Chapter 16
Chapter sixteen
We watched one of the police officers lead Fay away, in handcuffs. Alphonse, and Paul as the star witness, went along. Paul had identified himself as a former man of the law himself, which obviously counted for something in Crystal Springs.
“We’ll be sending someone to your hotel for your statement,” the other one told Genie.
“I’ll keep myself available. I assume you’re going to search this woman’s room at the Fontainebleau first?” she asked.
The officer frowned at her. “She’s local.”
“That’s possible, but I can assure you that she’s staying at the same hotel as me.” She clasped her hands over her heart. “Do you think she’s the one who burgled the auction house?”
The police officer took a second too long before he chuckled. “Crime ain’t got no chance in our town, I’m telling you.” He puffed out his chest a little, for the benefit of the waitress who beamed at him.
It was clear as day that the thought hadn’t occurred to him before, but that didn’t matter, as long as he accepted it now.
“I can come along now, if it helps the police,” Genie said.
“You ladies finish your dinner. There’s plenty of time yet.”
“I’ll have our kitchen reheat your plates,” the waitress suggested.
“That’s sweet of you,” I said.
We finished our meals faster than the food deserved, eager to return to the hotel.
The police had already arrived. A young woman in uniform stood watch outside Fay’s room.
We waited a respectful five minutes until Genie had her final scene in our little drama. She approached the policewoman with fresh alarm. “There’s been another theft, from my room.”
The policewoman blinked.
Genie gulped. “I only checked when I came back, after that incident in the steak house.”
“Wait a sec,” the policewoman said. She knocked on the closed door to Fay’s room. It opened, and I heard an urgent whisper.
I’d stayed close by, to offer Genie moral support but not so close that I appeared to be heavily involved.
I was almost certain that Fay had acted alone and her buddy Leila had nothing to do with the attempted black magic but almost wasn’t good enough.
I had no intention to pop up on any witch’s radar.
The policeman who’d spoken to us at Clancy’s came out into the hallway. “Another theft?”
Genie nodded. “It’s a book. A family heirloom, like my brooch. I was considering having it valued for the auction, but then I decided against it.”
“A book?”
“It’s very old, and rare, and it has metal bands running around it. I haven’t got a photo with me, but this drawing might help?” She gave him the sketch of the grimoire she’d drawn for me, from Adriana’s description.
“We’ll have a look,” the policeman conceded.
“I truly appreciate it. Have you found the auction lots yet?”
He clammed up. “The status of our investigation is confidential.”
“I understand. Well, good luck. That radio-gramophone cabinet is such a rare and valuable piece nowadays. Such a clever design, with its storage compartment and removable panels. My great-grandmother kept her valuables hidden inside hers.” Genie twinkled at him.
“You’ll let me know if you’ve recovered my book? ”
Cosmo purred.
The police officer’s features softened into something resembling a simper. “Sure will.”
Adriana giggled. “Oh boy, he’s already carrying a torch for you.”
Silently, I agreed with her. Maybe we should ease up on Cosmo’s power of the purr, or on utilizing Genie’s natural charms.
We retreated to her room.
Adriana flung herself onto the bed. Cosmo snuggled up beside her.
“Do you think it worked?” Genie fretted.
“It will. It has to.” The thought of having Genie lay claim to the grimoire had been all I’d been able to come up with to ensure that I’d end up with the book.
Since Fay had been caught red-handed stealing from Genie, it was plausible enough that she’d also extended her crime spree to include another hotel room.
“Relax, you too,” Adriana said. “You both act as if we weren’t as good as professional gumshoes. We’re the bee’s knees at spinning yarns.”
It took the police officer an hour to arrive at Genie’s doorstep. He beamed at her. “I’ve got good news for you. Your property’s safe.”
“That’s wonderful. When can I have it back?”
“Tomorrow, or the day after. We have to follow procedures. Now, for that statement of yours. I’ll record it, if you don’t mind.”
“Not at all.” Genie recounted our adventure at Clancy’s Steak House, omitting only the fact that we’d planted the jewelry on Fay when she tried to steal the key.
“The real heroes were the nice man who caught that woman, and his dog. If he hadn’t barked, we might not have noticed anything.”
“Well, he’s an old hand at the game. A policeman’s a policeman for life. You don’t lose the knack of spotting a bad apple.” He asked Genie to come to the station in the morning, to sign the statement, and took his leave.
“That was surprisingly casual,” I said.
“Magic at work.” Genie grinned.
“More likely that the police have decided that they already have a star witness in the form of one of their own.”
“Does it matter? We’ll receive the grimoire,” Cosmo pointed out.
“That’s all swell, but what about my headband?” Adriana asked.
“Sorry. We couldn’t have claimed she stole that as well when it’s very likely that Shawn has a good idea of what’s inside that particular box. We could only risk it with the grimoire because of the secret panel and your marvelous info.”
Like my cat, the ghost also preened when flattered. To be fair, I enjoyed the occasional compliment too, and Adriana more than deserved it.
“She’s right. We have to win the bid,” Genie said.
“We will. If Bex’s magic fails, there’s another solution. Paws crossed it won’t come to that.” Cosmo arched his back.
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“It’s simple. We’ll all be there when the auction resumes, correct?”
Genie checked her phone. “Ten o’clock tomorrow morning. Wild horses couldn’t keep us away.”
“Great. We don’t need the RCA cabinet any longer, because the police will have taken out the grimoire thanks to our clever ploy, so Bex can undo the lock on that particular lot. We also don’t need the jewelry box, so that goes as well. That leaves all the occult energy homing in on the ebony box.”
“And your failsafe?” I asked Cosmo.
He sat up with his tail curled around his body. “If something goes wrong and you’re outbid online, Adriana has to crash the electronic system. Then you wipe it once it’s down.”
I gasped. “That’s very drastic. A lot of people stand to lose money.”
“Not if we restore it again, after changing the one crucial bid.”
“Can you do that? Because I most certainly can’t, neither the wiping nor the restoring,” I told him.
“And we can see that nobody outbids us in the room.” Adriana ignored my words of caution. She picked up Cosmo and twirled around the room with him. I averted my gaze to the floor, to spare myself the vision of my cat floating in the air whenever she passed in front of me. “You’re a genius.”
I yawned. “He is. I think we’ve taken care of everything now.”
Adriana pressed a kiss on Cosmo’s head. “See you tomorrow.”
He gave her a quick, affectionate lick. “Sweet dreams.”