He leaves me like the fool he is, and I don’t waste a moment before I put on my own gloves and open the safe door. And what I see inside makes me gasp and reach for it without thinking. It’s tucked in the back, off to the corner, but it’s impossible to miss with daylight streaming all over it.
It’s not Desta’s tiara, but it appears at first glance to be a diamond from it. Not one of the large diamonds that we already found, but one of the smaller diamonds. I remember what the tiara looked like, and we looked at pictures of it again when we found the loose diamond. This is one of the heart stones from the center ring. I’m positive of it.
It’s pink, about ten carats, and rare.
Similar to the stone Bellamy wears around her neck, only this one is bigger.
Other than that, the safe is empty save for a few scattered hundred-euro notes. The house was robbed, but the thief knew exactly what they were coming for, where to find it, and how to get it.
I return the door to how I found it and remove my gloves.
A moment later, both officers, along with Gabe, are in the room, and I stand back. He shouldn’t have let me stay in here. That’s an error on their part, but this isn’t my country, and frankly, I don’t care about their crime scene. There won’t be fingerprints anywhere on the safe.
Was the tiara here to start with, and a stone simply fell out of it as it had before? Or was Marie coming for loose stones? How did these people get it in the first place? Marie was hasty. She didn’t put gloves on until she got into the backyard. She left the safe ajar and some money still in it. She also left the diamond.
It was a smash-and-grab job, but with more skill than an average thief would have. The police think she was in and out in under five minutes.
It’s not the first time she’s made mistakes. The only reason we found her is because she left the discarded baby items in the old cottage along with the newspaper clippings. Likely because she had to flee quickly. But as with everything lately, I have more questions than answers.
The police inspect the safe and dust for prints. Go them. I stay back and keep my mouth shut until we get back outside the home again.
“Thank you for your help, officers.” I shake both their hands and give them my charming prince smile. “I appreciate it, and so does my country. I’ll be sure to call your captain and thank him for all the diligent work you both have done on thiscase and your invaluable service. I don’t think there’s much more for me here, so our part in this is done.”
Otherwise known asplease have the tenants return so I can watch them as best I can and learn more about them.
It could be a long few days for me.
29
MARCELLA
The space that the royal family turned into a bedroom and recovery space for Emily is incredible. There’s a large hospital bed, another bed for Javier that’s directly beside it, a reclining chair, a sofa, and a dresser. The en suite bathroom has been outfitted with accessibility equipment. Then there’s the rebab space attached to her new bedroom.
I’m going through her room, making sure it has everything she needs, including extra towels and linens, since this room has become part of my primary responsibilities, when Raul comes in.
He stops short when he sees me. “Oh. You’re in here.”
“Yes. What do you need, Raul?”
“I was just…” He trails off, only to snag on the items in my hand. “I was going to make sure Emily had fresh towels.”
“No, you weren’t. You were going to do something assholeish and underhanded to try to make me look like I’m not doing my job or I’m incompetent, as you have been since I took over Emily’s role.”
He squints at me. “We haven’t been doing anything. You’ve been doing that all on your own, honey.”
“First of all, if you ever call mehoneyagain, you’ll wake up without your fingernails. Second, you just saidwe,implying more than one of you has been messing with things, which isn’t what I said, but I appreciate you confirming it all the same.”
He blanches. Whether from my fingernail comment or from the fact that he’s a moron and just outed his equally moronic partners in crime, I’m not sure. They’re not the brightest bulbs, hence my calling them the three stooges.
“You can’t talk to me like that. I’ll file a complaint.”
I smirk. “Go for it. When you do, I’ll file a complaint backed by proof that you, Esme, and Marsha have been disruptive, unproductive, and malicious simply because you’re children and can’t handle your jealousies. Grow up, Raul, and get back to work.”
I turn my back to him, and because he’s all bark, little bite, and the dumbest of the three, he’s out of things to say.
“Leave the spray bottle of whatever nasty shit you’re hiding behind your back.”
He makes some kind of aggravated shriek but shockingly sets it down and storms out. The moment his footsteps fade down the hall, I retrieve the spray bottle of brown water that looks like it was made with dirt and empty it into the sink before I wash everything down.
