Chapter 24
In her room at the inn, Abby put on fresh clothes.
The long hot shower should’ve cleared her mind of their failure to locate any cameras, and it had.
Mostly. The only thing she couldn’t seem to erase—Burke’s kiss last night.
She hadn’t had any free time to think about it until now and it played over and over like a popular song she couldn’t forget.
It had been amazing. A kiss beyond all expectations. She could’ve walked away, but she’d wanted him to kiss her. She’d instigated her actions. And she didn’t regret it. Not one bit.
Had her prayers given her peace about being with him—maybe the reason she couldn’t let it go? She now felt free to daydream about a future with him.
But she didn’t have time to keep thinking about it now.
Not when the attorney for tomorrow’s deposition had called and basically demanded she come in for a refresher.
She didn’t want to miss more of the Lemoine investigation, but she wanted to do her best to put a kidnapper behind bars, so she had no choice.
Taking the company’s SUV, she settled in for the short drive to the lawyer’s office in Seaside Harbor only to be told he wasn’t ready for her.
She took a seat in the waiting area, and her phone alerted her to a video call from Hayden.
She answered and put in her earbuds for privacy from the receptionist.
“You got a minute?” Hayden seemed all business.
Her pulse raced in hope of good news. “Sure.”
“I just found out Leonard Shaw knew Estelle back in the day. More than knew her,” he said.
“He’s one of the men she was rumored to have an affair with.
They shared the love of antiques, and apparently Victor could care less about them.
Shaw accompanied her when Victor didn’t want to go to social gatherings. ”
“How did we miss something like that?” Abby asked. “Why didn’t Victor mention it?”
“I can’t answer why Victor didn’t tell you, but I only learned about it from a gossip columnist. I located an article where she speculated on the affair. You’d think if it weren’t true, Victor would’ve insisted the newspaper print a retraction, but that never happened.”
“Wow! Just wow! I’ll ask Victor about it when he’s well enough to talk, but who knows when that will be.” Abby’s excitement lessened. “His doctor said it’s possible that asking him additional stressful questions could cause another stroke. I don’t want to risk that.”
“I discovered something else about Shaw that might mean you don’t have to question Victor.”
“You’ve got my attention—spill it.”
“I was hoping you’d say that.” Hayden shared a mischievous grin with her. “Shaw showed up on the list for potential fences in the area. In fact, he’s the most likely person to be able to fence such a high-priced item.”
“No way!” She’d caught the receptionist’s attention and lowered her voice. “You’re sure he’s a possible fence?”
He nodded. “His name is all over the dark web. His screen name is AntiquityAssassin.”
“Clever.”
Hayden looked at her with the burning focus he was known for. “The name might be, but he wasn’t clever enough to hide the trail to his real identity.”
She shook her head. “How was I so wrong about him? Sure, he came across as defensive of the woman in his shop, but otherwise he seemed reputable. Clearly he isn’t. I’m in Seaside Harbor right now and need to pay this guy another visit.”
Hayden narrowed his eyes. “Just be careful, okay. I have no idea if someone who deals in stolen antiques is dangerous, but he could be.”
The last thing she wanted to do was put herself in a life-threatening situation. “Does it appear as if he has any partners in crime?”
“As far as I can tell, he’s a loner.”
“Then I’m good to handle him.”
“Sheriff Abby Day to the rescue.” Hayden saluted her, then laughed. “I’ll continue to run my algorithms for him, but let me know if I can do anything else.”
She ended the call with a sharp swipe and started to dial Burke, but the attorney stepped into the waiting area. Burke would have to wait.
Now came the boring time prepping for the deposition.
Would she be able to focus? Or would her mind spiral with everything Shaw might say when she talked to him again—every awful, impossible, true thing?
Abby pulled up to the antique shop and used the SUV’s infotainment speaker to dial Burke’s number. The call went straight to voicemail. Drat. He was likely meeting with Sheriff Ryder. She wouldn’t distract him by leaving a message and ended the call. She could catch him up after she talked to Shaw.
Light from several crystal chandeliers shone through the antique shop’s front windows, casting a glow on the twilight-darkened sidewalk.
Abby killed the engine and climbed out. Before she entered, she paused to peer through the glass door.
The store was empty, and Shaw wasn’t behind the counter. He was probably working in the back.
She entered and made her way down the main aisle, calling, “Anyone here?”
No reply.
If she owned a shop with such a pricey inventory, she wouldn’t leave the counter unattended. She was about to shout louder when a woman’s light footsteps approached from the back room.
