Stabbing Set with Sapphires

by L. A. Nisula

Inspector Wainwright gave her a look that said it wasn’t all right, and she glared right back at him. “You needed something, Mr. Morris?”

  “I heard you were wondering about which policy was in force.”

  So he’d been listening for a while, then.

  Miss Kleinman nodded.

  “Mr. Tolland said that the new policy would take effect as soon as the paperwork was filed, and I believe the last information needed was the descriptions.”

  “And the first of those were dropped off last night, so any pieces that were dealt with yesterday will be under the new policy. That just leaves the question of the un-described pieces. Thank you, Mr. Morris.”

  Mr. Morris nodded and slipped back into the hallway. I tried to see where he was watching from but couldn’t, which was unfortunate since if I couldn’t find it, I couldn’t use it myself.

  Inspector Wainwright continued as if there had been no interruption. “I will need an inventory of what has been taken.”

  Mr. Kleinman looked up. “Deborah would be better at that.”

  Inspector Wainwright turned to her, waiting for an answer.

  “Of course, provided I can look through the room and check what is still in the safes.”

  “Constable Edwards will stay with you. Touch as little as possible.”

  Miss Kleinman took a notepad from the chatelaine at her waist and a pair of gloves from the pocket of her skirt before she stepped carefully through the foyer and into the vault. “I’ll begin at this end, if you don’t mind.” She went to the safe she had begun with the previous morning.

  Constable Edwards nodded, and I watched as Miss Kleinman went through each tray, occasionally glancing at the floor―presumably to see what had been dropped during the robbery―and making notes.

  Mr. Kleinman nodded to the door. “If you’d like, Inspector, I can show you to an office where you can start your interviews.”

  “Constable Kittering can handle the initial interviews. He will begin with this Miss Crawford.”

  “It’s her day off,” Miss Kleinman said without looking up from the trays.

  “Then Mr. Garver.”

  Constable Kittering saluted and left with Mr. Kleinman.

  “Miss Pengear, you’re not needed here. You may retire to the lounge with the others.”

  Inspector Wainwright did not look like he would listen to an argument, so I smiled as sweetly as I could and left the vault.

  As I passed through the hallway, I noticed light hitting the wall in a way that made me think the front door had been opened. That did not seem to be the safest thing under the circumstances, so I went to close it. I was at the door to the sales floor when I realized the only reason the door would have been opened was to admit the police, meaning Inspector Wainwright was probably the last person to have been there, and he certainly would not have left it open. Briefly, I considered going to the lounge and getting reinforcements, or at least someone to put the odds in my favor if we did encounter the thief, and then I reminded myself that we hadn’t seen anyone who didn’t belong and I was being ridiculous, and I hadn’t taken my hat off yet, which meant I had access to three particularly fine, long hatpins. With these comforting thoughts, and the thought of how foolish I’d look going into the lounge and asking someone to come with me to close a door, I made my way to the sales floor.

  “Miss Pengear I believe it is, correct?”

  “Hello, Mr. Tolland.” Of course, the insurance man. The entire reason I was here this morning. How could I have forgotten?

  “The door was unlocked, but I don’t seem to see anyone around.”

  “There was a―bit of an incident. I think you’d better come in and speak to someone.”

  He nodded and followed me into the shop.

  Now to determine the best place to put him. I wanted him to talk to Miss Kleinman or Mr. Kleinman first, but they were probably still busy with Inspector Wainwright. The lounge was filled with the staff, which meant gossip, and I didn’t think that was the best thing for him to be hearing. An office. Constable Kittering was probably already in Mr. Kleinman's, but I knew which one was Miss Kleinman’s. That seemed to be the best course of action. “I’m sure Miss Kleinman will want to explain everything. If you wouldn’t mind waiting in her office for just a moment.” I had timed it so I would be speaking to him as we passed the door to the vault room, meaning he had to look at me and hopefully not notice Inspector Wainwright and Miss Kleinman inside.

  “Certainly.”

