everyone’s got to start somewhere.
The Finder window popped open after she plugged the memory stick in.
“Move your finger on that pad to move the arrow over the drive labelled: Bellman’s Disk.”
Cordi hesitated but managed it.
“Now just double-tap the pad with your finger to open it.”
The folder popped open, making Cordi make an ‘ooh’ sound.
Inside was a single MP4 video file.
“Okay, double-click on the file to watch the video.”
The QuickTime player popped open, and I switched it to full screen.
The black-and-white video footage looked like a static image. Nothing changed apart from the time counter in the corner. It flipped forward a few moments. The time reached two a.m.
“Oh, there’s a shadow of movement,” Cordi said.
I paused the video and put myself in the position of the intruder, having done this a few times before myself. If I were to break into a jeweller’s, I wouldn’t go through the front, like this one seemed to be. Although the figure wasn’t visible, the shadow extended out, indicating they were standing right there inside the store, just out of frame of the camera.
That indicated that they had scoped the place out and knew the location of the security camera and its angle.
I continued the video. Whoever it was out of view threw the doru so it landed on the glass countertop. It rolled over a few times before coming to a stop. The shadow withdrew just as the lights inside the shop came on and flashed, the movement must have triggered the proximity alarm.
“What are you thinking?” Cordi said.
“That whoever did this knew Bellman and knew the shop. Given the position of the shadow, it’s clear they knew they would be out of sight and that throwing the doru would set off the alarm. Given that Bellman’s place has a metal shutter outside, it must be someone who had access to a padlock key. Or someone who was good at picking locks, though those particular shutters aren’t difficult to get into.”
I shut up as Cordi was looking at me a little strange. I didn’t want to reveal all of my bad history. I still needed to pay off Ivanov, and that meant finding the gem or at least working this job, and to be honest, over the course of the day, I’d been feeling bad about trying to steal the gem. I knew it’d get Cordi into trouble and potentially harm the case.
“About the gem,” I said, about to come clean.
“Oh yes, I totally forgot,” Cordi said, interrupting me and standing up suddenly from the chair. She grabbed the book from the kitchen counter and flicked to a particular page. “Does that look like it?”
“Yeah, exactly,” I said. I have a good memory of jewels and gems.
“Read what it says under the photo.”
I scanned to the small text and read it aloud. “The Widow Maker necklace, made from a series of black diamonds, is thought to originate from Queen Victoria’s personal jeweller. It’s reputed to be cursed, having been owned by five previous ladies of varied monarchies, all of whom died in unusual or unexplainable circumstances. It was lost during World War II and is rumoured to have ended up in a cache of a Nazi general’s personal treasure.”
Closing the book, I looked up at Cordi, who was fussing with a kitchen cabinet. “What the actual fu—”
“Fudge cake, dear?”
Cordi turned, bringing out a tin with more cake inside.
“I will literally die if I eat more cake,” I said. “But thanks anyway. That curse stuff, you believe that?”
“Not for one moment. But the Nazi treasure is interesting, isn’t it?”
“Um, you’re not like a white supremacist or anything, are you?”
“No, Harley, just poor.”
“So what’s next?” I asked.
“Tea, cake, and an evening watching Midsomer Murders . We’ll speak with the carer and accountant tomorrow. I have a good feeling about this one,” she said, spooning fudge cake into her mouth and heading into the living room, where presumably she was going to hunt through the wreckage
The Finder window popped open after she plugged the memory stick in.
“Move your finger on that pad to move the arrow over the drive labelled: Bellman’s Disk.”
Cordi hesitated but managed it.
“Now just double-tap the pad with your finger to open it.”
The folder popped open, making Cordi make an ‘ooh’ sound.
Inside was a single MP4 video file.
“Okay, double-click on the file to watch the video.”
The QuickTime player popped open, and I switched it to full screen.
The black-and-white video footage looked like a static image. Nothing changed apart from the time counter in the corner. It flipped forward a few moments. The time reached two a.m.
“Oh, there’s a shadow of movement,” Cordi said.
I paused the video and put myself in the position of the intruder, having done this a few times before myself. If I were to break into a jeweller’s, I wouldn’t go through the front, like this one seemed to be. Although the figure wasn’t visible, the shadow extended out, indicating they were standing right there inside the store, just out of frame of the camera.
That indicated that they had scoped the place out and knew the location of the security camera and its angle.
I continued the video. Whoever it was out of view threw the doru so it landed on the glass countertop. It rolled over a few times before coming to a stop. The shadow withdrew just as the lights inside the shop came on and flashed, the movement must have triggered the proximity alarm.
“What are you thinking?” Cordi said.
“That whoever did this knew Bellman and knew the shop. Given the position of the shadow, it’s clear they knew they would be out of sight and that throwing the doru would set off the alarm. Given that Bellman’s place has a metal shutter outside, it must be someone who had access to a padlock key. Or someone who was good at picking locks, though those particular shutters aren’t difficult to get into.”
I shut up as Cordi was looking at me a little strange. I didn’t want to reveal all of my bad history. I still needed to pay off Ivanov, and that meant finding the gem or at least working this job, and to be honest, over the course of the day, I’d been feeling bad about trying to steal the gem. I knew it’d get Cordi into trouble and potentially harm the case.
“About the gem,” I said, about to come clean.
“Oh yes, I totally forgot,” Cordi said, interrupting me and standing up suddenly from the chair. She grabbed the book from the kitchen counter and flicked to a particular page. “Does that look like it?”
“Yeah, exactly,” I said. I have a good memory of jewels and gems.
“Read what it says under the photo.”
I scanned to the small text and read it aloud. “The Widow Maker necklace, made from a series of black diamonds, is thought to originate from Queen Victoria’s personal jeweller. It’s reputed to be cursed, having been owned by five previous ladies of varied monarchies, all of whom died in unusual or unexplainable circumstances. It was lost during World War II and is rumoured to have ended up in a cache of a Nazi general’s personal treasure.”
Closing the book, I looked up at Cordi, who was fussing with a kitchen cabinet. “What the actual fu—”
“Fudge cake, dear?”
Cordi turned, bringing out a tin with more cake inside.
“I will literally die if I eat more cake,” I said. “But thanks anyway. That curse stuff, you believe that?”
“Not for one moment. But the Nazi treasure is interesting, isn’t it?”
“Um, you’re not like a white supremacist or anything, are you?”
“No, Harley, just poor.”
“So what’s next?” I asked.
“Tea, cake, and an evening watching Midsomer Murders . We’ll speak with the carer and accountant tomorrow. I have a good feeling about this one,” she said, spooning fudge cake into her mouth and heading into the living room, where presumably she was going to hunt through the wreckage
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