A Catastrophic Theft

by P. D. Workman

  Jessup looked back toward the bedroom, where Reg could still hear the police conducting their search. They were being very thorough.

  “If it’s in this house, we’re going to find it.”

  “It isn’t. I didn’t take it and I couldn’t find it when I tried. If it was right here in my house, don’t you think I would have been able to find it?”

  “Of course.”

  “You think it was all an act. That I was never trying to find Sarah’s necklace at all.”

  “You know the truth.”

  “I know the truth,” Reg agreed. “Someone else stole the necklace. Why aren’t you talking to Corvin? You know he’s the one who stole the knife. Why wouldn’t he steal the emerald too? He needs power. That necklace would give it to him.”

  “I know there’s no love lost between you and Corvin. What he did to you was reprehensible. He’s certainly on the list of suspects in the theft of the emerald, but I don’t have any eyewitnesses putting him at the house.”

  “What if I told you I’d seen him there?”

  Jessup shook her head. “You would have told me before now.”

  “You think you know it all, don’t you? You’ve got it all figured out.”

  “I wish I did have it figured out, so that I could get the necklace and give it back to Sarah. But I need your cooperation for that.”

  “It isn’t me you need. You need Corvin or whoever really stole it!”

  There was a crash from the back of the house, making all of them jump.

  “What the heck are they doing back there?” Reg demanded. “If they damage my property…”

  “I’ll go see what happened.”

  Jessup went to the bedroom and talked to the officers there, voices raised much louder than before.

  “It all just came crashing down off of the shelf!” an aggrieved male voice protested. “Neither of us was anywhere near it!”

  Jessup’s voice was quieter, a low, reasoned tone that Reg wasn’t able to make out.

  “We didn’t stack anything. It just came down by itself!”

  There was some more back and forth and eventually Jessup returned to the living room, holding both hands palm-up. “I don’t know what happened, but there doesn’t seem to be any damage to anything. If there is, you can file a report with the department for compensation.”

  “It’s not like I have a ton of stuff crammed into the closets. I’ve barely got more than fit in my suitcase.”

  “I know. I really don’t think there’s anything to worry about. It was loud, that’s all. It startled us. But it wasn’t anything to be concerned about.”

  “I wish that would stop happening.”

  Jessup looked questioning. “You wish what would stop happening?”

  “That… things would stop… happening.”

  “Like?”

  “Like stuff falling from the closet shelf. And doors slamming. And glasses breaking. It’s really getting on my nerves.”

  Jessup opened her mouth.

  “And don’t say that I’m causing it, because I’m not!”

  There was another, quieter crash and a curse from one of the policemen.

  “Uh, no… of course not,” Jessup said. She raised her voice to call out to the other officers. “Everything okay back there, guys?”

  A grumble that Reg couldn’t quite make out in response.

  “It was the books,” Jessup said, when she saw that Reg hadn’t heard the answer. “He must have knocked them off the desk.”

  Reg didn’t bother to tell her that they had also fallen off of the desk earlier when there had been nobody in the room to knock them over, even the cat.

  “There aren’t… earthquakes here, are there?”

  Jessup shrugged. “No, not a lot. Maybe the floors are sloped.”

  It was as good an explanation as any, and didn’t require Reg to admit that there were an awful lot of strange things happening around her lately. Strange things had always happened around Reg; that was nothing new. It didn’t mean she was causing all of them. Black Sands was a hotbed of unusual people who could do unusual things. Reg wasn’t the only one.

  Reg turned and looked toward the main house.

  “What is it?” Jessup asked.

  “They just got home.” Reg shook her head, frowning. “Where have they been all night? With Sarah being so tired and sick, they should have been home from dinner a long time ago. What else have they been doing?”

  “Sarah and…?”

  “Corvin. I told you, she was out with Corvin tonight.”

  “No… I don’t think you did.”

