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I gave him the short version, as Noah had already told him the main parts, and I reiterated that I only took one watch and gave it over to the sheriff.
While I was speaking, Richard Chase pulled a tablet from his briefcase and got everything I was saying down. “You touched nothing else?”
“I may have touched them that day. I don’t remember. I’ve touched them before, as I would clean, but other than that, I really had little to do with them. Oh, well, when we’d go to parties or dinner, he’d sometimes put the nicer cufflinks on me.”
“Sure, sure. But he never said anything was yours to keep?”
“No, but I didn’t think that either.”
Richard glanced up at me over the tablet. “You could have. Noah knew about this stuff, in that, you lived together for a time, you weren’t allowed to work outside the home. That means you were… like an employee, legally speaking. When a wife, or husband, divorces their spouse, having made no money during the relationship, that work they do for the home is counted. It wasn’t always that way. People had to fight for that. They used to leave a relationship with nothing, like you almost did. The courts know that isn’t right.”
I relaxed a little, but my coffee came then, and I took a sip of the sweet treat. I hadn’t had a good latte since arriving on the ranch.
“Well, if it’s right or wrong, I don’t care about that. I truly don’t want a thing from him. I swear I wouldn’t have taken the watch if I’d have had more than a few dollars in my wallet. I knew I’d need something to live on for a little while until I could get a job and a place.”
“And you’d pay him back?”
“Well… I don’t think I thought that far ahead, but I probably would have come to that conclusion after I got settled. I told Noah about it. I worked at his ranch and that pay bought back the watch. I wanted nothing from him. I still don’t. Noah told me I could do a sort of divorce from him and take half. I really don’t want that.”
Richard settled in to tell a story, and I saw Noah’s eyes rolling, but he listened, as I did. “I saw a movie, long time ago. It had Cher, and she was speaking to another woman, who asked her if she was getting child support from her child’s father. She said,you take their money, you have to take their shit. It thought about that many times, when speaking to my friends in family courts. Sure, you may need their money, but if you don’t, then I’d recommend not taking it every time, but that’s me. I have money.”
“You do now? Nice to know,” Noah said, then laughed sarcastically.
“Noah, I’m helping here. I thought we were good if I helped your new… partner?”
“Yes. He’s my new partner.”
“Congratulations. I’m happy for you, truly.”
Noah seemed to chill for the moment, but it made me want to know even more what had happened between them. “Sorry, Richard, I’m still sore and you know why.”
“I know. I get it, but this is today, your new partner, and I’m going to help him. This isn’t even my field, but I have a colleague that is coaching me on the details. Now, Eli,” he said, turning his attention back to me, “I know he’s alleging that you stole a lot more than one watch. I’ve requested the camera footage for the apartment building and the surrounding area. For the number of things he’s alleging, you’d have been carrying out a lot more than a duffle bag, as you allege.”
“Like what? Are you kidding me? What did he say I took?” My voice was raised. Of course it was. People started looking around at us, but I didn’t care. I did lower my voice, however. “What?”
“Money, jewelry. He mentioned a gun but didn’t list it here, a small statue that was valued at,” he started swiping his screen. “Twelve thousand.”
Guns were crazy, as he knew I wouldn’t touch them, but the statue? I knew exactly what Richard Chase was talking about before he ever showed me the picture. “The stupid little one he’d bought in that gallery, the one that looks like a man, turning into a tree. It was awful.”
Noah chuckled. “The shit people buy.”
“It was ugly.”
Richard showed me the statue, and it was a picture I’d taken for the insurance. “That’s it.” Then it dawned on me. “The insurance. He must go after me, so the insurance will cover it, but I’m sure he will take the insurance money and then, low and behold, the thing will show back up, along with whatever else he said I took.”
“Insurance fraud is a nasty business,” Richard said, and the way he said it, it was as if he’d already thought of it. “I’ve had a few clients do the same. I drop them immediately.”
“Well, hell,” Noah said, then leaned over to Richard. “Can we throw his ass in jail?”
“No,” I said. “I don’t want revenge. I’m not him. I just want this over.”
They both stared at me like I had three heads, but I was adamant. Richard whispered to Noah, “I like him. He’s got ethics.”
“Jealous?”
Richard laughed and told Noah, “I’m getting a few in my old age, Noah. I promise, I’m not the prick I once was. Like you, I fell for someone, and she changed me.”
“I’ll send her flowers one day.”
