by Diane Noble
“I’ll be praying,” Paul said as he placed the crutches in the backseat, and then he closed the door and gave them a nod.
Kate drove into town and parked on Smith Street, then slowly she and Nehemiah made their way across the Town Green to the back of the Victorian Museum. They let themselves in the back gate, carefully wound their way through the rose garden, and stopped just outside the back door.
Kate looked around for Renee. She was nowhere to be found; plus Kate hadn’t seen the big pink Olds on the street. Disappointed her Mission Impossible tactic hadn’t worked, Kate looked at Nehemiah, barely visible in the light of a quarter moon.
“Have you ever broken into anything before?” She figured she knew the answer even before the words left her lips.
But he surprised her. “Sure. Every time I’ve locked myself out of my apartment or car. Doesn’t everyone need those skills?”
She laughed quietly. “Can you tackle this one?” She glanced at the Victorian’s rear door.
“Nail file might work, but it’s got to be metal.” He gave her a direct look. She could feel the intensity of his gaze. “What about the legalities...”
She was about to answer when the back door opened. A shadowy silhouette of Renee stood in the doorway. A cloud of Youth-Dew drifted toward the rose garden, and the moonlight turned her blonde hair snow white. Dressed all in black with a khaki vest, she was quite a sight.
“Where’ve you been?” Renee said with a note of irritation, which pleased Kate. It was just good to hear her voice again. “It’s after eleven. I thought you said I needed to be here precisely at the time you indicated.”
Grinning, Kate made her way to the doorway, followed closely by Nehemiah. Once inside, with the door closed, Kate explained about the note—and that whoever wrote it wanted her to be there alone.
“It could be one person, or it could be them all,” she concluded.
Renee nodded solemnly. “You want Nehemiah and me to skeedaddle, then?” She sounded disappointed.
“Not at all. I wanted us all here early because we’ve got work to do. Then you’ll need to hide while I meet with our mystery-letter sender.”
Kate turned on her penlight and, following the beam, made her way through the sunroom, down the hall to the foot of the stairs. She stopped for a moment and pointed the light toward the cameras. Just as she had figured, they were set to Off mode, beady little red lights staring but not seeing.
Kate turned and started up the stairs, moving very slowly because of Nehemiah’s crutches. Renee ascended behind them.
“It’s not big enough for three people,” she said when they reached the bathroom, “so you’ll need to stand in the doorway and shine your flashlights toward the floor beneath the tub.”
Nehemiah nodded. Renee looked skeptical but turned on her flashlight. “What are we looking for?” she whispered.
“I think I’ve found it,” Kate said. “I just needed to get in here when the cameras were off. Tonight’s the perfect night.”
She knelt and felt around under the princess tub until she found the loose tiles. “Nail file, please.”
Renee placed the file in Kate’s open hand. Kate poked and pried until the tile lifted. She moved it aside and started on another, then another...until she had removed a dozen or more.
“What is it?” Nehemiah whispered. “A safe?”
“I can’t tell. I can feel the top, but it feels like a brick. And we can’t move the tub to get a better angle.” She sat back, disappointed. She checked her watch. It was after 11:30.
She bent down again and loosened a few more tiles. Now the area was nearly twelve by maybe fourteen inches. She felt around the bricklike surface beneath the tiles for a crack, or a break of some sort.
There was nothing.
Renee, sensing her frustration, knelt down so the beam of her flashlight lighted the area with greater intensity. “Want me to try?” Her tone said she was about to wheedle her way in no matter Kate’s answer.
Kate felt a crack with her fingertips and shook her head. “I’ve almost got it. In fact, I think I have. Hold the light steady.”
She’d taken enough tiles off now to feel the object below. It was definitely the size of a brick. Not caring what it was doing to her fingernails, she struggled to get ahold of the heavy object.
Finally it moved, and working it with the nail file, she slipped one end high enough above the floor to grab hold of it. Carefully she pulled it out and put it on the Persian rug. Nehemiah shone his light on it.
“It is a brick,” he said. “But underneath...”
Renee visibly shuddered. “You couldn’t pay me enough to reach in a dark space that’s who knows how old. At least, not without gloves.”
“Did you bring any?” Kate said, looking up at her.
“Does an NCIS agent go anywhere without them?” she said, referring to a favorite TV crime show. She reached into a mesh pocket on the inside of her vest and pulled out a pair of gardening gloves.
“Thank goodness this isn’t an NCIS investigation,” Kate said. “They can get pretty bloody.”
“I rather like them,” Nehemiah said. “Ducky is a hero.”
“I like Abby,” Renee said. “That girl’s got style.”
Chuckling, Kate pulled on the gloves and reached into the hole. She felt around until she found what seemed to be a bag of small rocks. Carefully, worried the bag might split from age, she lifted it from its hiding place and set it on the Persian rug next to the brick. The bag was actually a crudely sewn gunnysack material, gathered at one end and tied with a heavy twine. Without being asked, Renee handed her a Swiss Army knife with the scissors open.
Kate gingerly cut through the twine and then handed the knife back to Renee, who knelt across from Kate, beam trained on the sack. Still standing in the doorway, Nehemiah leaned in as close as he dared without falling off his crutches.
