Chapter 4
C hapter F our
Randy exited the theater with the rest of the audience as guys shook his hand and women shared smiles with him, taking his time. It seemed he was some kind of ship celebrity. He headed to one of the bars and found a really comfortable chair, putting his feet up with a gin and tonic. It was nice to have a little peace and quiet, if only for a few minutes. A couple joined him in the chairs across from him, ordering their drinks before starting up a conversation. The man said his name was Henry and shook Randy’s hand before looking him over with unabashed heat. Randy had just introduced himself when ship’s security approached and asked to speak with him.
“What’s going on?” Randy asked as soon as they were in the elevator.
“We’ve had a report of a robbery,” he explained as the doors parted, and they stepped off. “The woman who helped you out of your handcuffs. She reported her necklace and a bracelet missing five minutes ago. We believe they might have disappeared as she was leaving the theater. She obviously had them on while she was on stage. But by the time they sat down in the Windjammer Bar, her husband noticed they were missing.”
“I see. And have you been able to trace their movements through the ship?” Randy asked as they reached the camera room.
“We’re working on it. But with the alerts we’ve had, we thought it best to get you involved right away.” The security officer opened the door, and Randy went inside. He sat down next to Lars, who was already going through the recent feeds.
“I’m trying to see who they interact with.”
“Don’t. Not yet. Let’s just try to follow them through the ship. Once we have a path for them, we can dive more deeply into details about when the jewelry might have disappeared. She was on stage wearing a lot of bling. That could have drawn the attention of anyone.” Including a certain performer who had demonstrated on more than one occasion that he was very adept at lifting things off people without their noticing.
“Okay.” He went through the video feed. “This is the moment the show let out.”
People exited the theater. Carolyn was in the middle of the group. “There. Her bracelets and necklace are in place. So she made it out of the theater okay. Can we see where she goes?”
Lars continued moving forward. “Looks like the shopping arcade.”
“Then let’s switch to there on another monitor. I want to keep this image up if we can.” Randy watched as Lars brought up the other video feed to the exact same time, and three seconds later, she appeared on camera with her jewelry intact.
“All right. So everything is fine as she entered the arcade. Can we follow her?”
Lars nodded and moved the footage forward until she entered the jewelry store. Then he switched feeds and the screen went blank.
“What’s going on?”
“There’s nothing there,” Lars explained. “Let me keep trying.”
“Okay.” Randy said, returning his attention to the monitor showing the hallway camera video, where the Carolyn stepped into view, definitely minus her bracelet and probably the necklace as well. She continued down the hall and out of the arcade.
“She definitely either she left her pieces in the store to try on something new or else they were taken in there.” He stood up. “Get security to the store to speak with the clerks, and let’s see if we can talk to her about what happened in the store.”
“I got it,” Lars said. “There’s a camera out in the hall that looks into the store. It’s a further view, but it should give us something.” He brought it up, and they went through the time frame in question. They followed Carolyn into the store, where she wandered through. She just seemed to be browsing, along with a few other women. One passed behind her and continued on. “So far nothing…,” Lars commented, continuing with the feed. Carolyn lifted her wrist, and an associate come over to help. Her bracelet was still on. The associate showed her what she wanted to see, and once she stepped away, he put the pieces back, temporarily blocking their view.
“Get out of the way,” Randy said, but he continued closing the case, finally stepping to the side. It looked as though Carolyn thanked him again and moved along before turning toward the front door—necklace gone and her wrist absent its bling. “Crap. Another associate was standing in the way, cleaning a case, and the salesperson had his back to her.” He watched the tape again before going to the hallway view. If the thief was a passenger, then they had to leave the store and wouldn’t be likely to hang around. He noted each person who went in and out of the store.
A familiar form exited the store about a minute after Randy figured the theft had taken place. He tried to zoom in but couldn’t get a clearer image due to shadows from others around. Three more people also left and a fourth even later.
“Let’s try to match people with the images you have on file.”
“I can do that,” Lars told him.
“I’m going to the shop now to have a look around. Do you want to meet me in fifteen minutes, and we can speak to the victims to see if they have any information we can use?”
