“And you think this is the second one?”
“I’m sure of it. Besides the lack of markings anywhere, inside or out, look at the Roman numeral four in the photo. Now look at yours.”
Claudia didn’t need to look. She knew that the ‘IIII’ was atypical of the numeral. She tried to speak, but nothing came out. She cleared her throat and tried again.
“What made you think of looking in a magazine about precious metals?”
“It didn’t seem to be platinum, I knew it wasn’t silver, and another option would be rhodium. These little trade publications are always looking for interesting stories to bolster readership and keep folks interested. So they publish tales of treasure. My long shot paid off.”
Claudia picked up the watch. “This may be worth thirty thousand dollars?”
“Thirty thousand? It’s worth more than that! Don’t forget, rhodium is usually just used for plating. That little bauble is an unparalleled work of science and art.”
“Think what this little bauble, as you so rudely call it, would be worth with the gems.” Ann leaned over her husband’s shoulder and poked at the magazine.
Bud leaned back in his chair and puffed on his pipe. “We don’t know for sure it doesn’t have the gems.”
Claudia stared. “I’m sorry. I must be a little dim. What do you mean?”
“Wasn’t there a fob with the watch?”
“Yes, but Amos said it was just some ugly river stones attached to a leather strap. And you said it was probably purchased separately.”
Bud continued puffing quietly for a moment. He seemed to be choosing his words carefully.
“Somehow the watch came to America from Lithuania. Or Russia. What better way to keep the stones with it than on a fob? If they were uncut they wouldn’t attract any attention. I think that missing fob of Amos’s has a fortune in alexandrite stuck to it.”
Ann moaned. Her face had paled and she rubbed her temples. Bud started toward her but she waved him away with a weak grin.
“I’m fine. Just overwhelmed with the sudden burden of being the caretaker to a tsar’s ransom in jewels.”
At their expressions, her grin broadened and color came into her face.
“The fob isn’t missing. It’s been hanging from the light chain in the girl’s closet for about a dozen years now.”
NINETEEN
Neither Bud nor Claudia moved. They stared at Ann, who grinned from one frozen face to another. She shut off the burner under whatever she had cooking and put a lid on the pan.
“You don’t believe me, do you? Follow me, oh ye of little faith.”
She led them out of the kitchen, through the foyer, into the owner’s suite, and up onto the bed in the girl’s room. Balancing between Ann and Bud, Claudia reflected that in a week packed with ludicrous moments, this could be the blue ribbon entry.
Ann stepped down to open the closet door and when Claudia moved to follow, stopped her.
“No honey, stay there. This won’t take a second. I was always hooking this thing back up after the girls jerked it off.” She emerged with something gripped in her hand and shooed them into the owner’s suite living room, talking at top speed.
“Abner’s granddaughter Jacy and our Priscilla were buddies and spent a lot of time playing at Amos’s house. Kids of B&B owners rarely get to run free in their own homes, especially in peak season. Plenty of deBoers kept an eye on the little ones up there. Anyway, Priscilla was fascinated by Amos’s stalactites, we all call them that, not just Sue, and wanted to do the same thing here. Of course we forbade her, but when Jacy gave her this old, cracked piece of leather with some stones, we told her we would hang it from the light chain in the closet. And while the girls and I were always reattaching the thing, we never gave another thought to its oddness. Amos has a lot of unique stuff.”
She turned on a reading light by the sofa and they looked at the fob. The indiscriminate brown leather was cracked at the edges. The pebbles were indeed set willy-nilly, packed closely together, each about three-quarters of an inch diameter. Claudia counted ten of them, attached by some metal glued to the leather. They shone a sullen red under the fluorescent bulb. Bud picked up the strip and they followed him out of the suite and onto the front porch. The sun hung low, its gleam miserly. He held up the fob to catch a fugitive ray, and the women gasped as the pebbles glowed a soft green.
Bud placed the former light chain extension in Claudia’s hand. “Your turn to hold a fortune in precious gems.”
Ann let out a long breath. “This treasure hunter needs a snack. I don’t care if it ruins my appetite for dinner. Follow me, team.”
