Between Two Thieves

by Solomon Carter

  “Sensitive? Some people would say that’s a good thing,” said Eva.

  “I’m sure some would. Don’t get me wrong, Miss Roberts. I want what’s best for the boy. But becoming resilient to the slings and arrows are essential for success in this world, and Joe needs to get a lot more resilient than he is now.”

  “All in good time, I’m sure,” said Eva with a smile. “He’s still young.”

  “Hope springs eternal,” he said, pointing the way for Eva to take the flight of stairs. Clancy followed on behind.

  “What did you make of Carl Renton, Mr Clancy?”

  “I only ever knew him in passing, you understand.”

  “So what did you make of him?” said Eva as she finished climbing the dark wooden staircase.

  “Well, I knew the man was on something from the first moment I met him,” said Clancy.

  Eva’s face flickered. “What?”

  “All those fixed smiles and enthusiastic handshakes. He was high on religion. I’ll admit, that bothered me for a while. But then I considered the benefits.”

  “The benefits?”

  “The obvious benefits. I didn’t have to worry that the man was some kind of pervert trying to groom my son. And Carl kept an eye on my son for me while I was away.”

  Eva frowned. “And does Joe need an eye on him?”

  “I never gave him permission to get so close with Georgie, for example. Joe is a young man, Miss Roberts. And young men always need an eye on them, if only for their own good.”

  Clancy Senior led Eva along a short upper corridor before opening the door into a cluttered study much like the living room below. The study was modern and the furniture all neat and square but for a distinctive dark wooden bureau standing proudly against one wall. There was a side table with an old-fashioned telephone beside it. One of the kind you had to put your finger in to turn the dial. The room felt like the back room of a museum, a place where a curator might work and catalogue his pieces. On top of the bureau, not far from a wall-mounted trophy cabinet, was a book, open to reveal pages of handwritten numbers and notes. Beside it was a sphere, a little like a giant children’s marble, but its swirl of colours were purples and pinks.

  “I bought that one in India. It actually comes from a Hindu wedding. The Hindus do so love their gold and precious gems,” said the man, seeing Eva’s eyes land on it. “It’s a more recent acquisition, so I’m not entirely sure of its composition. I’ll have it checked and log it accordingly. To me it looks simply priceless either way.”

  “And this Hindu family gave it to you? Surely not?” said Eva.

  “No, no. I paid them handsomely. India has quite a liking for money, you see. It can persuade most people to part with even the most sentimental things.”

  “Fascinating.” said Eva.

  “The stone?” he said, picking it up, weighing it in his palm.

  Eva shook her head. “Your life is what I meant. Part jeweller, part collector, part writer...”

  He nodded. “Writer, oh please,” said Clancy looking coy. “He told you about that, did he? It would be better to say part traveller. I have a wanderlust. The novel is just an itch I needed to scratch. But the trinkets I buy are a wonder to me. Like this for instance. It doesn’t look like much does it?”

  Clancy hefted a small ingot in his hand. It was dull grey, like faded iron, or maybe tin or lead. He passed it to Eva.

  “This is pure gold encased in a shell of base metal to disguise it. It was a means for the original owner, one of the original gold rush pioneers, to keep a secret of his find. The secret didn’t last long, mind. The gold in that ingot could well be from Sutter’s Mill, California, itself. The home of the California Gold Rush. Another very special item.”

  Eva nodded. Clancy clearly wanted her to be impressed, and she was. But Eva didn’t intend to look starry eyed.

  “If you want me to find what was stolen, Mr Clancy, I’ll need to know exactly what happened – when they were stolen, and exactly what we are looking for. Do you have any idea who might have taken them?”

  The man shook his head. “None at all. I’ve been back in the country for a few days now, but a few small things went missing a few weeks back, though they were nothing compared to this.”

  “Why?”

  “They’ve taken the most obvious treasures – the gold and silver wrist bands, and masks from my Ethiopian trip and the cymbals and dishes from Syria. After what happened in Syria, it’s possible there’s nothing like them left in the entire world. Those items are precious indeed.”

  “Anything else?”

