A Catastrophic Theft

by P. D. Workman

  “Yes. She is.”

  “That’s impossible.”

  “No. Not impossible when you have a stone like that. She is much older than one hundred years old.”

  “No.”

  He shrugged. “It’s an idea that takes time to get used to.”

  “She can’t be that old.”

  “Not naturally. Not without something extending her life.”

  “Then we’ve got to find her another emerald.”

  “It isn’t just the emerald itself. It’s the magic that has been woven into it. Magic that takes years to develop.”

  “Well, there must be others around. If there is one, there are others.”

  “There may be others. But not that are immediately available or that anyone is willing to part with. And none so powerful as Sarah’s. A lesser stone won’t have the same effect.”

  “Then we need to get it back.”

  It wasn’t until then that Reg really understood what was at stake. She had thought that it was valuable as far as the amount of money it was worth or the sentimental attachment Sarah had to it. But she hadn’t realized that Sarah’s life depended on being able to get it back. Jessup hadn’t told her that and neither had Sarah.

  “Then give it back,” Sarah said sharply. “Why don’t you just give it back to me?”

  Reg stood there for a moment, stunned. She hadn’t even thought that Sarah was following the conversation, but apparently she was, at least that much. But she was even more stunned by Sarah’s tone of voice. Her words were sharp and angry. She stared at Reg with a malevolence Reg had never seen in her face. Behind it, Reg knew, was desperation. She needed that emerald, and she needed it soon.

  “I don’t have the emerald, Sarah,” she said softly, as reasonably as possible. She didn’t know how to talk to old people. She’d never been comfortable around them. “I didn’t take it. And I don’t know where it is. I’ve tried to find it. But… I’ll keep trying.”

  “You took it. I know it was you.”

  “No. It wasn’t.”

  Sarah’s eyes went to Corvin and he gave an infinitesimal nod. Reg erupted with fury.

  “What are you telling her? You’re telling her that I stole her necklace? You know I had nothing to do with it! I would never steal from Sarah!”

  Her words echoed around the suddenly-quiet room. Reg wanted to take them back. Not all of them. Just the ones that implied she might steal something else from someone else.

  “Reg, you’re making a scene.”

  “I’ll make the biggest scene ever,” Reg threatened. “You’ve been lying to her! Telling her that I stole the necklace!”

  “I only told her what I know,” Corvin said slowly, choosing his words carefully.

  “You don’t know anything! I didn’t touch her emerald! You’re the one who stole the knife, you’re probably the one who stole the emerald too!”

  “The knife?” Sarah echoed.

  “He’s the one who stole the knife from Jessup, remember?” Reg prompted her. “Remember Hawthorne-Rose’s knife? He’s the one who stole the knife, so he’s the one who stole your emerald too.”

  “I did not steal the emerald,” Corvin said. “You’re the one who stole the emerald. You sent your cat over there, and—”

  “I did what?” Reg demanded, her voice screeching higher.

  “You used your familiar,” Corvin said calmly. “You sent him over to the main house and had him steal the necklace. I saw him.”

  “You saw Starlight steal the emerald,” Reg said. “Well, that’s pretty rich. He never left the house, how was he supposed to steal the jewelry?”

  Corvin shrugged. “I know what I saw.”

  “Which was what? Starlight stealing the necklace? If you saw that, why didn’t you stop him? Why didn’t you take it away from him?”

  “I saw the cat crossing the yard. I saw it go into the house. Before the emerald disappeared. What reason would you have to send the cat into Sarah’s house other than to take the necklace? She said she didn’t invite you over. Or the cat. She didn’t invite anyone over. That’s the only intruder that anyone is aware of. A cat slips in, takes the necklace, and quietly leaves. The perfect plan.”

  “Except that it isn’t true! When was the last time you saw a cat do what it was asked? You can’t train a cat to steal a necklace.”

  “I’ve seen some witches with very able familiars. I wouldn’t presume to dictate what a cat could or couldn’t do, with or without training. We know that the beast is intelligent. That’s been proven.”

