Fleeced: A Regan Reilly Mystery by Carol Clark (grave mercy txt) 📗

the matchmaker herself made terrible choices in her own dating life. It’s like going to a dentist who has bad teeth.

What am I going to do? she thought frantically. What am I going to do?

21

When Regan met Detective Ronald Brier, she immediately liked him. He was in his late thirties, with brown hair, a stocky build, and a twinkle in his eye.

Regan sat across from him at his desk in the 13th Precinct. She’d walked over, glad for the chance to get some fresh air and clear her head.

“So you’re a friend of Jack Reilly’s?”

Regan smiled. “Yes.”

“I remember the reports after your father was kidnapped.” He shook his head. “How is he doing?”

“Never better,” Regan assured him. “We were very lucky.”

Ronald had the police reports in front of him. “You’re staying at the Settlers’ Club now?”

“For the weekend. My friend Thomas Pilsner is the president.”

Ronald rolled his eyes. “That guy’s very excitable.”

“He cares a lot,” Regan said.

“Yeah, yeah.”

Regan leaned forward. “Tell me your impressions from last night.”

“We got the call that the old guy was found in the tub. There was no forced entry. No bruising. No sign of foul play. Your friend Pilsner says that he saw the diamonds yesterday. Now, they could have been with the other guy, Ben Carney, who had the heart attack. As you know, his wallet was stolen.”

“Yes.” Regan paused, then continued slowly, “The red box that the diamonds were in was found in Thomas’s office wastebasket this morning.”

“No diamonds?”

“No diamonds.”

“You don’t think your friend was involved?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Who knows? They were going to sell them, maybe Ben Carney took them out of the box after their lunch and stuck them in his wallet. Threw the box in the wastebasket in Pilsner’s office on the way out. His office isn’t far from the front door of the club.”

“So whoever stole Ben’s wallet could have made off with four-million-dollars’ worth of gems.”

“Not bad for a simple pickpocket. I have to tell you, though, we’ll be keeping an eye on Pilsner. See if he disappears to the Islands in a few months.”

“I don’t think that’s going to happen. I’m going to talk to people in the club this weekend. See what I can find out. I have a feeling that Nat’s death is tied to the diamonds.”

Brier just looked at her and waited.

Regan shrugged. “It’s too much of a coincidence for me that the diamonds disappear and Nat dies the same night. To say nothing of the fact that the co-owner of the diamonds drops dead in the street.”

“Ben Carney died of a heart attack. No question about it,” Brier said flatly.

“By the way, where is Ben’s body?”

“At the morgue. Apparently he has a niece in Chicago. They’re trying to reach her.”

“Could you let me know when you do? I’d like to talk to her.”

“No problem.”

“Tonight I’m going to a party across the hall from Nat’s apartment. The woman who lives there is trying to get most of the people back who were there at her singles party last night. I might ask you to do some checks on them.” She pulled the red box out of her purse. It was wrapped in a plastic bag. “Can you run this for prints?”

“I’d be happy to. We’ll do anything to be of assistance.” He paused. “Regan, there’s no record of these diamonds. Pilsner is the only one who saw them. There’s no appraisal slip. This could be much ado about nothing. If they do exist, they might be worth a heck of a lot less than four million dollars.”

“I understand,” Regan said. “But for these next few days I’ll be the in-house detective at the Settlers’ Club. I’ll see what I can dig up.” She stood and extended her hand to him.

“Jack Reilly’s a great guy.”

“I know,” she said, smiling.

22

Janey pulled a sizzling-hot apple pie out of the oven. Her little one-bedroom apartment a few blocks from the Settlers’ Club always had delicious smells wafting from it. If it wasn’t the baked goods she was making for dessert, it was one of her specialties such as lasagna or meat loaf or any one of the other comfort foods she enjoyed preparing for her clients.

She loved going into their apartments and filling their refrigerators and freezers with her plastic containers full of food. It excited her to think of them coming home after a hard day and zapping her loving efforts in the microwave. And now she was preparing some special desserts for the anniversary party at the club, including a huge tiered white cake they’d display on a big white table decorated with red ribbons.

Anything to cheer Thomas up.

Hey, I lost two clients yesterday, she thought. Nat and Ben had both loved her cooking. She had even dropped food off at Ben’s apartment yesterday when he was out. Now it’ll just go to waste, she thought.

It had been a busy week, and after she finished preparing the cakes and pies, she planned to go back to the club. Her phone rang just as she was placing the apple pie under the window to cool. It was Mrs. Buckland, a good but demanding client.

“Janey, I’m having three unexpected guests for dinner and I need food.”

“But Mrs. Buckland…” Janey began.

“I know you can do it, Janey. Didn’t I introduce you to all my friends?”

Janey held the phone in her hand, trying to figure out what to do. After a moment, she said, “Okay, Mrs. Buckland. What time do you need it?”

“In a couple of hours. Thank you.”

Janey replaced the phone in its cradle. “I don’t want to go food shopping now. And all that cooking. I don’t even have time!” she wailed in a ladylike voice.

A thought came to her that she didn’t even want to entertain. But like most crazy thoughts, if you give it a minute or two, it can take on a surprising sanity.

The food she had delivered to Ben’s apartment yesterday had obviously not