  “Necklaces and rings too. The kind of thing one would keep behind glass rather than wear. I only hope the barbarians don’t melt the things down for profit. That would be just as bad as what those savages did to monuments in the Middle East.”

  “You really think it would be that bad?” said Eva.

  “To me at least. I love these things, Miss Roberts, and I’d believed they were safer here than anywhere else – particularly with my son always on hand.”

  “Always on hand? Then Joe doesn’t work? No college or part time job?”

  “College, yes, he was at college. Studying for his A-levels, if one can call it studying. My son, as you will have already seen, prefers company to study. And as for a job – he lives under my roof, all paid for by yours truly, he eats the food from the fridge, and I supply him with a small allowance. A kind of salary, if you like, for keeping house and looking after my collection. But it seems his company might have kept him a little more distracted from that duty than I would have liked.”

  “How do you mean?” said Eva, wanting the specifics behind the man’s opinion.

  “Georgie. Mr Renton too. I think he’s been too busy to keep an eye on the house.”

  “Teenagers are the all same, don’t you think?”

  “I suppose so,” said Clancy. “Though without any decent study, I don’t see how Joe will be able to follow in my footsteps. Business is about keeping the mind sharp, and when making deals of this size, you need to be sharper still. But, ultimately, that’s a matter for him.”

  Eva nodded. Clancy seemed a good man in essence, but stern all the same.

  “Okay,” said Eva. “So Joe looks after your collection.”

  “Yes, much as a security man or a caretaker might,” said Clancy.

  Eva gave him a certain look.

  “I only mean to say that he has no expertise. I love my son, Miss Roberts, but the only kind of looking after he provides is his presence. His presence here is the deterrent, that’s all.”

  “But the burglary took place while you were here, correct?”

  “I was in the country, but I wasn’t at home. My son was here. They broke in through the downstairs kitchen window, took a few items from the living room, then came up here and helped themselves to my wristbands, cymbals and dishes.”

  “When did it happen?” said Eva.

  “Last night apparently. I had the window replaced first thing this morning. A broken window is an open invitation. It had to be seen that someone was dealing with the mess promptly. If not, maybe the blighters would have come back.”

  “So...” said Eva, carefully. “Joe was at home.”

  “Don’t remind me. Yes. Joe tells me he was asleep. Which well he might have been. The boy has always slept like a log. His mother was the same. It used to take an age to wake her in the mornings, and even then she always complained about it.”

  “So he says he slept through the break-in.”

  “Miss Roberts, I know it sounds ridiculous, but I was here one time when the smoke alarms went off in the night. My son slept through two of the loudest alarms I’ve ever heard, and one of them is right outside his bedroom door.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes. And since he’s been hanging around with dear Georgie, I think those late nights of his mean he’s sleeping in later too..”

  “Ah yes, Georgie,” said Eva. “What is the arrangement there exa
ctly?”

  “There is no arrangement. Georgie is my son’s friend, that’s what he says. By which I presume he means girlfriend. But I’ve given him ground rules there. The girl is not to stay here. She has her own home and her mother will be concerned, especially if she thinks I’m letting my son do whatever he likes with her under my roof. No way. The rules are she goes home.”

  “But she’s here a lot, it seems,” said Eva.

  “He’s a young man and I don’t think Georgie’s influence on my son is altogether negative. I even hope she might even motivate him towards aiming for something, or at least pulling himself out of his doldrums. Love can do that for a man, don’t you know. In the beginning at least.”

  “Your son does seem a little in the doldrums,” said Eva, “doesn’t he?”

  “He’s a moody teenager and he doesn’t look after himself. He eats junk and doesn’t exercise, consequently he has a gnat’s immune system. He’s ill far too frequently for my liking. He needs to grow up and get out in the world.”

  “But you need him here, don’t you?”

  “Not all the time. He should have a life too.”

  “So he’s ill a lot then?” said Eva.

  “Yes. With all manner of bugs. You name them, if they’re current, Joe will get them. Vitamin supplements don’t seem to do a damn thing for the lad.”

  “Hmmm. And he was here last night..”

  “Yes. And yes, he was ill again. Not severely ill, just under the weather, as always. Weak, pale and tired. He went to bed about nine and as I’d finished working, I was heading out to meet someone.”

