Cat Burglar in Training (11 page)

The excitement level ratcheted upward while a corresponding herd of butterflies stomped around inside my stomach. The opening notes of a pulsating rock ballad blasted through the room. In the room next door to the ballroom, we took our places.

Josephine stood by the door that led to our makeshift runway. “Right. One…two…and go.”

Oohs
and
aahs
from the crowd floated backstage. I stood fifth in line.

“Don’t forget to smile, girls!”

My turn arrived, and I sashayed out onto the runway. A piercing whistle rent the room, audible even over the music.

“I want one of those!”

Blonde bimbo.
Blonde bimbo.
My smile blazed wide and bright. By the time I’d paraded from one end of the runway and back, my jaw hurt from the fixed smile. One outfit down. One more to go. I stepped off the runway and hurried away to change into my bikini for the swimwear parade.

“Thank goodness that’s over,” Jemima said. “Remind me to never ever let myself be talked into a charity do again. Please.”

“At least you don’t have to run around for the rest of the night half-dressed,” I said, busy scrambling into the blue dress. The fabric slid over my head with a faint whisper and settled into place. Once I’d fastened the side zip, I tugged on the bodice and scowled.

“Stop complaining and go mingle.” A cheeky grin lit her face. “You have a diamond to display.”

The crowd who stayed for drinks and canapés were well behaved. At first, my silent security escort kept them at bay. At first. Plied with alcohol and only tiny morsels of food to soak it up, the men became more vocal, more pushy, more everything. Octopus Beauchamp led the baying pack.

“Nice…diamond,” he said, his piggy eyes lingering over my exposed flesh. I suppressed a shudder.

“Only two hundred and fifty thousand pounds from Mahoneys,” I said.

“Do you come with the diamond?” one of the wits asked.

“No,” I said through gritted teeth. “You’ll need to discuss the details with the people from Mahoneys.”

“That’s enough, Lady Evelyn. You’re meant to circulate,” Josephine called across the Montgomery ballroom.

My escort offered a smile of sympathy and offered his arm. “Let’s keep moving,” he suggested in a low voice. “We’ll only stop if there’s a woman present with her husband.” Once again, his gaze remained on my face, and I was grateful for his gentlemanly manners.

We paraded the length of the ballroom and back to show off the diamond and entice people to buy. The other girls who were modeling jewelry were receiving about the same amount of attention. Two hours later, sick of having my bottom pinched and my breasts ogled, I handed over the diamond with alacrity and changed into my own clothes. Judging by tonight’s attendance and interest, I’d say the Wishes charity stood to receive a hefty chunk of sales commission along with a slice of the ticket sales. At least something good would come from my half-naked parade.

As usual, I stayed the night in Seth’s Knightsbridge flat after the fashion parade. Seth arrived home midmorning looking tired but happy, his blond hair standing up in spikes. He was clutching a pot with some kind of frilly green plant in it.

“Didn’t you comb your hair this morning?”

Seth placed the plant on the bench and dropped onto the wooden chair next to me. I inhaled a breath of spicy aftershave when he pressed a kiss to my cheek. “It’s windy outside.”

“Hmm,” I said. “Cup of coffee?”

Seth leapt off his chair. “I’ll get it. I brought you a present.” He gestured at the pot. “I should have brought two. It looks good in the kitchen.”

“Go back and buy another,” I said. “I’m not giving up mine.”

“Brought it from some guy in the Bunch of Grapes. They sold out pretty quick.”

I stilled, my coffee cup halfway to my lips. Surely not? “Just plants?”

“All sorts of plants. The guy was selling statues and urns.” Seth poured a cup of coffee into a stoneware mug and topped up mine for me. “You interested?”

“Not me. Father and Ben are the gardeners in our family.” I sipped my coffee while my mind filed through the possibilities. I kept coming up with the same scenario. Either the men who’d sold the plant to Seth were moonlighting or else they were shifting stolen goods. The second option sounded more likely.

“From what they said, I think the sales last night were a one-off. What time did you want to leave?”

I opened my mouth to fire questions. What did they look like? How many people were there? Had Seth seen them before? And that was just for starters. No, I didn’t want to stir curiosity in him.

