dee I would only share the information with you, not with all the cops on the force.”

  “I only shared what you told me with my partner.”

  “Good for you,” Lorelei said as she threw a toy for Bindi. She kept her mouth shut for the rest of the time they were together.

  “We need to get back to the station,” Amy said she walked up to them, carrying the box that held the glass sculpture.

  Lorelei said nothing as they walked away.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  “I CANNOT BELIEVE the nerve of him!” Lorelei said, running her fingers through her hair as she paced Dee’s living room. Dee was trying to calm her down.

  “Have a cup of tea, and talk to me,” Dee said as she sat at the kitchen table.

  “I trusted him! I trusted him to help you out. And he brings the calvary!” Lorelei kept pacing, this time around the table, too angry to sit down.

  Dee poured her a cup of tea and waited for Lorelei’s anger to subside. After a few minutes Lorelei planted herself across the table, in the same chair Michael Smith had occupied, a subtlety that Dee did not ignore.

  “I thought I could trust him!” Lorelei huffed as she scooted her chair in.

  “And why do you think you can’t?” Dee asked.

  “He brought his partner.” Lorelei reached for the cup, letting it warm up her hands, though they weren’t cold.

  “And why does that bother you?” Dee asked.

  “It was privileged, what I told him.”

  “And do you want him to lose his job if it comes out he has information that could lead to an arrest for the burglary?”

  “No, but he isn’t going to get too far. The picture I sent him was one of some guy’s belt buckle, not of the guy sitting next to him at the Black Jack table.”

  Dee hid her smile as she asked, “Why did you do that?”

  “I don’t know, maybe because I’m angry, maybe because I want to find out who the guy is without his help.” She picked up the cup and took a big drink of the fresh tea Dee had made for her.

  “That’s a bit petty, they have more resources than you do.”

  “I’m going to find out who he is, without Officer Michael Smith’s help.” Lorelei stewed in silence as they both drank their tea.

  “How are you going to find him?” Dee finally asked after a few minutes.

  “I’m going to go to all the places we talked about, and get pictures of security guards.”

  “Instead of wasting your time, let them find the man instead.”

  “No, I’m going to do this for you, to keep you out of the picture. I want you safe, and the man caught.”

  “I’m sure those two who were just here could do that.”

  “What? Now you want to trust the cops? Especially since he lied to me? He used me, made me think he cared. And it was to get me to open up.” Lorelei’s anger rose again.

  “He didn’t know any of that when you saw him Friday, and again Sunday. It wasn’t until you confided in him after both those meetings. Give him the benefit of a doubt.”

  “I will give him nothing!” Lorelei stood abruptly. “How could he do this to me? I though he cared about me! I went to him asking for help and this is how he treats me?”

  “Lorelei,” Dee said calmly, “he’s a cop. He has to follow the rules. Do you want him to lose his job?”

  “That’s not the point,” Lorelei said, still pacing. “I confided in him. He could have at least said he needed to talk to his partner, see what the options were, then let me know. He just comes here, as a cop, and didn’t let me know so I could be prepared. To hell with him!”

  “That’s not fair. He is bound by his oath,” Dee said, still trying to calm Lorelei down.

  “What about me?” she scoffed.

  “He may not have had a choice,” Dee said.

  “Maybe he didn’t, but, he could have told me, before showing up with his partner. Come on Bindi, we have a job to do.” Lorelei left Dee’s house, with Bindi at her heels.

  Back in her apartment, Lorelei made herself a cup of strong coffee in a large to-go cup, took it to the desk that faced the ocean, and sat down. She pulled out a small notebook from the drawer and found a pencil. She started a list of the places she needed to visit. After she finished, she looked it over and prioritized it so she knew where to go first.

  She figured the college would be the
place to start, but since it was Sunday she decided the museum would be better. She could go to the college tomorrow. The boat basin was on her way so that would be her first stop, and then the ship yard where the new steel boats were being built. The old boat yard was there. She remembered going there with her dad when she was little. He would take her and Thomas to see the boats in the bone yard that had been brought out of the water to be worked on. With the fishing industry geared more to the larger boats, many of the fishermen couldn’t afford to work on their boats and they would soon be abandoned.