  “That doesn’t mean he went into the house and stole the necklace. That never happened. He’s been in the house the whole week. He hasn’t been outside, to Sarah’s house or anywhere else.”

  “He was gone for a couple of days while Calliopia was missing.”

  “That’s different. He did escape for a couple of days. Sarah was the one who let him out. Since then, we’ve both been really careful not to let him out. We don’t want him taking off and getting hit by a car or trapped by someone.”

  “Or stealing jewelry.”

  “He didn’t steal the emerald. That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. Cats don’t steal jewelry. Birds maybe. Crows collect shiny things, don’t they?”

  “I didn’t see a crow going into the house. I saw the cat going in.”

  “It wasn’t Starlight.”

  “Excuse me, folks,” one of the waiters edged closer to Reg and Corvin. “I’m sure you don’t realize how loud you are and how you’re attracting everyone’s attention. Maybe this is something that could be discussed outside?”

  “I don’t care if everybody hears it,” Reg growled. “I want everyone to know that he’s accusing me unjustly! He’s making it all up! He wants to damage my reputation and poison Sarah against me. I did not steal anything from Sarah!”

  “I can’t have you yelling in here, ma’am,” the waiter tried again. “Please. You’ll need to carry on this conversation somewhere else. You are disturbing the clientele.”

  Corvin shifted as if he would stand up. “Shall we take it outside, Regina?”

  “I’m not going anywhere with you!”

  “People…” the waiter tried desperately.

  “No!” Reg barked at him. “You stay out of this!”

  At the bar, a glass broke, making everybody jump. Someone give a little shriek of surprise. Reg glanced over at Bill, but couldn’t tell if he had dropped the glass.

  The waiter put a hand on her arm. Reg jerked away from him.

  “I told you to leave me alone!”

  Another glass broke and Reg looked over at the bar quickly enough to see a third spontaneously burst into pieces. There were more shrieks from the patrons.

  “Regina, calm down,” Corvin soothed. “Just take a breath.”

  “You don’t get to tell me what to do.”

  “You’re going to break all of the glassware.”

  “I’m not breaking them!”

  “You might not be doing it intentionally, but…”

  “I’m not breaking them.”

  Three more glasses burst in quick succession, followed by the bottle in Bill’s hand, showering liquid on the bar and floor. He looked at Reg, eyebrows raised. Reg looked at Corvin, who was sitting back with his arms folded across his chest, looking amused. His smirk made her rage spike again, and the glass in front of him exploded, spraying all of them with water and shards of glass.

  Reg swore in horror. She was more worried about Sarah than she was herself. She darted forward to protect Sarah, way too late. She swept glass and puddles of water away from Sarah.

  “Don’t move. Let me make sure all of this is cleaned up first…”

  Corvin liberated a couple of cloth napkins from the bundles of silverware.

  “Don’t use your bare hand, Regina, you’re going to get cut yourself. Here.”

  He gave her one napkin and he used the other, mopping up the water and brushing the shards of glass into a pile a
way from Sarah. She had some on her clothing and in her hair, and Reg worked carefully to remove them so that Sarah wouldn’t cut herself. The waiter stood by with his mouth open.

  “I didn’t do this,” Reg repeated to Corvin.

  “Your powers are getting away from you. You need to rein them in. Or if there’s too much for you to handle…” He gave a suggestive smile.

  Reg shook her head, but tried to tamp down the rage, just in case it was her anger that was causing all the breakage. “I don’t break stuff. I can move things a little, sometimes, but this… I didn’t do this.”

  “Just like you didn’t steal the emerald.”

  “I didn’t. I’m not a thief.”

  Corvin met her eyes. He raised an eyebrow, challenging the statement. Reg opened her mouth to argue with him, but it was filled with cotton. She couldn’t find the words to object. It wasn’t because she was afraid to lie or had something against lying. She was a good liar. She just couldn’t form the words.

  “I have been inside your mind,” Corvin reminded her. “Inside your memories and psyche. I know you, Regina. More intimately than anyone else.”

