The Light Who Shines

by Lilo Abernathy

  She pats my hand and says, “Yes indeed.”

  “Hmm. I had no idea. I mean, he has a nice car, but a lot of men will put themselves in the poorhouse to have a beautiful car.”

  Mrs. Glenwood sighs and says, “Jack could buy enough sports cars to line the entire ridge of the Blue Ridge Mountains.”

  I raise my eyebrows at this in surprise. Where did he get all that money? Did he come from money? Did he own oil?

  Mrs. Glenwood smiles, “He is quite a catch for you.”

  I scoff at this. “I can’t imagine any woman ’catching’ Jack.”

  Mrs. Glenwood gives off a peal of laughter at this. “Quite right you are! I imagine that’s the only reason why he’s been single these many years.”

  I laugh with her for a moment. Then I feel guilty laughing over tea while a torturer is running around free. So I stand up and say, “Well, I really must get going. Evildoers rarely stop for tea, and I can’t let them get ahead of me. Thank you so much for helping me today. Now you should consider us even.”

  Mrs. Glenwood shakes her head and says, ”I’m afraid I can’t do that. Today I was simply doing my civic duty. You did me a personal favor, one that I won’t forget. I am still in your debt, and you must let me pay it back.”

  I say graciously, “If I ever need something from the upper echelons of society, I will come straight to you.”

  Mrs. Glenwood nods seriously, obviously knowing her value in that area. “Please see that you do. And feel free to drop in any time, even when you’re not chasing evildoers who are doing dastardly, evil deeds.”

  I laugh at this. “I will. I promise!”

  Then Varg and I skirt around the building to head to the office.

  Chapter 49

  Artful Deceit

  Bluebell Kildare: June 1, 2022, Red Ages

  I walk into my office with Varg trailing behind me and some documents I’d requested from Rubalia in my hands. I stop when I see a beautiful, huge, dark brown leather dog bed surrounded by three bolstered sides sitting next to the office window. I pivot right around and ask, “Rubalia, do you know who put the beautiful dog bed in my office?”

  Rubalia pushes her glasses down to the tip of her nose then looks out them at me. “Well, of course I do. I did.” Then she returns to her paperwork.

  I move forward and lean over her counter while she studiously pretends I’m not there. “Well, it’s absolutely lovely. Thank you! It must have cost you a fortune. Can I reimburse you for it?”

  She looks up at me and says, “Of course you can’t reimburse me for it. First of all, it is not for you. It is for the beast, since he was kind enough to intercede on your behalf the other day. Second of all, I did not purchase it. I made it.”

  Then she lifts her glasses and looks at Varg through my doorway. We both watch him sniff the bed and lie right down on it. With the sunlight streaming through the window, hundreds of pieces of his fur are visible flying through the air, swirling around with particles of dust from the ventilation movement.

  “Rubalia, both your work and your taste are impeccable, as always, but you were exceptionally clever to make it leather. Now it can be wiped right off.”

  Rubalia puts her vibrant red, sparkly cat eye specs back on the tip of her nose, making a lie out of her somber face as she says, “Exactly! You will find the polish in the upper right hand drawer of your desk.” Then she returns back to her work, with the corner of one side of her mouth drawn up, a smile refusing to be completely suppressed.

  I walk back in my office and set my papers down on the desk. I sit down for no more than the amount of time it takes to check my drawer for the polish when Rubalia buzzes me, saying that Gambino has arrived and is waiting to see me.

  Gambino walks in, today wearing a black suit, a crisp white shirt, and a gray silk tie. It goes well with his graying temples and dark hair. He looks fantastic and dignified, but he obviously forgot that I asked him to dress casually. I chuckle at how he’s going to pay for that later.

  “Good afternoon!” Gambino says as he sits down in my chair, spreading out to take up as much space as possible as he usually does.

  “Well, it’s been a good morning. The jury’s still out on the afternoon.”

  Gambino laughs and says, “Well, you look much better today. Did you get any good info?”

  “I did. But before we get into that, let’s try to narrow down the probable suspect list.”

  “Sounds like a plan. How do you want to go about this?”