  Lorelei left the list on the desk and went to her room to get a sweatshirt. The wind was cold coming off the ocean but so far the rain had missed them. She would walk the docks, looking at boats and see if she could get any pictures of the security guards. She grabbed her purse and Bindi’s harness.

  “Let’s go!” she called and Bindi came running. Once she secured the harness, she grabbed her coffee, her purse, and locked up. She went down to the garage, used the automatic garage door opener Dee had given her and backed out. She hit the button again. Once she was sure the door was securely closed, she drove toward the boat basin.

  The first thing she noticed as she pulled in were all the crab pots stacked around the fish plant. There were pallets filled with pots and buoys in a myriad of colors. Each boat had its own color scheme so they could tell the pots apart from one another out in the ocean. Men were busy working getting the pots ready. It was early November and crab season started in December, barring price wars.

  She pulled the Sidekick up to one of the docks, grabbed Bindi’s leash and went down to the boats. She walked around, looking at them, taking pictures. She didn’t see anyone around who looked like a security guard. She went to the next dock and did the same. She did this all the way around the boat basin and only saw one person she thought worthy of a picture. The man was short, balding and not the one she had seen in the casino. But she took his picture anyway.

  She and Bindi walked back to the Sidekick, got in, then left the boat basin, heading for the bone yard on the other side of the Charleston bridge where the derelict boats rested. She again took Bindi for a walk, looking for anyone who resembled the man she had seen sitting next to Michael Friday night.

  The thought of Michael Smith made her stop. She was angry with him, but more angry at herself for letting herself think maybe there was something between them. She didn’t have time for a man. She needed to get settled in, get her house repaired, and find a job. She didn’t want to rent and throw her money away, making someone else rich with her hard earned money. Okay, she thought, not hard earned, not right now, but when she was working it would be her hard earned money. Which meant she also needed to start looking for work soon. She couldn’t live on her mom’s hand outs for the rest of her life, she needed to make her own way. It’s what she went to college for. But she didn’t get a degree that would set her up in life with a good job. Maybe she should look into going back to school. She shook her head as the thought of going back to college entered her head. She didn’t want to go back to school. She just wanted to get a job and have a nice home here.

  Her cell phone rang. She looked down and recognized Michael’s number. After a few rings she decided not to answer it and silenced it, making it go to voicemail. He must have finally opened her message and saw it was the wrong picture. Let him stew for a while, she mused. She’d call him back, or maybe just text hime the correct picture later so she didn’t have to talk to him. She didn’t want to talk to him. She knew she wasn’t being fair. She also knew it wasn’t Michael who asked her to dinner, and breakfast. It was his mom. But would he have asked her? Lorelei didn’t know, at that the moment, decided it would be best to put those thoughts on the back burner. She had a job to do.

  The boats in the bone yard were in various stages of decay. Some were so far gone they had a large X painted on their hulls, marked for destruction. These boats had served their owners well and were left to be destroyed. There wasn’t much need for the small fishing trollers anymore. The large steel boat with their large nets had taken their place.

  She walked to the end of the road and turned to walk where the new boats were being built. These large boats were the future of fishing in this little town. She saw a couple men talking next to one of the few boats on dry dock. She went up to them.

  “Hello?” she said as she neared.

  “Is there something I can help you with?” the older man asked. He was in his late fifties, Lorelei guessed, dressed in dirty blue jeans and a plaid flannel shirt.

  “I am wondering if either of you know this man?” She pulled out her cell phone and showed the two men the picture from the casino. “I think he’s a security guard but I don’t know where he works.”

  “What’d he do?” the younger man asked. He was dressed in jeans and a tattered sweatshirt.

  “I am looking for him for my aunt, he had helped her with a flat tire and she didn't have a chance to thank him. I told her I would see if maybe he worked down here since it was close to the bridge where she got the help.”