  “I saw them at The Crystal Bowl.” Reg stared at Jessup fiercely. “I told you that. That’s why I called you. They were there together at The Crystal Bowl for supper. And Sarah was looking bad then. Why would they just be getting home now?”

  “I don’t know. It isn’t any of my business.”

  “It is if he’s filling her head up with lies so that she tells you she knows that I’m the one who stole her emerald necklace when I’m not!”

  They both waited for the echo of Reg’s shout to fade away, waiting for something else to happen, but this time nothing fell down or broke. Starlight stopped his grooming routine to glare at Reg.

  “Oh, you don’t like Corvin either, so don’t look at me that way,” Reg told him. “He says you’re the one who stole the necklace. That’s why the police are here, you know. To see if you really did.”

  Starlight looked at her for a moment before jumping up onto the couch to join her. Reg caught the policeman Jessup had set to guard her staring at her. He probably thought she was completely bonkers, raving and talking to her cat that way. Reg scratched Starlight’s ears and chin, trying to use his calm aura to settle the anger and anxiety that had her chest and stomach on fire. He purred and rubbed against her and the knot loosened a little.

  “I don’t know what Corvin and Sarah were doing tonight,” Jessup said. “Maybe he took her somewhere they could replenish her strength. I’ll try stopping by to see if they offer anything. But how do you know…?”

  “What?”

  “That they just got back.”

  Reg opened her mouth to shoot back an impatient answer, then stopped herself. She couldn’t see a car pull in front of the house. There was no change in the lights on inside the house. There were no raised voices to indicate their presence. But she had felt them come back in just as surely as if she’d seen or heard them.

  “I, uh…” she glanced at the other policeman and kept her voice low. He didn’t appear to be aware of the supernatural happenings around him. “I just… felt them.”

  “Were you trying to see them coming back?”

  “No. It’s just like… living in the basement and hearing them walking overhead. I wasn’t trying to see or hear them… it’s just obvious.”

  “Is it always like that?”

  Reg shook her head. “Just lately. All of the comings and goings today have been driving me crazy. I can’t concentrate with everything going on over there.”

  Jessup looked toward the house, which looked perfectly peaceful in the dark, with just a few lights on.

  “You make it sound like there’s been a party going on.”

  “It feels kind of like that. When a neighbor is keeping you awake when you’re trying to go to sleep. But it’s more like… heavy construction. Listening to bulldozers grinding and crashing and making their stupid back-up warning beeps.” Reg shuddered. “That’s what it feels like.”

  “Sounds like you’re really sensitive right now. Psychically, I mean.”

  Reg ran her fingers through her braids. “Except that I can’t find anything.”

  Starlight looked at Reg and shook his head, his ears making a flapping sound. Reg studied him, trying to read his thoughts. Lots of warmth and calming influence. He was trying to soothe her raw emotions.

  “What if Starlight did steal the emerald,” Jessup suggested, “and you didn’t know anything about it?
Corvin insists that you sent him into the house to get it, but what if he just did it on his own, like when he got out and brought the yarrow back?”

  “I told you, he couldn’t have left the house.”

  “You don’t know where he is all the time. Maybe he went out and came in sometimes when Sarah came over here, dropping off the mail or something, and she didn’t notice? You wouldn’t know, if she was the one who let him in.”

  “She would have noticed. And she never said she saw him. Only Corvin did.”

  Jessup didn’t answer. Reg thought about what she had said.

  “Why would Starlight steal the necklace? That’s not the kind of thing cats do. You think he actually planned to go over to the house, steal Sarah’s necklace, and bring it back here?”

  “Your cat is unique. I wouldn’t expect a cat to know anything about medicine, botany, or the treatment of magical injuries either, but he clearly left here to look for yarrow to treat your wound. That tells me he does have… more human-like intelligence than I would expect from a cat. Maybe he is possessed or a reincarnate.”

  “Why are you so sure he stole the necklace?”

