“Or one person with a wheelbarrow,” June suggested.
“That’s possible,” Holt agreed. “But Rad said there were no tracks from the house to indicate how it was taken out of her room.”
“Did Rad call forensics?” June asked.
“No, he had to do it himself, so he did what he could. He’s sending me the list and photos of everything that was inside. But Sienna told him the entire jewelry set was in there.” Holt took another bite of his meal.
June sat back and took another sip of wine, though this time she barely tasted it.
“Was that before or after the fire at Teacups?” She wondered out loud.
“I think it was taken during the fire.” Holt put down his fork and wiped his mouth with the napkin.
She let that settle.
“Which begs the question, was the fire set as a distraction?” June’s mind ticked over the scene. “We would need to know where Sienna was at the time.”
“She could’ve been at the fire. I know a lot of the town had hurried down to see it while a lot of them had been rushed out of the place and were standing watching from a distance,” Holt said. “We didn’t notice as we were too busy getting Margo and Rad out of Teacups to see exactly who else was or wasn’t around.”
“True.” June considered it. “But there must be security cameras on the other businesses around the shop?”
“I’ve already requested the footage,” Holt told her. “I should get it tomorrow, and we'll go over them.” He glanced at her. “That’s if you can help me.”
“Of course,” June said, and frowned as she mulled the theft of the safe over in her mind. “So someone broke into Sienna’s pool house, stole an entire safe, and got it out through the house. How?” She bit her lip in contemplation. “That place is a fortress.”
“They must’ve gone through the glass doors in the main bedroom of the pool house.” Holt sat back. “Apparently, the pool house has direct access through a path in the back garden to the forest behind it.”
June frowned. Then understanding clicked as she remembered something Holt had put on one of the whiteboards at the meeting earlier.
“That’s how you know that the Morrison house leads right to the burnt-out cabin.” She glanced at him, amazed. “You mentioned that part at the meeting.”
Holt nodded.
A chill threaded down her spine.
They both ate in silence for a few moments after that, trying to make room for the new information, but the delicious food had dulled a little under the weight of it. June forced down a bite and then another before setting her fork aside.
“So that would mean either Victoria or Tom was the thief,” June said at last. “Although it’s hard to think of either Tom or Victoria, who both grew up in wealthy families, stealing anything like that.”
Holt’s jaw clenched. His shoulders stiffened, warning June he was not finished with his revelations yet and that June wasn’t going to like what came next.
“I have information about that, too.” Holt’s voice was soft, and he glanced around them.
“What is it?” June sat back and reached for her glass.
“Sienna was keeping everything in the safe, hidden,” Holt informed her. “She’d apparently been keeping it for years. One of her parents didn’t know it existed, and when the divorce started, she was told it was even more important that it not be found so it wouldn’t appear among the declared assets.”
June’s stomach dropped. Because she could already see from his face that the worst part was still coming.
“Who was she keeping it for?” June asked quietly. “Which parent?”
“Tom.” Holt’s jaw clenched, and his eyes flashed.
June had just lifted her wine to her lips and taken a sip, which slid down her throat, making her choke.
“What?” June spluttered, coughing hard enough that she had to reach for water to stop it. Once she’d recovered enough to breathe properly again, she looked at him in disbelief. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” Holt’s expression was grim. “Sienna told Rad. And this has to stay between us. She swore him to secrecy because she’s terrified of what her mother will do if she finds out that there was a safe full of valuables she knew nothing about. And that Sienna had it when it was stolen.” He took a sip of wine himself,then added, “And she’s also afraid of what her father will do if he finds out it’s gone.”