  Eva gave him an inquisitive look.

  “A lady friend,” said Clancy.

  “And was Georgie here when Joe went to bed?”

  “No. She’d gone home already. I always make sure of that.”

  “Fine. So it was just you and Joe, and Joe went up at nine pm, feeling ill, and you went out.”

  “About a quarter of an hour later or so, yes. But before I left, I went up to check on him, brought him some medicine, but he was already half asleep. He seemed a bit feverish to me, but he was asleep so I left the cold and flu remedies by his bed in case he needed them.”

  “This Carl Renton thing must have upset him,” said Eva. “But then Mr Renton wasn’t missing at that point.”

  “Renton had only just left a while before that. Joe seemed upset about something, but he didn’t want to talk about it. I put it all down to his mood swings and general poorliness and let the matter go. I suppose it could have been down to some foreknowledge about Renton but I’d only be guessing, I’m afraid. His mood swings could have equally been about a row with Georgie. Or the usual simple disapproval of my ways.”

  “Disapproval?”

  “Yes. Haven’t you noticed yet? Oh, I’m sure you will. Joe disapproves of a lot of things, and I am chief among them.”

  “But why would he disapprove of you?”

  “He thinks I’m a let-down as a father. Who knows, he could be right. But then he doesn’t remember what his mother was like.” Clancy offered a smile and finally relaxed a little, visibly sinking into his shoes

  “So your son is estranged from his mother too?”

  “Yes, he is. And I can’t say I’m sorry about that. But she chose her path, and I’ve worked hard to establish mine. Now, do you mind, Miss Roberts. I have a few things to do. I need to check in on my jewellery business and so forth.”

  “Just a few more things, Mr Clancy.”

  “Very well.

  “Where were you during the robbery?”

  “Why ask me?” said Clancy. “I’m the one who was robbed after all.”

  “If I can get the fullest possible picture of comings and goings last night, I’m sure it would help.”

  “Fine then. As I said, I’ve got a lady friend. Yvonne Parker. She happens to know a lot about jewellery and ornaments, and she’s great company too. Soon as Joe was settled I went to see her for drinks and a spot of company.”

  Eva thought of asking if the man has spent the night with Yvonne Parker, but it seemed inappropriate to ask without being hired for the case. But Eva’s hesitancy spoke for her. Mr Clancy scratched his chin before he spoke.

  “I stayed until about five am. I always wake up early. Yvonne was going to be busy this morning, so I left her to it.”

  Eva nodded. “Thanks for being so candid, Mr Clancy.”

  “If it helps find what’s been stolen from me, I’ll tell you all I can. I suppose you’ll want pictures of the missing items? Visuals to help you track them down?”

  “That would certainly help, yes,” said Eva. The man walked to the bureau and pulled down the writing flap. He pulled another leather-bound book – one of A5 diary size – from one of the pigeon holes at the back and laid it flat on the desk flap. Not everything was organised. Between the pigeon hole compartments was a mess of paper piled at all kinds of angles. Accounting and receipts, she guessed. An untidiness from disliking the financial aspect of his work? It was a common malaise. But everything else seemed orderly and beautiful. Eva looked at the pages of the book. There were images of gold bangles, cymbals, small bowls. Each one had been assigned a handwritten code number. And beneath the handwritten notes (all in nice blue fountain pen ink) a new pencil note had been added. It said ‘Missing’. Eva noticed most of the missing items seemed to belong to the empty spaces in the wall cabinet, but there was one anomaly. Eva looked at the catalogue entry of a fine ornamental hatchet with a gold and copper criss-crossed handle. There was no ‘Missing’ word beneath it, but she saw its place on the display was empty.

  “This seems to be missing too, Mr Clancy.

  “Which?” said Clancy.

  “The... um, Celtic hatchet?” said Eva, reading the note.

  “Damn it. You’re right I didn’t even make a note it!” said Clancy, snapping his fingers with irritation. “Still, that you noticed the problem is very reassuring. You’ve got quite the sharp eye, I see.” Clancy nodded. He lifted the lid of the bureau, closed up the writing flap, and turned to face her.