“Sure.”
He left the office and hurried up to the shops. There were still a few people about as he entered the jewelry store, going to where Carolyn stood. He looked around him, picturing where the sales associate had been standing. He was in perfect position to block the camera in the hallway. Next, he checked the camera in the shop. It didn’t seem to be working. He called security, who had maintenance come down. They easily found that the power had been removed and restored it. Which meant someone who knew about these systems had shut down the camera, but how in the heck could they have done that without someone on staff seeing them? “Check earlier in the day to see if someone else was in to check on the camera and then match them to a maintenance call.”
Randy checked the shop again before leaving to meet with Carolyn and her husband, who sat at a table in one of the conference rooms near customer service.
“Have you found my wife’s jewelry?” her husband demanded as soon as Randy entered the room.
“Not yet. But we did discover that it disappeared while you were in the jewelry store.” He sat down and waited for Lars, who sat next to him. Then Randy introduced himself more fully. “We watched the video footage, and we can almost tell down to the thirty seconds or so when the jewelry went missing. So other than the sales associate, who seemed to have his back to you, is there anyone who approached you or got close to you?” Someone had to slip the jewelry off her.
Carolyn thought and then shook her head. “I didn’t see anyone. I liked a sapphire ring, so I asked to see it. I don’t remember anyone near me, but I was looking at the ring, and when I decided against it, he took it and put it away.”
“This is important. Did the sales associate touch you in any way?”
She shook her head. “No. He took the ring out. I looked closer at it and realized it wasn’t for me. That was it. I don’t see how it could be him. He wasn’t one of those people who hovered. He stood back a little and let me look.”
“Did anyone pass behind you?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I really don’t remember.” She hung her head, and her husband glared at him.
“You need to find this person. We paid a lot to be on this ship, and we should feel safe. Period. This sort of thing shouldn’t happen.”
“No, it shouldn’t. But we’re doing all we can,” Lars said levelly.
“What about the man on stage? He picked your pocket, took your watch, and even your belt. I bet he could get the jewelry off her.” His lips had set in a straight line.
“We will be looking at everyone,” Randy answered as calmly as he could. “But we also don’t want to accuse an innocent person.”
Carolyn’s husband smacked the table. “I want you to find who did this and fast. Otherwise, I will be making a call to the head of the cruise line.”
“The captain and management of the line have already been alerted. And as long as we’re at sea, then we know that the thief is on board,” Lars explained. “And short of jumping off, they will remain on board.” But that also meant that as soon as they docked in their next port, which was tomorrow afternoon, the thief would have a chance to get away.
“How much were the missing pieces worth?” Randy asked. “What did you pay for them?”
“About ten thousand dollars each,” he answered, but Randy saw his hesitation and turned to Lars.
“Would you take Carolyn up to the store and see if she can remember anything more while being in the location?” Randy asked. “We’ll be right up.” He wanted to get her out of the room. Lars escorted her out. “Okay. Now, what are they really worth?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Maybe three or four thousand dollars combined. The bracelet has diamonds, but….” He shrugged. “The necklace has a large stone that she thinks is a diamond, but it isn’t.”
Randy nodded. “Can I ask why?”
He lowered his head. “The way I see it, she gets jewelry she can wear, and I use the money for cruises and things like this. Carolyn doesn’t always understand that while she and I do well, we don’t have infinite resources.” He sighed, and Randy nodded. “I really want to make her happy because she makes me truly happy. The pieces she had on are nice pieces, but they aren’t great works of the jeweler’s art.”
He could understand. “Your secret is safe with me.” Still, honesty was probably a better policy, but it wasn’t up to him, and throwing the husband under the bus wasn’t going to get them anywhere.
“Thank you. We still need to get them back.”
Randy couldn’t agree more. It was likely that the thief would get a closer look at the pieces and realize what they had taken wasn’t as valuable as they thought either, which would probably mean they would strike again in order to make this whole trip worthwhile. A chill ran down his spine. It was also possible that this particular theft was a warmup, something they used to test out the ship’s response and their ability to move through the ship undetected.
