Jewelry Can Be Deadly (Sage Gardens Cozy Mystery Book 6) by Cindy Bell Page B

gave this to me, it belonged to Valda.” She shuddered, she wanted to pull the bracelet off her wrist, but she didn’t want to risk Roger seeing her without it, yet. “To think he killed his wife and now he’s giving away her jewelry to other women.”
    “He didn’t kill her. At least not according to Eddy and Walt.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “While Eddy was looking into Clem, I mentioned that we thought maybe he had killed Valda. He told me that both he and Walt saw Roger at the buffet.”
    “Walt, went to a buffet?”
    “I know right?” Samantha grinned. “I thought that was odd, too. But Eddy said he talked Walt into it because the meal was cheap and Walt’s trying to experience new things. But when they got there he couldn’t get Walt to eat anything besides a bread roll. Anyway, they saw Roger there. He was getting a lot of attention as the new resident. Eddy insisted that Roger could not have gotten home in time to kill Valda.”
    “So, it looks like he is the accomplice, but he is not the killer?”
    “Remember, on the night that we found Valda’s body, Roger said that he should have been there. Valda was home alone while he was at the buffet. A woman like that probably wouldn’t be caught dead at a buffet. Especially seeing as she claimed to be carb-free.”
    “Good point.” Jo ran her hand along her chin. “So, if Roger was at the buffet and Valda was home alone, it’s possible that the necklace was the target the entire time. The murder might have just been an unplanned consequence.”
    “Which means that someone knew Roger had the necklace.”
    “Or, someone always knew that he did.”
    “What do you mean?” Samantha paused in front of her villa.
    “Look, I was pretty much always a solo thief.” She softened her voice as she knew that Samantha probably didn’t want to hear too much about her past and she certainly didn’t want anyone else overhearing her. “But I learned that if you did a job together, that was a bond, almost like a sibling bond. So, if Tony and Roger did this job together, but Roger kept the jewel of the crime, then Tony has likely been seething about it all of these years. Maybe he put a hit out on Roger from prison?”
    “Or maybe…” Samantha took a sharp breath. “Maybe he’s out! Think about it. No one was injured in the ‘Rose Burglary’, so Tony may have finished his time by now, and even if he didn’t he might have gotten paroled early.”
    “Well, if Tony is out then he is going to be our main suspect.”
    “I’ll find out what I can from my contacts. In the meantime, Jo please, stay put. I’ll let you know whatever I find out, I promise.”
    “All right.” Jo tugged at the bracelet on her wrist. “I’ll keep this on a little while longer in case we need to keep Roger on our good side. But Samantha you have to find out as fast as you can. If Tony is out, he’s not going to be satisfied unless he has the necklace and payback. He may still be hanging around waiting for the right moment to strike Roger.”
    “Who knew thieves could be so dangerous?”
    “Most aren’t.” Jo lifted her chin. A surge of defensiveness caused her cheeks to grow hot. “For most the goal is to get in and out with minimal damage, human or property. But there are some that are reckless.”
    Samantha stared at her for a long moment. “I wasn’t talking about you, Jo.”
    “I know. I’m sorry. This whole thing has my head spinning.” Samantha reached out and gave Jo’s arm a squeeze.
    “Try not to let it get to you, Jo. This is not your life anymore. We all have pasts, okay?”
    Jo nodded. She swallowed back the words that would point out how different their pasts were. Samantha had been gracious to her about her past from the first time they met. She was very grateful to her friend for that.

Chapter 8
    S amantha watched Jo walk away and then she walked up to her villa. After speaking to Eddy about the Clem connection she felt that solving this case might