Анна Керн - Deadly Diamond

“Given the state of the world these days, I’d say that’s a wise decision on your part.”

They talked about the business climate on Ocean Street, but most of the conversation was about his travels. Alyx asked him about the Taj Mahal.

“Stop me if I start to sound like a tour guide.”

Alyx laughed; she was doing a lot of that.

”As you know, the Taj Mahal is a mausoleum.”

She said she didn’t, and he continued. “The Mughal emperor Shah Jahan had it built in memory of his wife, who died giving birth to their fourteenth child. It took twenty thousand men and seventeen years to build it. The main building material is white marble inlaid with red sandstone, jasper, jade, crystal, turquoise, sapphires, and diamonds. In all, twenty-eight kinds of rare, semi-precious and precious stones were used.”

“Do they allow people to tour the inside?”

“Yes, they do. There’s a central chamber, a crypt immediately below and four octagonal corner rooms originally intended to house the graves of other royal family members. In the center are the cenotaphs of Shah Jahan and his wife, Mumtaz Mahal. According to custom, she rests immediately below the dome and he is to the left and a little higher. Above the tombs is a Cairene lamp, which is not supposed to burn out. Both tombs are exquisitely inlaid with semiprecious stones, and surrounded by a marble screen of trellis work.”

He leaned back in his seat, “I hope I haven’t told you more than what you wanted to hear,” he said apologetically as one who loves his subject matter, not sure when to stop.

“No, not at all. I’ve never known anyone who’s actually seen it. Is it true that the emperor planned on building a black marble Taj for himself?”

He shrugged, “It’s often mentioned in historical guidebooks, but many scholars believe it’s a myth. What do you think?”

“I think that he built the mausoleum in memory of his beloved wife and is happy to be buried with her.”

“I agree.”

Maggie was standing behind the cash register grinning at Alyx like the proverbial Cheshire cat when we returned. “Nelda said you were having coffee with a very good-looking man who wasn’t David,” she said.

Two creases formed between her eyes at the mention of David’s name, and then disappeared as she told Maggie about Jonathan Steele.

“He’s so interesting… and the more he talked, the more I liked him. I started noticing little things about him, like the way his eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled. I noticed he used his hands a lot––strong, with well-manicured fingernails. I had to fight the urge to touch the dimple on his chin to the point that I had to fold my hands on my lap for fear of actually doing it.”

She suddenly stopped talking as if she’d said more than she wanted to say.

“That’s enough about Jonathan Steel. What’s up with you?”

“I just spoke with George, and we’ll be leaving for the Keys this Friday––back in a few days. I asked Nelda if she could help you with Althea’s estate sale Saturday, and she said she would. Now, are you sure you’re okay with this?”

“Yes, don’t worry. Go have fun. And don’t forget; I’m here when you’re ready to talk.”

Maggie hugged her. “I’m hopeful that it will be resolved by the time we get back.”

“‘What’s your name?’ Coraline asked the cat. ‘Look, I’m Coraline. Okay? ‘Cats don’t have names,’ it said. ‘No?’ said Coraline. ‘No,’ said the cat. ‘Now you people have names. That’s because you don’t know who you are. We know who we are, so we don’t need names.’”

–– Neil Gaiman, Coraline

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE: Murfy’s List of Suspects

Althea’s next-door neighbor, Bill, was talking to a woman with tomato red hair, wearing a pink sleeveless housedress, the hot pink nail polish a perfect match to her lips. We drove up in front of Althea’s condominium.

“Hi, Bill,” said Alyx. “How are you doing?”

“Fine. Fine. At my age, what else can I say that won’t bore you to death?”

Alyx introduced herself to the red haired woman.

“Wanda, here, was telling me about Althea’s niece,” Bill said.

“What about Althea’s niece?” asked Alyx.

He looked at Wanda for an answer. “She and a young man were here earlier today,” she answered in a gravelly smoker’s voice.

“She must have decided she wanted something before the estate sale,” suggested Alyx.

“If she did, she didn’t take it with her. It looked to me like they were angry about something,” said Wanda. “They came out, slamming the front door shut, and then slamming their car doors.”

“Did they say anything?”

“I heard her son say something about it not being his fault.”

“How did you know it was Carole’s son?”

“I happened to be outside when they came over one day,” explained Wanda, “and when they left, Althea told me who they were, and she didn’t seem too happy about the visit, either. The young man––Carole’s son––was here with another man the night before her body was found.”

“What did the other man look like?” asked Alyx.

“I was walking my dog, and not paying attention. All I noticed about him was that he was rather portly.”

“Did the police talk to you?”

“Yes, and I told them all this.”

Alyx chatted with Bill and Wanda for a few more minutes before we went inside.

“Okay, fur-baby,” she said to me, “let’s see what else you can find today.”

She stood in the living room thinking aloud. “What were they looking for––do you think it was that pill case–– or something else?”

I raced up the stairs and she followed slowly talking to herself.

“Okay, let’s think about this. As things stand, Carole will inherit quite a sum of money, and due to her family’s financial problems, she had motive to kill Althea. For the same reason, Carole’s son could have killed her so his mother could get access to the money; that pill case could belong to either one of them, and they came back looking for it.”

I agreed with her assessment. It was also possible that Althea’s long-lost son had gotten in touch with Carole––she would be, after all, his cousin and only family. Maybe Carole was worried that Althea’s son would contest the will, and so she came back looking for something having to do with that.

Carole and her son weren’t the only suspects on my list. There was also Carole’s husband––his own financial situation could be worse than Carole knew or admitted to. He could have killed Althea.

Finally, although I had nothing concrete to go on yet, there was one other person who had motive and opportunity––Althea’s son. According to the letter from the private investigation firm, he’d planned to see Althea. He could be the murderer––his motive the same as the others––money.

Alyx had her question answered as to what Carole and her son were looking for as soon as she entered Althea’s room and saw the contents of the lingerie chest she’d previously boxed, spilled on the bed.

“They most definitely were looking for something, weren’t they, Murfy?”

I meowed in agreement. No sense in looking through that; it looked like they did a good job. Regardless, she quickly went through it as she put it all back into the box, not bothering to sort it this time, and found nothing to back-up the scenarios she’d mentioned––or mine––for that matter.

“Well, that’s that. The only thing left to do is to go to Carole’s house and find out if either her son or husband has a heart problem.”

Alyx paused in the living room, and her eyes fell on a small Imari porcelain bowl sitting on a console table against the stairwell. The bowl didn’t have a tag, and she picked it up for closer inspection. When she did, an amber bead fell out.