  “Because I have two independent witnesses who put him there. And so far, he’s the only being who we know was in Sarah’s house during the right time period, other than Sarah herself.”

  “It’s ridiculous.”

  “He could have done it without you knowing.”

  “He didn’t.”

  “He could be the one blocking you from finding it. Because he doesn’t want you to find it right here in your own house.”

  Reg looked at Starlight. He looked back at her, his imperious eyes giving nothing away. He continued to push quieting feelings at Reg, but there was something in his manner, an awareness that told her he perfectly understood what they were talking about.

  “He didn’t steal the necklace,” Reg repeated.

  Jessup shrugged. “I’m doing the best I can.” She rose to her feet and indicated the book still lying open on the coffee table. “You’ve been studying Black Sands history. You knew about Sarah’s longevity. Maybe she told you it was due to the emerald, or maybe that little tidbit is buried in here somewhere too. You can’t profess ignorance, and doing so only makes me more suspicious.”

  “I didn’t read any of those books. I was just flipping through the pictures in one of them today, and I don’t think it was even that one.”

  “The page is marked.”

  “The page is dog-eared. Maybe it got folded by accident. Maybe the person who borrowed it last did it intentionally. Or someone who borrowed it years ago. How old is it? Go ahead and check for my fingerprints on that page. You’re not going to find them.”

  Jessup looked down at the book, obviously considering it. Eventually, she shrugged. “That picture doesn’t prove anything one way or the other, so neither will your fingerprints.”

  It was a long time before the police finished their search and left Reg’s house empty-handed, having found no sign of the emerald necklace. Of course, Reg had known that they wouldn’t find it, but it was still a relief to have them leave. There was always the danger that the police would plant something that they could arrest her with, or the bizarre billion-to-one chance that Starlight had, in fact, stolen it and hid it somewhere in the house.

  The cottage was finally quiet and so was the main house, Corvin having left and Sarah deep in sleep. Reg wandered through the rooms of the cottage, straightening items that the police had left askew or slightly out of place, knowing that she wouldn’t feel like it was hers again until she’d had a chance to dust and clean everything, ridding it of the psychic imprints the police had left behind. But it was too late and she was too tired to do it before bed. She showered, scrubbing her skin until it stung, pulled on her softest jammies, and climbed into bed.

  Starlight sat at the bedroom window watching outside for a long time. At some point in the night, Reg felt him jump onto the bed and curl up against her.

  ⋆ Chapter Fourteen ⋆

  G

  et out! Get out! Get out of here!”

  Heart pounding, Reg jumped out of bed, sure she was under attack. It took a few seconds to realize that the yells were coming from outside. She looked out the window and saw Sarah, wild-eyed, wielding a broom threateningly.

  The intruder was not a trespasser, but a cat Reg had never seen before, skinny and black. It tried several times to get past Sarah, but was cornered, and every time he ran forward, Sarah thumped the broom down, and it was all the cat could do to avoid being flattened. Sarah was decimating her flowers, but hadn’t made contact with the cat while Reg had been watching. She was yelling at the cat to leave, but then not letting him go.

  “Sarah!”

  Sarah looked toward the window, not able to see which one Reg was calling through.

  “Just let the cat go,” Reg said, “he can’t get past you.”

  “He’s chasing my birds!” Sarah’s voice was outraged.

  “Are you trying to kill him?”

  Sarah lowered the broom slightly. “No.”

  “That’s what it looks like. How can he get out of the yard if you won’t let him?”

  Sarah took a step back and watched the cat, her eyes flashing. “He’ll just come back again when he thinks no one is watching.”

  “I don’t think he’ll come back here again.”

  The cat streaked past Sarah, ears pressed down against its head, its body low to the ground to make itself a smaller target. In seconds, it was gone. Sarah looked around the garden and the damage she had done with the broom.

  “Oh… look…”

  “It will be okay. It’s just a few flowers. Everything else will spring back up again within a few days.”