“I’m ready whenever you are.” The sooner I returned to Oakthorpe, the quicker I’d get the information to Father and Ben. They could come up with me tonight and check out pubs while I staked out the Patterson mansion in Chelsea. I also intended to visit the photographer while I was in the neighborhood.

I wasn’t sure what action I’d take at the photographers. He wouldn’t divulge personal details because that would be career suicide. Better if he wasn’t present, but if he was…I gave a mental shrug. I’d think of something.

“Give me time for a quick shower, and we’ll go.” Seth halted by the kitchen door. “You up for the Warrens’ ball this weekend?”

I nodded, trying to look enthusiastic. The balls blended together in one endless blur after a while. “Sure. I think I have an invitation somewhere. It’s Saturday, right? Because I’m working at a function for your mother all day Friday.”

“Yeah, Saturday. Don’t bother looking,” Seth said, his mouth creased in a wide smile. “My invitation is for a partner as well.”

We pulled up outside Oakthorpe minutes after one o’clock. A late-model saloon was parked outside the front entrance.

“I won’t come in since you’ve got visitors,” Seth said.

I tugged at his arm. “Don’t be silly. At least come in for a cold drink and to say hello. Amber misses you.”

A dark shadow passed over his face, and I silently berated myself for my tactlessness. “Parents still nagging about marriage?”

“Yeah.” He attempted a laugh that didn’t quite come off. “Continuing the family line. I mean, hell, what do I tell them?”

I hugged Seth hard, trying to show him how much I cared, how much I empathized. “You could start by telling them how much you love them.”

“Huh! Can’t do that. Stiff upper lip and all that.”

“Eve! You’re home.” Hannah dragged me inside the foyer. “About time. I thought I’d have to wade in and referee.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Perhaps I should go,” Seth said.

“No—”

“That would be best,” Hannah agreed.

Exasperated, I rolled my eyes. Not another drama in the Fawkner household. We lurched from one to the next.

I said goodbye to Seth, stubbornly walking him back out to his car while Hannah hovered. However, my curiosity was well and truly stirred by this time.

“Families,” I said when I stood on tiptoe to kiss him. “I’ll talk to you during the week.”

“Hurry, before Charles bursts a blood vessel,” Hannah called.

With a wave at Seth, I followed her inside, down the passage. Instead of entering the den or the kitchen, she carried on to the formal lounge. My brows rose, and I hurried to catch up. “What’s going on? Can’t you at least give me a clue?”

“Police.” She halted at the door and made shooing motions with her hands. “Go.”

Heck, she could’ve told me sooner to give me time to prepare. Nerves fired to life in my stomach. How had I given us away? I came up blank. Lordy, every Fawkner ancestor was likely spinning in their graves, and those who hovered in-between were making plans to punish me for stupidity. The urge to run rode me hard, but instead, I lifted my chin and sailed into the formal lounge, my full skirt rustling to highlight my silent aggravation.

Two men sat in uncomfortable antique chairs. I bit back a hysterical laugh. Father and Ben sat opposite, both wearing identical glowers.

Each of the men came to attention when I strode into their presence. The two visitors stood and turned to face me.

“Kahu,” I murmured.

“Detective Walsh and Detective Williams.” Father’s voice held silent warning, a trace of panic.

Detective Walsh was the same man who’d attended the funeral with Kahu. His brown hair was styled and kept in place with hair product. Not quite as tall as Kahu, but still fit in appearance, he vibrated with impatience. Heck, if he checked his scowl at the door, some women might label him cute, especially once they got a look at his pretty blue eyes.

I glanced at Kahu again and hesitated. Okay. The best thing to do was to wait for them to speak. I wasn’t about to give them unwarranted information. All the time, I kept wondering what I’d done to clue them in. What could I have done differently?

“Have a seat,” Kahu said.

Good idea. If I stood much longer, I’d keel over. I tottered over to the nearest chair and fell onto it.

“We need to ask you a few questions,” Kahu said.

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. His expression, calm and businesslike, told me nothing.

“Where were you last night?”

I aimed a frown at Father. He lifted one shoulder in an imperceptible shrug, and I turned my attention back to the cops.

“At Josephine Montgomery’s fashion parade at Montgomery House in Knightsbridge.” I marked up several mental points for my cool tone since I was a mass of writhing nerves. “Why?”

“A few more questions, first.” Detective Walsh consulted a black notepad and fixed me with a speculative stare. “Did you have an invitation? What time did you leave?”

