The Silver family waited expectantly while Agent Del Toro savored his coffee and scone. “This scone is delicious, it must be from one of those classy Beverly Hills bakeries.”
“Guess again, the bakery is right in my kitchen,” Godiva said. “Martina is such a fabulous baker, we’re lucky to have her.” She patted her generous hip. “She does wonders for my curvy figure. I’ll have her fix you a goodie bag when you leave.”
She waited patiently while Del Toro finished his snack. Guadalupe came back with a steaming carafe and refilled his coffee cup. As she was about to leave the room, Godiva said, “Lupe, please ask Martina to pack up some scones for our FBI man.”
“If it’s not too much trouble,” Goldie added, “I’d really appreciate a cup of tea and one of those scones, too. All of this intrigue has given me an appetite.”
With a sweet smile, Lupe nodded and left.
The room became pregnant with silence. Waldo got up from his cushy bed and wandered around until he finally settled again at Del Toro’s feet and snuffled, sscrrrraaaatch. The agent smiled and said, “Quite a hound, you’ve got there. Never met a talking dog before.” He scratched Waldo behind his ears.
“Yeah, he’s really something,” Flossie said. “Puts a lot of spark in our magic act. But I don’t want to chat about talking dogs or tasty scones. I’m running out of patience. I want you to spill the beans about Jade Moon. We deserve to know the whole scoop after what you put us through.” She took off her right shoe and rubbed her foot. “Darn arthritis is acting up again and it makes me grouchy, so this better be good.”
“Well, Mrs. Silver, even though we put your brother-in-law on the hot seat, you must admit, he brought most of that on himself. I hope you understand that I really shouldn’t be telling you any of this since it is an active investigation. I’ve probably told you way too much already and we must see if Mr. Cunning’s claim about his partnership with Jade Moon holds up. He says she tricked him into being her lover and then betrayed him, so he could be pointing the finger at her merely out of spite.”
Sterling sat back and crossed his arms over his chest. “Humph! I guess I did do a stupid thing when I took that damned turban. But if it wasn’t for me, the jewels might have been sold to some sultan in Timbuktu by now and you would have no idea they were planted on Kazaam. I hate to admit it, but Flossie may have been right when she suspected that Jade Moon was guilty of something.”
Manny the Bull zeroed in on Flossie and said, “Listen, I came here to ask you the questions, not the other way around. I want you to tell me all you can remember about what you observed on the Aurora Borealis. Did you see Miss Moon talking to Sly Cunning? Did she say anything about her background? Any idea where she was headed when she left the ship?”
“Okay, mister tough guy.” Flossie glared at Del Toro. “I’ll tell you what I know if you tell me what you know.”
“This isn’t a game, Mrs. Silver. Answer my questions and maybe I’ll throw you another bone.”
“Well there isn’t much more to tell. We saw her arguing with that Cunning guy in the corridor by her cabin. It was easy to see they weren’t strangers. And we only caught a few of their words, but it sounded like he snuck on the boat without telling her.”
“I think the story Kazaam told about how he met Jade Moon is the most important thing to investigate,” Sterling said. “At dinner the first night he talked about meeting her at Pearl Woo’s funeral.”
Del Toro leaned forward. “I haven’t heard this. Tell me more.”
“Jade was one of Pearl’s friends, and when she spoke to Kazaam at the funeral and learned that he was desperate for a helper, she offered to be his temporary assistant.”
“Yeah, just for the cruise,” Flossie cut in. “That can’t be a coincidence. He didn’t even ask for her help, but she jumped right in and said she could do it. She would just take a few weeks off work. I tell you, it sounds fishy.”
“Did she say what kind of work she does?”
“Nope. I couldn’t squeeze it out of her. And, believe me, I tried.”
They told the FBI agent everything they could remember about their brief encounters with the beautiful Eurasian. When they finished, Flossie leaned back and said, “Okay Manny, it’s your turn.”
“Well, I can tell you what Cunning claims, but it might be a pack of lies, you know. So you didn’t hear it from me. He said Jade prompted him to get a guard job with the security company Kah Ching uses. He wormed his way into an assignment in the security room of Kah Ching’s mansion. If what he says is true, that old billionaire appreciates beauty of all kinds, so he was an easy mark for Jade.”
Flossie looked directly at Sterling and said under her breath, “Old men are such fools!”
Del Toro ignored her snide remark. “Anyway, it took Jade a couple of months to get the old guy’s trust. First she got herself invited to one of his parties, then another, soon she was a regular guest at the mansion. Sly Cunning says it wasn’t long before she talked him into showing her his collection.” The agent paused and scratched the back of his close-cut head, “It’s kind of funny that Ketchem never mentioned Jade as a suspect even though Mr. Kah Ching must have been suspicious that she disappeared about the same time as the jewels.”
Goldie had been scribbling furiously on her yellow pad. She looked up “Well, maybe Jade told him she was doing this thing on the magic cruise to help out after Pearl’s death. Then Kah Ching probably wouldn’t have suspected anything. Just a coincidence of timing. We don’t know if she’s returning to Vancouver, do we?”
“Well, I guess that is possible. We’re checking on her whereabouts right now. I suspect she’s still in Los Angeles. Anyway—”
Goldie interrupted again. “Wait a minute. You mean this immensely wealthy man was foolish enough to show her his most priceless pieces of jewelry? I would think he would have smelled a rat. She must have had him wrapped around her little finger.”
Godiva gave her sister a wink. “Ah, Goldie, my little country mouse, never underestimate what a man in love will do. From what I understand, she was beautiful, intelligent and charming—not to mention at least thirty years younger than that old billionaire.”
“So this makes me wonder what else Jade is capable of,” Goldie said. “I mean, could she possibly be responsible for Pearl Woo’s death? After all, Pearl would have to be out of the way for Jade to pick up the slack so conveniently.”
“No,” Sterling said. “She just took advantage of the situation. Remember the article in the Magic Moments Monthly said investigators proved it was an accident. If anyone was to blame, it was Kazaam.”
“And you think the whole point was to smuggle this multi-million dollar bauble into the United States via cruise ship? There must have been an easier way. Couldn’t she just have driven it in? I’ve driven down from Alaska and the guards at the Canadian border are pretty casual about what they check. A gorgeous woman bats her eyelashes and they wave her through.”
“The customs officers at the borders all have photos and descriptions of stolen goods that are high priority. It would be taking a big chance to smuggle them across that way.”
Manny the Bull looked out the window. The sun was lowering in the sky, sending shadows across the inlaid oak floor in the family room. Godiva got up and adjusted the lavish draperies and turned on a few lights. “Well, folks, “ the FBI agent said, “I think I’ve said enough, time to wrap things up.” The big man began to rise from his chair.
Sterling had been unusually quiet the entire time. Godiva wondered if her uncle was still recovering from being an accused jewel thief. When he gave one of his harrumphs, she figured he was back to normal. The old man said, “Sometimes the pretty ones are the most treacherous. Sounds like Jade hung this Cunning guy out to dry and put one over on that billionaire as well. Clever woman.”
The FBI agent massaged his chin and said, “Well, if everything Cunning says about her checks out, Mr. Silver, we’ve got a master criminal on our radar, and there are probably others involved. Unfortunately, it’s far from over. At this point, we still have to find out what happened to that brooch.”