“You rushed out so fast you forgot your medication,” said Laura, holding out a prescription bottle. “I have some shopping to do on Madison Avenue anyway, so I thought I’d bring it over.”
Arthur took her arm. “Come to the back with me,” he said.
“What’s wrong, Arthur? You don’t look good.”
“I’m not,” answered Arthur, his face ashen. “I think the diamond necklace was stolen. Someone must have taken it while we were at the soap opera set on Friday.”
“And you didn’t notice until now?” asked Laura.
Arthur shook his head. “I just had the security guys put the case directly in the safe when they brought it back. All I can say is, thank God, we’re insured. That necklace is worth seventy-five thousand dollars and we’re in no shape to eat the cost of replacing it.”
“The insurance premiums are paid up, aren’t they?” asked Laura.
Arthur nodded. “Of course, I had to let go two of our salespeople to do it. But I wouldn’t think of letting the insurance lapse.”
Laura was quiet.
“What?” asked Arthur.
“You didn’t take the necklace yourself, Arthur, did you?”
“What are you talking about?”
“For the insurance money.”
“How can you even suggest that, Laura?”
“Because I know how worried you have been about finances,” Laura answered, adding softly, “and desperate people do desperate things.”
“I may be desperate, but I’m not a fool. If I got caught doing something like that I really would be ruined.”
“Have you called the police yet?” asked Laura.
“I was about to do that when you came in.”
“All right, I’ll leave you to it,” said Laura. She gave her husband a short kiss on the cheek. “I do love you, Arthur. Everything is going to work out.”
“I hope so,” he said.
Laura started to walk away, stopped, and turned around. “One more question,” she said. “Was Casey at the soap-opera party by any chance?”
“Actually he was there for a little while with Glenna. Why do you ask?”
“Because the way you’ve been worried about dispersing funds to Casey, I wouldn’t be all that surprised if you stole one of your own necklaces and then tried to blame it on your brother.”
While he waited for the police to arrive, Arthur tried Quent Raynor’s office.
“You’re lucky you reached me,” said Quent. “I’m trying to weed out what to take to L.A. and what to throw out. This place is a mess. Years of stuff that I just don’t need. Oh, and thanks again for helping us out on Friday. I’ve looked at the tape and your jewels look fantastic.”
“That’s why I’m calling, Quent. I’ve just discovered that the diamond necklace is missing.”
“Really? I’m sorry to hear that, Art.”
“I put it in the case myself Friday afternoon,” said Arthur. “And now it’s gone.”
“Uh-huh,” muttered Quent, holding the phone to his ear as he continued weeding through a desk drawer.
“So, I think it disappeared at the wrap party.”
Quent straightened. “You’re kidding me.”
“I’m afraid not,” said Arthur.
“Let me get this straight,” said Quent. “You’re saying that, three days ago, somebody here stole your necklace and you are just finding out now?”
“It looks that way.”
“No, Arthur,” Quent yelled, pounding his fist on the desk. “I think it looks like you are trying to blame my people when you should be looking at your own security guards—who obviously were incompetent—or anybody else who had access to the necklace over the weekend.”
“The only other person who had access is me,” said Arthur.
“Then, buddy, I suggest you get ready for the police and insurance investigators to come a-calling and figure out what you’re going to say to throw suspicion off yourself.”
“That’s not helpful,” said Arthur stiffly. “I was calling as a courtesy, to let you know what’s happened. I’m sure the police will want to question you and your staff.”
“Well, that’s going to be a tough job,” said Quent. “After we wrapped on Friday, some of the cast and crew were taking off for Christmas vacations, some were leaving for the West Coast. Good luck finding them.”
Chapter 79
Tuesday, December 21 . . . Three days until the wedding
Piper realized she hadn’t done any Christmas shopping.
The thought didn’t rattle her. She always waited till the last minute. But tomorrow she had to make the layer cakes, Thursday would be consumed with decorating the cake, and Christmas Eve would be taken up with Glenna and Casey’s wedding. Plus, she and Jack had made plans to exchange gifts and have dinner tonight. So, today was the only day available.
She took out her BlackBerry and tweeted:
OFF TO POWER SHOP. PRAY FOR ME.
She always tried to do her Christmas shopping in Hillwood. There was something about the main street lined with trees strung with little white lights that felt much more like Christmas than the several giant shopping malls in easy driving distance. Piper also liked supporting the local merchants. She worried about the big stores putting the little ones out of business.
Her first stop was the bookstore. She selected a newly published volume on survival techniques for her father to add to his collection. For her mother, Piper chose a current book that was being compared to Gone with the Wind.
When she brought the books to the counter, Piper flipped through them as she waited for her turn with the cashier. She thought the print in her mother’s book seemed small.
“Do you have this one in bigger print?” asked Piper, holding up the book.
“Yes, as a matter of fact, we do,” said the cashier. “We have a whole large-print section in the back.”
Piper scanned the shelves and found the book she was looking for, as well as a large-print biography of Vivien Leigh, her mother’s favorite actress.