“I’ll be there in a minute,” her husband told her. She led Claudia through the darkening foyer and into the hall. Before Ann could put a shoulder to the kitchen door, it opened and she fell into Peter’s arms.
She screeched and jumped backward. “Peter! Gracious, you scared me!”
Peter steadied her and peered into the dimness at Claudia. “Sorry, Ann. You surprised me too. I guess I thought you would all be at the recital. Philip was saying everyone from town heads back on Sunday.” He addressed Ann but couldn’t keep his gaze from the watch fob.
Claudia wanted to ask him why on earth he was continually popping up in kitchens. She also wished he would stop staring at the fob.
Ann prodded him back in the kitchen and continued the conversation. “We’re taking it easy today. Didn’t you leave town?”
“I’m leaving soon. What is that, Claudia?”
She started to answer but Bud, just coming in, interrupted. “We think it may go with the watch. But we can’t be sure. What do you think?”
If Bud had directed them verbally he couldn’t be more obvious. Don’t give away any information.
Peter plucked it from Claudia’s hand, ran a finger over the stones, and looked at the back.
“This has to be one of the ugliest things I’ve ever seen. Why on earth would you think it goes with the watch?” He nodded at the shining orb sitting right next to the magazine, open to the article on the tsar’s treasure.
Claudia hoped he wouldn’t pick up the article and begin reading. If Peter had any idea he was looking at a fortune, he might stick around longer and Claudia just wanted him gone. But after a casual glance, Peter paid no attention to the article. The sun had given way to gray twilight, and the stones barely shone red in the kitchen light. Ann casually sat by the table and laid her forearm over the open page.
“We don’t. Just putting together stories we heard from Claudia and Amos. Until we show this to Amos, we won’t know if it’s his grandfather’s.”
“That’s right. Claudia told me Amos had a fob with ugly stones. This seems to fit the description. What a coincidence if two ugly fobs were floating around Barley.” He tapped one of the gems lightly. “These could be uncut garnets, don’t you think?”
Bud shrugged. “Can’t tell.”
Peter put down the fob and stretched. “If you want I can take it back to the museum to be checked out. We have machines to figure out this sort of thing.”
In the same nonchalant tone, Bud said, “Claudia was talking about letting Amos make the decision. Right, Claudia?”
Claudia nodded agreement to this fictitious conversation, but Peter never even looked at her.
“Well, that’s fine with me. Actually, Ann, I came back because I believe I left a little leather notebook behind in my room. About so big.” He held his hands about five inches apart.
“Sorry, Peter, I haven’t cleaned in there yet. You may certainly go in and check though.”
Peter thanked her and left the kitchen. The Gomers and Claudia sat silently for several moments and Claudia tried to steady her breathing.
“Wonder why he came in the back door,” Bud mused.
“Oh, honey, I bet Philip forgot to ask Peter to return the key when he checked him out this morning! He probably didn’t even know Peter had it and I didn’t think to tell him. If he thought we were all at
the recital he must have assumed the front door was locked and used the key to get in.”
Suddenly suspicious at the amount of elapsed time, Claudia tiptoed from the kitchen and around the corner to Peter’s room. She couldn’t hear anything, and risked a quick look inside. He was kneeling by the bed, and made a triumphant sound. She flew back to the kitchen just before he walked in, flourishing a small red booklet.
“Found it, thank goodness.”
Peter, relaxed and charming, complimented the inn, wished Bud luck on his furniture restorations and thanked them again for putting up with him. Finally, he addressed Claudia.
“In spite of everything that happened I can truthfully say I’m glad to have met you. Ezra Prosper is a lucky man.” She could detect no sarcasm in his voice. “I’ll be out of your hair now, folks. Tell Philip good luck with his dancer friend. It’s starting to snow again, so I’ll say goodbye. Oh, and I forgot to give this back when I checked out. Don’t know if you missed it yet.” He pulled the key from his pocket and put it on the table.
Bud saw him to the door, and he was gone. It seemed anticlimactic, especially after he had shown up this morning at Ezra’s house. Claudia wondered if this was the last of him.