Kate spilled the contents onto the rug. The three gasped as hundreds of bright stones sparkled in the flashlight beams.
“What are they?” Renee breathed, taking several in her hand and fingering them.
Kate frowned. “I don’t know. Some are very bright, others yellowish.” She picked some up and dropped them into Nehemiah’s outstretched hand.
He held one under the beam of his flashlight. “Uncut diamonds is my guess...”
Just then Kate heard the faint sound of an approaching vehicle.
The three looked at each other, eyes wide. Nehemiah took charge. “Kate, you’ve got to get downstairs and outside the back door. Lock it on your way out. I’ll put everything back here. Help me to the floor. When I’m done, I’ll pull myself up to standing and hide someplace else, someplace where I can hear what’s going on. The foot’s much better and can stand a bit more weight now.” Kate and Renee slipped silently down the stairs and hurried through the hallway to the sunroom. “I’ll hide behind the ferns and palms,” Renee said.
Kate nodded in agreement. “Good plan. I’ll try to get whoever it is to meet in here.”
“Go!” Renee almost shoved her out the back door, then locked it behind her.
Kate trotted into the rose garden and stopped just short of the back gate. She waited until her breathing had evened out and her heart rate had slowed.
The sound of footsteps carried toward her from the side of the house.
They stopped at the rear door—or at least in that proximity. She took a deep breath and strolled through the garden as if she’d just arrived, then still walking as nonchalantly as she could, made her way in the dim moonlight toward the figure that stood waiting.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Hi, Mrs. Hanlon,” James said. “I was hoping you could make it—and that you wouldn’t be scared, not knowing who sent the note, I mean.”
“Why didn’t you just sign it?”
“I would have but thought it wasn’t a good idea. If the wrong people got ahold of it...” His voice trailed off, and he shrugged.
“What do you
mean?”
“Let’s go inside where nobody will see us.” He unlocked the door and, holding it open, stepped back so that Kate could enter. “Don’t turn on any lights,” he said.
“What about the Webcams?” She didn’t mention she’d noticed they were off earlier.
“I programmed them to appear to be on at the office; they’re rerunning old tape with nothing but the paintings showing.” He flipped on a small mag light and shone it just in front of Kate’s path. Kate smiled. He was sounding more like the old James by the minute.
He nodded to the settee beneath The Tempest. Kate started to sit, then looked up at the camera. “What if they discover what you’ve done, turn on the Webcams, and run live feed...and see us?”
He nodded. “That’s true.”
“How about the sunroom? It’s out of Webcam range.”
“I keep forgetting you know this place almost better than I do,” he said. He gave her a nod, then followed her down the hallway.
When they’d settled into two wicker chairs with a small round table between them, James set the mag light down, facing away from the windows. It provided just enough shadowy light for Kate to get a good look at his expression.
She leaned forward. She had to take the chance that he wasn’t setting her up and let him know about Renee and Nehemiah being in the house.
“I didn’t do exactly as you said.”
James frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Paul wouldn’t let me come unless I brought someone with me.”
“So Paul is here?”
“No, it’s your good friend Nehemiah,” the elderly man said from the hallway. How he came down the stairs so silently on crutches, Kate could only imagine.
James looked up at him. Even in the dim light he seemed ready to cry. “I’m glad you came,” he said quietly, then got up and stuck out his hand to shake Nehemiah’s.
But Nehemiah gathered the boy into a bear hug. The crutches clattered to the floor. “I’m glad to be here,” he said as James picked up the crutches. “I just wish you’d let us know earlier what’s going on.”
James grinned, taking his seat again. “I did.”
Nehemiah chuckled as he hobbled over to a small wicker love seat. “So you did it on purpose, then—setting up my computer switch from Webcams around the world to the museum?”
“It was a mistake—at least at first. That day Mom and I visited you at your apartment was just after I’d started learn-ing the system at Safe Keeping. The principal at school recommended me for the job because of my interest in computers and my scores on some electronics aptitude test. So I was interviewed by Mr. Garfield, hired, and even before school was out, started learning their systems so I’d be up to speed when I came on as a summer hire.”
Kate noticed the change in the boy’s expression when he spoke Garfield’s name. It was more than simple apprehension, much more.
“Anyway,” he continued, “I got the IP addresses mixed up and somehow tied you into the security system at the museum.” He looked down sheepishly.
“That sounds like a logical mistake anyone could make,” Nehemiah said gently.
“By the time I discovered it, I was too embarrassed to let anyone at work know....” His voice trailed off, and he blinked rapidly. “And I also overheard conversations that led me to believe the whole painting-donation, loan thing was a sham, maybe even illegal.”
Kate took a deep breath and interrupted. “Before you go on, James, I need to tell you something else.”
He slumped back in his chair. “I suppose my parents are hiding in the kitchen pantry closet.”
“No,” she said, frowning. “But why don’t you want them to know what you’re doing?”
