The Case of the Missing Pearls Read online

  The Case of the Missing Pearls

  By: Martha Rogers

  Copyright © Martha Rogers 2019

  Forget Me Not Romances, a division of Winged Publications

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, with the exception of brief quotations in printed reviews.

  This book is a work of fiction. The characters in this story are the product of the author's imagination and are completely fictitious.

  Chapter 1

  As soon as I joined my table companions for breakfast, I sensed something going on under the surface of polite conversation. Bessie Compton didn’t waste time telling me.

  “Abigail, did you hear we had a theft last night? Ellie Davenport’s pearl and diamond necklace and earrings are missing.” Bessie Compton sat back with a satisfied grin as she shared the tidbit.

  I jerked my head at the news, and everyone else at the table stopped eating and stared at Bessie. She loved spreading news, bad or good, but this was not her usual tidbit of information.

  I frowned and spread my napkin across my lap. “When did this happen?”

  “I don’t really know. I just saw her going into Noreen’s office and she told me. It must have happened last night because Ellie wore her necklace at dinner.”

  Ben Martin, a retired lawyer, laughed out loud. “We’d better hop over and help her find them. Her eyesight is so poor they could be in front of her face.”

  I glared at him. “What an awful thing to say. Poor Ellie, I’ll bet she’s worried sick. Those pearls belonged to her mother.”

  Bessie’s perfectly coiffed gray head bobbed in agreement. “She’s so upset, and so is Kate Hughes. She still hasn’t found her cameo brooch.”

  Harry Spencer, a retired police detective, peered over his glasses. “Both those ladies live in the main building. I believe another incident occurred last week in Nell Carmon’s room. Have any thefts been reported out in the cottages?”

  Ben, sitting next to me, filled his plate with eggs and bacon. “Not that I’ve heard. Three thefts in a little over a week is three too many no matter where they are.”

  Something just didn’t seem right about the whole scenario. The police had been called after the first theft, but had they been called on these others? Even at that, we’d seen no police about the perimeters since that first time. I peered at Harry. “You’re a police detective, so do we have a thief among us?”

  Harry sipped his coffee before answering. “Well, it seems to me the only conclusion to make. I spoke with Noreen after the first one, and she said the police were investigating, and I imagine they’ll be back now with many more questions. I wish we could figure out what’s going on before getting the law involved. Police questioning of our residents can be upsetting for some of them.”

  I agreed with Harry on that, but they could also be helpful. “I’m sure the officers will be careful, and I hate to think anybody living or working here is a thief.”

  Bessie crossed her arms over her ample bosom. “Humph, nobody better try to take any of my things. I’ll clobber them with my baseball bat.”

  I had to swallow my laugh this time. Everyone knew Bessie slept with her weapon beside her bed.

  Doris Barton wrinkled her nose and pushed a fork through her omelet. “Well, I hope Ellie doesn’t call that grandson of hers. He complains about everything. He’d have a heyday with this incident.”

  Ellie’s grandson loved her and got involved with everything going on in Ellie’s building. In my opinion he was arrogant and overbearing with more money than common sense.

  Conversation buzzed among the other five at the table, but I shut them out. Ben was right about the number of thefts. Even one was too many for me. Oddly enough, all the thefts had occurred in the main building of individual apartments for assisted living residents.

  It also appeared the no thefts had occurred in the cottages where I and my friends lived.

  The idea of stealing going on in Spring Hills bothered me, and I itched to get alone with Ben and Harry to hash out a few theories. After solving two other crimes, I was anxious to see what they could do about this one. At least it didn’t involve a dead body. I didn’t care if I never had another one of those.

  One thing about Ben and Harry, they loved solving mysteries as much as I did. They’d been good partners with Pete’s murder last fall.

  Ben and I became good friends after he moved here three years ago, and Harry had known him from the days Ben had defended some of the men Harry arrested. I liked his company, and we’ve had some good times together, but that’s as far as I wanted it to go. Right now, he didn’t seem to be listening with his full attention. Probably trying to figure out the same thing I’d been thinking.

  Bessie cooed and flashed her dimples. “Oh, Ben, we would love to have you join our group playing Bridge this afternoon. We do need the practice to be at our best for the spring tournament.”

  That caught my attention. Sometimes I wondered if Bessie ever thought of anything except playing bridge. The fact that she and Ben had defeated me and Harry in more than one tournament didn’t help matters any.

  Ben shrugged. “I just don’t have the time.”

  Maybe that meant he wanted to solve the thefts as much as I did. Sure enough, when I finished my breakfast and rose to leave. Ben reached for my hand. “Abby, do you mind if we talk a little at your place?”

  “Sure. Come on when you’re done here. I’ll have some fully leaded coffee ready for you.”

  He grinned at that. He didn’t like the de-caf served in our dining hall, so I kept the other on hand for times like this.

  By the time I reached the exit, he followed close behind me.

  He held the door open for me. “I know just what you want to do. You want to investigate these thefts.”

  “Ah, yes. With three in recent weeks, it’s time to take action.”

