A Diamond Choker for Christmas by Nancy Warren

Author:Nancy Warren [Warren, Nancy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: cozy mystery
Goodreads: 29247946
Publisher: CreateSpace
Published: 2016-02-19T13:00:00+00:00

Chapter 5

In seconds the cry of, “The necklace is gone!” made its way through the crowded room and outside to where some of the guests had gone for a breath of fresh air or a cigarette. In the general chaos, one voice boomed out. It was the lawyer, Henry Castillo. His presence was commanding, his voice booming. He stepped into the center of the room and said, “Nobody leave!”

“Mama, what happened?”

Linda blinked in shock. “I honestly don't know. I was standing talking to Cheryl, you remember Cheryl, don’t you? She’s my hairdresser, and one of my best clients. We were talking about hair extensions. When the lights went out. I felt the tiniest tickle, hardly anything at all, and when I put a hand to my chest the necklace was gone!” Her voice was rising.

Toni hastened to calm her down. “It's okay, Mama. We’ll find it. Were you standing exactly here?”

“Yes, I think so.”

Linda was standing near the wall, halfway between the impromptu bar and the electric fireplace, now merrily flashing fake flames again with the power back on.

Cheryl, whose long blond hair probably owed a lot of its fullness to hair extensions, glanced down at the floor.

“Maybe the catch was faulty, and the necklace slipped to the ground?”

She dropped to her knees, and several other guests followed suit until half a dozen people crawled on the floor searching for a heap of glittery stones.

Meanwhile, a frozen sense of shock seemed to have afflicted the guests at Toni's mother's party. They were so quiet she could actually hear the plaintive melody of a country and western Christmas song. Somebody was begging their daddy not to get drunk this Christmas.

Then the shock began to wear off. She heard voices. One said, “I don't understand, what happened?” This voice was answered by another voice. “Linda lost her necklace. It's worth like a million bucks.”

“Not a million,” another voice chimed in. “More like a hundred grand.”

“Well, she lost it!”

Suddenly, Linda spoke in a clear loud voice. “I did not lose that necklace. Somebody stole it.”

The jeweler stood in the middle of the room and looked as stunned as Linda. Rapidly, Toni tried to re-create the scene as she had witnessed it moments before the lights went out. She headed back to Tiffany, who not only had youthful eyes but a fantastic visual memory. She took her daughter’s arm. “Who was standing near Grandma right before the lights went out?”

Tiffany closed her eyes, and Toni could see her pulling the scene into her mind the way she’d pull a computer file up on her desktop.

Bert Green said, in a firm tone, “I'm sorry to do this, but everybody's going to have to empty their pockets, purses, briefcases, shopping bags. Every person here will have to be searched before they head out.” Now that his initial shock had worn off, he seemed like a man accustomed to command.

“Excellent plan, Bert,” Henry Castillo said.

“But that's ridiculous!” The complaining voice rose. Toni recognized it as belonging to Esther Kilpatrick, the next-door neighbor.

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