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Did she have any idea how revealing that statement was? No. She did not.
Jason said, “Can I ask you something? You say your great-uncle was generous. Why was Bert’s daughter, your cousin Patty, left out of the will?”
Baby bit her lip. “Uncle Roy was funny about Cindy and Patty. He didn’t approve of my Uncle Bert’s lifestyle.”
“He didn’t approve of Bert’s lifestyle?”
“When my Uncle Bert was younger, he was kind of wild. He used to hang out in bars a lot and get into fights. But then he met Cindy, and everything changed. Except Uncle Roy didn’t want him to marry my aunt Cindy. For one thing, Cindy wasn’t a lot older than me when they met, and she was pregnant. Uncle Roy thought she was trash, and he was super against the marriage.”
Why was he surprised? Everyone had their biases and prejudices. Just because Roy had been a thief didn’t mean he couldn’t be a snob.
Baby said, “He forgave my uncle Bert, but he never would acknowledge Patty was his great-niece. He always said she wasn’t his blood.”
“I see. Well, thank you.”
Baby said, “Uncle Bert is… People get the wrong idea about him. But even after all those things Uncle Roy said about Cindy, he was the one who visited Uncle Roy in the hospital the most. He used to argue with Mommy about letting Uncle Roy’s friends come and see him.”
“Uncle Roy’s friends?”
Baby said uncomfortably, “Gay people. Uncle Roy kept an apartment in Missoula, where he used to visit his gay friends. After he got sick and went into the hospital, Mommy wouldn’t have any of those people around him. Uncle Bert said what did it matter? But it did to Mommy.”
“What happened to the apartment in Missoula?” Jason asked.
She shrugged. “I think Uncle Bert and Cindy cleared it out. I don’t know.”
Jason said, “Thank you. You’ve been really helpful.” He held up the locket. “And I’ll see that this goes back to where it belongs.”
She nodded sadly, turned, and walked away.
Jason watched her for a moment. He glanced at the locket, and he couldn’t help smiling. Proof. The proof he had been waiting for.
The locket proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that Captain Roy Thompson’s thefts were not limited to the altar piece and the paintings. He had sent the locket home too, which meant there was a very good chance every single one of the fifteen missing items on the Engelshofen Castle art-collection center’s inventory list had been removed by Thompson and no other.
Well, maybe one other.
He dropped the locket in his pocket and headed for his car.
The gray, glass-paned door opened, and Jason held up the bottle of Patrón Estate Release tequila. “Is this a bad time?”
Doc’s brows rose. “Not according to your friend there.” He grinned and unlatched the screen, pushed it wide. “Come in. I was just having supper. You’re welcome to join me.”
“Thanks, I’ve already eaten,” Jason lied.
He stepped past the bronze Indian chief doorstop and followed Doc down the black and white gallery of his glory days.
“The Screaming Eagles,” Jason said. “Now that was a tough outfit. The ‘tip of the spear,’ right? First Allied soldiers to set foot into occupied France. You guys were in Bavaria in May ’45. You drank wine and cognac from Hitler’s own cellars.”
Doc said, “You’re sure one for trivia. Did you know Jimi Hendrix was with the 101st?”
“Which means you were in Bavaria at the same time as the 3rd Infantry Division. The same time as your old pal Captain Roy Thompson.”
“Like the song says, it’s a small, small world.”
Doc led the way into the tidy kitchen. The table was set for one. Trout and potatoes were sizzling in butter in a frying pan on the stove.
“Fresh caught this morning. Do you like to fish, Agent West?” Doc asked.
“I do. I don’t have much time for it these day, but yes. My grandfather taught me. He was in Bavaria around the same time as you and Captain Thompson.”
