And of course he was involved up to his eyebrows, too, and she didn’t like it. On the other hand, maybe his brain was as fine as his butt and she could use him. Maybe. She saw herself as a trainer and him as a stubborn, bullheaded Rottweiler.
“The diamond being stolen, you mean? Yes, I’m well aware of the situation, through SAC Horsley, ugh, I can’t stop calling him that. He keeps insisting I call him Bo, but it’s tough, since he was my SAC for years—anyway, he told me you would fill me in. We’re headed directly for the Met right now to meet with your uncle Bo and the curator of the exhibit. Find out exactly what everyone knows.”
“I’ll tell you everything Uncle Bo told me,” and he did.
She listened, never said a word until he’d finished. She was quiet, and he sensed she wanted to say something, not about the theft but about something else, but she didn’t really want to. Why? Because it would be an acknowledgment that he was already in the thick of things? He had to get past her distrust of him, her gut-negative reaction at a foreigner horning in on her investigation. He needed her on his side, at least for the time being.
“Am I to assume you’ve made a connection between Elaine and the missing diamond that I don’t know about?”
Mike spoke carefully. She didn’t want to alienate the man, at least not yet. “Is she capable of such a thing? To betray everyone like this?”
He turned to face her, his arm stretched out along the back of his seat. “I’m not saying this because she was my friend, my colleague. But for her to steal the diamond—like I told Uncle Bo and Savich and Sherlock, it would be entirely out of character. I can’t envision her breaking the law for personal gain, and what other reason would someone want the diamond, if not to benefit from it financially? She fought on the right side. Crime sickened her, if you can understand the sentiment.”
Mike nodded. “I do. Everyone in the FBI feels the same way, which is why we’re the best in the world at what we do—no offense to New Scotland Yard, of course.”
“Of course not. Why would you ever want to offend Scotland Yard?” That shut her up. Oh, he wouldn’t mind going head-to-head with the FBI. Give them a run for their money. But he had no problem with trying to stay on their good side, so he said, “We’re all on the same side,” and shut up.
There was more coming; he could feel the pressure building in the car. Three, two, one, and yes, there she went, her head turning slightly toward him in that way he’d already started to recognize.
She said, “You’ve got to know that everything is pointing toward one logical conclusion.” She paused for a moment. “I have to tell you, if Inspector York is involved, this situation is bigger than our personal feelings toward our teammates. All right?”
There it was. She was worried his personal feelings would affect his judgment. He’d be suspicious of an outsider coming into his team as well, especially under these circumstances.
“Fair enough.”
“Good.”
Nicholas said, “Now that we’re best friends, tell me how in the world a priceless diamond goes missing from an exhibit pretty much everyone is aware of and is surrounded by the best security the art world has to offer?”
Mike shot him a look and accepted the sarcasm, since it was merited. “I think all of us agree it had to be an inside job. Had to be. The person who did it was the same person who caused the power outage, someone really close, someone who’d gotten ahold of one of Peter Grisley’s fakes and switched them out in that five-minute window of opportunity.”
15
Nicholas said, “Tell me what your forensics are showing. How exactly was the diamond taken and replaced?”
Mike started to answer, and yawned instead.
“Been at it for a while, have you?”