“Ah, that explains it.”
“He’s also an expert in maritime law, another reason Jesse sought him out. Anyway, Demetrius told me there’s a case pending in some district court somewhere that could change the law enough that the necklace would no longer be my property.”
“Oh no. I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s really okay,” Jane said. “I told him I wanted to have it returned to the Spanish royal family.”
I sat back in my chair, surprised by her decision. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. If it belongs to anyone, it belongs to them. Lizzie’s research concluded that it had to have been the property of the Spanish princess on board the Glorious Maiden.”
Lizzie had once studied to be a librarian and was still a research geek. Jane had begged her to look into the history of the necklace, just in case it still belonged to the royal family or if it should go to the government.
“It even has a name,” Jane added.
“The necklace has a name?”
“And the diamond, too.”
“Wow. What are their names?”
“The necklace is known as Martillo de Oro.”
“Do we know what that means?”
“It means Golden Hammer.”
“Hammer?” I smiled. “I like it.”
“I thought you would. Lizzie says the name was meant to imply that whoever wore the necklace held great power. The hammer is a symbol of power.”
Of course the princess would have power, but I also wondered if that great power had anything to do with the fact that a necklace that beautiful would draw men’s eyes to the woman wearing it.
“That’s so cool,” I said. “What about the diamond?”
“It was called the Princesa Diamante. The Princess Diamond.”
“That’s simple, but elegant.”
“Isn’t it? She was especially beloved by her people, and the diamond was created just for her, apparently, according to Lizzie. So I guess the name fits.”
“It does,” I said. “And it makes your decision to return it to the Spanish royal family even better.”
“I think so.”
“And good for Lizzie for finding out all that great information.”
“Better her than me, right?”
“Or me.” The puny bit of research I’d done on Mrs. Rawley and the Rawley Mansion had been enough to last me for a while. Lizzie, on the other hand, might still be searching out new information on every passenger on the Glorious Maiden’s fateful voyage. She probably had a list of every stick of jewelry and clothing they’d brought with them, maybe even traced the family names all the way to the present day. Lizzie could be a little obsessive sometimes. In this case, that wasn’t a bad thing.
I thought of something else. “Before you get rid of the necklace, we should take lots of pictures of it for the Lighthouse Museum.”
“Great idea. I’ll call the curators this afternoon.”
“I’ll miss having the necklace around,” I admitted. “It’s so gorgeous.”
“I won’t miss it at all,” Jane said. “It’s the reason Uncle Jesse was killed, so I’m perfectly happy to see it go away.”
She had a point.
*
Four days later, we celebrated Valentine’s Day in Lighthouse Cove. After all the weeks of contentious infighting between Whitney and Jennifer versus the rest of the committee members, the festivities went off without a hitch. I couldn’t have been more proud or happy.
The colorful parade down Main Street drew our biggest crowd yet. The town square was festooned with beautiful red-and-white hearts and lots of red-and-white banners that decorated the dozens of booths that were lined up around the perimeter. The vendors had gotten into the spirit of the parade theme and were serving everything from Love Dogs to Sweetheart Sundaes. There were heart-shaped hamburger buns and cookies and pies and anything else they could conjure up and serve in the shape of a heart.
The biggest foodie hit of all was something the vendor dubbed Love Bites. These were tiny slices of rare Kobe beef served between two miniature glazed donuts with a dollop of creamy horseradish sauce. It sounded horrific, but it was melt-in-your-mouth wonderful.
I knew this because I had consumed three of them so far.
All of my friends who owned shops in town had their own parade floats advertising their various businesses. Emily’s featured four little girls having a tea party in the back of the flatbed truck she’d rented for the occasion. The crowd was on their feet as our local fire engines rumbled slowly down the parade route. And the elementary school band thrilled everyone with their slightly off-key rendition of “Call Me Maybe.”