Shirley nodded.
“So you have eternal bad luck if you reveal the inheritance,” I said. “Suppose someone guessed it? That wouldn’t exactly be revealing it.”
Shirley shrugged.
I was sure I’d previously fondled everything in her apartment. The object, if it existed, had to be on her.
“Let me see your necklace, your ring, and your watch,” I said.
Shirley took them off and put them in my hand. Nothing. I returned her jewelry, and I saw Shirley’s eyes flick to her purse on the kitchen table.
“Your purse,” I said.
Shirley handed it over, and I dumped everything onto the counter. Seven Snickers bars, lipstick, compact, wallet, pack of tissues, hairbrush, hand sanitizer, three Peppermint Patties, keys, notepad, pen, a handful of Hershey’s Kisses, a crumpled Whopper wrapper.
I picked everything up and held it in my hand, one by one. The lipstick, compact, wallet, hairbrush, and pen said nothing to me. The instant the keys hit my palm, they radiated heat. I dropped them onto the table, and the heat went away. I picked them up, and they warmed my hand.
“Holy cow,” I said.
“That’s it?” Diesel asked. “The Stone is disguised as a key?”
“This is too weird,” I said. “It’s got to be a setup. How did you get the keys to radiate heat?”
Diesel took the keys from me and examined them. “Lizzy, you’re the only one who can feel the heat.”
Shirley had finished the turkey leg and was working her way through the Snickers bars.
“You inherited a key,” I said to her.
Shirley vigorously shook her head.
I took another look at the key ring. There were three keys and a ladybug charm on the ring.
“It’s the charm,” I said.
Shirley nodded. “Clam bake.”
I removed the ladybug from the ring and held it in my hand. It vibrated slightly and grew warm.
Shirley pointed to the photo on the end table. “Twinkies,” she said. And she counted off on three fingers. “Huey, Dewey, Louie.”
“I don’t like what I think she’s trying to tell us,” I said to Diesel.
Diesel fixed his eyes on the photo. “Three people got inheritances?” he asked Shirley.
Shirley nodded. “Beeswax.”
I looked over at Diesel. “Don’t tell me we have to collect more charms. One is good enough, right?”
“I’m on a learning curve,” Diesel said, “but I suppose to be safe we need all the charms.”
“Maybe Wulf doesn’t know about the other charms.”
“Hard to believe. Shirley had no knowledge of the Stone. She thought she had a keepsake ladybug. So we know Shirley didn’t leak information. Uncle Phil, on the other hand, probably knew. He divided the charms as a safety precaution and tried to scare everyone into silence with the threat of eternal bad luck. Wulf had to know about the uncle and the divided inheritance.”
“Do you have addresses or phone numbers for the people in the photograph?” Diesel asked Shirley.
Shirley shook her head.