Room for Murder - Tim Myers [73]
Elise followed Alex as they trailed behind the last of the crowd to the guestroom where the stone was displayed. It sat perched atop a glass pedestal resting firmly on an elegant square of lush red carpet directly in the center of the room. They had moved the furniture out for the occasion, and the space looked bare without it. In a roped off area the size of a parking space stood the Carolina Rhapsody, one of the biggest, deepest green emeralds in the country. As Alex stared at the glistening stone, he felt the blood surge in his veins. Alex’s great-great-grandfather had been a famous rockhound in his own right, and the call of the jewel still ran strong in Alex.
“It is beautiful, isn’t it?” Elise said with reverence as she studied the emerald.
“Breathtaking,” Alex agreed. There was a cathedral-like quality to the stone that made him whisper in its presence.
One of the stragglers, a woman from town named Rose Lane who was infamous for her bad temper and curt manner, blocked Alex’s view of the stone as she moved close enough to brush against the rope. That brought a big, meaty uniformed security guard with suspicious eyes out of the shadows.
“You’ll have to step back, Ma’am,” he said in a gruff voice that shattered the hushed tone of the room.
“I just wanted a closer look,” Rose said. Her voice bristled with abruptness, daring him to defy her. Rumor had it around Elkton Falls that she’d been too mean to marry, and she’d gotten worse with every birthday.
“Sorry, the roped area is off limits.”
She looked as if she wanted to push it, but after studying his bulk and the hard lines of his face, she wisely decided to back off.
Not without a grumble, though. “Why does he display it if he doesn’t want folks to get a good look?”
The guard didn’t reply, but he also didn’t move until Rose was well away from the perimeter. Once she was safely back, the guard returned to the shadows. Reston had been most specific about the display, darkening the room around the emerald and setting up a spotlight that shone down on it like a beam from Heaven. Alex had to admit the affect was worth the man’s fussy precision. The Carolina Rhapsody looked absolutely stunning.
As most of the crowd started to leave, Alex approached the guard. “I’ll bet you’ll be glad when this is over, Cliff.” It had taken Alex the entire time of the exhibit to get the man’s name, and in all honesty, he still wasn’t sure if it was his first name or his last.
In reply, Cliff raised one eyebrow.
Alex filled in, “It can’t be easy guarding something worth three million dollars.”
The guard said, “It’s just another job to me.” The man’s gaze never stopped as he spoke, going around the perimeter of the room to the windows to the doorway and then back again. From a security point of view, it had to be a challenge keeping track of the many ways to get at the emerald, though Alex knew that the guard’s only responsibility was to watch over the stone while it was actually at Hatteras West. Reston Shay’s squad picked the emerald up every day precisely at five p.m. and delivered it again the next morning at ten.
“Well, it won’t be long now,” Alex said as he and Elise left the room.
Someone was waiting for them at the desk of the Main Keeper’s Quarters when they walked back into the lobby. Alex suddenly realized he’d forgotten to put up his sign announcing they would be back soon.
“May I help you?” he asked as he took his place behind the registration desk.
The lady in question had brightly dyed red hair pulled back in a ponytail, and wore a floral print dress that matched her flashy running shoes. Over one arm she carried a huge, woven egg basket partially covered with a square of cloth that perfectly matched her dress, and there was the pleasant aroma of baked goods that hovered around her. “I’m Fiona White, and I’ve got a muffin for you.”
“No thanks, I just ate,” Alex said, wondering how all the odd birds managed to ultimately wind up at Hatteras