Gabriel sat back and enjoyed the show until Derek and I were finished with our little discussion. Then he poured himself another cup of coffee and said, “Let’s go back to some more realistic possibilities. Like, Elizabeth.”
I sighed and let go of my careening thoughts. After all, I had to admit it would be better if Elizabeth was at the bottom of all this, rather than my longtime chat group filled with book geeks like me. They’d been my virtual friends for years.
“Fine,” I said.
Gabriel pointed to my calendar. “So she first called Trudy on Wednesday, ten days after the artwork and furnishings in the caves were discovered. She said she’d read about the treasures in her local paper and that reminded her that Trudy lived in the area. So now she wants to come visit. Out of the blue. That right there raises a red flag, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Absolutely,” Derek said.
Gabriel nodded. “Seven days later, she arrives in Dharma. And five days after that, Trudy is in a coma and her companion is dead.”
“That’s fairly compelling,” Derek said.
It was. I glanced from one man to the other. “So you don’t believe I could’ve sent a paragraph written in some obscure, ancient French-Coptic-Aramaic language out to the inter-webs, and set in motion a hundred-year curse on the Benoit family?”
Gabriel grinned. “It’s a cool theory, babe, but it’s straight out of science fiction.”
“Damn,” I grumbled. “It was a very cool theory.” But if Gabriel and Derek were right, then I wasn’t to blame for Amelia’s death, and that was even cooler.
Of course, I wasn’t ready to let go of my little notion quite yet. But I let the conversation return to the suspects who were actually in town and involved in some way or another with the cave discoveries. I had zoned out for a few minutes, but I tuned back in just as Gabriel began to talk about his drones.
“We’ve already programmed one of them to activate whenever there’s any kind of motion near the cave doors. It’ll record everything it sees and hears. If you’d like something more invasive, we can add more motion-detection lights and cameras.”
“That’s an excellent idea,” Derek said. “Because you know they’ll be back. If they’ve gotten away with stealing one painting, they’ll want to return for more. And if they’ve gotten away with it once, they’re familiar with the positions of the cameras. They won’t be expecting any additional ones. We could also beef up the locks.”
Gabriel stared at his notes and shook his head. “I’m just afraid it might be an inside job.”
“I refuse to believe that,” I said, not caring if I sounded like a Pollyanna. “If someone from Dharma is allowing the thief access, it’s got to be inadvertent. Nobody who knows Robson would do it deliberately. This means too much to him.”
“I’d like to think you’re right,” Derek said.
“But here’s the big question,” I said, gnawing at my lip as I tried to figure it all out. “How is the theft of the painting connected to the murder at Trudy’s house?”
“Maybe there’s no connection,” Gabriel said offhandedly. “Maybe it’s all just a weird coincidence.”
“You don’t honestly believe that,” Derek said.
“No,” Gabriel said with a crooked grin. “Just throwing it out there for us to munch on.”
As much as I hated being a magnet for dead bodies, experience had taught me that there was always a reason.
“Anything’s possible,” I said, “but it’s crazy to think it’s not all connected, don’t you think?”
“Sure,” Gabriel said lightly. “But if you seriously believe the theft and the murder are connected, then you have to ask yourself what the connection is.”
“Something tells me you’ve already done that,” I said. “So what do you think the connection is?”
His smile was resolute. “It’s Robson Benedict.”
*
After the intense morning at Gabriel’s, my head was pounding, so I spent the afternoon resting on the couch. Derek had gone back to the caves to do a little investigating because we theorized that whoever stole the Renoir—alleged Renoir—might’ve left a clue somewhere. Chances were slim, but we both thought it was worth following up.
I had finally found a comfortable sleeping niche and was dozing off when someone knocked on the front door. I groaned out loud and waited a few seconds, thinking they might go away. But then I realized it was probably my mom, and she wasn’t going to go anywhere.
I shuffled across the room and swung the door open without first peeking to see who it was. That was something I had to stop doing, given that someone had tried to kill me in the last forty-eight hours. Luckily, I saw that gorgeous head full of dark curly hair and knew it was a friendly visitor.
“Hey, you,” I said, grabbing Annie in a hug. “Come in. I’m so glad you came by.”
“Since you’ve refused to visit me, I thought I’d better.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, leading the way into the living room and returning to my comfy corner of the couch. “I’ve been meaning to get into the store to see you. It’s been a little crazy lately.”