Chapter Sixteen

“What do you think of our detective friend?” asked Garrett. We’d hung up while Detective Phipps retrieved his file from a storage bin in his garage so he could answer some more in depth questions, giving us a few minutes of time to kill.

To me, that meant killing a second donut.

“I was fascinated,” I said between chews. “We know the why. He figured out the how but he hit the wall on the who. We might have a who. That’s assuming the two cases definitely connect.” How many rubies of that size were floating around unclaimed? It seemed outlandish to think there might be more than one. Yet even more outlandish to think it had been found here, in an unassuming backyard.

“It might be very hard to connect our deceased man to his suspect.” Garrett pushed back in his seat, and tapped his pen against the desk. “We know Phipps’ suspect is good. No, not just good, to pull that theft off, he’s exceptional. But if it were Black, he fell foul of someone. Something went very wrong and he didn’t see it coming.”

“I can’t imagine the patience of someone who could conceal themselves in a tiny room overnight with millions in jewels and then just stroll out in the morning.” If it were me, I would probably fall asleep, lean against the concealed door, fall out, and wake up with security officers pointing guns at me. Not this guy though. He slipped out of the museum like it was nothing. I wondered if he’d even broken a sweat.

“The patience of a man with a huge payday coming. That’s a thing,” said Garrett, pausing to tap his pen against his chin. “I can’t conceive that he’d want to keep the jewels for himself. Black wasn’t living a luxury lifestyle, although his son’s school fees were a fair whack and the remaining funds covered college too. He wouldn’t keep all those jewels for himself, so who was his buyer? It weren’t the person who shot him. If it were a double-cross, they’d have taken the jewels. And what was he planning to do after he sold them? Even with the red-hot discount fee, I don’t see someone with that kind of cash retiring here to put their feet up. Where’s the thrill in living a mundane life after committing that kind of heist?”

“Whoever killed him was as dumb as rocks not to search his body before they buried him.”

Garrett dropped his pen and stroked his jaw. “Perhaps that’s what we’re dealing with. A killer who wasn’t necessarily dumb but didn’t know what was right within reach.”

“If that’s the case, it means Black was killed for another reason.”

“There’s probably a bunch of reasons to kill Black. A man like that could have made enemies throughout his life. Both direct and indirect.”

“You mean, the people who knew him, and the people who didn’t know him but knew what he stole.”

“Precisely.” Garrett contemplated something for a moment. “It’s been surprising to me that Black’s name hasn’t come up in reference to any other high-end thefts but I wonder if I’ve been looking in the wrong place. I feel like I should put a call in to the Feds. Maddox investigates major crimes like that.”

“He was interested in the jewels earlier,” I said. “Maybe give him a call. He’d definitely appreciate the heads-up if there are any similarities to his case.”

“Any idea what he’s working?”

“No, only that it involves jewels and his suspect is a Caucasian woman, and she’s in her thirties so way too young to be associated with Black.”

“Father or son?” asked Garrett.

“I meant the father, but who knows about the son? Gideon… it feels weird to call him that… is a conman and he didn’t only steal jewels…” I mulled it over in my mind, my thoughts not quite connecting, while Garrett watched me, waiting patiently. “I guess they have something in common.”

“Or possibly are in competition with each other. Stranger things have happened.”

“He could just be trying to steal our case.”

“Likely, but I’m not stubborn enough to swat away any help Maddox might be able to give,” Garrett said as he reached for his desk phone before stretching. He sat up a little straighter when his call was answered and said, “Hey! Special Agent Maddox, it’s Lieutenant Graves over at MPD… No, I don’t know why I announced myself so formally either… It is work-related though… No, my crazy sister isn’t with me. As if!” He scoffed and rolled his eyes. “It’s about that high-end theft I’m looking into and I hoped you might shed some light on the name I’ve got. Charles or Charlie Black. I’m not getting any hits in our databases. Can you run it through yours? That’s great. Appreciate it, buddy.” Garrett set the phone down. “He’ll call back.”

“I can’t believe he called me your crazy sister,” I hissed in indignation.

“Let’s assume he meant Serena. That way, I wasn’t lying.”

“That’s fair. She is actually crazy. Unlike me. I’m just average nuts.”

Almost as soon as Garrett took his hand off the handset, it rang again.

“Lieutenant Graves?” the voice drifted through the receiver.

“Detective Phipps, thanks for calling back.” Garrett hit the speakerphone button again and I scooched closer to listen.

“I skimmed the file and I gotta say, it’s pretty thin for anything concrete. Plenty of notes about dead leads. However, I noticed something when I was taking a look at the photos of the contractors who were fitting out the museum. You remember I said, we investigated those guys and didn’t find anything? Well, I noticed the photo of your guy looks a heck of a lot like one of the guys on the maintenance crew we interviewed. He’s got a few days’ stubble in our pictures and his hair is different but it’s easy for guys to change their appearance like that. He didn’t stand out at the time because he was still working for the company the last time we checked, which was two months later.”

“You’re sure?” I asked. Waiting overnight in a hideout was one level of patience. Waiting out an investigation for two months was a whole other level. Not only that, it would be ballsy to hang out right under the police’s noses, but then who searched for a person who hadn’t attracted any attention?