Next on the agenda was the lingerie shop that Piper knew carried practically nothing her mother would ever be caught dead wearing. She found a simple blue bathrobe and matching slippers for her mother and a nightgown for her sister-in-law. Piper was mightily tempted to buy the beautiful silk teddy on the mannequin for herself. But she practiced restraint. She was nearly at the bottom of her savings and it looked like the check she’d be getting from the work on Little Rain was going to have to last a long time. Anyway, the teddy would likely go on sale after Christmas.
Finally, Piper went to the men’s store. They had the flannel-lined jeans her father liked. She picked up two pairs, along with suede gloves for her brother. Piper spent a good deal of time walking around, looking for something for Jack, ultimately deciding on a Prussian-blue cashmere sweater. It was also more than she could afford, but Piper bought it anyway. She’d worry about her credit card bill next month.
She did a lot of that.
Chapter 80
Jack had made the dinner reservation at Colicchio & Sons on Tenth Avenue. He was waiting at the bar when Piper arrived, carrying Jack’s present in a shopping bag. She went to kiss him on the cheek, but as he leaned toward her, they ended up brushing lips.
“That was a nice surprise,” Jack said, grinning.
They were promptly shown to their table. Jack scanned the wine list, avoiding the reds that cost more than a week’s salary, and ordered the Gioveto from Tuscany.
“Whoa,” said Piper, recognizing the name from her waitressing days at Sidecar. “We’re really going all out tonight, aren’t we?”
Jack shrugged. “Why not? It’s Christmas after all and you only live once.”
“That’s the truth,” said Piper. “Travis and Peggy an
d Jessie Terhune have made me realize it. Have you heard anything new, Jack?”
He told Piper about the theft of the necklace reported by Arthur Walden. “Walden maintains it was stolen at the ALRMF wrap party.”
“There were a lot of people at that party,” said Piper as she digested the information. “Do the police think the theft is related to the murders and the attack on Peggy?”
“It’s a definite possibility,” answered Jack. “They are also trying to track down where the letter-opener Peggy was stabbed with came from. Apparently, the handle was marked by the manufacturer and the brand is only sold in fine stores.”
“Well, I guess that’s something,” said Piper. “But fine stores aren’t scarce in Manhattan, or around the country for that matter. It could have come from any of them.”
“Right,” said Jack. “And even if you find where the letter opener was purchased, it doesn’t mean you’ll know who bought it because the killer could have paid cash. Unless something unusual stuck out with the salesperson, we’re probably going to be out of luck.”
The waiter came with the wine, presenting the bottle to Jack for his inspection, uncorking it and pouring a small amount in Jack’s glass. Jack went through the expected motions, swirling the red liquid around, inhaling deeply, and then taking a sip. He nodded to the waiter.
“I was thinking,” said Piper when the waiter finished pouring and walked away from the table. She told Jack about Quent Raynor not coming to the funeral reception, which meant that he could have had the opportunity to attack Peggy. And she mentioned that she had seen Jessie rushing away from him at the wrap party.
“Do you think Quent could possibly be the killer, Jack?” she asked.
“Anything is possible, Pipe,” said Jack. “But think about it. Quent Raynor wasn’t the only person who wasn’t at the funeral reception. Anyone who wasn’t at the Sea Grill could have attacked Peggy. And that leaves a pretty large field.”
Piper took a sip of wine and considered what Jack had said. Who else would have a motive?
“Well, Phillip Brooks hated Travis York,” said Piper. “And he’s insanely jealous. Phillip can’t be happy about Glenna remarrying. Plus, he needs money—so it’s possible that he stole the necklace when he crashed the wrap party. What about him?”
Jack shook his head. “Again, Pipe. Jealousy and poverty are not enough to make an accusation of murder.”
The waiter came back to take their orders. Piper wanted the winter salad with pumpkin vinaigrette followed by the lamb loin. Jack went for the butter-poached oysters and the roasted sirloin.
“When our food comes, let’s not talk about this anymore,” said Piper. “Let’s just enjoy our dinner and forget all about this for a while.”
“Fine with me,” said Jack, sitting back in his chair and cracking his knuckles.
“What’s wrong?” asked Piper.
“What do you mean?”
“There’s something you’re not telling me, isn’t there?”
“What gives you that idea?”
“Because whenever you don’t want to tell me something, you crack your knuckles.”
“I’ll have to avoid doing that from now on.” Jack smiled. “I don’t want to give myself away.”
“Well?”
“You’re not going to give up, are you?”
“Nope.”
“Fine, Pipe, you win. If you have to know, that wedding cake you’ve been working on may not get eaten. The police are really looking at Casey for Jessie’s murder and for the jewelry theft, too. Apparently, his brother told them something that didn’t help Casey at all.”
After dinner, while nursing amaretto cordials, Jack pulled a small blue box tied with a red satin ribbon from his jacket pocket and placed it on the table in front of Piper.
“Oooh, Tiffany’s. I’m excited,” Piper exclaimed as she reached down and extricated Jack’s gift from the bag beside her.
“You first,” said Jack, with a twinkle in his eye.