“Why didn’t you want us to say anything about the fob?” Ann asked her husband, who was rubbing his chin and looking out the door after Peter.
“Hmmm? Oh. He doesn’t need to know. What did he do in his room, Claudia?”
“As far as I could tell he just looked for the notebook. What do you think he would do? Plant a bug?” Her eyes widened. “Do you think he planted a bug?”
Bud smiled but continued to rub his chin. “Nope.”
Ann lifted her arm from the magazine and examined it ruefully. “I wish my sleeves weren’t rolled up. I must have been sweaty because some of the print is on my arm.”
Claudia leaned over to examine the story and accompanying photo. “It doesn’t look like we lost anything vital.”
Bud left without a word.
“Told you he hates my kitchen.” Ann grabbed a dishcloth and rubbed with vigor on her printed arm. When Bud poked his head in the door, she dropped the rag and waited, expectant. He asked them to follow him into the room that had been Peter’s, and pointed at the window overlooking the parking lot.
“Do you know if that was left unlocked?” he asked Ann.
“Oh, honey, as I said, I haven’t been in this room. I’m sure it was locked before he checked in last week.”
Claudia had an idea. “Could he have unlocked it to sneak back in later?”
Bud answered without condescension. “It’s possible. But why climb through a window when he could usually just walk in the front door? If he didn’t want to be seen there are a dozen places to hide. And what would he gain?”
Ann punched his arm. “From now on you check every cubby hole in this house before we go to bed. Here’s my idea. I think he was a little too disinterested in the magazine article. It could be my imagination but wouldn’t you think an expert in antique jewelry and watches would comment on a huge photo of an old jewel-crusted watch?”
“I noticed that,” her husband agreed. “I don’t know Peter well enough to tell if his disinterest signifies anything.”
Claudia shrugged. “Actually, neither do I.”
Bud had climbed on to a wide ledge to reach the top of the long old window, and fiddled with the lock.
“If you’re looking for dust you’ll find it,” Ann told him. “In the off-season I refuse to polish the spots no one sees.”
“Well, someone touched it recently because your dust is messed up.”
Claudia climbed on the sill to see the smudges. She looked with interest out the window. “This is a luxury room, but I like my view better. Is that the icicle Philip was talking about? That cracked off? It’s enormous.”
Bud nodded without comment.
Ann had been running her finger over the lower sill and tut-tutting over the gray film.
“When the kids were young, we warned them to keep away from the north side of the house. Icicles really can kill people.”
Bud helped Claudia down and they walked back into the kitchen. Claudia experienced a second of panic until she saw the fob and watch lying exactly where she had left them. “When will I learn to take better care of what doesn’t belong to me? Especially since I now know how much it’s worth?”
“You must not have noticed when Bud locked the kitchen door after Peter left,” Ann answered, a touch of pride in her voice. “And I’m willing to bet he did the same for the front door.”
“Thank you, Bud.” Claudia experienced a rush of gratitude for these generous, wise people. “What should we do with the watch and fob? I mean, for right now? Do you have a safe here? I don’t want them in my room tonight. I know I wouldn’t sleep a wink.”
A rap at the kitchen door startled Ann and Claudia. Bud opened it to a gust of snow-suffused wind and a shivering Ezra.
“Only for you would I head back out from my warm fire and good book,” he grumbled to Bud. “And of course for Claudia. What do you need?”
Bud answered his wife’s unspoken question. “I called him after we fetched the fob from the closet. I knew he would want to see this. Why don’t you tell him what we learned?”
Claudia gave him Metal Collector instead. “I’m too excited. I’ll botch everything. Read all about it.”
Ezra settled by the table and scanned the story. He put the magazine down and picked up the watch, comparing it to the one in the photo. He lifted the fob with its dull red stones.
“Are you sure about this?” he asked.
Bud answered. “As sure as I can be without having it examined. If we’re right, that fob is worth more than anything I’ve had in the inn safe. It’s probably worth more than the inn.”
