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On my way to Saratoga, I stopped at a Starbucks drive thru and silently toasted Helen and her negative theory about caffeine as I took my first delicious sip. Fully caffeinated, I went over the plan in my head. After I visited the pawn shop, I’d grab the lockbox from the Hilton house. If Pam was home, maybe I could ask to use the bathroom. That might afford me a few valuable minutes to do a little snooping in her bedroom.
It was easy to find The Pawn King, which was located in a strip mall two blocks away from the local high school. A neon sign flashed in the front windows with the words, We Buy Anything of Value, and Get Top Dollar for Your Gold.
The shop consisted of a large showroom with glass counters extending around the perimeter of the room to form a rectangle. The cases contained all types of jewelry, gold and silver for the most part. At the rear of the room were several other types of items on display that ranged from guitars to televisions to a set of golf clubs.
A woman about my age was showing a watch to an elderly gentleman. As I looked around the shop to see if there were any more available employees, a man with a shock of white hair came out of a door marked Employees Only. He immediately headed in my direction.
“Good morning,” he smiled. The man’s nametag said Darren. He had gray eyes and a pleasant, well-rounded face. “Are you looking for a loan?”
“Excuse me?”
Darren’s grin grew wider. “Please forgive my assumption. You see, most of our clientele are students from the local college who need to make a quick buck. Do you know how the process works?”
I shook my head.
“People leave an item with us,” Darren explained. “For example, say that you have a gold necklace. You don’t want to sell it, but you need some cash badly. We’ll give you a loan based on a percentage of the necklace’s true value.” His gaze shifted to my engagement ring. “That looks like a half a carat.”
“You’re right,” I agreed, “but I’m not here to sell or loan it.”
Darren nodded in understanding. “Okay, but let’s pretend for a minute that you wanted to loan it. If I think it’s an item that will eventually sell, we have a deal. I’ll give you a loan for a portion of its value, say twenty percent. In this instance, I’d give you about two hundred bucks.” He studied the ring again. “Okay, maybe three hundred.”
“Then what happens?” I asked.
He shoved his hands into his pockets. “Then you get the cash, and I get your ring. In two months, if you haven’t come back with the money I loaned you, I have the right to sell your ring.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “You’d own my ring after sixty days?”
Darren stroked his beard. “Yep. Unless you pay me back.”
I tapped my fingernails on the counter. “What if I wanted to sell you something outright? Would you give me cash for the item?”
“It depends.” Darren leaned across the counter. “That doesn’t happen very often, unless the item’s been appraised for a great deal of money.”
A-ha. Now we were getting somewhere. “Could you tell me if someone sold a man’s vintage gold ring here lately?”
Darren looked puzzled. “You’ll need to be more specific. We see lots of gold and diamond rings every day. Are you talking about a wedding ring?’
“No, a pinky ring. It’s onyx and gold with lots of diamonds. A vintage ring.”
His smile faded. “It sounds valuable.”
“Oh, it is,” I agreed. “Have you seen it?”
“Possibly. Does it belong to you?” Darren asked.
“No, it belongs to my husband,” I lied. “My soon-to-be ex-husband. It’s worth a lot of money, and since he needs cash, I thought he might have come here.”
Darren’s eyes clouded over with suspicion. I didn’t dare breathe, for fear I’d give myself away. I had no poker face to speak of and was the worst of bluffers.
“If an item is worth a lot of money,” Darren explained. “Bernie, the owner, would have to approve the sale and front the cash.”
“Is there any chance that I could speak to him?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Bernie’s out of town and won’t be back until Thursday.”
“Is it possible that he did buy the ring?”
Darren folded his arms over his chest. “Anything is possible, Miss ah—I don’t think I caught your name.”
“Cindy York. The ring wasn’t stolen or anything like that. I’d just like to know if my husband sold it to Bernie. If so, I’d like to buy it back.”
“If it wasn’t stolen, then why do you care if your husband sold it?” Darren asked curiously.
Why indeed? I was getting myself in deeper and deeper with these lies. “Because I gave it to him, and that cheating, lying jerk needed money for the casino. That’s what destroyed our marriage.”
I must be getting better at lying, because Darren stared at me with genuine sympathy. “Well, I’m sorry to hear it. That’s a rough thing to go through.”
“You don’t know the half of it. Look, I don’t care about how much money changed hands. I just want to get it back. Do you know if Bernie bought the ring?”