“You don’t have to talk me into it,” said Piper as she pulled at the ribbon. “Oh, these are beautiful!” Piper held the pearl earrings up to her ears. “I love them, Jack. Thank you so, so much.”
Jack beamed.
“Now you,” said Piper.
In three seconds, he had the box opened.
“What a great color, Pipe,” he said as his hands caressed the soft blue cashmere. “I thought you were saving your pennies these days.”
Piper smiled. “Not when it comes to you, Jack.”
Chapter 81
Wednesday, December 22 . . . Two days until the wedding
How had everything gone so terribly wrong?
Just because he didn’t want Casey to take more money out of the business didn’t mean he wanted to ruin his brother’s life. But that’s just what he might have done.
When the police came to question him about the theft of the necklace, Arthur was certain that he himself was on their radar screen as a suspect. A detective asked if the necklace was insured and intimated that Arthur could have stolen it for the cash payout.
Arthur had panicked. “If that’s your reasoning, you should be looking at my brother, too. He needs the money even more than I do.”
The minute he said it, Arthur hated himself for blurting it out. The detectives had glanced at one another, passing a satisfied look.
What kind of a brother am I?
Arthur was staring into space when there was a knock at his office door.
“Come in,” he called.
The electroplating technician entered, holding a slip of paper in his hand. He held it out to Arthur.
“Here are the things we need reordered,” he said. “Silver anodes and potassium cyanide.”
Chapter 82
Cake flour, baking powder, unsalted butter, sugar, vanilla extract, salt, eggs, whole milk, unsweetened cocoa powder. As Piper lined up her ingredients, she could hear her mother’s voice in her mind. Always have all your ingredients ready before you start.
Piper took a deep breath and began to make her first wedding cake. Though she had been working on the plans and decoration and preparing all she could in advance, it was only now that it really felt like she was making a wedding cake. She sifted the flour, baking powder, and a pinch of salt in a bowl and set it aside. She cut the butter into tablespoon-size pieces and then beat it until it was soft and creamy. Gradually, she added the sugar, beating until the mixture was light and fluffy. She scraped down the bowl and then mixed in the vanilla.
As she added the eggs one at a time, Piper thought about the wedding. It was still on, at this point, but who knew what would happen in the next two days? Glenna was convinced that Casey was going to be arrested any minute for Jessie’s murder. At first, the police thought it was connected somehow to the personal relationship the two had shared, but now, Casey had even been questioned in regard to the diamond theft. The police were speculating that Casey stole the diamond necklace, Jessie saw him do it, and he killed her because of it.
Except for the identity of the perpetrator, Piper thought the police could have that last part right. Piper had seen Jessie rush out of the studio. Maybe Jessie had witnessed the theft and wanted to get away from the thief. But why didn’t she tell someone about what she saw, or go to the police? Knowing now that Jessie had written the threatening letters to Glenna, Piper speculated that Jessie wouldn’t have wanted to shine any kind of spotlight on herself.
Piper poured the flour mixture, alternately with the milk, into the larger bowl and continued to beat until it was all smooth. Then she divided the batter and stirred the cocoa into a third of it. Piper wet and wrapped baking strips around the pans to keep the cakes level and prevent them from cracking. Finally, she divided the yellow batter between three pans of graduating circumferences, adding the
chocolate batter in large spoonfuls in a checkerboard pattern and running a wooden skewer through the batter to create a marbled effect. She smoothed the tops with an offset spatula before sliding them into the oven. Because of their different sizes, Piper had already calculated how long each one would take to bake.
She set the timer and began her wait.
The front of the bakery had a steady stream of customers. Piper helped her mother and Cathy wrap up orders and ring up bills. When there was a lull in the activity, Piper went back to check her cakes.
She inserted a tester into the center of the smallest cake. It came out with just a few crumbs on it. She took the cake from the oven and placed it on a wire rack to cool.
There were a few more minutes until the second layer would be done. Piper decided to use the time to make her daily call to Peggy’s parents.
Mrs. Gould answered the phone. “Oh, Piper. Our prayers have been answered. The doctors are going to bring Peggy out of her coma later today.”
When all the cakes were baked and cooled, Piper wrapped them well in plastic. She carefully placed them in the walk-in freezer. Freezing them, even overnight, would firm up the crumb and make it easier to level and split.
She heard the little ping come from her BlackBerry, signaling that she had gotten a text message:
PIX READY. WILL BRING 2 WEDDING ON FRIDAY.
Piper moaned. That was two whole days away. She didn’t want to wait that long. Piper texted back:
WILL B IN CITY 2NITE. CAN I COME 2 UR PLACE 2 SEE THEM?
A few more texts back and forth, and it was settled. Piper would be at Martha Killeen’s studio at seven o’clock.
Chapter 83
There was a change of plans.
Piper had hoped to go to the hospital to visit Peggy first, but traffic was backed up from the George Washington Bridge, making her trip into Manhattan almost an hour longer than it should have been. She decided to head straight to Martha’s studio, because they had set a specific time. Piper could go to the hospital afterward.
To Have and to Kill Page 16