Epilogue
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Early April …
Several weeks later Doreen stepped outside to green grass and a bright sunny day, a little cool, but still feeling like spring, giving her a completely different outlook on life.
She grabbed a light coat and let the animals out of the house.
She tilted her face to sun, smiling as she walked to the river.
It was barely a trickle now, but she knew soon enough the snow on the mountains would melt, and it would surge into high-water levels again.
Mugs immediately jumped into the water, and she groaned at the thought of his wet coat as he traipsed back into the house, but he was having way too much fun to be upset about that.
“I wasn’t planning on you getting soaking wet,” she muttered.
But Mugs was chasing something in the water, and she had no idea what it was.
Goliath watched with interest but a safe distance from his canine brother.
Thaddeus was waddling up and down the pathway, his head going from side to side—as if checking out all the new plants shooting up.
As she wandered up and down the creek, along the rocky edges.
It was stunning. The fresh green growth proved spring was here, plus the sunny day, all combined to put joy in her heart.
Looking around her and taking it all in, it was just glorious.
That’s all she could say. It was absolutely glorious.
Dropping to sit on one of the many boulders along the path, she watched the animals enjoy the weather as she continued to take in all the fresh greenery around her. Beside her was a beautiful patch of thyme, coming out of its dormant winter. She leaned in closer to admire it.
A glint of something flashed before her.
She reached into the bowels of the plant, which was only a few inches high, and pulled up a bangle.
She hadn’t seen one quite like this before, but something was off about it.
Off seemed to be her favorite word these days, but honestly, this piece was definitely different.
As she studied it, she realized it wasn’t different. It was of very high quality.
She frowned as she stared at it, then turned to glance around, thinking of all the times she had been right here, and there had been no sign of this before.
Yet, during wintertime, that made sense, with so much of the other vegetation mostly dead or dormant from the cold.
Plus, the skies were that winter gray, not so sunny as today.
However, with the arrival of spring, absolutely nothing else could hide this bangle anymore.
As she looked at the piece again, she noted something very familiar about it.
Frowning, she took several photographs of it and sent them to Mack. Then she headed back to the house, her animals in tow.
He called her a few minutes later. “What is that?” he asked.
“It’s a trinket of some kind, and honestly”—she giggled—“I found it in a bush of thyme.”
“A bush of what?” he asked.
“The herb, … thyme,” she murmured. “It was in the bush.”
“Right, okay, and why do I care?”
“Doesn’t it look familiar?”
“No, it doesn’t.”
“Take another look.”
He groaned, came back on the phone. “I even looked at it on the big monitor,” he added, “but it doesn’t look familiar at all.”
“Didn’t you just have a case where a bunch of jewelry was stolen?”
“Yes,” he replied.
“And I’m pretty sure you told me some bangles were in it.”
“Oh yeah, sure,” he said, his voice sharp now. “But what on earth made you think that this is related?”
“Look at the name on the photograph I sent you.”
He read it off, “Sivengy.”
“Yes, that’s the designer. I’m pretty sure you mentioned that all the stolen jewelry pieces were by this one particular designer.”
“Hang on. I’m pulling up the case file.” A few minutes later he cursed under his breath.
She grinned. “I’m right, aren’t I?” she crowed.
“Well, don’t crow too loudly just yet,” he muttered, “and, yes, that’s the designer, but I don’t see anything that looks like this on the list of missing items.”
“No trinkets?”
“Yeah, there are trinkets, but every piece has been insured, and every one comes with a separate image.”
“Hmm,” she muttered. “The thought of its being from that particular designer, yet not being part of that case …”
“I know,” he added. “That’s odd.”
“It’s more than odd. It’s a coincidence that doesn’t make any sense. What are the chances that one of the descriptions doesn’t match one of the items, or they just didn’t get around to logging in this piece?”
“I don’t know how that would happen here,” he noted.
“Yet the piece displays the name of its designer, but I don’t know where you’re at on that case.”
“We’re nowhere,” he admitted, with a groan. “As a matter of fact, the owner, who had been attacked during the robbery, actually passed away this morning.”
Doreen gasped. “Oh dear.”
“Right.”
“On the other hand,” she said, thinking it over, “that also means it’s now a murder case.”
“It is, indeed,” he agreed. “Yet that doesn’t change anything.”
“I don’t know that it changes anything,” she admitted, “but it should make this bracelet even more important.”
“Why is that?”
“What is the name of the person who passed away?”
“Ronnie Bennington,” he replied. “And his wife was … Rebecca Bennington.”
“And on that bracelet is an inscription that reads R.B., with love from R.B.,” she shared. “So that bracelet is definitely from the collection. If it was never entered into the insurance files or if you never heard about it or not, this is definitely part of the same household that was robbed.”
“Yeah,” he conceded grudgingly, “looks like it is.”
“And that means,” she declared, with a chuckle, “Trinket in the Thyme! I have a new case.”
“No,” he countered immediately. “That means I have a new case.”
And, for the first time in a long while, he hung up on her.