Murder in D Minor Boxed Set

by Virginia Smith

  Liz rose. “I’ll handle it.”

  She opened the door. When Tim caught sight of her, his eyes lit. Relief showed as he looked at her sweatshirt and jeans, and then lifted his glance to peer into the room behind her. “I’m glad you’re not all in your pajamas.”

  Huh? “Why would we be in pj’s?”

  Tim looked confused. “I thought this was a pajama party.”

  Behind her, the room erupted with laughter. Hiding a grin, Liz explained, “Not pajamas. Lingerie. We’re all giving Debbie gifts of lingerie. It’s something girls do before a wedding.”

  Tim’s face purpled. “Oh.” He looked sideways, up, down, anywhere but at Liz. “I didn’t know.”

  Liz couldn’t help it. She giggled. “Did you need something, Tim?”

  “Uh, yeah.” He ducked his head and spoke to her in a low voice. “Could we talk out here? Privately?”

  His worried expression chased Liz’s giggles away. She sobered and followed him into the hallway.

  When she had pulled the door closed, she leaned against it. A sudden fit of nerves threatened her composure, now that she was alone with him. All the emotions she’d wrenched up in front of Jazzy and Caitlin earlier were too raw, too fresh. She kept her gaze on the carpet between them.

  “Turns out there’s a connection between your pin and the man who was killed here two nights ago.”

  Liz’s eyes snapped upward to fix on his face. “There is?”

  He nodded. “Sheriff Daniels thinks Jason Sinclair was the one who broke into your apartment last December.”

  Liz’s horror grew as Tim detailed the information the sheriff had uncovered.

  When he finished, she shook her head, thoughts whirling. “I don’t understand. Why would someone fly all the way across the country to steal a brooch hardly anyone knows about, which is only worth fifteen hundred dollars? I mean, our plane tickets out here cost almost four hundred dollars each and we got a bargain. If he rented a car on top of that, and stayed even one night in a hotel, he spent at least half the brooch’s worth right there. It doesn’t make sense.”

  Tim cocked his head. “Crime rarely makes sense. But I agree, there’s got to be more to it than we know. Like, why didn’t the guy try again, when he was unsuccessful in getting it the first time?”

  Liz’s mouth went uncomfortably dry as a thought crept into her mind. “Because somehow he knew I would be coming out here, where he lived. And he knew I’d have the brooch with me.” She grabbed Tim’s arm in a grip made strong by a sudden surge of fear. “How did he know, Tim? Has he been watching me all this time?”

  She looked down the hallway, toward the corner. The hair on her arms rose. Was someone watching her even now? Not Jason Sinclair, but maybe the person who killed him? Or the one who had attacked her on the slopes?

  Her throat seemed to squeeze shut as her suspicion became a certainty: the two were one and the same.

  There was a killer after her.

  A dry sob escaped her lips. In the next instant she was crushed to Tim’s chest when he pulled her forward.

  “Nothing is going to happen to you. I promise.”

  Though aware of Tim’s warm arms encircling her, Liz couldn’t suppress an icy shudder. “He tried to get me once. What if he’s successful the next time?”

  His hands gripped her forearms like steel vises. He pushed her back and ducked his head so she was forced to look up at him.

  “First of all, the pin is locked away. You don’t have it anymore.” She opened her mouth to protest that the killer didn’t know that, but he shushed her with a finger over her lips. “Second, there are two deputy sheriffs downstairs right now, watching every person who comes or goes in this lodge. And third, you’re not going to be left alone for a minute. You’re going to call me when you’re ready to leave this party, and I’ll escort you back to your room. And I’m sleeping on your sofa tonight.”

  A few hours ago Liz would have protested the need for anything so drastic as a bodyguard camped out in the condo. But after what she’d just heard, she wasn’t about to refuse the offer.

  She searched Tim’s face. Her panic started to recede at the confidence she saw there. Tim always made her feel safe. “Thank you.”

  He nodded. “It’s secure where it is tonight. Tomorrow morning you and I are going to take that pin to my bank and lock it in my safe-deposit box. And we’ll let everybody know that you don’t have it anymore. I’m sure Debbie and your grandmother will both agree that the bank is the safest place for it to stay until we catch the guy who’s after it.”

