“Considering the rumors about Plover, it might be a good idea.”
I moved through the room.
“My goodness, what a handsome dog,” Mrs. Critch said. “He looks all dressed up in his pretty black scarf.” She leaned in and squinted at my necklace. “I heard about your Plover’s necklace. Such a shame. He used to have an impeccable reputation, but now there are all these rumors about him.”
“Do you think it looks fake?” I asked her.
“The little red gemstones don’t really have the depth of sparkle one would expect from Plover,” she said.
Viewings are from seven o’clock to nine o’clock, and by eight thirty I thought I’d done significant damage to Plover’s reputation. Grandma was already at the cookie table, and the crowd had dwindled. I started to cross the room and Martin Plover stepped in front of me and shoved me into an empty slumber room. His face was flushed, and his eyes were narrowed and fierce.
“You bitch,” he said. “I hired you and you betrayed me.”
He reached for my necklace, and I stepped away.
“Give it to me,” he said. “It’s mine.”
I put my hand over the necklace. “No way. I’ve had this for years.”
Bob was standing pressed against my leg. He growled very softly at Plover, and Plover kept his distance.
“You’re all in this together, aren’t you,” Plover said. “Manley, the moron who robbed me, the two homeless stooges, and you. You were in it from the beginning.”
“Not true,” I said.
“Be afraid,” he said. “Be very afraid. If you don’t want to be the center of attention at the next viewing here, you’ll give me the jewelry and walk away. Trust me, you don’t want the kind of misery I’m willing to inflict. I have too much to lose.”
“Why?” I asked. “You have a wonderful jewelry store.”
“The wonderful jewelry store can’t pay my bills. The profit margin is zip. No one wants quality anymore. Diamonds are made in factories. You can buy them on Amazon.”
“You cheated a lot of people.”
“No one knew they were cheated until you decided to play caped crusader. Everybody was happy because they had a Plover diamond. Now they’ll all be running out, getting appraisals. What do you want? More money from me? That’s the message I got from Manley. Forget it. The well is dry. You aren’t the only one squeezing me. You’re the least of my worries. I can eliminate you and your pals with very little effort. A bullet to the brain. A car bomb. Problem solved.”
“But you don’t want to do that until you get the jewelry.”
“I don’t need the jewelry if you and your partners are ashes. Don’t underestimate me. I’m not a nice man. And just for the record, my father and my grandfather weren’t all that nice either. They cheated at the store, they cheated at cards, cheated on their taxes, and cheated on their wives. They were nasty drunks in expensive suits.”
“I don’t suppose you want to turn yourself in to the police and confess everything,” I said to him.
“I want the jewelry.”
“Make me an offer.”
“You give me the jewelry, or I kill you. That’s my offer.”
“I don’t see that as being a very good deal.”
“You have until midnight,” Plover said. “You know my number.” He turned on his heel and walked away.
“Holy crap!” I whispered to Bob. “He’s freaking crazy. He looks so respectable and sane in his dark suit and white shirt and striped tie. Everything about him screams good taste and pillar of the community. And he’s a homicidal lunatic.”
I stepped out of the empty room and went back into the reception area. Plover was nowhere to be seen. I sucked in a couple deep breaths. My heart was pounding in my chest and my head felt like it might explode.
“Do I look okay?” I asked Bob.
Bob didn’t seem alarmed. That was good. I was pretty sure I’d pulled it off. I hadn’t backed down with Plover.
“I was a real hard-ass,” I said to Bob. “Okay, so I’m a little shaky, but I have it under control.”
Grandma was waving at me from the cookie table. Bob and I walked over to her. I grabbed a fistful of cookies and shared them with Bob.
“This was a real good viewing,” Grandma said. “The makeup on Mitchell was excellent. He looked like he was going to get up out of his casket and go out to dinner. He had on a blue suit and a red tie, and that’s always flattering. It’s a shame you missed the ceremony from his lodge. They were in full regalia. Of course, the big deal of the night was the rumor about Plover. It went through the building like wildfire. I have to give Plover credit. He stayed cool and calm through it all. Just brushed it off and was his usual charming self.” Grandma dunked a cookie in her coffee. “I don’t suppose you had anything to do with the rumor.”
“Who, me?” I said.
“I saw him talking to you.”
“He’s criminally insane.”
“That’s too bad,” Grandma said. “He looks so good in a suit and tie. And it’s not often a man at his age has a full head of hair.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
I dropped Grandma off and drove to my apartment to check on Lula and Nutsy.
“How’s it going?” I asked Lula.
“It’s good,” Lula said. “Nutsy got an Xbox, and he’s downloaded some awesome stuff.”
“Have you heard from Duncan?” I asked Nutsy.
“Yeah. He called me today. He’s up and walking a little.”
My phone rang. Diggery.
“I got a good one,” Diggery said. “It’s a male and he hasn’t been in the ground all that long. He was buried wearing a cross necklace and he has a knife but no fork or spoon. Even Snacker thinks this one has some potential.”
“Shoes?”
“Somebody took his shoes.”
I couldn’t imagine Plover taking Stump’s shoes.
“I’ll take a look,” I said. “Where are you?”
“Willow Street Cemetery. It’s not real big so you should be able to find us. You can’t drive in at this time of the night. They got the gates closed. You have to park on the street. Give me an owl call when you get here, and I’ll call back.”
“Okey dokey,” I said. “I’m on my way.”
“What was that about?” Lula asked.
“Diggery has a body for us to look at.”
“Who do you mean by us? Am I included in the us? Because you know how I feel about bodies when they’re dead. Is this one dead?”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t suppose it’s in the parking lot to a mall.”
“It’s in a cemetery.”
“I was afraid of that.”
“You don’t have to go with me,” I said. “Nutsy can go with me. He needs to identify it anyway.”
“He’s not a trained protective agent like me,” Lula said. “He probably wouldn’t even know what to do if zombies attacked.”
“Cold water? Silver bullet? A stake in the heart?” Nutsy said.