Dead Ringer

Chapter 5

"So tell me what happened when the lights went out," the taller and darker of the two security guards asked Lorinda. His partner, who had hair so pale I wondered if he was part albino, inspected the jewelry case without touching it while we sat on bar stools at the gold bar. Mack and Buster had returned to designing their space while we were being questioned.

Lorinda took a shaky breath. "I was behind the case when everything went black. Annabelle and her assistant were on the other side a few feet away. Then I got pushed to the ground, and I heard some noises. That must have been when they took the rings. Then the person must have run off because by the time I stood up and felt around, no one was there."

The guard questioning us looked to Kate and me. "Is this what you heard, too?"

"It all happened pretty fast, but I definitely heard some scuffling and clattering, which I now know must have been someone messing with the case," I said.

"There was a lot of bumping around all over the room. It was hard to know what was going on or where the noises came from," Kate added. "But I heard noises near the jewelry case, too."

"And your case was unlocked?" The other security officer called from where he hunched over the jewelry case.

Lorinda flushed. "I'd opened it to show a ring and hadn't closed it again before the lights went off."

"So anyone could have taken the rings," the pale guard said, more of a statement than a question.

"I suppose so," Lorinda admitted. "The sliding door to the back of the case was wide open."

"But you could only see that if you were standing close enough," Kate said.

The guard doing the questioning nodded. "And how many people were close enough to see that?"

Kate glanced around her. "Fern had walked off, Buster and Mack were still in the back, and Richard had returned to his booth. So at that point it would have been the three of us."

I glared at her. She'd just implicated us as possible suspects in the burglary. She cringed as she realized what she'd done.

"But we don't have any motive to steal the rings." Kate jerked her head in my direction. "Annabelle barely wears jewelry and can't accessorize to save her life."

"Thanks, Kate," I said. "Very helpful."

"Do you mind if we search your bags?" The pale security officer joined us.

"Be my guest." I waved toward the canvas bags sitting on the floor.

Kate walked behind the bar and handed over her black Longchamp bag. "Knock yourselves out."

"What's going on?" Richard asked as he walked up.

"Lorinda's diamond rings were stolen when the lights went out," Kate said, coming out from behind the bar.

Richard's eyes widened. "What? Who?"

"Richard, this is Lorinda Goodman of Goodman & Sons Jewelers." I touched Lorinda's shoulder. "Lorinda, this is Richard Gerard. He's a caterer."

Richard gave me a cutting glance, which told me I'd given him too perfunctory an introduction. "We've actually met before."

She shook his hand, her face puzzled.

"I catered your father's retirement party two years ago," Richard said. "You probably don't remember."

"I'm sorry. I wasn't very involved in planning the party. My mother handled that," Lorinda said. "But I'm surprised you remember a small party from over a year ago."

Richard seemed pleased with himself. "I never forget a client's name or face. Considering some of my clients, it's both a blessing and a curse."

"All right, ladies." The taller security guard passed Kate her bag. "We've searched all your bags and didn't find anything."

Richard raised an eyebrow. "They think you took the rings?"

I shrugged. "We were closest to the case when the lights went off."

"I mean maybe Kate," Richard said. "But you've never known how to wear jewelry, Annabelle."

Kate grinned. "That's what I told them."

I folded my arms over my chest. "Very funny, you two."

"We're going to search all the booths and bags in case the thief is still in the ballroom," the other security guard said. "And no one is stepping foot out of the hotel without being searched."

"What about the show?" Mack asked. He'd sidled over from the Lush display, where Buster stood on a ladder attaching branches to a metal arch.

One of the guards glanced at his watch. "It doesn't start for another three hours. That should give us enough time to do a thorough search."

"So there's no chance you'll cancel it, is there?" Mack asked, his eyes darting to the piles of gilded branches being suspended overhead and the massive orchid cascade on the bar. I knew he was mentally calculating how much money they'd lose if the show was rescheduled and they had to order all new flowers.

"I can't make any promises," the blond guard told him. "Once three hundred brides come in here, the chance of finding those rings goes right out the window."

Lorinda put her elbows on the bar and let her head drop. "My father is going to fire me for sure."

"Don't worry." Kate rubbed her back. "I'm sure we'll find them."

"Please don't call the police yet," Lorinda said to the security guards. "I don't want to have to file a report if I don't have to."

The guards both eyed her. "Why not?"

She lowered her eyes. "My father. I'd rather he not find out unless he absolutely must."

"It's our policy to call the police for something of this magnitude," the dark-haired guard said. "But we can postpone calling them until after we've made our preliminary search and investigation."

Lorinda beamed at him. "Thank you."

"But that won't take long so if you don't want to file a police report or have the show canceled, you'd better hope those rings turn up sooner rather than later."

With that, the security guards walked away from us and started talking to the photographers who were two booths down.

Mack's face fell and a branch crashed to the floor behind us. We looked over to where Buster stood on the ladder.

"Canceled?" Buster looked like he'd been punched in the gut. "Impossible. Not after all the work we've done, all the money we've put into this."

"I have several hundred profiteroles in spun sugar cages," Richard said, his face turning pink. "And don't get me started on the brownie meringue pops that took me forever to arrange standing up in a bed of colored sugar."

Mack hurried over to the base of Buster's ladder and retrieved the fallen branch. "That's only a worst-case scenario. That's not going to happen, right?" He stared at me, his face begging me to back him up.

"If it does, the hotel is getting a bill from me." Richard stomped off.

I thought of the two options. Option one: the police. The thought of filing a police report clearly upset Lorinda. If her father was as tough on her as it sounded, I understood her wanting to hide a mistake like leaving the jewelry case open and getting robbed.

Option two: canceling the show. Even if they could find another weekend where all the vendors were free before wedding season picked up, Buster and Mack couldn't afford to buy all the flowers again and Richard would bust a gasket if he had to throw away all of the food he'd prepared. No. The show must go on.

"Of course it's not going to be canceled," I said. "Because we're going to find out who took those diamonds."