“Not a hundred percent but the eyes and the nose look the same. Our guy’s name was Timothy Wright. We would have run everybody at the time and nothing was flagged. Everything must have come back verified but our systems weren’t as sophisticated back then. All the same, if that were an alias, it was good enough that no one took a second look. If Wright had jumped out on work the next day or something, then of course, we would have had our suspicions.” Exasperation oozed from his voice.

“What do you remember about him?” asked Garrett.

“Not much. The case, I remember. The individuals less so, but I do remember he was good buddies with one of the other guys on the crew. Kelvin Huff. Huff was on the crew first and he put Wright on when they were hiring after getting the museum contract. That was a couple months before the exhibition. Oh, man! Could the perp have been planning the heist for that long?”

“It’s likely,” said Garrett. “He could have been planning the heist as soon as the exhibition tour was announced and the venues were confirmed. It would have given him plenty of time to put everything in place. Maintenance work prior to the jewels’ arrival would be the perfect window in. Can you send me the particulars of these two guys? Photos, interviews, whatever you have on them?”

“Sure, I’ll scan and email them.”

“What else can you tell us about them?” I asked.

“Nothing much about Wright. I made a note that he was a congenial sort. Moderately interested in the theft, didn’t offer up any explanations or theories. Said he knew about the exhibition but was strictly a sports fan so museums were not his sort of thing. Says here he went to the movies on the night of the theft, then home to bed,” said Detective Phipps, reading from his notes. “Nothing we could verify but nothing we couldn’t either. The theater was showing the movie at the time he said he was there, he had a ticket stub, paid cash, and we can’t ask everyone on the planet for an alibi every time they go to bed alone. Said he went to the bodega down the street for milk for his cereal in the morning. The bodega owner did verify that. Work history was all drywall and decorating. Not married, no kids. Parents passed on.”

“The ideal kind of background for an alias,” said Garrett.

“Yeah, that’s what I’m thinking as I read it aloud to you,” said Detective Phipps. “The other guy wasn’t much more interesting. Kelvin Huff. He lived alone too. Just down the block from Wright, as it happens. Pretty down on his luck. Divorced the previous year, wife got the lot, not that the lot was very much. She was a nurse and seems to have funded everything while he was in and out of low paid work. One kid, a girl, and a bunch of unpaid child support payments. Yeah, that’s right. I remember he was real bitter about it too. Said he was dreaming of a lottery win so he could get out of the city, buy a place on the coast, get a boat, spend his life fishing, and flip his middle finger at the ex-wife. He was pretty adamant that was what he was going to do. No mention of a new teddy bear for the kid. He was on his final warning with the contractors last I heard and that’s all I have. I can send a picture of him too, but obviously, it’s from twenty years ago.”

“I’d appreciate it. I’ll run some checks on them and see where they are now,” said Garrett. “How did the case go cold?”

“Between what I remember and from flipping through the file, I stayed on the case another four months before all my leads went stone cold. We were working with the Feds by that point too. Decent guys, keen to work together, but I don’t think they got a whole lot further than I did. We ran down every angle but there was nothing.”

“Do you have their contacts?”

“I wish I did. One got killed on the job ten years ago. The other died from cancer last year. Rough luck.”

“Sorry to hear that,” said Garrett.”

“Thanks. They were good guys. I can tell you we all came to the same conclusion. The thief was damn smart. Everything must’ve been planned to a tee because not a single trace was left behind. Hey, you really think it might be one of those guys? Did we miss him?” asked Detective Phipps.

Garrett made a non-committal noise, then said, “Our only indicator so far is your possible identification of our dead guy as one of your guys. It’s a long shot, but then it was only a passing comment that connected us to your jewel heist. I’ll take the odds.”

“I’d like to know if you come up with anything.”

“Give me the rundown on Wright and Huff,” said Garrett, making notes as Detective Phipps read out the information. “I’ll keep you looped in. If the ruby and the other jewels are verified as those in the robbery, that confirms our guy was involved. It’s possible the case will unravel from there.”

“You could talk to the museum curator or someone from Rachenstein. I’ll send the contacts I have but obviously they’re old news. People move on.”

“Appreciate it,” said Garrett and after a minute of shooting the breeze about retirement, they disconnected. What do you make of all that?” he asked me.

“Detective Phipps seemed sincere.”

“I thought so too. I bet this case has been sitting rent-free in his head all this time. His identification could be pivotal,” he said, already turning to his computer. “Let me make some checks, and see if these guys are in the system at all.”

I chewed my donut while I waited, wondering when I would get a turn to stick my nose into his computer and maybe search for a few people I knew too. My neighbors, perhaps, or people I didn’t like from high school.

“Okay,” said Garrett, a few minutes later. “Nothing on Timothy Wright but I got something on Kelvin Huff. He went to prison around nineteen years ago for a grand larceny Class B only five months after the museum theft. He’s got a few months left to serve.”

“Grand larceny fits the profile.”

“Timeline fits too. He was a free man for the museum robbery and possibly Black’s death.”