Darren’s eyes glittered like the diamond in the case. “How much is it worth?”
“About fifteen grand,” I said.
He whistled low in his throat. “Pardon me for saying this, but you must be doing quite well for yourself if you can afford to buy it back.”
An awkward silence followed between us. When I looked into Darren’s eyes, I saw dollar signs, and it dawned on me what he was after. With a sigh, I reached into my purse and pulled out two twenties, then shoved them across the counter to him. “Did Bernie buy the ring?”
Darren stared down at the money as if I’d insulted him. “Come on, Cindy. Surely you can do better than that.”
What a low life. I reached into my purse again and produced another twenty. “Sorry, this is all I have. I never carry a lot of cash on me.”
He snorted. “Wow. I guess I was wrong. You didn’t look like such a tightfisted broad.”
Steam must have been pouring out of my ears. “The ring. Did Bernie buy it or not?”
Darren gave me a sweet smile. “I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. I’ll make sure that Bernie calls you when he gets back into town. He’ll tell you if he bought the ring.”
“Was it a man or a woman?” I persisted.
He looked confused. “What are you talking about? You said your husband sold the ring.”
Too late, I’d realized my mistake. “Yes, he did. I meant—um, did he have a woman with him? His girlfriend? She’s a petite blonde. They’re planning to get married soon.”
Darren threw up his arms. “Hey, I don’t know. I’m not even sure if Bernie bought the ring. But I promise I’ll find out.” He pulled a business card out of his pants pocket. “Give me your number.”
I recited my cell. “Are you sure he’ll call me?”
“Positive,” Darren said. “In the meantime, can I interest you in a diamond watch we just got in? It would look great on—”
“Thank you for your help.” I turned on my heel and limped out of the store as quickly as possible. The truth of the matter was that I had been duped by a great salesman. Sixty dollars of my hard-earned money was gone, and I still didn’t know if Bernie had bought the ring. I’d have to wait and see if he called me. In the meantime, I had one more matter of business. Somehow, I needed to search Pam’s house to see if I could find the ring.
Ten minutes later, I pulled my car up in front of the house. There were no vehicles parked in the driveway. I assumed that the boys were in school, but they could have taken a few days off, given the tragic loss they were dealing with. Before I ventured to the front door, I peered into the window of the garage. Pam’s car wasn’t inside.
I climbed the steps to the porch. The lockbox had been attached to the railing by Jacques a few days earlier. I entered the combination and removed the key. My finger pressed against the doorbell, which could be heard echoing throughout the house. I waited for several seconds, but no one came to the door. I pushed the doorbell again and waited. Nothing. What about Denise? Surely someone had to be home.
The key was lying in my palm, itching to be used. I inserted it and turned the doorknob slowly. The house was as silent as a tomb. Yikes. Stop with the morbid puns, Cin.
“Hello?” I called. My phone’s ring tone went off at that moment, and the shock almost sent me through the roof. I quickly grabbed the phone before it sounded again. Jacques. “Holy Toledo. You almost scared the life out of me.”
“Where are you?” he wanted to know.
I tiptoed over to the dining room table. “At Pam’s. I came to get the lockbox.”
“How is she doing?”
“I don’t know,” I whispered.
“Why are you whispering?” Jacques asked.
“Because I’m inside her house, and no one is here.”
He snorted. “Oh, right. That make sense.”
I placed the key on the table and told Jacques about my visit to the pawn shop. “Even though Darren wouldn’t give me any solid information, I still think someone took Kevin’s ring in, at least to get it appraised. Darcy mentioned that someone was trying to sell a similar ring the other night when she was there.”
“But you can’t be sure,” he protested.
“Pam didn’t mention the ring to Officer Brooks. He didn’t know about one, because it’s not among Kevin’s personal belongings. I saw it when I arrived at the house that day. Someone removed it from Kevin’s finger after they killed him. Pam refused to show it to me, which to me means that she doesn’t have it, but she may know where it is. At least that’s the theory I come up with.”
“Cin, you’d better get out of that house before you have a face-off with Pam,” Jacques warned. “It could turn ugly pretty fast, especially if she’s drunk. Do you want me to come over?”
“Are you nearby?”
“I’m at home but headed in that direction to view an Open House that I have some clients interested in. I just got off the phone with my insurance company. It looks like I’m going to get a fair price for the building.”