  “That sounds like a good plan.” The breath Liz drew shuddered, but she managed to hold back the tears that threatened to shatter her fragile grip on her nerves. “But let’s don’t tell them everything until after the wedding, okay? We’ll just say that I had the brooch appraised, and after finding out how much it’s worth, I felt it was safer in the bank until the wedding. I don’t want Debbie to worry about anything.”

  “Agreed.”

  In the moment of silence that followed, Liz became acutely aware of Tim’s hands on her arms. Heat from his palms seared through her sweatshirt and the skin beneath his grip tingled.

  As though also aware of the contact, he released her and took a backward step. “So. You call me down in Ryan’s room when you’re ready to go to bed.” His face flamed bright red. “Back to your condo, I mean.”

  Liz judged it safer not to speak. She nodded as she groped for the door handle behind her. Then she twisted it and slipped inside. Her hands trembled as she pulled the door shut behind her, but whether from fear or from being near Tim, she didn’t know.

  TWENTY-ONE

  Liz let out a sigh of relief as she stepped up into Tim’s vehicle, a green-and-white Ford Expedition with the Summit County Sheriff emblem on the side and a light bar mounted on the roof. She snapped her seat belt closed as Tim crossed to the driver’s side. Large snowflakes fell in a thick white curtain all around them. Through the windshield, she caught a glimpse of the manager who’d just assisted them as he spoke with a teller inside the bank.

  The driver’s door opened and Tim climbed in. “There. That’s a load off my mind.”

  She had to admit, she felt better having the brooch locked in Tim’s safe-deposit box in the bank’s vault. Even with a deputy sheriff on the couch in the other room, and her friends in the same room with her, she hadn’t gotten much sleep. Though Jazzy insisted she must have, because she accused Liz of snoring half the night.

  She’d stolen a curious look inside Tim’s box when he’d opened it. In the back of her mind she had wondered if maybe he’d kept her engagement ring. If so, that would be the logical place to store it. But she’d only seen various papers, and a knife his grandfather had given him when he was a teenager. He’d probably sold the ring a long time ago.

  “I agree. Now, let’s just hope the killer finds out I don’t have it anymore.”

  Tim turned the key and the engine sprang to life. Heat poured through the vent in the dashboard.

  “We’ll spread the word.” He shifted into Reverse. “Though it’s probably best we don’t tell anyone exactly where it is. Except your grandmother and Debbie, of course.”

  “Grandma.” Liz winced. “She is going to be really upset when I don’t turn over official possession of the brooch to Debbie on Saturday.”

  “It can’t be helped.” Tim turned in his seat to look over his left shoulder as the vehicle backed up. “Besides, she wouldn’t want to put either of her granddaughters in danger just for the sake of a piece of jewelry.”

  Tim had obviously forgotten what Grandma was like. “I don’t know.” Doubt colored Liz’s words. “I mean, I know she wouldn’t do anything that could hurt either of us. But she’s really big on that family tradition.”

  Tim lifted a shoulder. “So you give unofficial possession to Debbie. Tell her as of Saturday the thing is hers, but it’s being kept safe.”

  “I know!” Liz snapped her fingers. “Let’s go
pick up the appraisal. I can hand it over on Saturday. Debbie will need that anyway, to show her insurance company.” She twisted her lips in a sour expression. “If I’d had the brooch appraised when I first got it, maybe I wouldn’t be in this mess. I’d have kept it locked up somewhere.”

  Oops. Better not mention the circumstances surrounding her acquisition of the brooch. Liz turned her head toward the window so Tim couldn’t see her face.

  “You said the appraisal’s being done by Alpine Jewelry over on Main?” Tim’s voice was unruffled.

  Relieved, Liz nodded. As they drove, she pointed through the window. “Look. We’re starting to get some accumulation. I hope it doesn’t cause problems for Mom and Dad’s plane.” The cars in the parking lot they passed were blanketed with a couple of inches of snow.

  “It won’t. At least, not within the next few hours. We’ll pick them up at one and get back up here before the roads can get bad.”