  “Most of the time, yes.”

  “Good, because now you’ll have to find my Celtic hatchet too. That came from the same tranche as the Celtic torq which the police confiscated to save that idiotic councillor’s blushes.”

  Eva flicked through the neatly written pages. The catalogue entries were thorough and detailed.

  “You’re welcome to borrow this catalogue, but you must bring it back. I catalogue everything I have and I only keep one catalogue for each category. This one is for my most special items, so guard it well.”

  “I’ll do my best, Mr Clancy.” Eva leafed through the book a little longer then slid it into her handbag and made a show of fastening the bag shut with care.

  “Anything else you need?” said Clancy.

  “One thing. This Celtic torq of yours. What is it exactly, and how did they get their hands on it?”

  “My torq is essentially a large solid gold neck band with a bulb on either end. Look in the catalogue. There it is, see? Quite a piece it is, too. The thief must have taken it with all the rest, but he wasn’t so careful as to keep hold of it. It was found on the beach this morning by some man walking his dog. Thankfully he was the honest type, or I’d have lost it twice over. Now the police have it and they won’t release it to me, because of their inept confusion over the Saxon King pieces stolen from the councillor’s house.”

  “And the torq has nothing in common with the Saxon King pieces?”

  “No. And the loss of the Saxon King pieces is their problem, not mine. I only want my Celtic torq back. It’s mine. But don’t worry, I’ll deal with that. Can you see what I’ve got to deal with – all this on top of running a business.”

  “It’s certainly a mess, Mr Clancy.”

  “A mess of every kind,” said Clancy. “And look, I’m grateful for you showing an interest in my son’s missing friend Renton. Very kind of you. But the emphasis must be on finding my m
issing items something’s happened to them. If that seems a little selfish then so be it. But Renton could well turn up in a few hours, whereas my precious items are definitely gone. Who can say what will happen to them if you don’t find them soon? They could be long gone.”

  “I understand your urgency, Mr Clancy. But if we can look into Carl Renton as well we certainly will.”

  Clancy nodded and checked his watch. Gold, naturally. Noticing that Eva still lingered before him, the man scratched the back of his head.

  “Is there anything else I can help you with, Miss Roberts?”

  “Yes,” said Eva, nodding. “Just one thing. Are you hiring us for the job, Mr Clancy? Or just sounding me out?”

  “I’m hiring you. If you can find those things of mine, I’m sure your fee will be worth every penny.”

  “Yes, Mr Clancy. I’m sure it will...” Eva beamed brightly. Her smile was such that Clancy couldn’t help beaming right back.

  But Eva still saw the case as two jobs, no matter what Mr Clancy wanted. Finding the missing items from his collection was the headline but finding Carl Renton seemed to be his son’s priority. Even Clancy Senior admitted the man was good people. And there were still others dependent on Carl Renton turning up alive and well, people who relied on his help to recover from their slavery to drug addiction. Whether it paid the bills or not, finding Carl Renton had to be part of the job. And Eva reckoned they would have just enough time and capacity to do both, so long as the gold didn’t elude them for long.

  Five

  After a strong coffee to fend off the lunchtime excesses Eva and Dan returned once more to Kings Road. As soon as the coffee was done Eva printed a contract, grabbed her jacket and they left the office. It was still hot outside, the traffic was slow, and most car windows were fully wound down, but playtime was over. It was time to get back to work and they arrived back at the Clancy residence within an hour of having left. Aaron Clancy’s job was the only show in town, which meant they needed the man’s signature on the dotted line before he had the chance to change his mind. Mark and Joanne had been left behind as placeholders to keep the door open and their seats warm. It helped no end that Mark knew Joe from school, and Eva saw them through the living room window talking quietly when they arrived. She rang the doorbell and got ready to wait but Joe Clancy opened the door almost immediately. The young man searched Eva’s eyes as if there might be some news already but Eva shook her head in answer. There was nothing to say yet. Clancy Senior appeared at the back of the house, emerging from the stairwell into the hallway. Eva met his eye, conscious of the job contract burning a hole in her hand. She wanted it signed, pronto. Getting the job felt like a stroke of luck and she was determined to keep it.