Abby turned and came face to face with the same woman she’d seen earlier.
No question in Abby’s mind. She was looking at Estelle.
The same large, dark eyes. The same olive complexion.
Wavy hair pulled back in a bun. The only changes in her face were wrinkles around the eyes and skin that had lost its elasticity.
She’d stayed in shape and looked quite fit for a woman her age.
“Estelle Lemoine.” Abby kept her gaze fixed on the woman. “Is this where you’ve been hiding all these years?”
Her eyes flashed wide, but quickly constricted. “I’m not sure who you’re referring to.”
“Oh, come on,” Abby said. “You’re Estelle Lemoine. Victor Lemoine’s wife. You disappeared, never to be heard from again.”
She lifted her chin. “You’re mistaken.”
“I don’t think so.” Abby eased closer to the counter.
Estelle jumped back.
Good. Abby had unsettled her. Abby displayed her deputy’s badge and introduced herself. “If you continue to deny it, I’ll have no choice but to take you in for fingerprinting and questioning. A DNA test too.”
Estelle’s expression twisted into something dark, sinister as she whipped a pistol from behind her back. Abby tensed—too late.
The gun in her hand gleamed under the light, an old, weathered pistol. Was it the missing gun from Victor’s collection?
A twisted smile spread across her face. She was enjoying this.
Abby hadn’t seen it coming. She didn’t think this older woman would pull a gun on her and had underestimated her because of her age. And now, she had seconds—maybe less—to figure out her next move.
“You just couldn’t leave it alone, could you?” Estelle waved the pistol. “Picking, picking, picking, when all I did was leave my husband.”
“It’s the manner in which you left him.” Abby lifted her chin, trying to hide her fear. “And now you’ve come back to steal the crown from him.”
“The crown?” She laughed, the pitch hysterical. “Oh, that’s priceless. It’s long gone. I took it before I left him.”
“So you replaced it with the forgery,” Abby stated.
“You figured it out. You’re a better investigator than I thought this backwater place would have.”
Abby ignored her insult. “If you already have the authentic crown, why did you come back to steal the forgery?”
“Okay, maybe I was wrong. Maybe you aren’t as smart as I thought.” Estelle sneered at her. “I wasn’t after the forgery. I wanted what’s in the case. I took the crown to make it look like my target.”
Could this be what Victor meant by the crown wasn’t the treasure?
“What’s in the case?” Abby asked.
“Microsoft stock certificates Valentino bought at the company’s initial public offering. With all the stock splits, and the increase in share prices, his initial investment is now worth about fifteen million dollars.”
“A lot of good they’ll do you. You can’t trade stocks in Valentino’s name.”
Estelle gave her a sly grin. “I’ve already had a document made showing Valentino transferred the shares to me. I even added Victor’s signature as the witness. It’s a world-class forgery. No one would question it.”
“That would be some haul,” Abby admitted. “If you knew about the stock, why wait until now to take the case?”
“No point back then. It wasn’t worth much.” She frowned. “Foolish me, I figured I’d be set for life with the money I got from selling the crown. Big mistake. I’m accustomed to a certain lifestyle, so I had to come back.”
Just what they’d suspected, except it was for stocks and not the crown. “I suppose it cost a lot more to raise a child than you planned.”
“You found my journal.” She honestly seemed impressed. “Don’t think for one minute I had that child. Even then, I knew without Vincent’s fortune and title, I didn’t want to raise another child.”
Abby didn’t want a picture of what she had done to get rid of the baby. “So, what happened to Vincent? Did he get smart and leave you?”
She laughed. “I thought you found Vincent’s body at the mansion. How do you think it got there?”
“Vincent?” Abby took a moment to process the comment. “You killed Victor’s brother and buried him at the mansion?”
She cocked her head at a superior angle. “I was so tired of my life here, and I knew Victor wouldn’t leave. But Vincent offered to take me away from it all. Until the day we were going to leave. Then something came over the fool. He felt a sudden need to tell Victor what was going on.”
“So you killed him to stop him?”
“No. No. It was an accident. I couldn’t risk Victor finding a way to make me stay, so I argued with Vincent. It got heated. I shoved him. He grabbed my locket and the chain gave way. He lost his balance and stumbled. Hit his head on a rock. Died instantly.”
“If it was an accident, why didn’t you report it?”
“And stay here?” Her voice skyrocketed. “Maybe end up in jail here? No. No way.”