“That’s great news.”
He coughed into the phone. “Yes, well, here’s the bad news. They just canceled my coverage.”
Ouch. “Jacques, I feel responsible for this.”
“Stop it,” he scolded. “I can be there in about twenty minutes. Cin, I’m worried about you. Wait for me outside, okay?”
I started to climb the staircase, remembering to lead with my right leg since my left ankle was still sore. “Jacques, it’s fine. I’m just going to take a quick look in Pam’s bedroom, and then I’ll get out of here. If she comes in, I’ll say that I was worried she had passed out again. Gotta go.”
Before I lost my nerve, I knocked on Pam’s bedroom door. There was no answer. I waited a few seconds and then opened the door, which creaked as it moved. I peered inside. The king-size bed was unmade, clothes were strewn on the hardwood floor, and the room stunk of cigarettes and wine.
I moved slowly towards her dresser. There was a small jewelry box on top. I lifted the lid and started to sift through it, with one eye peeled on the bedroom door. There was a diamond bracelet with a broken clasp, and a pair of pearl earrings. A tiny envelope with writing on it was stashed in the bottom of the box. Net worth $500. It was dated from last month. I peeked inside and found a cameo brooch.
I’d been right after all. Pam had been appraising jewelry, but there was no sign of Kevin’s ring. I opened the dresser drawers and quickly searched through them. No ring. There was a handsome mahogany armoire in the corner of the room. I flung the doors open and found a few men’s shirts, ties, and shorts inside. Kevin didn’t have much of a wardrobe, but since he was practically living at Katie’s, most of it must be at her place.
My phone’s ringtones blared again. Good grief. I thought that I’d silenced the stupid thing after Jacques’ call. I fumbled in my pants pocket for it. I was in such a hurry to stop the noise that I didn’t even bother to check the number first. “Hello?”
“Is this Cindy?” A man’s voice, low and breathless but slightly familiar, asked.
Fear gnawed at my stomach. “Who’s calling?”
“This is Darren from The Pawn King.”
I gave a small sigh of relief. My nerves were as frayed as the ends of an old blanket. “Hi Darren. I didn’t expect to hear from you so soon. What can I do for you?” Maybe he needed more twenty-dollar bills in his life.
He chuckled. “It’s more like what I can do for you, ma’am. Bernie just called, and I asked him about the ring. Someone did bring it in on Saturday night. You see, I was off for the day. My wife and I decided to go visit our daughter and—”
“What about the ring?” I interrupted impatiently. “Did Bernie buy it?”
“No, but he was very interested in it. I guess they couldn’t agree on a price, so the seller took it back home with him. He said he’d come by again later in the week.”
“He?” I clutched the phone tightly between my sweaty hands. “So, it was a man? What did he look like?”
Darren sounded confused. “I didn’t ask. You said it was your husband.”
Great. Darren must have thought I was a nutcase by now. “Oh, right. Um, did Bernie mention if my husband’s girlfriend was with him?”
“No, he didn’t tell me anything else. The guy’s supposed to come back in on Thursday when Bernie’s back in town. I gave him your number, and he said that he’ll call you a little later this afternoon.”
Darren was worth his weight in twenty-dollar bills after all. “That’s wonderful. Thank you so much, Darren.”
“Have a good one,” he said.
Maybe I was wasting time in here. Did I dare to search Nate’s room? I could look in Max’s as well but since he was living at school, it was doubtful I’d find anything. No. It would be best if I left now and waited for Bernie’s call. After I found out all the details, I would call Officer Brooks and tell him about my findings.
I pulled open the two small drawers in the middle of the armoire. One drawer held underwear and the other one socks. A tiny drawer underneath it held a religious medal on a gold chain and a gold watch with several scratches on the face. When I moved the watch, I found a gold wedding band lying underneath it. I lifted the ring and studied the inscription inside. Kevin and Pamela, 1998. Our Love is Forever.
How sad that things had changed so drastically for them. With a sigh, I shut the doors to the armoire and turned around to find Pam standing there, watching me. Her dark, frightening gaze sent a tremor of fear through my body. Even more frightening was the pistol that she held in her hand, pointed directly at me.
“What are you doing in here?” She spoke softly, carefully enunciating each word with its own unique terror. This was a side of Pam that I had not seen before, and it was scarier than seeing her drunk.