  But I had forgotten the lounge. Not that it existed, only that we would have to walk right past it as we went to the office. And as luck would have it, that was just as Miss Eaton was enthusiastically theorizing.

  “Maybe they used a cast or something like that in place of the hand. That could have over-ridden the lock.”

  “Do you think?” Miss Henderson asked.

  “If it did,” Miss Peters said, “I bet there would still be plaster dust inside. We should make certain they check.”

  I pretended I hadn’t heard anything and kept walking briskly towards the offices, but that was exactly the sort of thing I was trying to avoid having him hear.

  Mr. Tolland didn’t say anything until we were in the office, and then it was merely a polite acknowledgment of my offer to get Miss Kleinman while he sat. I didn’t know him well enough to know if I should read anything into that, so I hurried to the vault room.

  As I crossed the hall to the crime scene, I could see that Inspector Wainwright was still questioning the Kleinmans. “What’s upstairs?”

  “We only have access to the first floor. Miss Fairfield and Mr. Morris have their workrooms up there. The rest is storage. There are flats above, but they don't share an entrance with us.”

  Inspector Wainwright didn’t bother to write that down. “Now I will need a list of anyone with access to the shop that is not here today.”

  Mr. Kleinman answered from the short hallway. “One of the shop assistants isn’t in; it’s her day off. There’s the insurance man, although he doesn’t have a key. Our charwoman, Mrs. Donovan.”

  “Is there anyone else?”

  Mr. Kleinman shook his head. “Unless you want to talk to some of our suppliers, but they wouldn’t have access to the keys either.”

  Inspector Wainwright put his notebook back in his pocket. “I’ll need a list of addresses; however, I don’t think it will be necessary to contact them at this juncture.”

  That seemed to be a good time to interrupt. I poked my head into the foyer so I could see Miss Kleinman in the vault. “Miss Kleinman? Mr. Tolland is in your office.”

  Miss Kleinman pinched the bridge of her nose as she let the notebook fall to her side. “Of course he is. How could we have forgotten about him? Gentlemen, if you will excuse me. Will you need to speak to him, Inspector?” Everything about her tone said please say no, but I was fairly certain Inspector Wainwright ignored that. Still, he said,

  “Not today. I trust you have his address?”

  “Of course. The business address should be sufficient. I’ll give it to you with any others you need. This inventory should be accurate, but I will be able to do a more thorough job when I can move things around. Miss Pengear, if you wouldn’t mind bringing us some tea, it might smooth things over.”

  “Of course.” I followed her back into the hallway. She didn’t seem to be in the mood to talk, so we walked in silence to the point where I turned to the lounge.

  Chapter 4

  IN THE LOUNGE, EVERYONE WAS CLUSTERED around the table. I found two more cups from the seemingly inexhaustible supply and prepared them for Miss Kleinman and Mr. Tolland.

  “What’s going on out there?” Miss Henderson asked.

  “Mr. Tolland’s arrived. Miss Kleinman is going to have to tell him what happened. Does anyone know how he takes his tea?”

  “Cream, I think,” Miss Henderson answered. She seemed uncertain, so I decided black was safe unless I could manage to bring the cream and sugar with me.

>   “I feel sorry for her having to break this kind of news to him,” Miss Peters said. “Insurance people do not like hearing that they’ll have to pay out claims.”

  Mr. Morris put down his cup. “Well, at least the pieces that were taken were already insured under the new policy. I would hate for the Kleinmans to suffer any serious setbacks. They’ve been so good to me over the years.”

  Miss Eaton put the plate of biscuits in front of him. “You always did have a soft heart,” she said fondly.

  Mr. Morris smiled a bit. “I suppose I do. Under the current circumstances, I’m certain Mr. Kleinman will agree to have the Heart of Night insured now.”

  “He isn’t,” Mr. Garver said as he came into the room and helped himself to the teapot. “I heard him arguing with Miss Kleinman about it again when I came in this morning. Miss Fairfield, the constable wants to see you next.”

