Chapter 47

 

Zurich, Switzerland. Now that was a different rub, Caplin thought. Two days on the phone and he’d learned a bunch. How Morrell went to Grand Cayman under another of his aliases, stiffed the hotel for a felony amount. His man was wanted in two countries now—so far. Switzerland, he had a feeling, was where the money would change hands.

Caplin wanted that to happen—he had more use for cash than a piece of antique jewelry, for certain—but he didn’t dare let Morrell get far from the transaction. The cop wanted to be on the spot, if possible, to watch the deal go down and then nab his little friend and whoever was helping him. If he chose to go the official route and could extradite them both, he’d wrap up the jewel theft by returning the piece to Mrs. Fitzpatrick, plus have the cash to replenish what he’d lost. It would be a tough sell to his captain, saying he’d advanced money of his own for a sting. There’d probably be disciplinary action. A forced early retirement. Heh-heh … he had no problem with that scenario.

Of course, if the punk made trouble, Caplin had pretty well decided he wouldn’t be above snatching the cash and heading south. Being a good cop all his life hadn’t netted him a whole lot.

He would have a good ten hours to think about his approach while he sat on a plane. It was more money out of pocket, sure, but this time he felt the investment would be worth it. For now, he planned to compile a list of known jewelry fences across the European Union. He wanted to have a decent guess at whom he was dealing with.