Rad looked back at the inn again, then lowered his voice a little more.
“I found out something more about the bracelet, but I can’t really talk about it in there.” Rad motioned toward the inn with his head.
“Okay,” Holt said slowly. “What developments?”
“This stays strictly between you and me?” Rad’s eyes searched his for assurance.
“Of course.” Holt’s brows knitted together worriedly. “Why all the secrecy?”
“Sienna put a call in to me the night I was in the hospital after the Teacups fire. There was a break-in at the pool house she stays in at her father’s house,” Rad told his father.
“Let me guess.” Holt’s brows rose. “She reported her bracelet stolen. How convenient.”
“Nope. Not just her bracelet.” Rad held his father’s gaze. “Whoever took it took an entire safe. The bracelet was in it, along with a lot of family heirlooms she’d been given to safe-keep.”
“Did you say someone took an entire safe?” Holt stared at Rad in astonishment. “What was in the safe?”
“I have a list of items,” Rad told him. “Including the bracelet.”
“Did she mention the rest of the set that went with the bracelet?” Holt asked him.
Something in his father’s voice sent off warning bells in his head.
“Yes. There are matching earrings, a necklace, and a ring.” Rad kept his focus on his father.
His father’s jaw tightened.
“What do you mean, Sienna was safekeeping the heirlooms?” Holt asked, picking up on his son’s choice of words.
“Sienna was asked to keep the items safe,” Rad told him. “She was to stop them from being discovered so they wouldn't be included in the estates in her parents’ divorce.”
Holt stared at him.
“So either Victoria or Tom doesn’t know about the existence of what’s in that safe?” Holt asked, and Rad saw his father’s mind ticking over as he put the pieces together. “Who else knows about the break-in?”
“Just me,” Rad assured his father. “Sienna was adamant that I keep it that way until we find out who did it. I think she’s terrified of her mother finding out.”
“From what I’ve heard of what Victoria is like as a mother, I can’t blame Sienna for that.” Holt looked past Rad for a second, thinking hard. “So the entire set stolen from my sister was also in that safe.”
“Yes.” Rad nodded.
“When was it taken?” Holt rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
“The same day as the fire at Teacups,” Rad answered. “The same day that Dr. Vernon went missing.”
Holt nodded once, grimly.
“Then whoever took it either planted or dropped the bracelet at Teacups. I’m leaning toward planted.” Holt looked back at the inn. “We need to keep this to ourselves for now.”
“Is that wise?” Rad didn’t like keeping vital information like this from the team; they were supposed to be open about the case. “I thought there was supposed to be no more secrets?”
“That was until I realized that a burglary case that is well over forty years old still hasn’t been solved,” Holt told Rad. “And according to your grandmother, the cat burglar was never caught and could very well be anyone around my age or hers still living right here in Sandpiper Shores.”
“What?” Rad spluttered. “A cat burglar? Are you kidding me?”
“I’m afraid not,” Holt told him. “I went to ask your grandmother why she or my uncle never filed a police report for the jewels. They did, but it was all done by an FBI plant at the local police station.”
“Why?” Rad asked.
