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Amber was in her midtwenties. Overbleached blond hair with extensions, fake blue-contact-lens eyes, and a bosom that could knock someone over from three feet away. Amber was wearing a very tight-fitting knit skirt and a low-cut cardigan. As the two women walked toward the dining room, Rowena noted that it was a good thing Amber had a big butt; otherwise, she would topple over and fall on her face. Not that Rowena hadn’t had her fair share of body enhancements, but Amber was over the top. So to speak. One more cliché to add to Rowena’s list. And the list was getting longer and more tiresome.
Arthur got up from his chair. “Amber, dear. So nice to see you.” He took her hand and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Please sit. Rowena? Get Amber a cup of coffee.”
Rowena bit her upper lip. It was all she could do to stop herself from pouring it over Arthur’s head.Such an ass. “Of course, darling.” She turned and smiled at the bimbo sitting at her table. “How do you like it?”
“Light cream, if you have it,” Amber replied.
“Of course, dear.” Rowena wanted to spit on both of them. She poured the coffee into a Royal Doulton cup. “Scone?”
Amber gave an annoying giggle. “Oh no, thank you. I’m watching my weight.”
Rowena suppressed a groan. “You have a lovely figure, Amber. Doesn’t she, Arthur?” said the spider to the fly.
Arthur tried to answer that in the most nonincriminat-ing way. “You’re a lovely young woman.”
Rowena swore there were beads of sweat forming on Arthur’s forehead. Amber was only twelve years younger than Rowena, but Rowena felt as if Arthur and Amber saw her as middle-aged. Once again, Rowena reminded herself that she was still the lady of the house. And as of now, Arthur was in deep. He couldn’t afford another divorce. Besides, the prenup was specific about adulterous behavior by either party. Poor Arthur. He was trying to have his cake and eat it, too, but he was currently choking on all the pieces he had bitten off.
Amber put on an innocent face. “So what can I do for you? You said something about the estate sale?”
“Yes. We have reason to believe that one of the pieces contained a family heirloom. Apparently it was in a hidden compartment.” Arthur made up the story, at least part of it.
“Really?” Amber’s eyes widened. “What kind of heirloom? Where did it come from?”
Already, she was asking too many questions. It was Rowena’s turn. “There was a note in one of the notebooks we found that said,Please take care of the sapphire broach. It was smuggled from Belgium just before the war.Or something of that nature. All we know is that there is an important piece of jewelry that we want to find, and it had to be hidden in one of the pieces from the estate sale.”
“Wow.” Amber sighed. “And you don’t know which piece?”
Rowena wanted to say “Duh. No, we’re just here for farts and giggles.” But instead she calmly replied, “That is correct. Do you have the inventory list from the estate sale?”
“Yes, I brought everything with me.” Amber pulled out a file from her bag. “But I don’t know where to start. Do you have any idea what piece itmightbe in?”
Arthur was losing patience as well. “No, dear. We have no idea. What I think we need to do is track down all the buyers and check with them.”
“It was sold in several groupings to a number of dealers. I can give you an inventory of all the items and who purchased them, but for anything sold to a distributor or agent, they would have to track down the pieces sold to their customers.”
“I realize it’s a laborious and tedious job, but I will use the resources of Millstone Enterprises to contact everyone.”
Amber handed over the file. Arthur thumbed through the pages. There had to be well over a hundred entries; many of those listed were agents who were spread across the country.
“Thank you, dear. I am sure this will be extremely helpful.” Rowena hoped that was a hint for Amber to scram. She and Arthur had a lot of work ahead of them.
There was an uncomfortable silence in the room. Arthur stood, followed by Rowena. Amber was still a bit slow on the uptake. She knew it was time to go, but getting the bum’s rush was a little surprising. She was expecting a slower, more congenial exit. “Let me know if you have any questions.” Rowena was so close on her heels that Amber thought Rowena was going to lift her from the floor and toss her out the door.
Rowena couldn’t open the door fast enough. “Thank you for coming, Amber. Always nice to see you.” She thought she would vomit.
Chapter Eleven
Buffalo, New York
Jerry Thompson got off the plane at Buffalo Niagara International Airport. He remembered the last time he was there. He had been chasing someone who was trying to cross into Canada pretending to be a tourist at Niagara Falls. It was almost pathetic. The guy he had been chasing showed up at one of the observation areas at the Falls, wearing a yellow slicker and carrying a suitcase. Who brings a suitcase to Niagara Falls? Unless you’re on a honeymoon and checking in at a hotel, it looks a bit conspicuous.
Now, back in Buffalo, he was on a mission for his boss. As Thompson saw things, the whole world was spinning out of control. Bad for the world, but good for his business. A lot of his colleagues had moved into cy-bersecurity, but as long as there were human beings on the planet, there would be embezzlement, extramarital affairs, and assorted other reasons why people would hire a private detective to investigate something or other.
His first stop was the car-rental agency, after which he would head to the Curtiss. Arthur had been good enough to book him a room charged to Millstone Enterprises. It would be far easier to find Colette Petrov if they were under the same roof. Before Jerry left for Buffalo, Arthur sent him a photo of Colette, making his job even easier. He simply needed to be cagey, a talent that any good private detective had to have. Jerry had an excellent record of finding difficult-to-locate individuals.
He pulled in front of the hotel, and a young man bounced out of the front door. “Checking in, sir?”
“Yes. Thanks.” Jerry hit the lift button that opened the hatch of the SUV. “Bag is in the back.” He left the key in the ignition and shut the door, handing the valet a five-dollar bill in exchange for a ticket. A bellman arrived with a cart and followed him to the registration desk.