“What did he steal? That’s a lot of time for theft.”

“Several paintings from a house his employers had him working on, to the tune of 1.2 million. He didn’t get further than the end of the street and was driving the van the paintings were stashed in. He tried to plead not guilty and the jury disagreed.”

“Not guilty? Really?”

“Yeah, seems improbable just reading the notes. One of Huff’s colleagues testified he saw him load the paintings, plus, he was the only one in the van when he got pulled over. The kicker is the homeowners had a security camera that recorded everything. He didn’t even try to disguise himself. It was a slam dunk.”

I pulled a face. “He doesn’t sound like a criminal mastermind.”

“He sounds like an idiot. I’m going to check with the Federal Bureau of Prisons and find out where he is now. Ah, Detective Phipps emailed copies. I’m going to forward them to you. Take a look while I run Wright through a few other databases.” Garrett reached for his computer mouse, staring intently at the screen.

On my phone, I opened the file he’d forwarded me, skimming through the volume of paperwork that Phipps wrote in his email was only a fraction of the file. The images he’d sent of Timothy Wright and Kelvin Huff were black and white and grainy but as I zoomed in on Wright’s features, I had to agree. I could see Charlie Black in Wright, but was it enough? There were plenty of differences too although Phipps’ comments about hairstyles and facial hair had merit. If he were the same man, we had a starting point and an end point and we knew what had happened in the middle.

Two questions remained: who put him in that shallow grave? And why hadn’t they taken the jewels?

“I’m not coming up with anything,” said Garrett. “Nothing on Timothy Wright at all.”

“How do you feel about splitting the task?” I asked.

“Took the words right out of my mouth. Why don’t we reconvene here tomorrow and hopefully, we’ll have more to work with by then. Plus, you never know, the public might provide a tip, thanks to The Gazette’s story.”

“It’s a plan,” I said, rising. I reached for the donut box but Garrett’s hand landed on it, even though he was looking the other way. I rolled my eyes and withdrew my hand. “I’ll see myself out,” I told him.

“Try not to cause any trouble on your way,” he said.

I resisted the urge to stick out my tongue. Instead, I crossed my fingers and nodded.

As I left Garrett’s office, navigating my way to the exit on autopilot, I thought about the Blacks and how they were the opposite of my family. The Blacks had made a business of lying and stealing. My family had made a commitment to law and order. Could we easily have gone the other way? What would my life have been if we were the Montgomery Mafia? I could see myself as a very glamorous boss lady. However, I could also see myself developing a heart condition before I hit forty and needing to spend a lot of time hyperventilating. I couldn’t see myself getting caught and doing hard time in an orange jumpsuit. Some things were just not meant to be so I had to get on with fighting crime in nicer clothing hues.

“Excuse me,” I said, sidestepping the two plainclothes women coming around the corner.

“No problem,” said one, barely giving me a second glance as she continued talking. “So there I am staring at my locker, scratching my head, wondering where the heck my uniform went. Did I put it in the wrong locker? Or did I leave it on the bench and the cleaners threw it in the lost property? All I know is my sergeant is going to have choice words for me if I don’t find it before the next shift!”

“Someone is pranking you,” said her friend. “I’ll bet…” Then her words were lost to me as they moved further along the corridor.

“Lexi!”

I looked around for the source of my name, seeing Jord ahead of me, waving. I waved back and we walked towards each other, meeting at the corridor junction. “I’ve been hearing about your case non-stop.”

“Lily?”

“Yeah. And Mom? She’s texted seventeen times today already. But also everyone in the building. Are you working on it now?”

“We got a great lead,” I told him. “Garrett’s doing the heavy lifting with the background research.”

“There’s a lot of buzz about keeping that kind of item in the evidence locker.”

“Why? It’s the safest place for it.”

“That kind of thing brings out all kinds of thieves looking for the biggest payday of their lives. I bet the jewels get an armed escort out of here, wherever they end up getting sent. Although, that said, smart criminals are all about the cyber crimes now. Digital theft is even bigger business and you can do it from anywhere in the world.”

“A few million in jewels is small fry to that kind of thief.”

Jord nodded. “True. Anyway, we’re thinking game night next week. Cards, beers, pizza. Daniel and Alice can’t make it. Can you and Solomon?”

“I’m sure we can.”

“Cool. Catch up soon. And thanks for not getting my wife into trouble.”

“You’re welcome?” I said, my intonation suggesting I wasn’t sure that had anything to do with me. Nor did it suggest he knew Lily and I had crashed a wake, bumped into a corpse, and received a soaking during our escape. Well, what he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.

“Take care!” said Jord as his cell phone rang in his pocket. He gave me a wave as he reached for his phone, our conversation over.

I turned to head down the hall, colliding with a uniformed woman. She muttered, “Pardon me” as we bumped shoulders in passing, then hurried away. A few paces later, and I stopped and turned, frowning at something I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Then I shook my head. She was probably someone I’d gone to school with and forgotten, or someone who’d dated one of my cousins. It was hard to tell in a small city with my big family.

“Always,” I said. Yet, as I stepped out into the sunshine and headed for my car, I had the strangest feeling that I was being watched.