  “How do you have a picture of him on your phone?” The older man pulled a toothpick out of his mouth and pointed at the photo with the chewed end, “Seems to me you already know where to find him.”

  “Um… well… see the man next to him? That’s my boyfriend. He and I were at the casino when I took this. When I showed my aunt the picture, she recognized the man next to him as the man who helped her.”

  “Then maybe you ought to go back to the casino,” the younger man said before starting back up his conversation with the older man, dismissing Lorelei. She waited a moment before giving up and walked away.

  Back at her car she cursed herself for being so stupid. That was the lamest excuse, and they saw right through her. She needed to figure out a better way to find the man in the picture. And if she was going to ask questions, they needed to sound legitimate. She started her car. Her cell phone rang again. It was Michael. Officer Michael Smith, she reminded herself, the cop. She sent it to voicemail again and headed into town.

  Lorelei circled the block until she found an empty parking spot at the back of the museum and parked.

  “You have to wait in the car this time. Not all places are pet friendly, you know.” She ruffled the fur on Bindi’s head before she grabbed her purse and headed into to Coos Art Museum. The Mairtime exhibit was featured, and it had works from Pacific Northwest artists. As she went through the large gallery, she saw paintings, photographs, ceramic sculptures, along with metal works. There were also some glass works, but nothing compared to the stolen Chihuly she had bought.

  She slowly walked around looking at the art. There was so much to take in. It brought her back to her art classes in college. She had taken photography and was pretty good at it. Some of the photos of the coast were filled with amazing colors taken during sunsets. The more she looked the more she wanted to take photos like these. Or at least along these lines. She had a different eye than the photographers who had their works hanging here.

  “Do you have any questions?” a voice asked from behind her.

  “These are amazing!” Lorelei said as she turned to the man behind her and looked into the eyes of the man from the photo.

  He looked up at the photo she was standing in front of and didn’t see the color drain from her face. “There are so many talented photographers. It’s always hard to choose which pictures to hang for this show.”

  “I can imagine,” she squeaked out. She turned from him as she stuffed her shaking hands into her pockets.

  “Would you like me to show you around?”

  “Thank you, but I’m okay.” She walked away, slowly, as she pretended to look at the other art. She needed to leave but didn’t want to run out. It would look suspicious and she didn’t want to draw anymore attention to herself. She also needed to make sure it was him so she decided to get a picture of him somehow.

  Her heart raced as she walked around the rest of the ex
hibit. She took a chance and turned back to the man. He was still looking at the photo she commented on, his hands clasped behind his back, relaxed. She could see his reflection in the glass covering the photo as she carefully made her way to a sculpture near him. She pulled out her phone, held it like she was reading a text message and opened the camera app. Trying to remember the angle she needed, she adjusted the phone trying not to be obvious. She kept her thumbs moving as if texting before tipping the phone to take a picture of man’s reflection.

  “I can’t seem to get any reception,” she muttered aloud, hoping he would hear and think she was trying to get a few bars as she kept moving the phone around.

  “No cell phones allowed in here,” he said, turning to her.

  Startled, Lorelei jumped, then tried to recover by answering, “Oh, I’m sorry, I’m meeting someone and I am trying to let them know where I am.”

  “Please take it outside, and make your call there,” he said. “Now if you will excuse me.” He made his way to another patron in the another part of the gallery.

  Lorelei stuffed her phone in her purse and thought it wise to leave while he was occupied. She slipped out and down the stairs to the street where she finally let out the breath she hadn’t realize she was holding. She looked around and saw people walking on the sidewalk across Anderson Street. She looked down the street and didn’t see anything. She walked down the block, turned the corner and headed behind the large building. Bindi started barking as she dug for her keys in her purse. Foot steps sounded behind her, but before she could turn something wrapped around her neck, dragging her backwards while cutting off her air. She tried screaming but no sound came. The last thing she remembered was the sound of Bindi’s bark.