Fleeced

“I was trying to save money.”

Just then a production assistant appeared in the doorway. “Miss Doody, we need you now.”

Daphne turned back to Thomas. “Let me know if I can be of any help.”

Your kind of help is not what I need, Thomas thought but politely smiled. When Daphne left the room, he picked up the phone again. He was desperate to talk to Janey. But once again he got her voice mail. I know something’s wrong, he thought. I just know it. If I haven’t reached her by the time Regan gets back, I’m going to ask her to go over to Janey’s apartment with me. With everything that had been going wrong lately, nothing horrible would come as a surprise.

32

The cocktail party was going strong in the main reception room of the Paisley Hotel. Law-enforcement professionals and the writers who wrote about their line of work were meeting and greeting each other with great merriment. The lectures and seminars had all gone well. People were already talking about the next crime convention and topics that would be of interest.

Luke had joined Nora for the party, and then they were heading out to di

“Have you talked to Regan?” he asked Nora.

“Not since this morning.”

“I was talking with Austin today,” Luke began as he accepted a glass of wine from the bartender. Austin was his right-hand man at the funeral parlors. “I told him about Regan’s new assignment over at the Settlers’ Club. He said he knew someone who went to a singles party there on Valentine’s Day. It turns out that the girl who ran it is the one we heard about last year who lived in Hoboken. Remember the Co

“I remember that!” Nora said. “I swear there’s more gossip in the funeral industry than any other!”

“Well, this girl inherited all the money, and the Co

Nora raised her eyebrows. “Well, did whoever went to her gathering have a good time?”

“Immediately after the party he got back together with his wife.”

“Nothing like a happy ending,” Nora said wryly. “Maybe you should let Regan know.”

“I will,” Luke said.

Next to Luke and Nora at the bar was someone very practiced in the art of eavesdropping. The reporter Nora had spoken to earlier in the day had come back, at Nora’s invitation, to the cocktail party. So why didn’t you tell me your daughter was at the Settlers’ Club when I mentioned it earlier? Mary Ruffner wondered as she waited for her drink. Now I have to make it a point to get down there today.

She tapped Nora on the shoulder. “How are you?” she gushed. She turned to Luke. “And you must be Regan Reilly’s father.”

33

I figured with a name like Gold, I’d better be a jeweler.” Edward Gold laughed as he poured two drinks from the schnapps bottle. They were in a well-lit office above his shop on West Forty-seventh Street.

“But I have a friend named Taylor who can’t sew on a button,” Regan countered, smiling at him as he handed her a glass.

“That’s a good one. Come to think of it, I have a friend named Baker who’d need a compass to find the kitchen.”

They clicked glasses. Regan didn’t really feel like drinking the schnapps, but she figured she’d better show a spirit of camaraderie. It might entice Edward to talk. He looked to be in his mid-sixties, with a shock of pure-white hair, a little slash of a mustache, and big brown eyes that conveyed amusement. He was about five feet nine inches tall and had a thin frame. Regan got the feeling he was always in motion. He had a habit of pulling on the left shoulder of his sweater every few seconds.

“To Nat and Ben,” Edward said seriously. “May they rest in peace.”

I don’t think they’re going to rest in peace until the diamonds are found, Regan thought, but she took a tiny sip of the potent liquid, winced slightly, then cleared her throat. “I didn’t want to tell you on the phone, Edward. But the diamonds are missing.”

His eyes bulged and his face fell. “Missing?”

There goes his commission, Regan thought. “Missing,” she repeated. She told him the whole story. “They might have been stolen with Ben’s wallet. If that’s the case, a pickpocket got very lucky. Or they might have been taken from Nat’s apartment. I thought that if I talked to you, you might have some useful information for me. I just have a few questions…”

Edward poured some more schnapps for himself as he shook his head and pulled at his sweater. “Ask away.”

“Did you see these guys often?”

“Once every couple of months the whole card group would come up. We’d have a drink in the office and then go out to lunch. It was fun. They called themselves ‘the Suits.’”

“I heard about that.”

Edward nodded. “Nat, Ben, Abe, and Henry. Hearts, clubs, spades and diamonds!Friends for life. I tell ya, I wish I had a close-knit group like that. I have a lot of friends, mind you, but to have a group of four that spent fifty years together… They had a lot of history. They lived through children, grandchildren, divorces, wives’ deaths, occasional bickering. But every week they played cards. After Abe and Henry died this past year, Nat and Ben did a lot of soul-searching. They felt really bad about losing their friends. Neither one of them needed the money from the diamonds, and neither one wanted to spend it alone. The one hundredth a

“Do you think they talked about the diamonds to other people?”

Edward shook his head. “They said it was their secret. But you know how secrets are.”

“Indeed I do,” Regan said.

“They used to call Ben ‘Big Mouth Ben.’”

“They did?”

“He would sit at the bar at the Settlers’ Club and yap away. There was nothing too trivial for him to talk about. Nat was the quiet type, although he liked to tell jokes. Anyway, he and his wife, Wendy, were very calm and placid. Maybe all those sheep rubbed off on them. You’ve seen the sheep?”

“Oh yes,” Regan said.

“Crazy, huh? Some people get attached to their pets. They got attached to their stuffed animals.”

“Everyone gets attached to something,” Regan said. “Now, I understand all four guys belonged to the club.”

“That’s right. Nat was the only one who lived there. But it was like their fraternity. They broke bread many times together in the dining room. Drink your schnapps.”

“It’s good,” Regan said as she took a small sip. “Did Nat talk about having a girlfriend?”

Edward’s eyes widened. “A girlfriend?”

Regan was evasive. “If he was seeing someone, he might have told her about the diamonds.”

“A girlfriend?” Edward waved his hand. “Nah! He was a little bit of a flirt with the ladies. The waitresses at lunch always loved him. But I don’t think he was seeing anybody. If he was, he sure never told me.”

“This might have been very recent.”

“Oh, I get it!” Edward said. “A girlfriend wouldn’t be too pleased if she heard he was giving away diamonds. After all, diamonds are a girl’s best friend.” He laughed but quickly became serious again. “That’s not appropriate. Nat is dead, after all.”