Thankless in Death (In Death 37)

“I’m sure he did.”

“He said he’d recently lost his parents in an accident. He choked up for a moment, so I didn’t press there. And he said he couldn’t bear to keep the watches or the pearls. He’d tried to wear his father’s watch, he said, but it was too upsetting.”

“I bet.”

“I did suggest he might want to wait a little while longer, perhaps put them in a safety deposit box. That he might regret selling them at some point. But he said no, he was leaving New York, and felt he should try for a fresh start. They’re all lovely pieces, the vintage woman’s watch particularly. If you’ll wait a moment, I put them back in our vault after my daughter noticed the alert on our screen. We’ve never had this happen before. It’s very upsetting.”

“I understand.”

“Excuse me.”

He walked away and through a door. As he did a woman stepped over. She had his dark blue eyes, his nose. “I’m Naomi Ursa. My father’s very upset. I saw the media bulletin about the two people—the husband and wife—killed in their apartment on the West Side. I haven’t mentioned it to my father. But those watches, those lovely antique pearls … they belonged to those poor people, didn’t they?”

“I can’t verify that. It would help if we could see your security footage.”

“Yes, Pop already had a copy made for you, but if you’d like to come around the counter, you can see it on our screen right here.”

Eve started around, then had to elbow Peabody, who stood mooning over a necklace that looked like a chain of little pink tears.

“I cued it up when you came in,” Naomi told her, and called for play.

Eve watched Reinhold come in. No suitcases, she noted, so he’d found somewhere to stash them, somewhere to hole up. He had what she supposed he thought of as a sad face on, and arrowed straight for the older man.

Interesting, she thought. He’d gone to the father type, the authority type, not the younger female.

She watched the conversation, Ursa’s sympathy. He lay a velvet pad on the counter for the watches, a second for the pearl necklace.

Not nervous, Eve thought, her focus on Reinhold rather than Ursa as the man got out his jeweler’s loop, some sort of measuring tool, and began to examine the pieces.

Impatient, she thought again. Excited.

Ursa spoke again, and Reinhold shook his head, looked down, looked away, pressed his lips together. Into the role he’d created for himself.

Ursa laid a hand over Reinhold’s, and the sincere sympathy showed, even on screen. Ursa slid the velvet to the side, gestured his daughter over, whispered in her ear.

“He’s telling me to put them away, so he doesn’t have to see them,” Naomi said. “And he offered the man a little more than he should have, but we both felt so sorry for him. And on a practical level, the antique woman’s watch would have made up for it.”

Ursa stepped out. “I put them in boxes.” He set them on the table behind the counter, opened all three boxes. “They’re very nice pieces. The man’s watch, of course, isn’t vintage, but a very good watch, and well cared for. The woman’s is quite an exceptional piece, and in excellent condition. The pearls are lovely, and well-kept. I have the paperwork for you as well.?

??

“Thank you, Mr. Ursa. My partner’s going to give you everything you need for your insurance on this, and in addition a receipt for all three pieces. You can contact me anytime.” She drew out a card. “And please, if Mr. Reinhold comes back, don’t confront him. Find a reason to step into the back and contact me.”

“You think he’ll come back?” Naomi pressed a hand to her throat.

“No, I don’t. But I want you to understand, should you see him or hear from him again, he’s a dangerous man, and you need to contact the police. Peabody, make sure Ms. Ursa has everything she needs from us.”

“Ms. Ursa, why don’t we just step over here?”

When she had a little room, Eve spoke quietly. “You were kind to him. Don’t let that, or him, make you feel stupid.”

The faintest smile moved Ursa’s mouth. “It shows?”

“I bet you have a website, and it plays on being in business for a couple generations, how it’s family run, gives personal, individual service, and how you specialize in estate jewelry.”

“You’d win the bet. We’re three generations. It’s my mother’s and father’s day off. My son and his wife.” He gestured to the other end of the store where a man and a woman waited on customers.

“It’s one of the reasons he picked you,” Eve told him. “You’re solid, you’re respected, you’re fair. He’d have researched you, just like he researched the general value of the watches, and the necklace. And because as a family business you’d tend to be sympathetic toward someone who told you the story he told you.”