He stared through the darkened window for several moments before answering. “Davis Carr knows people—from the governor to state legislators. After I was discovered eavesdropping, I was told both my parents would lose their jobs”—he snapped his fingers—“just like that. The guy has that kind of power. They said everything would be fine if I would just do as I was told and didn’t tell anyone.”
“But you left the Webcam mistake as it was,” Nehemiah said. “I’m proud of you, James. That was a brave thing to do.”
“And not turning us in,” Kate added. “I told your mom and dad. They’re very proud of you as well.”
He raised his chin. “You were about to tell me something...”
“We came to the house early.”
“I figured you did since Nehemiah was already inside.”
“We needed help getting in.”
“Don’t tell me you brought Deputy Spencer.”
Kate drew in another deep breath. “I’ve got this friend who’s really good at breaking and entering.”
James looked confused.
Kate turned toward a dozen or more potted palms and hanging ferns that had transformed the corner of the sunroom into a veritable jungle. “Renee, you can come out now.”
“Renee Lambert?” James didn’t try to mask his dismay. “What I’ve said...what I need to tell you...will be all over town by morning.” He groaned and closed his eyes as Renee rustled through the fronds, both hanging and potted.
“I promise you, James,” she said quietly, “this is the one time in my life that I’ll see to it your information doesn’t leave this room.”
They all seemed to have adjusted to the dim, ambient glow from James’ mag light. Kate saw James roll his eyes, still looking upset.
Nehemiah exchanged glances with Renee as she sat down in a wicker rocker near the potted plants. Then he turned back to James and told him about the club she’d started to overcome gossiping.
“This is more important than any women’s club,” James said with a heavy sigh. He stood and started toward the kitchen. “I should never have come.” He stopped in front of Kate. “I thought I could trust you.”
“Sit down, James,” she said. “We’ve got something we need to tell you. We’re all in this together. I promise we’ll keep your confidence, but you must also promise to keep ours.”
He nodded and sat down.
“Davis Carr is looking for something important,” Kate began.
James nodded again.
“Do you know what it is?”
“Something valuable that’s hidden in the walls. A family heirloom of some sort. But I gather the family back then somehow got whatever it is illegally.”
“But do you know exactly what it is?”
“If they find out I told...my parents...” He looked away, biting his bottom lip. “These guys aren’t fooling around. Especially that Mr. Garfield.”
“Jewels,” Kate said. “We already know.”
He turned to stare at her. “You knew all along?”
“Not all along. But we did find out. So you can relax. You really haven’t told us anything we didn’t already know.”
He let out an audible sigh. “They still can’t find out I talked to you.”
Renee pantomimed zipping her lip. Kate noticed she was back into her nontalking mode. For once, this was a good thing.
“Have they found out where the jewels are?” Kate asked.
James shook his head. “Have you?”
Nehemiah broke in. “It’s better that you don’t know. That way you won’t have to lie for us.”
“I was hoping you did,” he said. “And that maybe you’d show me where they are.”
Kate’s antennae went up. “That’s why you wanted to meet here?”
He shrugged. “I guess I’d hoped you’d maybe gotten them out and hidden away.”
Kate relaxed a little, but as he went on, she watched his expression for any signs of fabrication.
“I don’t know what kind of jewels they’re talking about,” he said, “but they think it’s a cache worth millions of dollars.” He paused, shaking his head. “That’s why those guys who are supposed to be looking for rats and roaches have been here so much. They’re tearing the place apart, looking for them. Ther
e’s supposed to be about fifty bags.
“I heard Mr. Garfield say he saw ’em in a family picture one time. Each bag weighs about two pounds. He also said the family legend was that the jewels are hidden in the walls. They’ve not only torn holes looking, they’ve had to bring in crews to do the repairs before the public arrived the next morning.”
A few more pieces of the puzzle fell into place. The guys in the white coats, for instance. Some were there to inspect; other were there to clean up after the inspection.
“That’s a lot of jewels,” she said, coming back to the primary topic. Yet she’d found only one bag in the cache they’d discovered in the upstairs bathroom. Maybe the bags were hidden throughout the house—or someone else had discovered them.
“Who’s in charge in your opinion?” Nehemiah asked. “Davis Carr or Clive Garfield?”
“Definitely Mr. Garfield. He’s the meanest and the one who’s always calling the shots. I heard him say that if it wasn’t for him, Mr. Carr wouldn’t even know about the family jewels.”
Kate sat back, mulling over everything James had said. “When you said you wanted to meet me tonight, James, was it just to find out if I knew anything?”
He gave her a blank stare and didn’t answer.
“For you, or did someone else want to know?”
He shook his head. “I just wanted to know. Honest. No one put me up to it.” He sounded ready to cry, and Kate believed him.
“But there’s something else, isn’t there?”
He blinked a few times, then said, “Something bad is supposed to happen—and soon, from what I’ve heard. I just wanted to warn you. I know how you’re turning up at unexpected times and all, which is really making the team mad. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“The team?” Kate tilted her head, her mind racing.
He nodded. “The ones you already know about.”
“What do they plan to do?”
“I don’t know. I wish I did.” He stood to go. “That’s about all I know...”
Kate stood with him. “Has Brother John ever been mentioned?”