  And that would be interesting. Her parents loved Tim. When she showed up at the airport with him in tow, she would have some pretty pointed questions to answer.

  The Expedition climbed up Main Street, which was practically deserted. Liz wondered at that, but then realized most vacationers would be out on the slopes today, enjoying the fresh snow. By tonight, the road would be bumper-to-bumper and the sidewalks shoulder-to-shoulder. Park City was always packed on Friday nights.

  Tim parked directly in front of the jewelry store’s door. He stomped on the parking brake and unsnapped his seat belt at the same time. “Sit tight,” he told Liz as he got out.

  She ignored him. He’d opened her door for her at the lodge, and again at the bank. This was starting to feel like a date. And it definitely was not. Though some traitorous notion in the back of her mind whispered, It’s awfully easy being with Tim again. As he rounded the front of the vehicle, she opened her door and stepped down to the pavement.

  A grin crept over his lips. “Stubborn woman.”

  She couldn’t help returning the grin. Yeah, awfully easy.

  When she headed for the store, he jumped ahead and swept open that door.

  She surrendered with an easy laugh. “Fine. Be the gentleman, then.” She didn’t dare look at his face as she passed him.

  The moment she stepped inside her nostrils tingled. She wrinkled her nose. What was that smell? Something like ammonia.

  Mr. Cole stood waiting in the center of the showroom when she entered. No sign of the sales clerk today. With one glance into his face, Liz became concerned. He looked awful. Red-rimmed eyes, pale skin. Was he sick?

  “Mr. Cole, are you not feeling well?”

  “What?” His eyes couldn’t seem to settle on anything, but darted through the front window, and then to Tim and finally to her. “Oh. Yes, I’m fine. I got involved in a project last night and didn’t get much sleep.”

  That explained the smell. Probably some chemical he used while he designed jewelry. Mr. Cole dug at his eyes with a thumb and forefinger, which succeeded in reddening them further. Then he peered at Tim.

  Liz performed a quick introduction. “This is my friend, Tim Richards.” As the two men shook hands, Liz continued, “Tim is a deputy sheriff here.”

  The corners of Mr. Cole’s mouth lifted for a millisecond. “Yes, I thought as much. I saw you drive up in your police vehicle.” The man pulled his hand back and shoved it into his pants pocket. He turned to Liz. “I was wrong about the value of your antique brooch.”

  “You were?” Liz’s anticipation deflated a touch. “Is it not worth as much as you originally thought?”

  “Oh, no. It’s worth more. According to my research, the piece is definitely British, of the Georgian Era. I found a similar piece that sold in Europe recently for seventeen hundred. That’s the value I’ve recorded on the appraisal document.”

  Liz shook her head. To think she’d been carrying seventeen hundred dollars around in her purse.

  Mr. Cole straightened. “In light of that, I’d like to renew my offer from yesterday. I’ll give you seventeen fifty for the brooch right now.”

  “I appreciate your offer, but no.”

  His nostrils flared. “All right. I’m prepared to go as high as two thousand dollars. Cash.” His eyes darted toward Tim. “That’s unreported income, Miss Carmichael.”

  Liz hid a smile. “That’s very generous of you, Mr. Cole, but the answer is no, regardless of the amount. The brooch isn’t mine to sell.”

  Tim was staring at the man through eyes barely more than slits. “I’m curious. Why do you want it so badly?”

  The man started. “Why, because it’s a beautiful piece. The workmanship, the quality.”

  Liz offered an explanation. “Mr. Cole is a designer himself, so he appreciates quality.”

  “Hmm.”

  Tim nodded, but his expression told Liz he didn’t buy that explanation. Liz wondered what made him so suspicious. Mr. Cole’s offer convinced her even more that their theories were correct. If Mr. Cole, who was an expert, was so eager to purchase Grandma’s brooch, it seemed more reasonable that someone else would want it badly enough to try to steal it.

  But to kill a man and attack a woman for seventeen hundred dollars? No, Liz couldn’t buy that. There was another explanation, one they hadn’t uncovered yet.