I swallowed hard. “Sorry, Pam. I came up to tell you good-bye. I was worried that you might have passed out, like you did the day Kevin died.”
Pam tipped her head back slightly and began to laugh. “Sure, you did. You’ll need to think of a better excuse than that.”
With the barrel of the gun inches away from my face, I found myself at a loss for words. Despite all the evidence mounting against her, I hadn’t believed that Pam was capable of killing her husband. The truth was that I hadn’t wanted to believe it. The hurt and shame over the end of her marriage had been devastating, and she’d tried to summon what was left of her pride by initiating the divorce. She must have been furious about the change in the insurance policy and hit him with the golf club at the heat of the moment.
Through it all, I’d wanted to believe that Pam was still the same person I’d shared a dorm room with and experienced so many good times years ago.
“It’s true,” I insisted. “I came to get my lockbox. I left the key on your dining room table.”
She snorted. “That still doesn’t explain what you’re doing in my room. Surely you noticed that my car wasn’t here. You’re not stupid.”
I tried another tactic. “Pam, I’m so sorry for everything that’s happened.”
“You’re sorry,” she repeated. “Well, I’m sorry that I ever asked you to sell my house. You’ve only made things worse with your nosing around. Now, you’d better tell me what you were looking for before I pull the trigger.”
“I was looking for Kevin’s ring. You refused to show it to me, so I don’t believe you have it. Maybe you’re trying to protect whoever does have it. Kevin was still wearing it when he died, but someone removed it from his finger before I gave him CPR. That’s why the police didn’t know anything about it.”
Pam’s complexion turned a ghostly white. “Okay, you were right, Cindy. I killed Kevin. It doesn’t matter anymore if you know the truth. I’m going to prison anyway. So, perhaps you ought to leave this house before I do something that I’ll regret.” She grabbed me roughly by the shoulder and turned me around, pressing the barrel of the gun into the small of my back. “Get downstairs. And move slowly.”
My heart was thudding so fast against the wall of my chest that I was afraid I might pass out. Would a woman who had once been my best friend really kill me? If she’d been the one to murder her husband, I didn’t doubt it. She’d be going to prison for murder anyway. I guess adding a few more years to her sentence didn’t matter to her.
“Who are you protecting, Pam?” I asked.
“Keep moving,” she snarled as we descended the stairs. “You know that Kevin deserved to die, Cindy. All he did was hurt me and my boys. I had to put an end to it.”
“But you still loved him.” It was a statement, not a question.
She pushed me off the bottom stair into the living room. I stumbled and landed on my bad ankle, forcing me to cry out.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yes, I do,” I said quietly. “It was your eyes that gave you away.”
“Be quiet and stand up before I shoot you.”
With one hand on the railing, I managed to get to my feet. “The other day, when Jacques and I came to the house, you looked at Kevin the same way that you did on your wedding day. You still loved him.”
“Move or I’ll kill you now!” she screamed.
I limped a few steps forward. “What did you do with the ring?”
Pam’s hand that held the gun was shaking. “That’s none of your business.”
“You don’t have it. The person who does tried to sell it.”
Her jaw dropped. “What are you talking about?”
“I was at The Pawn King this morning. Whoever brought the ring in didn’t like the price that was offered, so the owner’s going to meet with them again later this week.”
Pam shrugged. “Okay, you were right. I sold Kevin’s ring. What’s the big deal? I was still married to him, and it wasn’t mentioned in the will. Besides, I needed the money.”
I placed my hands behind my back and touched the pottery vase I’d examined the other day. “No, it was a man who tried to sell the ring. Do you want to know what I think, Pam? You don’t have any idea where the ring is.”
A knock on the front door startled both of us. Thank God for Jacques. He was right on time. Pam lowered the gun to her side for a brief second, unsure what to do, as I grabbed the vase and brought it down on her head. It shattered into several pieces as Pam groaned, and the gun went off as she dropped it on the floor. Her eyes rolled backwards in her head, and she fell forward, landing on the floor with a heavy thud.
Relieved, I limped towards the front door. As I reached for the knob, the door burst open. “Jacques!” I screamed. “Call the police!”
A fist shot forward, seemingly out of nowhere, and caught me between the eyes. Stars danced in front of me, and I was dimly aware of a loud roaring in my ears. I staggered backwards and felt myself falling with no way to stop. Then, the entire world went black.