Suspicious (On the Run) by Sara Rosett Page B

away to look at his face. “That theory of Alessi’s about how the jewels were stolen—the sleight of hand thing—is the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard.”
    “I agree, but somehow, someway the switch was made.”
    “And we ended up with the bracelet. I suppose figuring out what to do with it is the most urgent thing.” She ran through the thoughts she’d had in the bathroom when she first discovered it. “I considered telling Alessi I didn’t know where it had come from, or how it got there but…”
    “Considering they showed up expecting to find the jewels, I’m sure we would have been arrested, not just questioned and released. No, it was a good call to hide it, at least until we figure out what happened.”
    “Well, it wouldn’t be hard to put it in our room,” Zoe said. “Anyone could watch for us to leave, then slip in and get the key when the desk clerk was away.”
    “Which is often, apparently. We’ve retrieved our own key several times.”
    “And we were out this morning, so it could have happened then.”
    Zoe blew out a breath and focused on the water gliding across the flat surfaces of the fountain then sheeting over the edge into the pool. “But why leave one piece of the set in our room?”
    “Simple. We take the blame for the theft, the police focus on us, giving the real thief time to unload the necklace and earrings. The bracelet is made of smaller stones, while the earrings were larger and matched, so more valuable. The necklace is the showpiece of the set and has the most stones. If they have to give up something, it might as well be the piece with the smaller stones. And it was easily identifiable as the stolen bracelet since the clasp was broken. This way, someone fingers us for the theft, but they still have the majority of the most valuable stones available to sell.”
    “But how could they do that? Won’t it be…what do they call it in the movies…hot? The Flawless Set is already famous, and after all the publicity for the exhibit, even average citizens like me who don’t know much about jewelry would recognize it. There have been ads and posters all over town for it, even one on the side of a bus.”
    “But if you sold the stones individually…”
    “Break up the set? That would be terrible,” Zoe said.
    “No, that’s how to make money.”
    “Right. We are talking about someone cold enough to steal the set in the first place, and then lay out a plan that would implicate us. It all had to be planned…the whole thing. The switch of the real jewels for fakes, and the hollowed out center of the plaque, as well as the placement of the bracelet in my jewelry bag.”
    “Yes, we were set up very neatly.”
    “Look, more police.” Zoe tilted her head toward the edge of the piazza. The sunken fountain was positioned several steps below the main piazza. On the right and the left of the fountain, a low wall ran alongside the fountain, creating an amphitheater-like setting. Two police officers paced along the wall. Their higher elevation gave them a good view of the tourists crowding around below. As they scanned the crowd, Zoe gripped the messenger bag tighter, feeling the bump under the layers of leather where she’d tucked the lotion bottle.
    “They’re probably not looking for us.” Jack’s voice was calm, but his gaze bounced between the police officers and Mustache Guy, who had moved halfway down the steps.
    “I wish we had somewhere safe that we could stash the lotion bottle. I don’t suppose we could convince a bank to give us a safety deposit box?”
    “Only if we want to show ID, and we’d probably have to have an Italian address, too.”
    “So that’s out. What about Left Luggage? There’s one at the Termini.” Zoe had checked into baggage storage options because they’d arrived several hours before check-in on the day they flew into Rome, but their hotel had let them store their bags with them until their room was ready. “The drawback is we’ll