  He knew she was a thief. Maybe she hadn’t stolen Sarah’s necklace, but there had been other thefts from other women. None of them had been over one hundred years old or had been relying on the jewelry to prolong their lives, but how would Reg have known if they were?

  “I didn’t steal Sarah’s necklace,” Reg repeated.

  “I think it’s time for you to go,” Bill suggested, appearing at Reg’s elbow. His manner was apologetic. “We’ll take care of the breakage, please don’t worry about it, but if you could leave now…”

  “It wasn’t me,” Reg protested again, but her protests were getting weaker. She hadn’t intended to break anything, but the smashes had been extremely satisfying when her emotions were feeling so out of control.

  “I’ll walk you home,” Corvin suggested, starting to rise.

  Reg motioned for Corvin to stay seated. “I don’t need an escort, especially you. Just be warned, you’d better stop telling lies about me, or I’ll…” Reg couldn’t think of a good threat. “You just look out.”

  Corvin gave her a smug smile and watched her leave.

  Bill walked her to the door, which Reg thought was a bit much. There were no more broken glasses on the way. “That was quite some show,” he chuckled, as they stepped outside. “I think Corvin Hunter will think twice before he starts an argument with you again.”

  “I… didn’t mean to break anything.”

  “It happens. You’re not the first one to break glassware, and you won’t be the last. A physical fight would have broken more. I prefer the psychic sort. No one got hurt. No police. You’ll feel better once you go home and cool down for a bit.”

  ⋆ Chapter Twelve ⋆

  W

  hen Reg got home, she was still wound up, but there was no one to fight with except for Starlight. She confronted the cat.

  “You never went over to Sarah’s house, did you? The only time you got out was when you got the yarrow plant. When I was hurt. Right?”

  He stared at her, not blinking. Reg gave a little laugh.

  “Of course not. I know you didn’t go out. It’s not like you’ve got a cat door or can open and close the door by yourself. That’s why you need humans around.”

  He yowled and put his ears back. He walked over to the kitchen with orders for her to put something good in his food dish and quit being such a nitwit. Reg obliged, then stood there watching him eat.

  “It’s a good thing you’re cute and furry. Because you’re causing me an awful lot of grief these days. But I know you wouldn’t steal jewelry. Food, maybe, but jewelry?”

  He looked up at her for a few seconds, then went back to eating. Reg shook her head. Corvin was making up stories. She had no idea why, but he was going to get her in trouble if he kept it up. People would start to believe it, even if there was no evidence or basis in fact. They would keep hearing it from different sources, and they would take it as the truth.

  “I didn’t steal anything and neither did you.”

  Starlight made no response this time. Reg pulled out her phone and dialed Jessup’s number. It took a few rings before Jessup answered, and there was a lot of noise in the background, like Jessup was at a party. Or a bowling alley.

  “Detective Jessup? It’s Reg Rawlins.”

  “What can I do for you, Miss Rawlins?”

  Reg should have been warned by the fact that Jessup had once again switched from ‘Reg’ to ‘Miss Rawlins.’

  “I just wanted to give you a heads-up. I know you probably wouldn’t believe it anyway, but I thought you should know that Corvin Hunter is spreading rumors about me, trying to finger me for the theft of Sarah’s emerald. I just thought… you should know. In case you hear it. It’s not true, of course…”

  “I have already heard from Mr. Hunter.”

  “Oh. So you’ve already heard his stupid story about me somehow training Starlight to go into Sarah’s house and steal her emerald.” Reg forced a little laugh. “What a ridiculous story. I can’t believe he’d expect anyone to believe something like that.”

  “We have to follow up all leads,” Jessup said neutrally.

  “Follow up all leads. You mean that you believe it? You think that maybe I did send my cat to go steal a priceless, magical necklace?”

  “We have witness statements. We need to take those seriously, no matter how ridiculous you might consider them.”

  “Witness statements. You know Corvin is just trying to make trouble for me.”