  “I understand,” Mr. Cole told her. “If it were mine, I’d hold on to it, too.” He paused, and a wistful expression stole over his face. “Do you mind if I look at it again? I’d love to examine those emeralds with my loupe.”

  “I’m sorry. I don’t have it with me.”

  Mr. Cole’s facial expression did not change, but a new stillness stole over him. “You don’t?”

  “No. After—”

  “—after you told her the value yesterday, we decided carrying it around wasn’t a good idea.” Tim gave her a stern look. Apparently he didn’t want her to mention the attack on the slopes yesterday.

  “A wise decision, very wise.” Mr. Cole cleared his throat. “Let me get the appraisal certificate for you. I’ll just be a moment.” He took a backward step, watching Liz’s face. “Ah, I hope you’ve put it someplace safe?”

  Liz exchanged a tiny smile with Tim. Well, a safe-deposit box qualified, didn’t it? “Don’t worry. It’s safe.”

  Duke watched through the front window as the deputy sheriff’s vehicle pulled away from the curb. Only when it was out of sight did he allow his emotions to break free of the iron grip he held them in. He doubled over, his breath coming in gasps. Sweat beaded on his forehead and dampened his collar.

  All that work last night for nothing. Not that his forgery, so quickly thrown together, would have fooled anyone who inspected it with more than a quick glance.

  He straightened and sucked in air in deep draughts. His plan of substituting a forgery for the real Jersey Brooch had been a long shot. He knew that. If he had more time, he was confident he could duplicate the piece. But in eleven hours? It had been an impossible task at the outset.

  Of course, now he had two days before he had to turn over the brooch. Did he dare …?

  No. The man who’d made an international business of stealing valuable antique jewelry would recognize a fake in an instant.

  He had failed. But there was still one last chance.

  Duke whirled and almost ran into the back room. He dug the prepaid cell phone out of his jacket pocket and, with trembling fingers, punched in his associate’s number.

  The line was answered on the third ring. “Have you got it?”

  His grip on the phone was so tight his hand trembled. Duke forced his fingers to relax. “No. And the situation has become serious. You promised you could—”

  “Hey, wait just a minute. I promised she’d come, and she’d have the pin with her. That’s all. I’ve done my part.” The man’s voice lowered. “And I want to know what happened to that guy I met on Wednesday. Did you do that?”

  A hint of fear had crept into his associate’s voice. Duke indulged in a cold smile. Good.
He shouldn’t be the only one afraid.

  “Don’t worry about him. Just worry about yourself—and the Carmichael girl. You’ve got to get that brooch.”

  “Me? No way. Not happening.”

  Duke lowered his voice and flooded it with as much menace as he could manage. “Listen to me. If I don’t turn the Jersey Brooch over on Saturday, some very bad people are going to be very angry. And trust me, I’m not going down alone in this.”

  The breath that came through the phone sounded more like a choke. “All right. I’ll see what I can do. I don’t know how, but I’ll—”

  Duke disconnected the call. He didn’t want to hear the man’s plan. He didn’t care. All he needed was the Jersey Brooch, and then he’d have no need for an associate anymore.

  TWENTY-TWO

  “Mom! Over here!”

  Liz thrust her hand in the air and waved when she caught sight of her parents descending on the escalator in the Salt Lake International Airport. She rushed toward her parents when they stepped onto the floor. When she threw her arms around her mother, she was immediately enveloped in a sense of peace. These arms had loved and protected her through every turmoil life had thrown at her, from the moment she drew her first breath. The fear that had gripped her since the attack yesterday lifted. Which was stupid. What could her almost-fifty-year-old mother do to protect her against a vicious killer? Nothing, except probably put herself in danger, too.

  Liz stiffened as the momentary peace faded. She had unconsciously prepared to spill her guts—and her heart—to Mom the moment they were together. But what would that accomplish? Nothing good. Both her parents would worry themselves sick if they thought she was in danger. They might even do something to endanger themselves in trying to shield her. The thought of that was intolerable. Better if they were kept unaware of the whole mess with the heirloom brooch until it was over.

  Liz straightened from her mother’s embrace and kissed her cheek, then moved on to her father.

  “Honey, you look beautiful,” Dad said as he swept her into a hug.