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“A diamond choker,” he replied. “Apparently, it’s close to a million dollars.”
“Are you fucking serious?” I demanded. “The guy’s brought a diamond choker on vacation with him?”
“He’s claiming to have bought it for his wife,” he said. “For their wedding anniversary.”
?
?Fuck,” I said again. “This is a nightmare.”
“I’ve convinced him not to call the police,” he said.
“Good.”
“But I don’t know how long he’ll keep to that,” Ben said quickly. “I spoke to him just before coming up here. He looks like he wants to make trouble.”
“If word of this gets out, we’re not going to fare too well,” I said. “We’re a fledgling resort; we can’t afford any bad press.”
“How are we supposed to calm the guy down?”
“Offer him free room and board for…a week?”
Ben looked at me incredulously. “He’s going to laugh at that offer.”
“What would you suggest I do?” I demanded.
“Prove him wrong.”
“Excuse me?”
“Prove that the necklace wasn’t stolen,” Ben said. “Prove that he or his wife simply…misplaced it.”
“Then it’ll be his word against mine,” I pointed out. “Which is only going to piss this guy off—if it becomes a he said, she said situation we’re definitely going to be looking at bad press. We’re going to have to handle this quietly.”
“But I doubt that’ll work for long,” Ben said. “This guy looks like a complete asshole. I think I’ve mentioned him to you once before actually.”
“Who?” I asked, trying to remember.
“Mr. Beaumont?”
I frowned. “The name sounds vaguely familiar,” I nodded. “Why did you mention him to me?”
“It was the day that the Japanese delegation came in,” Ben told me. “I got here late, remember? Mr. Beaumont was trying to grope one of the staff, a young waitress named Nakoma, and I was handling it?”
“Fuck, yes,” I nodded, remembering hearing about it from Ben. “This is the same guy?”
“The very same,” he nodded.
“And do you believe him?”
“I don’t know one way or the other,” he said, with a shrug. “Just because he’s a pervert and a cad doesn’t necessarily mean he’s also a liar.”
“Funny, I would argue that he is,” I said. “Especially considering he has a wife. You mentioned she was aware of the theft, didn’t you?”
“She’s the one who realized the choker was missing in the first place,” Ben said. “She’s demanding the immediate dismissal of the employee she’s accusing.”
“Wait, she suspects someone specific?” I asked.
“She does,” Ben nodded. “And, she looks like she’s out for blood. They both do. In fact…”
