Holly shrugged. It was unlikely to have been the gallery owner then. ‘I suppose I’m just going to have to call whoever had my number in relation to the search and find out if anyone’s been looking for me,’ Holly sighed. ‘Still, I can’t help but feel I am back to square one.’
‘No, not square one. You’ve made progress. Because of your persistence, the bracelet’s owner, or someone who knows the owner, knows you have it and are trying to give it back. Someone is looking for you, and you are looking for that same someone. Now it’s just about putting you both in touch with each other. What is the phrase? Six degrees of separation?’
‘Maybe you’re right. Either way, I’d better go and make some phone calls.’ She was about to say goodbye when she remembered something. ‘Oh and Carole?’‘Yes.’
‘Do me a favour,’ she said, a smile in her voice. ‘Don’t let your niece deal with any more of my customers.’
Carole laughed guiltily. ‘Consider it done.’
62
Holly quickly confirmed with the girl at the UPS store that no one had come around looking for her. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t get back to you before, but I’ve been waiting for head office to come back with more information about the delivery tracking,’ she said apologetically, once Holly reminded her who she was.
‘Don’t worry – I’m not sure the information would have helped anyway,’ she reassured her.
Next, she called Jessica and, once again getting her voicemail, asked her to call back as soon as she could. Then she phoned the gallery and was told by an answering service that the place was closed for the holidays and would not reopen until the New Year.
Unsure what to do next, Holly put the phone down and joined her mother on the sofa. She had in the meantime told Eileen all about the missing bracelet, and her mother had proved just as intrigued by the search as she was. She’d come over earlier to spend time with her wounded (but thankfully improving) grandson.
‘It’s just so frustrating; I don’t know what to do next,’ Holly said, exasperated, after she’d outlined the latest developments.
‘But it just goes to show how much progress you’ve made, if the owner now knows you have the bracelet, doesn’t it?’
‘Yes, but thanks to Carole’s niece, he has no idea where to find me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad she didn’t give out my number or address to a complete stranger, but it’s a pity she didn’t think to askhimto leave a number.’
‘I wonder how he did track you down though?’ Eileen mused.
‘That’s what I’m wondering too. I’m thinking it must have been Jessica – after all, from what we could tell from the charms, she – the owner of the bracelet I mean – sounds pretty well off, what with the fancy egg, and the Park Avenue apartment, the very people who run in Margot Mead’s circles.’ She looked at her mother. ‘Actually, now that I think about it, maybe the guy who called looking for me today isn’t the owner’s husband or boyfriend, but her go-to guy?’
The male equivalent of Jessica, perhaps?
Her mother shrugged. ‘It’s possible. Either way, you’re obviously doing something right, otherwise this fellow would have never been able to find you.’
‘Even so, I’m still no closer to getting it back.’ Holly sighed, just as her phone buzzed. Speak of the devil … it was Jessica.
‘Hi Jessica, thanks for calling me back.’ She explained the reason for her call and her face fell when Margot Mead’s assistant told her that no, she hadn’t sent anyone connected to the bracelet her way.
‘Damn, I have no idea who this guy is and how he knows I have it,’ she said, frustrated.
‘Sorry,’ Jessica replied. ‘Hey, sorry you had to rush out the other day. How’s the little guy?’
‘Danny’s great, thanks,’ Holly smiled. ‘And I hear you did some shopping afterwards. Which dress are you going to wear to the benefit on New Year’s Eve?’
‘Oh the Marilyn one, definitely,’ Jessica confirmed. ‘Not that I’ll have a lot of time to worry about how I look on the night. The girl I had to help out has let me down so I’ll be lucky if I get a chance to reapply my freakin’ lipstick.’
As she said this, Holly was struck by something.
New Year’s Eve.Same Time, Same Place.
Was there a chance that the guy who was asking for her today – and who knew she had the bracelet - might be at that benefit? Clearly he’d tracked her down as a result of her own efforts, all related to the charms. She’d already established that the owner moved in higher circles and might possibly be a guest at the event that night. So maybe her assistant or boyfriend would be too?
It was worth a shot and, at this point, the only avenue related to the charms that she had left.
Same time, same place …
‘Jessica,’ she began, unsure how to word it exactly. ‘Seeing as you’ve been so great in helping me with all this, and you’ve just said someone had let you down, would you like a volunteer, an extra pair of hands that night?’
She wasn’t entirely sure what Jessica’s role was at these things, or even what the work entailed, but given that the girl always seemed so harried, Holly figured she’d be able to help out in some way. And while she was there, keep an eye out for anyone who might just happen to fit the profile she’d built up of the bracelet owner so far.