Randy went through everything with Lars, twice, and they were no closer to solving this mystery. He had been back to the now-closed shop, but found absolutely nothing at all. Other than unplugging the camera, the thief had left no trace that they had even been here, and the camera had been “repaired” while they were in port and no one had given it much thought.
“Fucking hell,” he groaned.
“What?” Lars asked. “It’s like they disappeared into thin air. Like they’re magic.” He turned back to the screens. “Maybe we need some magic of our own.”
Randy’s belly clenched. “You aren’t thinking….” Even as he began speaking, Lars was nodding.
“Our own resident magician?” Lars grinned.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. And I’m not sure he isn’t the one behind this… somehow.” He couldn’t get over the person in shadows who looked a lot like Nathaniel.
“No way,” Lars told him. “This is the time frame the jewelry went missing, and at that same time, the magician was backstage getting his makeup off and packing away his props.” Lars switched camera views, and sure enough, there was Nathaniel, clear as day, going about his business. Well, there was one theory shot all to hell. Though part of him had hoped that Nathaniel wasn’t guilty, because otherwise it would mean that his attraction meter was leading him to the wrong side of the law… and that was bad for a cop. The job was hard enough without getting yourself involved with the guys on the dark side, so to speak.
“Do you want to talk with him?” Lars asked. “Maybe he can help us.”
Randy groaned to himself. “It’s your call. I’m here to try to help you. You and the ship’s security are the lead.” It was a weaselly answer, but it was as far as he would let himself go. Not that it would matter at all.
“So what’s up?” Nathaniel asked when he opened his cabin door in a shirt and pair of slacks that should have been declared indecent for how well they hugged Nathaniel’s legs and hips.
“We need your help,” Randy admitted. It galled him to say the words, but he knew well enough that they were missing something, and when that happened, you had to bring in a new perspective.
“What sort of help?” Nathaniel asked suspiciously, his gaze shifted from one of them to the other.
“There’s been a robbery. The woman on stage this evening, Carolyn,” Lars said.
Nathaniel’s smile faded. “I’m sorry. That’s terrible, but why? Her stuff was blingy enough, but it wasn’t all that. I mean, the quality was department store stuff at best. But that doesn’t really matter. So what can I do for you?”
Randy let what Nathaniel had said, sink in. There was more to him than just a performer. Randy had always suspected that, and now he was sure. “We can’t figure out how the thief got away.”
“And you want my help?” Nathaniel asked. “Okay. Sure. I’ll do what I can.”
Why did Randy get the feeling that Nathaniel was picturing Randy the way he’d been on the pool deck? He wanted to cross his arms over his chest to make himself feel less exposed. But if he was honest, there was also something exciting in being admired that way, even if nothing was ever going to happen.
“Lead the way.” Nathaniel closed his cabin door and followed them down the passageway. Randy knew Nathaniel was watching his ass, and he would have called him on it in a second, but Lars was there, and he had to keep his mouth shut.
“It was taken from here?” Nathaniel asked as Lars unlocked the gate of the jewelry store. He went inside and looked around. “There have to be cameras.” He zeroed in on the one that had been unplugged. “And I suppose there are ones out in the arcade as well.”
“Yes. But the one in here was disabled. It seems someone from maintenance was here while we were in port,” Lars explained.
“Okay. So the thief you’re after is probably a crew member of some kind. It isn’t likely that a passenger could get on and do all that….” His voice trailed off. “Sure, they could. A lot of the people on this ship have been on here for a while. People book themselves on and off at various ports of call. So….” He sighed.
“We know the jewelry was lifted right over here.”
“Because you saw it, and then you didn’t, on the video feed?” Nathaniel asked as he looked around. “And is there any way out of here besides the front door?” He wandered to a storage closet, turning the handle, but it didn’t open.
“That is always kept locked,” Lars said, unlocking and opening the door.
Nathaniel peered inside. “This explains everything.” He put his hands on his hips as Randy looked inside and then stood back. All Nathaniel did was roll his eyes as though they were stupid.