Maxi threw the Jeep into reverse as the words exploded from her mouth. “OK, so was Stewart Lord our burglar or not?”
“It was him,” Kate said. “Definitely him. The office had that same awful smell.”
“Good, ’cause I’d hate to think I went through all that drama for nothing. Those chicas think they’re on a telenovela. Or one of those shows about the rich housewives who are single and don’t keep house.”
“Now that we know the ‘who,’ we have to figure out the ‘why.’” Kate paused. “Do you ever remember Cookie wearing a charm bracelet?”
Maxi shook her head. “Uh-uh. She hated bracelets. She wouldn’t even wear a watch most of the time. She felt like it got in the way when she was working with the dough. Why?”
Kate raised her eyebrows. The more she heard about Cookie Hepplewhite, the more surprised she was how much they had in common. Maybe it was a pastry chef thing.
“That office of Lord’s is more like a small apartment,” Kate said. “Maybe a crash pad. But in the little executive closet where he keeps a couple changes of clothes? I found a woman’s charm bracelet.”
“You think he had a girlfriend?”
“I don’t know. It didn’t feel like that. I mean, there weren’t any other women’s things. Or even a toothbrush. Just a little shelf with the bracelet and a bottle of rum.”
“Maybe he was dating a lady pirate.”
Kate laughed. “So what did the office girls say? Did they ever decide who gets to keep the roses?”
“The skinny blond one. She swears she and Lord were ‘practically engaged.’”
“Maybe it’s her bracelet,” Kate said.
“What did it look like?” Maxi asked.
“Heavy silver, possibly antique.”
“Nope. Blondie is definitely a gold girl. She was wearing a lot of it. And that young lady isn’t gonna mix and match, lemme tell you.”
“Seems to be a theme around there. You should have seen Lord’s bathroom. That place was a gold dealer’s dream. The stuff was everywhere. And not gold colored. Actual gold.”
Maxi shook her glossy black hair. “That’s just a waste of money. And how are you s’posed to clean it, huh? ’Cause at my house, when you tackle the bathrooms, you better have a Brillo pad. Or dynamite.”
“Did any of them mention Muriel?” Kate asked, touching the jeans pocket where the bracelet rested.
“One of them, the older lady with the carroty hair? She misses her. But it doesn’t sound like they were super close. The flaca blonde? She says that Muriel had a thing for Lord.”
“Well, we know that’s not true,” Kate said. “Pretty much the exact opposite.”
“I know. I’m just telling you what she said. She says Muriel secretly gave him a present. A box of chocolates.”
“The poisoned chocolates?”
“I dunno. Skinny Girl just said that Stewart Lord made a big deal about the fact that a secret admirer gave him expensive candies. And he told everyone he’d actually seen Muriel sneak in and put them on his desk. That she had a big, giant crush on him and it was embarrassing. ’Cause he wasn’t interested in her at all. He said he was trying to be kind, so he just told Muriel she could have them because he didn’t like chocolate.”
“Oh yeah, ’cause he was always so kind. Besides, if Muriel had poisoned the chocolates, she wouldn’t have eaten them. But she was Lord’s assistant. So if anything had been delivered for him, she’d have probably been the one to put it on his desk.”
“I know. He sounds like the playground trolls at my kids’ school. They like to make up stories, too. So much drama!”
For the next few minutes, they rode in silence as Maxi battled washboard roads, stop-and-go traffic, and crazy drivers. In spite of it all, with the warm sun coming through the windshield Kate felt herself growing drowsy.
“It’s too bad you didn’t get a picture of that bracelet,” Maxi said as they stopped at a light. “We could ask around to see if anyone recognized it.”
Kate reached into her pocket, carefully extricating the bracelet. She held it aloft. “We still can.”
“Oh my gosh, you didn’t! But you did. OK, I totally approve, but we can’t tell Peter. He would never understand.”
“I’m not sure I do, either,” Kate confessed. “All I know is that it looked so out of place. Like it was the only thing in that room that belonged to a genuine, real person. And I couldn’t just leave it there.”