  He followed me out onto the walk leading to my cottage. I had mercy on him this time and slowed my pace to match him. Usually, I strode on ahead, but not today.

  Ben spread his arms wide. “I love this time of year. The flowers will be blooming soon and the days will be warmer. Too bad Pete isn’t around to take care of your flower beds although your azaleas did look spectacular last month.”

  His mention of Pete reminded me of that awful day I found him lying dead in my azalea bed. At least we wouldn’t have a dead body with the thefts.

  When we arrived at my cottage, I offered him one of the white plastic chairs on my porch and sat beside him in the other one.

  Ben eased down and relaxed. “You want to go first?”

  “Yes. I have a million questions and observations. First off, like Harry mentioned, this has to be an inside theft. Think about it, Ben, no one can get into this place after seven p.m. without a pass or being let in by the attendant. And they have to sign in too.”

  “That’s obvious, so it could be an employee or resident in that case.” Ben smoothed back his thick, white hair, ruffled by the slight breeze.

  “Well, I’m a bit puzzled. However, let’s look at it this way. Ellie’s room is one thirty-five on the first floor. The other three thefts occurred in close proximity.”

  Ben scratched his chin. “And how do you know that?”

  I laughed and shook my head. “Ben, I go over and read to Ellie three times a week. You know that, but you were right about her eyesight. However, she still seems to know what is going on around her.”

  He chuckled. “I know that wasn’t a nice thing to say. I apologize.” His elbows rested on the chair arms, and he made a peak with his fingers. “You say the other ladies live clos
e to Ellie?”

  “All are on the same wing and on the odd numbered side. So it could be someone attending to those rooms. Of course, that gives us a good list of suspects. Let me get a pad and pen to write all this down.” I headed for the door.

  Ben stopped her. “Do you have that fully-leaded coffee ready? That decaf they serve here doesn’t help my thinker.”

  I’d almost forgotten about it. “Sure. Be back in a jiffy.”

  I poured up two mugs with his black all the way. Before going back outside, I retrieved a small notebook and pen from the drawer and slipped them into my pocket. Handwritten notes were always better than those on my phone.

  I handed a mug to him, and he wrapped his hands around the warmth and sniffed to savor the aroma. He sipped the hot liquid then rested his cup on the table between us.

  “Who takes care of the ladies in those rooms?”

  “I’m not sure, but I can find out from Ellie.” I pulled out my notebook and pen. “If I’m not mistaken, the exit is open during the day from the inside only and you need a passkey to get in from the outside.”

  “And it’s locked in both directions at night. Shall we begin with the staff?” He grinned and waited for my response.

  “Exactly what I hoped you’d say. Now let’s see what we have.”

  I drew a rough plan of the first floor rooms from what I remembered when visiting Ellie.

  “Why don’t I pick up one of the new brochures? They have the plans for every floor and all the different rooms offered.”

  “Of course, I forgot about that. Good thinking.”

  “Now all we need to do is to come up with a list of all employees.”

  “You’re right. I’ll think of something. I’ll see Noreen and ask her about that.”

  “When are you going to Ellie’s?” Ben picked up his cup again and downed a big gulp.

  “Not until after lunch. That’s when I usually read to her. No need to change our routine. We can talk about her pearls then.”

  Ben drained the last of his coffee. “Sounds like a plan to me. Say we meet back here about half an hour before dinner and see what we have.”

  I tapped my pen against my chin. “That sounds good. Do you think Harry will join us?”

  “You can count on it. I’ll see him later for our chess game. He’ll be a big help if the police get more involved.”

  “Good. And it sure would be nice if I find the pearls for Ellie while I’m there.”

  Ben stood to take his leave. “Yes, that would be nice. If you do, that will make the thefts a little less imperative to solve right away. This little case might take more time than we think with so many residents and employees.”

  “You’re right about that, and we don’t want to interfere with an official investigation. Besides, what does time matter? All we have around here is time, and this will certainly make it more interesting.”

  Ben laughed and waved good-bye. “I’ll see you later today.”

  I waved back. As if I didn’t have enough going on without this, but then I never could keep my nose out of a good mystery.

  Chapter 2

  After my usual golf game, I hurried over to Ellie’s. She lives in the main building where the assisted living apartments are in two wings and the nursing home residents in the other. They were in the process of building a separate facility for memory care as well. Anything a senior could need, Spring Hills provided.

  The longer I thought about the number of rooms and the employees needed to take care of them, I realized that if this was done by someone here, we’d have a list of suspects longer than my arm.

  I shoved that unpleasant thought out of my mind and concentrated on my task for this afternoon. The aroma of a spicy potpourri greeted my nose when I pushed through the back door. At least I wasn’t accosted by the institutional type odors of disinfectants or bodily functions. I’d been in places where that was all I smelled when I walked in.

  A reception desk where guests had to sign in stood at the entrance in the foyer. No one could go down either of the two hallways or to the elevator to the apartments upstairs without passing it first. I waved to the young woman who had been hired after Carrie’s arrest last fall. “Good afternoon, Lindsey. I’m on my way to Ellie’s for our reading session.”