  “Let me handle Hilda Gunderson first. This one should be easiest.”

  I look at the documents Rubalia gave me, and I dial Zen Spa and Salon. I put my finger to my mouth to shush Gambino and put the phone on speaker.

  A bright sounding woman’s voice answers, “Zen Spa and Salon. Rebecca speaking. How may I help you?”

  I say, “Hi, My name is Rose Smith, and I want to make an appointment.”

  Rebecca asks, “Who do you usually see?”

  “I usually see Hilda.”

  “Excellent. She has an appointment available on Tuesday at three o’clock. Would you like that spot?

  I say with as much ditz in my voice as possible, “Actually, I always get my hair cut exactly five weeks apart. You know, otherwise it gets unmanageable. But I forgot to write down the date of my last appointment. Can you see if my name is on the books with Hilda for five o’clock on April 28?”

  Rebecca says, “Sure, let me check.” A minute goes by and she says, “No, it must have been another day.”

  “Hmm, I was almost positive it was that day. Are you sure you don’t have an appointment for Rose Smith, or Rosalie Smith. Oh, or check Brittany Smith, that is my middle name. It could also be under Rose Phelps. That’s my maiden name.”

  Rebecca sound rather annoyed at this point and says, “Unless your first name is Darryl and you were looking for a chest wax, I’m sure your appointment wasn’t at five o’clock with Hilda on April 28.”

  I affect dismay and say, “Oh, I wonder if I have the wrong week. Let me look at my records again and call you back. Thanks so much!”

  Rebecca says with a very tight voice, “No problem. Have a Zen day!”

  Gambino’s face is beet red, and he’s covering his mouth, trying to hold his laughter in. He finally lets it out in a burst of noise that sounds more like choking than laughing. I wiggle my eyebrows at him.

  Amidst his laughing, he somehow barks out, “Very nice work.”

  I flip him a smile and say, “Hopefully Hank went back to work after the interviews and this one will be easy too.”

  Gambino holds up one finger and says, “Just give me a minute to recover.”

  I do a quick internet search on Mountain Paper Mill where Hank works and the local recycling plant to gather some information. When Gambino’s face reverts to a nice pink tone under his otherwise olive complexion I set my plan in motion.

  I dial, and a gruff male voice answers saying, “Mountain Paper Mill.”

  I say, “Hello. Can I talk to receiving?” The phone clicks abruptly and I must have been transferred because I hear ringing again. A voice answers, “Receiving.”

  I say, “Hi, this is Susie from the billing department at the Earth Center Recycling Plant. I’m looking at a shipping receipt from my driver dated April 28. Do you show receiving a shipment from us on that day?”

  The receiving clerk says, “Hold on.” Then after a moment of silence, she says, “Nope.”

  “No? Shoot! Well, you know, this is a serious issue. My shipping receipt definitely says April 28 at five p.m. for a truckload of baled cardboard, but I don’t show a copy of the original purchase order. We’ve been having problems with this driver, and I need to verify this before we take any disciplinary action. We also need to verify what happened so we can stop the billing process. Can you check which floor manager was on duty at five on April 28?

  A very annoyed clerk says, “Hold on.” Then after another moment of silence, she says, “It was Hank. He came
on at five. I’ll transfer you.”

  I say, “Thanks!” Then as soon as I hear the ringing again I hang up.

  Gambino, who has managed to maintain his Italian coloring this time despite his Irish ways, says, “You are slick.”

  I appreciate his appreciation of my skill of artful deceit for the greater good. “Thanks! Now, Goldberg Jewelers is going to be a bit more difficult.” I stand up. “We’re going to have to see Milton in person.”

  Chapter 50

  An Embarrassing Pretense

  Bluebell Kildare: June 1, 2022, Red Ages

  I stop by Rubalia’s desk and lean over it while Gambino watches from the side with Varg. “Rubalia, your ring is costume jewelry, isn’t it?” I know it probably is because she wears different jewelry every day to perfectly match her outfit.

  Rubalia huffs. “Of course. Do you think I could afford fine jewelry on what the Bureau pays me?”

