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“Odelia, please. And I’m sure my uncle is doing everything he can to return your necklace.”

“I should never have kept it at the loft,” said Laia, and I could tell she was suffering from the strain of her necklace going missing. “If I’d known…”

“You couldn’t possibly know that a burglar would target Jay,” said Odelia. She eyed the young woman keenly. “Did you know that Dylon and Jay were in school together?”

“Yeah, Jay told me when the police revealed the burglar’s identity.” She slumped some more. “There’s something I need to tell you, Mrs. Ki—Odelia. Remember I told the police how my parents gave me that necklace?”

“They didn’t?”

“No, actually I took it.” She looked appropriately embarrassed to have to make this confession. “The thing is, when they kicked me out, and said they wanted nothing more to do with me as long as I was intending to marry Jay, I was so upset I decided to take what I felt was mine, which was the necklace. You see, my mother always intended to give me that necklace on the day I got married, only now of course she said she would only give it to me if I married the right person, and obviously since Jay isn’t the right person, she was keeping the necklace.”

“And so you took it.”

Laia bit her lip.“It was a spur of the moment sort of thing. I had gone over there to pack up my belongings—the stuff I still kept at home. And that’s when I suddenly remembered the necklace. I knew they kept it in the safe, and I also knew the combination, and when I looked, it was right there. So I just took it, figuring it was mine to begin with. I don’t think they even know it’s gone.”

“Only now that it is stolen, you’ll have to come clean.”

“Yeah, especially since the insurance will be asking a lot of questions.”

“The necklace was insured?”

“Of course. To the hilt.”

“The insurance won’t like the fact that you took it from a safe place and tucked it away under a pile of your underwear,” said Odelia, stating the obvious.

“No, I can see that,” said Laia, giving Odelia a miserable look. “Which is why I keep hoping it will turn up. Your uncle told me it might have slipped from the burglar’s pocket and ended up in a sewer grate. Though I checked and the nearest drain is twenty feet away from where Mr. Pipe… landed.” She grimaced at the memory of the dead man. “So I don’t see how it could have ended up in there. But your uncle said workers are going to open the drain and look for the necklace.”

“What do you think happened, Laia?”

“Honestly? I think Dylon Pipe wasn’t working alone. Jay told me Dylon has a girlfriend, and he thinks they were in this together. Only when Dylon fell she must have escaped before the police got there.”

“And taken the necklace with her.”

“Yeah, which is what I told your uncle.”

“And what did he say?”

“He’s going to send some of his officers to talk to her, and search their flat to look for the necklace.” She wrung her hands desperately. “Oh, I hope they find it. If they don’t, my parents are going to be devastated. And so am I. My parents may be rich, but I’m not. And since they cutme off, that necklace is all I have.”

“You were going to sell it?” asked Odelia.

She nodded.“It’s worth millions, so I figured I’d sell it and use the money to launch Jay’s career as an artist. I believe in him, you see, even if my parents don’t. That money could build him a studio where he can work, and hire a manager who will promote his art.”

“There’s one other thing I need to ask you, Laia,” said Odelia, “and you probably won’t like it…”

“I think I know what you’re going to say. And no, I don’t believe Jay had anything to do with my necklace going missing. He and Dylon hadn’t seen each other in years. Not since they left school.” Twin splashes of color had appeared on her cheekbones and she fervently balled her fists. “Don’t you see? I was going to sell that necklace anyway, so there was absolutely no reason for him to steal it.”

There was a touch of defiance in her voice, and I could tell that she really loved her fianc?, no matter what her parents or anyone else said. She had their future banking on the necklace, and it being lost was a blow to her hopes and dreams.

“Do you believe he’s innocent?” asked Odelia softly.

“Yes,” said Laia emphatically. “Yes, I do.”

“Then that’s good enough for me.”

CHAPTER 18

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We joined Odelia as she paid a visit to Dylon’s girlfriend, per Laia’s insinuations possibly the young burglar’s assistant in last night’s theft.

Laney Basula had apparently just gotten out of bed when we arrived at the grungy little flat she called her own. It was located in a not-very-nice part of town, and looked decidedly dingy. Laney herself was about Laia’s age, with flaming red hair and a freckled face. She had bags under her eyes, though, and a sort of sallow tone to her skin that told us she wasn’t living life as healthily as she could have.

“She has to take her vitamins, Max,” Dooley said when we entered the girl’s flat. “She’s not eating her fruits and veggies the way she should.”