  Miss Fairfield put down her cup and went quietly to the door. I wanted to tell her Constable Kittering was far nicer than his superior, but she left before I could say anything.

  Mr. Morris ran his hand through his hair. “I wonder if I would have any influence over Mr. Kleinman’s getting the Heart of Night insured.”

  Miss Eaton shook her head. “No, no I don’t think it’s a good idea to bring that up.”

  Miss Peters took one of the biscuits then held the plate out to Mr. Garver. “But if the thief were to return...”

  Mr. Garver took a biscuit and dunked it in his tea. “Perhaps if we all went to see him.”

  Miss Eaton shook her head. “If Miss Kleinman can’t influence him, then certainly nothing we would say could. We’d just end up on his bad side for interfering and make him more stubborn when Miss Kleinman brings it up again.”

  “I suppose that’s possible,” Mr. Morris said.

  “Probable, really,” Miss Eaton answered.

  Mr. Morris sighed. “I suppose it’s best to leave it to her. But if a robbery didn’t make it obvious that he should...”

  Privately I agreed with that sentiment, but I knew I had no influence, so I gathered up the cups and went to deliver them to the office.

  When I got to Miss Kleinman’s office, everything seemed quite cordial, but it was very quiet, and Miss Kleinman was pleating and unpleating the edge of her sleeve. I suspected things weren’t going as well as she might have liked. She looked up when she heard my footsteps. “Tea, thank you. Mr. Tolland, would you like some?”

  “No, I think I’ve said all that needs to be said today. I can expect to get a copy of the report from Scotland Yard?”

  “I will personally make certain Inspector Wainwright sends it to you. And then the policy will be in force on the items that we’ve already cataloged?”

  “Yes, your secretary telephoned last week to ask that very question. I thought he was very efficient.”

  “He telephoned you?” Miss Kleinman looked up.

  “Yes. Is there a problem?”

  “No, no, Mr. Tolland. I’ll straighten it out. Thank you for your help.”

  “Then I will see you tomorrow, and we can continue with the cataloging. If that is not possible, please send word to the office.”

  “Of course. Shall I show you out?”

  “I can manage. Good day.” He nodded in my direction as he passed and walked swiftly down the corridor.

  When we were alone, I asked, “There was a problem, wasn’t there?”

  She sighed. “I don’t know. Everything seems so strange with the robbery, innocent things look wrong somehow.”

  “Do you want to tell me? Hear how it sounds?”

  “I don’t have a secretary. Neither does Daniel. I suppose Miss Crawford might seem like one since she helps me with the bookkeeping, but there is definitely no man here who could be mistaken for one.”

  “Could it have been Mr. Kleinman?”

  She shook her head. “I suppose, but Mr. Tolland knows him. He would have said it was him, not mistaken him for a secretary. Maybe someone else took a message and got confused, but still the name would have been a clue. But I’m probably being silly. I’m not used to being the victim of a crime. It makes everything seem, I don’t know, dangerous.” Miss Kleinman sank down in her chair and took a long sip of her tea. “Well, at least he’s coming back to finish it. That’s something.”

  “So they will honor the new policy?”

  “He seems to think they have no choice; everything that was taken seems to be from the first safe by the door, the one we started inventorying yesterday. You may as well sit down and drink his tea.”

  I sipped from the cup more to have an excuse to stay than anything.

  We sat in silence and clicking teacups for a while until Miss Kleinman asked, “Miss Pengear, you said you knew a tinkerer?”

  “That’s right. Did you need one?”

  “Do you consider them dependable?”

  “Very. Is this something to do with the insurance?”

  “It is. Mr. Tolland seemed to think the insurance company would try to say that the thefts were our fault because our lock wasn’t secure enough. I was hoping you would know someone who could be a neutral third party.”

  “I’m afraid he heard the staff talking about the possibility of the lock being breached.”

  “That would explain it, then. But you do know someone?”

  “I do, and I’ll ask her. I’m sure she’ll come.” I pushed my cup aside. “Do you think it’s a possibility?”

