“Fair enough.”
“Good.”
Nicholas said, “Now that we’re best friends, tell me how in the world a priceless diamond goes missing from an exhibit pretty much everyone is aware of and is surrounded by the best security the art world has to offer?”
Mike shot him a look and accepted the sarcasm, since it was merited. “I think all of us agree it had to be an inside job. Had to be. The person who did it was the same person who caused the power outage, someone really close, someone who’d gotten ahold of one of Peter Grisley’s fakes and switched them out in that five-minute window of opportunity.”
15
Nicholas said, “Tell me what your forensics are showing. How exactly was the diamond taken and replaced?”
Mike started to answer, and yawned instead.
“Been at it for a while, have you?”
“Sorry. I was up all night. I managed four hours of sleep, but I’ve got to admit, I’m dragging. My bloodstream needs coffee; that will perk me right up.
“Okay, once Mr. Horsley—Bo—briefs us, and everyone’s in agreement with the plan, my best forensic people are standing by to process the room. We’ll fingerprint everything carefully, including the fake Koh-i-Noor, of course, and see exactly how the case was opened.”
Nicholas said, “Uncle Bo told me the biometrics reports show only he and Elaine accessed the room during the past three days—that doesn’t count the five-minute power outage, of course. I don’t think Elaine did this. And assuming that’s the truth, the thief is most likely already on a plane out of the country. I agree with Uncle Bo, I think we’ve got a real pro involved here, and a pro isn’t going to stick around and glory in his kill.
“Uncle Bo is the first to say that none of the staff close to the Koh-i-Noor have the background to suggest a pro of this magnitude. I’m thinking the background checks on all those people who got within twenty feet of the exhibit room need to go much deeper. We’re talking what—maybe a dozen people, on the outside?”
“Sounds about right.”
“There must be a great deal of money involved, and we need to be looking at who may be behind a theft of this nature, as well as who the thief m
ight be. I’ve made a list of world-class thieves who have the resources and cunning to pull off such a theft.”
She grinned. “Remember I mentioned the dead Russian in Inspector York’s apartment was a foot soldier for the Anatoly crime family? Well, guess what? Andrei Anatoly also deals in stolen jewels, not to mention other criminal enterprises, and we have our local office who deals with them looking deep into their past few weeks as we speak. Another thing: Andrei Anatoly is also an art lover and is on the guest list for tonight’s event. I thought we might have a chat with him.”
Nicholas said, “I assume you’ve already heard Savich and Sherlock are here to speak to him as well?”
Mike nodded. “Hearing Dillon’s grandmother is Sarah Elliott—that blew my mind. They believe Anatoly is the one behind the theft and switch of one of his grandmother’s paintings in the Prado Museum. The crimes echo one another, and I don’t believe in coincidence.”
“I don’t, either. I’ll cross-check my list of thieves with Anatoly and his people, see if there’s any indication of a match. Maybe Anatoly wants to score one of the most famous diamonds in the world.”
“I wouldn’t doubt it,” Mike said. “We also need to find out if Bo is one hundred percent certain the stone was real when it arrived. It could have been a fake the whole time and no one knew, right?”
“I already asked him. The Koh-i-Noor and all the other jewels were tested before they left England and again when they arrived on American soil. And yet again at the museum, following the indemnity requirements for the gigantic insurance policy covering the exhibit.”
“The crown jewels are encased in specially made vitrine display cases with two-inch-thick bulletproof glass, which is impossible to break into. Having the power off is the only untraceable way to get into the case.”
“Yep, it was definitely an insider,” she said, and unspoken was Elaine York.
Mike whipped the Crown Vic across four lanes of traffic and merged onto the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge, which would take them to the East Side. “We’re ten minutes out now, if the angels are on our side and traffic doesn’t get worse.”
He rubbed his neck. “It’s been a long day.”
“I imagine so. Unfortunately, it’s going to get longer. The media is having a field day with Elaine York’s murder. I’ve already seen it reported on every major station. The talking heads are going nuts, wondering what it could all mean, some of them even questioning the safety of the crown jewels here in the U.S. As for the BBC, they’re about ready to pick up pitchforks and light torches and come rescue their jewels. And they even know about Kochen’s connection to Anatoly, and you can only imagine what they’re saying.”
He’d seen CNN as they’d walked through the terminal, but hadn’t said anything to her about it. “Well, at least they don’t know anything about the missing Koh-i-Noor yet.”
“Yet being the operative word here. If we don’t get the diamond back before the news breaks—” She shuddered. “It doesn’t bear thinking about.”
No, he thought, it doesn’t. They were both silent. Finally, Mike said, “Hear me out, okay? Let’s say Elaine York was in on the theft from the beginning. Why? Money, I guess, lots and lots of money. She was matched up with the Russian thug, stole the diamond for his people, and both of them were killed, probably by the people she was going to pass the diamond off to. That could mean Anatoly’s already got the Koh-i-Noor and York and Kochen’s murderer was another one of his soldiers.”
He couldn’t very well shoot her, since she was driving. He said only, his voice mild, “That’s one possibility. Next?”