  “She’s waiting for you, Mrs. Billings. I must tell you she’s still agitated about losing her necklace.”

  “Thanks, I’ll see what I can do to soothe her nerves.” Lindsey may be new, but she truly cared about our residents.

  Ellie’ apartment, in the assisted living section, had a nurse on duty during the day to make sure medications were given on time, and for any medical emergencies. Along the hallway leading to Ellie’s room I made a few mental notes of the layout of the wing. A door on the left housed the supply closet and extra linens in case of accidents in a resident’s room. We discovered it when we worked on Pete’s murder. It might come in handy for us on this case as well.

  Down at the end of the hall, a door opened to the stairwell and to an emergency exit. Either the stairwell or the supply closet may have given a hiding place to an outsider, but how could they have come in without a key card? Only employees had those.

  I’d have to think about that more. I walked into Ellie’s room and found her staring out the window as usual. I think her friend, Tillie, did the same, but they also spent a lot of time in the activities room. No wonder those two women knew more about what went on around here than anyone else.

  Her hand flew to her chest. “Oh, thank goodness it’s you, Abigail. I was afraid you’d forget.”

  “I wouldn’t forget you, especially since the book we’re reading is a new one to me as well.”

  I pulled up a chair beside her and reached for her hands. “Now tell me about your necklace.”

  Her lips trembled. “I wore my pearl necklace and earrings to dinner last night with my good black dress because I felt like dressing up.” She paused for breath, her eyes clouded by the memory.

  “When I came back to my room, I distinctly remember placing them on the table by my bed. I planned to put them in their box and store them in the closet later. Agnes Freeman came by to check on me, and we talked for a while.”

  “Were you in your room all evening?”

  Ellie furrowed her brow. “No, Agnes rolled me down to the lounge where we had coffee and visited with several other residents. I didn’t think about my pearls again until I went to put them away, and they were gone.”

  I sat back in my chair and pondered the information. Agnes served as one of the night attendants on this wing. Anyone could have slipped in while Agnes and Ellie were in the activity room, or anyone walking in the hall could have spotted the necklace on the bedside table and helped themselves. “Did any other visitors come by?”

  “Not exactly, but we found Olivia Wentworth wandering in the hall when I returned to my room. With her dementia, she’s always wandering into the wrong places. Agnes left me and helped her back to her apartment.”

  “Are you sure you didn’t stick your necklace in a drawer or somewhere else in the closet?” I had to explore all possibilities first.

  Ellie’s eyes filled with tears. “No. I looked everywhere for them. They’re not in this room. I don’t know what happened. I just know they’re gone. My mother’s pearls.”

  Her shoulders shook now, and I leaned over to wrap my arms around Ellie’s fragile body. “

  “Ellie, I’m so sorry. I promise you, we’ll find out where they are and get your jewelry back to you.” I hugged her again before sitting down. Losing a piece of one’s past was a serious matter to the elderly, and I would keep my promise to Ellie.

  The older woman’s eyes grew misty with tears. “Oh, I was hoping you’d help me.” She grasped my hands. “And promise me you won’t tell my grandson. He’ll move me away from here in a heartbeat.”

  Moving Ellie away from her friends would be a downright sin, but from what I’ve seen, he can be a hard-headed young man. He ne
eded something else to occupy his time so he wouldn’t worry so much about Ellie. Meddling was more like it.

  “Here, let’s pick up where we left off yesterday.” I pulled my glasses from the pocket of my shirt and opened to the marked page in hopes the love story would take Ellie’s mind off the necklace for a while.

  The pleasant atmosphere of the room with its view of the rose garden outside and the inspirational romance novel proved to be the perfect interlude, but I was anxious to get back to Ben and our investigation. In the middle of a paragraph, Ellie leaned forward. I glanced up to see an impish smile play about her mouth.

  “Tell me how you and Ben are getting along these days. You two were quite the team in helping to solve Pete’s murder.”

  I jerked my head back and frowned. Ellie had a thing about Ben and me ever since we’d solved the embezzlement crime and Pete’s murder. “What? Please don’t get started on that again.”

  “I’m just saying it’s time for you two to get together, and not as a crime solving team, although I imagine you’re going to do just that and help me find my pearls.”

  She had dubbed us the Jessica Fletcher and Ben Matlock of Spring Hills which was a hoot in my opinion. “Yes, we are, but Ben and I are simply good friends willing to use our sleuthing skills to help others.”

  She sighed. “You can’t blame an old romantic like me for trying to get together two of my favorite people around here.”

  I grinned and patted her hand. “No, I can’t blame you, but no romance for us is going to happen.” At least not on my part.

  I finished the chapter, and Ellie’s head nodded in drowsiness. It was time for her afternoon nap. Elli didn’t protest when I suggested it, so I helped her onto the bed and arranged an afghan across her fragile frame.

  “I’ll be back tomorrow, Ellie. We’ll finish our story then.”

  Ellie gave a little wave with her fingers and closed her eyes. I headed off to find Ben.

  There he stood in the central area waiting for me. He waved a paper in the air.