Pendants and Paws by Penny Brooke

Author:Penny Brooke
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2020-04-14T04:00:00+00:00

11

False Starts

“Oh, now, Peter, you know I didn’t put that there.”

He was looking at me with a strange look in his eye.

“You believe me, don’t you?” I asked.

“I might believe you, but I don’t think anyone else will, and how will you explain it?”

“I have absolutely no idea. I did take the ball out the other night to see if I could see anything, but it remained blank. I don’t know. I figured it wouldn’t work for anyone who owned it.”

“Like…?”

“Like me, or Marlena, or whoever she got it from.”

“Why do you figure that?”

“Well, think about it. If you could see visions about yourself, wouldn’t you make yourself a gazillionaire and rule the world?”

“Yeah, probably.”

“I’ll admit, but only to you, that I did ask it who was the fairest of them all—like in the Snow White movie. It showed me the face of a truly beautiful woman. I swear.”

“Oh, Fiona, that’s just a trick. Like a Magic 8-Ball. You didn’t fall for that, did you?”

“Is that so? Then how would you explain the fact that it showed me where that runaway snake was hiding? In the bookcase. I went in, told them, and they found it right where I said.”

“And did it show you where The Stolen Heart was?”

“No, it didn’t, and that’s why I said it won’t show you things that are connected to you.”

“I don’t know, Fiona. All this sounds pretty fishy to me. Anyone else have access to that safe?”

“No.”

“You sure about that?”

“My aunt willed me the safe, but I had a locksmith come out and set up a new combination. I’m the only one who knows it.”

“Any chance you left it open sometime?”

“No. In fact, I had to shove the door shut over that bag.”

“Maybe it popped back open?”

“Peter, as much as I’d like to find some plausible reason for that pendant to be in there, I can’t. I didn’t put it in there.”

“Fiona, you know what I have to do, don’t you?”

I could feel the hysteria rising in my gut. I nodded. “You have to arrest me.”

“I don’t have any choice, sweetheart. That necklace is worth a fortune, and it went missing. Stolen. You have it. Put yourself in my shoes.”

“I know, I know. But I swear I didn’t do it.”

“Sherlock couldn’t have gotten into it, could he? He’s always picking up jewelry and hiding it.”

“No, he’s been with me upstairs, and the safe is solid. There’s just no way, I’m afraid.”

“God, don’t make me do this.”

“You have to, Peter. We’ll figure it out, but in the meantime, if you don’t, you’ll join me in a cell, and then where will we be?”

“Very well. Fiona Parkins, I’m placing you under arrest for possession of stolen jewelry, namely The Stolen Heart. Please put your hands behind your back and turn around.”

I felt the straps go tight on my wrists—but not too tight. I knew it was killing Peter, but there was no way around it.

I was going to jail.

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