“I was one of the models. I left about one this morning.”

Instinct told me both Kahu and the officious Detective Walsh already knew that. I clasped my hands in my lap and waited.

Detective Walsh stared, looking as if he wanted to learn what made me tick. I boomeranged the look with attitude. “Were you one of the jewelry models?”

“Yes,” I said, a picture of ladylike poise. Inside, the nerves rock and rolled, but I felt quietly satisfied with the front I presented.

“Which jewels did you model?” An edge of frustration coated his voice.

“A diamond pendant,” I said.

“Tell us what you did toward the end of the evening,” Kahu interrupted his coworker. His eyes twinkled, making me imagine they were playing a version of good cop-bad cop.

“I paraded around the room, showing the jewels. Sorta like a prize heifer at an agricultural show,” I added as an aside.

Kahu’s mouth quirked upward. Detective Walsh didn’t react.

“The people pinched and manhandled me about the same as a judge in a cattle class,” I said. “I showed the diamond and the designer dress off for the evening with my security escort in tow. At about one, people started to leave, and the models returned the jewelry they were wearing to the central collection point. It was behind scenes in the room where the models changed their outfits,” I added before they questioned me on this point. “Once the jewelry was returned, I changed and caught a taxi to my friend’s flat.”

A tic flared to life in Detective Walsh’s left eye. “Did you see anyone suspicious when you left?”

“All the suspicious characters I needed to watch for left with their wives,” I said in a dry tone. “I was tired. I hailed a cab and left. Look, are you going to tell me what this is about?”

From the corner of my eye, I noticed Father and Ben lean forward in their seats. No wonder they were so on edge. They didn’t know what was going on either.

“The jewelry you wore last night was stolen.”

I jerked upright, staring at Detective Walsh in total disbelief. “Stolen?” Who? Where? How? “But the security was tight.” His lack of expression made me draw in a sharp breath. “You can’t think I did it.”

“The necklace you wore is missing.”

“I heard you the first time,” I snapped, bounding to my feet. “I had nothing to do with the theft. Check with my security escort. He was with me the whole time.”

“Overnight?” Detective Walsh inserted smooth as silk, so silky it took me a while to register.

“No!” Why did every man assume I was a loose woman? Was it because I was an unmarried mother?

“Why don’t you tell me where you went when you left the fashion parade?”

My glare should have burned holes in the detective but it seemed to glance off him. He waited for my answer, eyebrows raised.

“I stayed at Seth Winthrop’s flat in Knightsbridge,” I said with dignity. “It’s not far from Montgomery House.”

His dark brows rose higher, however Kahu asked the next question.

“Seth can vouch for your whereabouts since one this morning?”

Lordy, what did I say to that? Lie. Seth’s secret wasn’t mine to tell. “Yes,” I said meeting Kahu’s gaze without flinching.

Detective Walsh scowled. “We will, of course, confirm your alibi with Mr. Winthrop.”

“Of course,” I agreed. “Will that be all? I have things to do.”

“We’ll contact you should the need arise,” Kahu said.

The sparkle had disappeared from his eyes, and I couldn’t shake the feeling I’d blown it with him. I straightened my shoulders and pushed away the sensation of hurt. I’d told myself a romance with a copper wouldn’t work but faint hope had stirred anyway. Now I saw what Father had tried to tell me. The gulf between us was too big to bridge.

Hannah showed the policemen out, and we remained silent until the purr of the motor receded.

“I didn’t steal the diamond,” I said.

Father exhaled loudly. “Then we have a problem.”

“The competitor,” Ben said.

Hannah wrung her hands. “The cat who left the business card?”

Father scowled. “The competitor is going to make our lives difficult. Security will tighten and the press will jump on the story. Why didn’t they leave a card this time?”

“Maybe the police are holding it back. The papers are full of the thefts already.” Conflict bounced around inside me like a ping-pong ball gone off course. Regret. Alarm. More regret. “This isn’t a competition.”

“Maybe not,” Hannah said. “But mark my words. It will become a competition between the newcomer, the police and us. There can only be one winner.”

I kept a lid on the retort bubbling to my lips. The fear that nipped me was an old one. What if neither the mystery competitor nor the Shadow won? What if the winner in this jewel duel was the law?