  “Not really, but I have to be sure.”

  “How exactly does the system work?”

  “It’s really just a bunch of locks and tumblers. The shape of the hand pushes the tumblers into a certain position inside the door, and the key is made to fit that shape. Different shape hand, different shape key needed.”

  “So if someone had a plaster cast of the hand and the matching key–”

  “It wouldn’t do anything. It’s simple, but it requires a high degree of accuracy, and it accounts for the softness of the fingers. A plaster cast would get the shape close, but not close enough to work.”

  “So it would need to be something more accurate than a plaster cast.”

  “That’s what I was told, and it seemed to make sense at the time. But Mr. Tolland needs to be certain, it seems. I suppose I should tell Inspector Wainwright. It might help the case if he knows how the lock was breached.” She put down her cup. “And I’ll have to arrange for the report to be sent to Mr. Tolland. I might as well get it over with.”

  We found Inspector Wainwright in the vault room again. He looked up when we entered but didn’t speak.

  Miss Kleinman broke the silence. “Mr. Tolland from the insurance company said he will need a copy of your report to process the claim.”

  “I will see that it is sent over.” Inspector Wainwright scanned the list. “You are certain that this is an accurate list of the missing items?”

  “As accurate as I can make it under the circumstances.”

  Inspector Wainwright nodded and put the list in the back of his notebook. “Now, why do you think they took those particular pieces?”

  “Probably the same reason I started there myself when we were making the inventory; the safe they were in is the closest to the door, so the easiest to get into.”

  “Do you have detailed descriptions of the pieces that were stolen?”

  “We do, in fact very recent ones. I will have Miss Pengear make you copies and drop them off.”

  I could tell how much Inspector Wainwright liked that idea, but all he said was, “Very well. I will have one of the constables go over the point of entry with your security people so it can be reinforced to prevent another break-in.”

  “I’m certain that will put everyone’s mind at ease. I should tell you that Mr. Tolland from the insurance company had some questions about the lock so we will be having an independent tinkerer come and have a look at it. If you would like to be present, I can have word sent when it has been scheduled.”

  “I will see if se
nding a representative will be beneficial to the case.” He turned back to his notebook.

  When Inspector Wainwright didn’t say anything more, Miss Kleinman asked, “When will your men be done here? I need to be able to give my clients some idea of when I can reschedule their appointments.”

  Inspector Wainwright looked up. “It seems to be a fairly straightforward robbery. I think we can finish up this evening, so you’ll be able to re-open in the morning.”

  “Thank you. I’ll inform the staff. Is there any reason to keep them here?”

  Inspector Wainwright turned to Constable Kittering.

  “I’ve gotten the basics from all but Miss Pengear and the Kleinmans, sir.”

  “Then I see no reason to delay them. But they are to keep themselves available for further questioning. You and Mr. Kleinman will be needed for further questioning.”

  “Of course. I'll let the staff know.”

  Inspector Wainwright sighed. “I suppose I had better accompany you.”

  Miss Kleinman didn’t seem to like that idea, but she didn’t say anything as he followed her out of the room.

  The staff was still assembled in the lounge when we entered. They all turned to Miss Kleinman, who addressed them before Inspector Wainwright could get a word in. “The inspector says we will be able to re-open the store in the morning. You can all go home for the night. Mr. Kleinman and I will see that everything is locked up properly.”

  Inspector Wainwright broke in. “You will all need to remain available for further questioning. I also need you to think back and identify anyone you may have told about the security arrangements here or any other information that might be relevant.”

  Miss Peters spoke up. “We were just saying, I’ll bet he used a plaster cast of a hand to get in.”

  “That’s not possible,” Miss Kleinman said quietly.

  “But if he did, I bet there’d still be bits of plaster inside the mechanism.”

  Inspector Wainwright glared at her, but he turned to Constable Edwards and said, “Check the inside of the lock. See if you find any plaster dust or anything that could explain how the lock was breached.”