The signature indicated the renter of the lockbox was Valerie Hurt.
If the deputy was suspecting Will Hurt of some kind of snooping around the station and if his wife indeed knew the contents of this lockbox, the Hurts were in a world of trouble.
TWENTY-SEVEN
My mind tried to wrap itself around this new detail. Valerie, the woman who’d dropped off her baby, fallen soundly asleep in the theater, and then burst into the Morning Brew with Will to retrieve her child as if we’d kidnapped him, was the same one who’d presumably opened this lockbox and stored a painting that didn’t belong to her. In addition, Todd Anderson had the key to her lockbox in his room.
“Wait, what’s this other date?” Lacy asked, squinting at the numbers in the registry book.
“It looks like the date that the lockbox rental agreement ends.”
“And it’s in two days? The day after my wedding.”
“Which means this box was opened November 1 and will expire on December 29.” I bit my lip, considering the two dates as I asked Lacy, “When exactly did you announce your wedding?”
“We sent out a digital save-the-date on the morning of…” Lacy puffed out a long breath and closed her eyes as the realization hit her.
“What?” the deputy asked, obviously confused.
“Lacy sent out the save-the-date on October 31,” I said.
Lacy nodded. “That’s right.”
“So Valerie rented this lockbox the next day,” I said.
“Or Will rented it and put her name on it.”
“This looks like her signature, though.” I’d seen that handwriting in every yearbook every year since middle school. “Either way, this lockbox was reserved for a very specific purpose.”
“To hold a stolen painting during the weekend of my wedding,” Lacy finished for me.
I thought for a moment, tried to envision the painting hanging in the Salon at The Rose. I remembered something that Savilla had told me. She said she’d borrowed winter landscape paintings from the town’s art collective specifically for this weekend, and if I knew my sister, she would have called and selected the pieces for display as soon as Lacy had told her she’d want to be married at our estate. Savilla went all-in for any kind of festivity.
I snapped my fingers as the details of the timing snapped into place. The painting had to have recently been transported to The Rose in preparation for the wedding this weekend. Unfortunately, my new home—with its lack of tight security—would be a much easier place from which to steal a painting.
“The early arrival of the Swanson family—and the uninvited ex—had to have something to do with the timing of stealing the artwork. They wanted to take the painting while it wasn’t under lock and key at the Collective—and before everyone else descended on the estate.”
Jill was following my logic. “It’s got to be much easier to steal a piece of art from the wall of an unsecured room rather than an actual storage facility.”
I nodded absently, considering Valerie’s possible involvement, as well as Jill’s demand that we communicate the fact that we were confiscating the contents of the lockbox.
“Obviously we can’t let Valerie know that we have this painting,” I said. “Whether or not Valerie is actually involved, she would tell Will, which would likely mess up any chance of figuring out who murdered Todd, not to mention who is actually trying to sell this painting. That said, here’s what I’m going to do—without the permission of law enforcement.” I shot a look at Jill. “I’lltake the painting with me and keep it close so no one else gets their hands on it.”
I could tell that Jill was about to interrupt me to protest.
“It’ll be fine,” I tried to reassure her. “And if it’s not, I’ll take the fall.”
Jill’s cheeks were pink and she seemed anxious about the entire situation while also realizing we had no good options here.
“Fine. Just keep it close,” Jill said. “We’re not calling it stealing or even confiscating. You’ve just”—she seemed to be searching for the words—“temporarily borrowed the artwork for investigative purposes.”
Despite my initial hesitancy to like this woman, I did appreciate Jill’s ability to work around the law.
I grabbed the cylinder in which the painting had been stored and gently pushing it back inside.
“I’ll go to the station and run background checks on Todd Anderson… and maybe Valerie, too,” Jill said.
“We’ll try to check in with you at the station before we need to get ready for the ceremony.”