  Sarah rubbed her eyes. “I won’t be around long enough to see them.”

  “Don’t say that.” There was a pain in Reg’s chest. “Come inside and let’s have a cup of tea.”

  Sarah stood there for a few minutes, looking lost and forlorn.

  “Come into the cottage,” Reg urged again, afraid Sarah had already forgotten the invitation. “It will be okay. Let’s have tea.”

  Sarah looked vaguely in her direction, then started to walk around to the front of the cottage. Reg darted through to meet her at the front door, calling to her once more to make sure she didn’t forget Reg’s invitation and simply go back into the main house.

  “Come in for tea, Sarah.”

  Sarah walked in the door and looked around. Her face was haggard. She had no makeup on and the wrinkles were turning into deep crags. Her eyes were sunken deep in the sockets, looking small and dark.

  “Have a seat,” Reg motioned to the furniture in the living room. “I’m just putting the kettle on. It won’t be long.”

  Reg herself was still in her pajamas, sticky from sleep, her heart pounding wildly after being awakened so abruptly. At least with her hair done up in cornrows, her hair wasn’t messy on rising.

  “I hate cats in my garden,” Sarah said vehemently. “You shouldn’t let them in there!”

  “Me? It was nothing to do with me. I’ve never seen that cat before.”

  “He’s not yours?”

  Reg shook her head and swallowed. “No. Some black cat I’ve never seen before. It wasn’t Starlight. He’s still inside.”

  Reg cast a quick look around. Starlight was nowhere to be seen. She hadn’t noticed when she had woken up whether he was still on the bed or not. He must have been. It was unusual for him not to make his way immediately to the kitchen to beg for food, but maybe he thought it best to avoid the crazy woman with the broom, or was confused by Reg not following her usual morning routine, heading for the bathroom before the kitchen.

  She put the kettle on. “I’ll be right back,” she told Sarah. “I’ll be back before that starts to whistle.”

  Sarah stared out the living room window. Reg used the bathroom quickly, worried Sarah would wander off or start chasing down other people’s pets before Reg
could get back.

  She peeked into the bedroom and was relieved to see Starlight sitting on the bed watching her.

  “You should go keep Sarah company. Make sure she doesn’t leave before we’ve had tea.”

  Starlight made no indication he would do so. If Reg were a cat, she probably wouldn’t either. As a human, she was much better equipped to handle an old woman armed with a broom.

  She used the bathroom and gave her teeth a quick scrub to banish morning breath, and returned to the kitchen. The kettle was not yet boiling, and Sarah was still sitting where Reg had left her.

  “How are you feeling this morning?” Reg asked.

  “Bone tired.” Sarah’s voice quavered. “You can’t even imagine how tired and sore this old body is.”

  She had seemed able enough a few minutes earlier, banishing the strange cat from the yard. But sitting down she seemed tireder and more shrunken, as if she were rapidly shrinking in upon herself.

  “We’ll find the emerald,” Reg encouraged. “Hang in there.”

  Sarah didn’t answer. But at least she didn’t accuse Reg again of having stolen it.

  The tea stretched out far longer than Reg would have wished, but she was reluctant to tell Sarah it was time to leave or to let her go somewhere unsupervised.

  She was trying to figure out what to do when there was a knock on the door. Reg got up, trying to see through the blinds who it was before going to the door. She opened the door and was faced with a tall, pouchy-faced woman with a flowered pink scarf wrapped around her hair, turban-style. Reg knew she had seen the face before, but couldn’t place her.

  “Do you know where Sarah is?” the woman inquired. “I expected her to be home, but she’s not answering the door. I fear…”

  “Yes, she’s here.” Reg opened the door wider to allow the woman to step in and see Sarah in the seating area.

  The woman saw Sarah and looked relieved. “Oh, good. I was looking for you, Sarah!” She nearly shouted, as if Sarah were hard of hearing.

  “Of course I’m here,” Sarah said.