  “No. That’s how I guessed. I can’t afford real jewelry either. Do you mind if I borrow it for the rest of the afternoon?”

  Rubalia peers at me from behind her specs again. “Why do you need it?”

  “I need to pretend I was told it was a real diamond while I question a jeweler.”

  Rubalia tilts her head down and peers at me over her glasses and says, “If you don’t bring it back, things will be very unpleasant for you.”

  I throw up my hands and say, “I promise! I’ll bring it back! If I don’t, I’ll buy you two to replace it.”

  Rubalia reluctantly hands me the ring, and Gambino, Varg and I head to the jeweler’s in Gambino’s unmarked car. As he drives, he glances over at me quickly and asks, “So what’s your plan for the jeweler?”

  I look at him and say, “Well, you’re going to be my father.”

  Gambino opens his mouth, closes it, opens it again, closes it again, and then yells, “Your father!”

  “Well, I told you to wear casual clothes, didn’t I? Otherwise you could have been my boyfriend, or my friend, or my brother!”

  Gambino tightens his fists on the steering wheel and his cheeks redden a little.

  I ignore his stress and continue. “My boyfriend gave me an engagement ring, and we suspect it’s fake. We’re checking it out. I’ll get him to confirm that it’s fake. Then I’d like you to direct him toward verifying if he was in the store on April 28 at around five o’clock when the ring was supposedly bought. You can say that you want to make sure that one of his employees didn’t sell it.”

  Gambino nods.

  When we arrive a few minutes later, I ask, “Can you please park directly in front of the jeweler’s window so Varg can watch me while he stays in the car? Otherwise I’ll have to let him come in.”

  I watch as Gambino’s jaw relaxes a little and he says, “Sure.”

  Varg hops up to the front seat as soon as we vacate and watches as Gambino and I enter the Goldberg Jewelry Store. A tall, very fit, and almost too pretty to be handsome man waits behind the counter. A woman is working at the jewelry bench. I walk straight toward the man.

  “Hello, are you Mr. Goldberg?”

  The man says, “Yes. How can I help you today?”

  I stand their awkwardly with my hands in my pockets and say in a low voice, “I’m Stephanie Fisk, and this is my father, Timothy. This is very embarrassing, but my boyfriend gave me this engagement ring, and I’m not sure it’s real. He said he bought it from you and showed me a receipt dated April 28. Can you tell me if this was your ring?”

  Mr. Goldberg says, “Certainly. Let me look at it.”

  I hand him Rubalia’s ring.

  Mr. Goldberg looks at it and immediately frowns. He then goes to his drawer and pulls out a jeweler’s eye loupe. He puts it against his eye and squints at the stone.

  He puts the eye loupe back and turns back to me. He says, “Stephanie, this certainly isn’t our ring. It’s a cubic zirconium in a gold plated setting. We do not sell gold plated jewelry or cubic zirconium. We only sell precious jewels and metals.”

  I put on a sad face and say, “I was afraid of that.”

  Gambino says, “Mr. Goldberg, when we tell him we know the ring isn’t real, he’ll most likely say that you or one of your employees ripped him off. Can you confirm who was working that day at five o’clock?”

  Mr. Goldberg ponders the idea that one of his employees might be running a scam, then seems to dismiss the notion and says, “Certainly.” He opens up his phone and checks his calendar. “My assistant Julia worked until five, as I had some personal business earlier in the day, but I came on at five and let her go.”

  “Well, it definitely would have been after five since he works at the paper mill until then. And I definitely don’t think you ripped him off. This certainly has been enlightening. I do appreciate your time, Mr. Goldberg.”

  Mr. Goldberg smiles and then he warmly embraces my hand and says, “No problem. I’m glad you came in to check. I would hate to have it thought I sold that piece. I hope we see you in here again.”

  I smile and say, “You just might.”

  Gambino holds the door for me as we exit and head back to the office.

  Chapter 51

  Targeting the Suspect

  Bluebell Kildare: June 1, 2022, Red Ages

  When Gambino, Varg, and I trail back into the office, I hand the ring back to Rubalia and ask, “Is Jack available?”