Ezra whistled. “I may never wash this hand again.” He handed the watch and fob to Claudia. “I’m glad you shared this little discovery with me, but I have a feeling more is going on.” He leveled his gaze at Bud.
“Peter is still around.”
Ezra glowered.
“At least,” Bud continued, “he was not too long ago. And if he did leave I’m not sure how he did it. He didn’t park in the lot, which would have been sensible since he came in the back door. I couldn’t see any place he parked on the road either. Well, no matter, I suppose.”
Claudia marveled at the taciturn man’s loosened tongue. Bud continued his little monologue. “It may not mean anything, but for an expert, Peter was pretty indifferent to the watch and the gems. Both should be in the safe at the jail. But since Peter is around and doesn’t inspire a lot of trust, I don’t want to leave Ann and Claudia here alone while I run it over. And since you’re here anyway, would you mind?”
“I’ll go now. Lem is staying for the overnight shift. Nobody could take better care of these.”
“Can I come?” Claudia asked. “Please?”
His face lit up but he warned her, “I took my sled along. I haven’t been able to adjust it since Philip and Andy so graciously modified it using a rocket launcher as a prototype.”
“Anything is better than Felix’s beast. And as I keep reminding people, I ski down mountains. It should be fun.”
“All right. I didn’t want to wait until tomorrow night to spend time with you again anyway.”
She beamed at him, and slipped the watch and fob into the pouch. Ann had disappeared but returned with Philip’s snowmobile suit.
“Thank heaven you don’t need to go far. It’s getting cold, and the snow is worsening. Ezra knows where to find an extra helmet in our garage.” She moved forward to hug Claudia. “Welcome to Barley, dear. You’ll love it.”
Claudia squeezed back. The prickliness over assumptions about her relationship with Ezra vanished. A new, unfamiliar, and utterly magnificent emotion infused her.
After she’d donned the suit, she secured the pouch in one of its deep zippered pockets. Ezra led her from the circle of the back porch ligh
t toward the old carriage house that served as a garage. She drifted through hard-falling pellets of snow, oblivious of their concentrated efforts to puncture holes in her face. Floating on wings of euphoria, she wondered how Ezra had somehow cloned into two men. She blinked.
Peter pointed a stubby something toward her midsection. “Stay cool, Claudia. Keep quiet. Let’s make sure we’re out of sight of the kitchen. Around the corner of the carriage house will do nicely. Good. Your boyfriend will do me the favor of starting his snowmobile and sharing his suit and helmet with me. I’ll wait patiently and keep this”—‘this’ being a gun—“aimed at you. I guarantee he’ll cooperate.”
Ezra started the machine and peeled off the suit, alternately glaring at the gun and smiling with reassurance at Claudia. His facial contortions were so comical that Claudia, still in the grip of surreal emotions, choked back a nervous giggle just as Ezra stepped out of the suit. Too late she saw Peter’s face redden. He hated to be laughed at. Too late she tried to explain. The gun barrel came down on Ezra’s skull and, looking surprised and indignant, he crumpled at Peter’s feet.
Claudia didn’t even consider screaming. She dropped to her knees next to Ezra and prayed someone could see them. But the carriage house blocked the view from the inn and a thick hedge stretched between the narrow passageway and the property next door. No one would be able to see the small drama developing in the dark and the snow.
Ezra lay in such a heap she didn’t dare move him to feel for a pulse in his neck. She could cause more damage. She pushed up the sleeve on one out-flung arm and pressed fingers to his wrist. Her heart beat so hard she wasn’t sure if she felt his pulse or her own frantic throb.
“Get up, please,” Peter ordered, his tone pleasant.
Instead she unzipped the pocket of the suit and fumbled inside.
“Here, this is what you want. Let me take care of Ezra.”
“Of course. But here’s the thing. I need you if I want to get away with the watch and fob. I had just decided to come in and persuade you to go for a ride when, bless your heart, you walked right into my arms. I’d planned to borrow the Gomers’ Jeep, but that involved complications. This new and improved plan means anyone out on the streets will assume Ezra is taking his new girl out for a spin.”
Winter Watch Page 18