Angel blasted into the family room waving some printed pages. “Hey, Boss, you’re gonna love what I found out about Jade—or should I say, didn’t find out?”
“What do you mean didn’t find out?” Goldie asked, a puzzled expression on her face.
Angel plopped down in one of the comfortable chairs and handed a sheaf of papers to each of the twins. “Well, I used several programs to try to trace her, and you won’t believe this, but it looks like she didn’t exist until a few years ago. There was no record of her anywhere before that—nada, zero, zip.”
Angel’s nose was so small and her glasses so big, they kept sliding down. She ran a hand through her mass of curls, then pushed the heavy lenses into place for the umpteenth time that morning. “Okay, here goes,” she said, leaning forward and placing her hands on her knees.
“First of all, I did find an address for her in Vancouver. It was a leased penthouse in the Coal Harbour area. Very expensive, ritzy neighborhood around Stanley Park. So I called the number for the management office.”
“And—?”
“And, I spoke to the manager. She moved out about a month ago, right around the time she would have been preparing to go on the cruise. It seemed like a convenient coincidence, so I asked him if she left a forwarding address. He said one day she was there and the next she was gone. No address, nothing to indicate where she was going. He was a nice guy, and loved to talk. Apparently, the only thing he knew was that some movers came and loaded up all of the furniture and drove off. Then another team came a little while later and took away her valuable artwork and a few antiques. He said it was strange that she still had a few months of paid-up rent and didn’t even ask for a refund. With the conversion of Canadian dollars to ours, I figured out she was paying about six thousand dollars a month, so she left a pretty penny behind.”
Goldie scratched her head and got that look she always had when her wheels were turning. “That is weird, and I think the other strange thing is that two teams of people came to clean out the penthouse. I wonder what that was about. Did you ask how the manager knew the artwork was valuable?”
“Yep. I sure did. The manager said he had to let an appraiser into the penthouse a few months back, because Jade was off traveling. When the appraiser looked at one of the pieces, he seemed very impressed, so the manager asked if it was valuable. Not only did he answer yes, but said all of the pieces were very good. The manager stayed with him the whole time to make sure that nothing was missing when he left.”
“Great work. No wonder I call you my little angel.”
Angel jumped up from the chair, adjusted her pink sweater and headed back to Mission Central to work on her normal tasks for the “Ask G.O.D.” column.
Goldie said, “Well, before Angel laid that on us I was about to say that it looked like Unk is out of the soup and maybe it’s time for me to think about going back home, but that’s off the table now. It makes sense for me to stay longer. One of my favorite wholesalers is going out of business, and if I wait for their big sale, I’ll be able to pick up some great bargains on several wonderful pieces I spotted. That is, if they aren’t sold by the last day of the sale.”
“Sounds good to me,” Godiva said, already thinking of all the avenues they had to explore. “What about Red? Will he get upset?”
“It’s not Red I have to worry about. This is a big time in the cruise season. He’ll be out to sea for several more weeks. It’s Rudy I’m going to have to calm down. You know, when I’m gone he feels a big responsibility being in charge of the store, so he doesn’t go drinking at the Red Dog Saloon with his pal Taku Ted. After a while, he starts getting antsy. Guess I’ll just have to convince him to hold down the fort.”
Goldie had her Bic pen poised, ready to start taking notes on the yellow pad. “Okay, let’s begin.”
“Well, for a starting point,” Godiva said, “I’m pretty sure we have more information about Jade than the FBI does—at least I think so. But where do we go from here?”
Always the practical one, Goldie thought about it before saying, “Do you think it might be a good idea to share what we’ve discovered with Agent Del Toro? I know we said we weren’t going to, but on the other hand we’ve gotten into some pretty hot water when we’ve gone off on our own. Jade could be dangerous.”
They both agreed that Goldie had a point, but neither one of them was ready to bring Del Toro into it yet. They also agreed that at this point they both believed Sly Cunning was telling the truth.
***
Dexter made a few stops after leaving Godiva’s house and arrived at his store close to noon. He put Godiva’s jewelry into the private safe in his office where he kept the most valuable merchandise. Then he settled into his big burgundy leather chair, shuffled a few papers and surveyed his domain.
It was the perfect setting for the owner of a Beverly Hills jewelry store. His antique mahogany desk had a paneled front with inlaid brass strips and sat atop a Persian rug on the Brazilian Cherrywood floor. Wainscoted walls and a coffered ceiling complemented the well-appointed room.
He called his manager into the office. “Roxy, I’m expecting a very important client in a few minutes. When she arrives, just give her a warm greeting and bring her directly back here.”
About ten minutes later a woman entered the shop. Her look was one of money and culture. She wore a black and ivory suit Roxy had seen in Gucci’s window and stilettos with a distinctive Jimmy Choo flair. At the sound of her smooth, sexy voice the male customer Roxy was waiting on turned to look, then couldn’t stop staring at the beautiful woman.
“I’m here to see Mr. Dexter Diamond. He’s expecting me.”
If her appearance was any indication, she was just the kind of client Dexter loved—rich.
Roxy excused herself to the customer, saying she would be right back, and led the woman back to Dexter’s office as instructed.
He rose and walked around to greet his visitor, then said to Roxy, “I don’t want to be interrupted. Please hold all my calls. I have to leave for a lunch appointment right after we’ve concluded our business. My next meeting might carry into the afternoon, so if I’m not back by four o’clock, just lock up early and go home.”
An hour later Dexter and his client emerged from the office, both smiling. He walked to the door to see the beautiful woman out, then went back into his office to assemble the items he needed to take to his next appointment.