Heartwishes (Edilean 5)

That news startled Colin. Only someone who knew the owner would know that there was a hiding place inside the post. It looked as though someone close to the family had done it.

Colin found the woman sitting in her kitchen, her hands shaking as she drank a cup of coffee. She told Colin that she was upset because the robbery had taken place in broad daylight.

“I was outside deadheading the roses, and the kids were on their big play set. I came back in to make dinner, and it wasn’t until after we’d eaten that I saw my bedroom had been ransacked,” she said. “I don’t want to think what could have happened if I or one of the kids had gone in and interrupted the thief.” She took a drink of her coffee; her hand was shaking. “If only I’d kept my mouth shut!”

He listened while she told him that her aunt had died a few months before and left her a diamond ring. At the last playgroup at Armstrong’s grocery that she’d taken her little boy to, she’d shown it off. “Anyone could have seen it. Half of the county goes to that grocery.”

“Are we talking multiple diamonds, something that would need to be insured separately?”

“No, not really,” she said. “The ring had a center diamond, then some smaller ones around it. I think the middle one was about half a carat, maybe a bit more.”

“Do you know what it was worth?”

“I have no idea,” she said, but looked down at her cup for a moment then back up. “Two or three thousand at the most, but I think I may have hinted that it was worth more.”

She looked so guilty that Colin smiled warmly at her. “Bragging isn’t a crime, and we all do it. I want to know about your bed. Who knew the ring was inside the post?”

“No one!” she said emphatically. “My father showed me that hiding place when I was a little girl. My mother was very stingy and one time when I wanted something and she said no, he showed me where he hid a stash of money. It was our secret. When I got married, my parents were going to buy us new furniture, but I asked for the bed Dad had made. He knew why I wanted it.”

“Did you tell your husband about the bedpost?”

“No, I did not. And I didn’t tell my kids or my best friend. I never told anyone at all about that place. It was my own personal little safe.”

“Do you have any siblings who your father might have told?”

“I have a brother who lives in Wisconsin. He and my father never got along, so I doubt if Dad told him. Do you think he flew back here to steal the ring?”

Colin wasn’t sure if she was serious or being sarcastic. Whatever, he closed his notebook and looked at her. “Has anything else in the house been touched?”

“Not that I’ve seen. Roy went through every room. She said I’m a good housekeeper.”

Colin gave her a small smile of reassurance and asked her to please not use the bedroom tonight. He didn’t think it would turn up anything, but he wanted it dusted for fingerprints.

He and Roy left the house.

“What do you think?” she asked as soon as they were outside. “Kids daring each other?”

“No, I don’t think so.” He was looking up at the windows and frowning. He didn’t want to say what he thought, but his instinct told him that this wasn’t an ordinary robbery.

Inside the house, the woman’s ten-year-old daughter l

ooked at the little sprig of leaves her mother had left for her on her chest of drawers. She often left flowers, especially roses, but this was different. The leaves were long and thin, light colored and very pretty, and at the bottom her mother had tied a pink ribbon. She didn’t know the branches were from a willow tree. Smiling, the child put the little bouquet under her pillow. Maybe she would dream of who had robbed their house and stolen her mother’s pretty ring.

18

WHEN COLIN LEFT the site of the robbery, his mind was so absorbed with it that he couldn’t think clearly. His only real thought was to go home to Gemma and tell her what he’d seen and how puzzling it all was.

It wasn’t as though there’d never before been a robbery in Edilean, but usually it was easy to see what had happened. The thief would break a pane in a glass door and let himself in. He usually took a TV, stereo, emptied a jewelry box, then ran out a different door.

But with this robbery, things were different. Colin didn’t count it as significant that no one’d had to actually break in. Most of the people in Edilean left their doors unlocked, and they certainly did during the day when the owner was home.

What puzzled Colin was that this thief had so easily found the ring hidden inside a bedpost. The woman’s jewelry box lid had been opened, but she’d told Roy that nothing had been so much as moved. To Colin, that meant the robber was accomplished enough to know by sight that none of the jewelry in the case was valuable.

And why had the furniture been overturned? he wondered. Did the thief think the police were going to believe he was searching under a chair?

Colin didn’t think it was possible, but even though he was guessing, he’d say it was a professional job. But that made no sense. Why would a professional thief bother to go after a ring worth just a few grand?

As Colin pulled into his garage, he saw that the truck was still there. That meant Gemma was probably inside, and that thought made him smile. He opened the side door—and thought about telling her to keep it locked—and called out to her. When there was no answer, his smile faded. She was gone. Did she walk home or did someone give her a ride?