  Rubalia checks his phone light and says, “It looks like it.” Then she hands me some papers. “These are the documents you requested earlier.”

  I peruse them briefly and thank her.

  Gambino, Varg, and I walk to Jack’s office, and as I raise my hand to knock, Jack says, “Come in.”

  I laugh at myself. I did it again.

  Jack is lounging back in his chair feigning nonchalance as usual. His catlike grace appears always on the verge of action. His long fingers gently clasp the arms of his chair. He’s wearing a chocolate brown suit today with a gold and green patterned tie. It makes his striking green eyes stand out even more. His eyes quickly flick over me, and suddenly my mouth feels so dry that it’s hard to swallow. I take the seat across from him, and Varg lies next to me. Gambino sits next to me on the other side.

  Jack says to me, “You’re looking better.”

  “Alexis really helped me out.”

  Jack nods and turns to Gambino. “Welcome, Gambino.” Then his eyes sweep both of us. “So what do we know now?”

  Gambino fills him in. “Blue called the businesses of Hank Fletcher and Hilda Gunderson under false pretenses. We also visited Milton Goldberg. In each case we were able to verify that they’d returned to work by five o’clock on April 28. So unless they took Jason with them, it’s unlikely they were involved.

  Jack asks, “Do you think they suspected anything with your questioning?”

  Gambino inclines his head toward me as he says, “No. She’s pretty gifted at this type of subterfuge.”

  Jack lips twitch at that. “And what about Gerald Mack?”

  Gambino says, “I was able to verify that he was called to the fire and that he was there.”

  Jack nods. “So that leaves us with Tobias Blackwater.”

  Gambino inquires, “But how are you sure that it wasn’t any of the participants in the interview rather than the interviewers themselves?”

  Taking this as my cue, I interject, “Well, to answer that, let’s review what we know.”

  Both men turn to me to hear what I have to say. “Jason was killed. His killer is not likely to have been the one to torture him because he was seen at the pub just prior to the killing. A man in a dark red cloak was seen at the Cock and Bull Tap just after the murder and was not seen there at any time prior. His description was tall, about six foot; neatly trimmed, full, dark brown beard; prominent, long nose; and thin face.

  “Jason was found with a dark red thread caught under his fingernail, and the amulet has a similar dark red thread caught in its clasp. The amulet was found close to Jason. Someone has been sear
ching for something quite aggressively since, including while Paul, the killer, has been incarcerated. So that someone could not have been Paul.”

  Gambino says, “Agreed. There are definitely two parties: the party who killed Jason and the party who is searching for something. Because the evidence locker was the first place searched, I think we can assume that the searcher was looking for something we would consider evidence. But since none of the other evidence was taken, we can only guess that the purpose of the searching was not to remove evidence. In fact I think as far as the searcher is concerned, any evidence we have that links the death to Paul is a good thing for them. So the only other thing they could be searching for is the amulet.”

  “That is a very good point,” I say. “Now, we know there was a second individual. We can suppose it is this man in the red cloak. The person who’s been looking for the amulet has the ability to move through portals, as the places he’s searched were heavily warded on the exterior. This person wears finely made trousers as evidenced by the scrap of fabric found in my apartment during the first attempt on my place. So this is a man of wealth or position or both.

  “Now, the amulet itself is the key to a book of extraordinary powers. The person searching for such a key would be someone who had a desire for power. Jason had a desirable power. He had the ability to magnify magic. So any magic that someone wanted done would be magnified with Jason’s help.”

  Jack’s green eyes flicker first to me, and then to Gambino. “That is a highly desired power. I’ve done a little research on this, and only a few people in history have had such a power. It is certainly motive for a kidnapping.”

  Gambino thoughtfully rubs his chin at this. I let him ponder for a moment before I continue. “Jason was tortured and running naked through the streets, so we have to assume that he was not conceding to whatever was asked of him. I believe he had the amulet on his person when he was hit by the car, and it flew out of his hand and into the bush. This is an amulet that has been hidden for centuries, and suddenly it is found in the hands of a boy who had the ability to magnify magic.”