  “Why would he be trying to make trouble for you?” Jessup asked. “I thought he was already in your bad books. Why would he want to get himself any deeper into hot water?”

  Reg was stymied by that. She thought about it. “Maybe he’s just trying to divert attention from himself. I mean, who is a more likely suspect for having stolen a powerful magical object? If it could do all that he says it could, then it would satisfy his needs for a while, wouldn’t it?”

  There was silence on the other end of the phone. “What did Corvin tell you it could do?” Jessup asked eventually.

  “Do you not know what it does or are you testing my knowledge?”

  “How about you answer the question?”

  “From what I gather from Corvin and Bill, the bartender, it keeps her from getting sick and slows, stops, or reverses the aging process.”

  “How does it do that?”

  “I don’t understand my own powers, let alone all of the other magic in the world. You didn’t know this? Sarah didn’t tell you?”

  “She said it was a very old family heirloom and of course it had a high monetary value. That was enough to explain why she was so upset about losing it. But it does round out the picture.”

  “She apparently has to have it near her for it to work. That’s why she’s starting to… decline.”

  “Then wherever it is, it’s not just fallen behind something in the house. If it was still in the house, she wouldn’t be aging.”

  “Yeah. I guess.” There was a knot in Reg’s stomach. She had still been hoping that the necklace had just been misplaced.

  “So, unless it came off and was lost in the car or at the party, it was stolen.” Jessup’s voice was hard. It didn’t matter that she’d asked for Reg’s help on previous cases, that she knew Reg and they had helped one another. None of that made any difference to her in the face of one eyewitness who put her—or rather, her cat—at the scene. One witness who had every reason in the world to lie.

  “It must be Corvin,” Reg told her. “Can you imagine how valuable something like that would be to him? If it could give Sarah a health and youth for… however long she’s lived… then imagine how much power it could give to him. He might be able to go for years without having to feed on anything else.”

  “I don’t know what the equivalency is. How much power it might translate to for Hunter.”

  “But
you know you can’t trust what he says. He has to be a suspect too.”

  “I really can’t discuss suspects with you. But I will say that Hunter isn’t the only one who suggested that it might be you.”

  Reg pressed her arm against her stomach. “Corvin is influencing Sarah. So if she was the other person who said I might be the thief, you can’t take it seriously. I just saw the two of them at The Crystal Bowl. Corvin is feeding her all kinds of nonsense about it being me.”

  “I appreciate your call, Miss Rawlins. I’ll be sure to keep all of that in mind.”

  “Detective Jessup—” Reg didn’t think she was going to be able to stop Jessup before she hung up the phone, so for a moment she just waited for the beep indicating that Jessup had rung off. When she didn’t hear it, she spoke again tentatively. “Detective… there must be other suspects. There were a lot of people at that party. If Sarah has been wearing that necklace for years, then everybody knows about it. It could have been lifted at the party without her noticing it. Or someone else might have broken into the house. It’s obvious that Sarah’s security is practically non-existent. If you think that a cat could have broken into the house and stolen the necklace, then you have to believe that it could have been a person. They are a lot more adept with doors and such than cats.”

  “If her burglar alarm is a bird…”

  Reg felt a sudden flush of embarrassment and renewed anger. Cats and birds were natural enemies. If a cat had sneaked into the house to steal the necklace, then how would Frostling have responded? Would he have attacked, like he had Reg, or would he have flown away, frightened by the predator?

  Sarah would have a better idea than anyone else, and she was apparently convinced that Starlight and Reg had stolen her emerald.

  “Starlight could not have broken into the house. I’m telling you. He’s been in my house since before the party. The only time he was ever out was before that, when he brought home the yarrow.”

  She could hear Jessup ticking off the point in her head. Starlight was a cat who was intelligent enough to figure out before any of the humans that Reg had a wound that required yarrow for magical healing. And he had gone out, found it, and brought it back. A cat that was capable of such reasoning and pre-planning was certainly capable of sneaking into the house next door and making off with a necklace.