LITMIR.BIZ

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two months after we were married. He was a pilot and went willingly, the war being a cause he believed in. I was left behind with my father-in-law, Reginald Tate. He was rather a strange man. Eccentric might be the better word. I often wondered if some sort of dementia had set in. Of course, it didn’t help that he’d been deaf in one ear since the Boer War and was losing his hearing in the other ear as well. In any case, I was left behind with him and the housekeeper until his death in March of 1942. In that time, I found his behaviour to be, well, quite frankly, a little unusual.”

      Garnet frowned. “What do you mean?”

      “Well, he would say things. Things that didn’t make sense. And he only got worse as time went on,” Elizabeth explained. “He was a very religious man and would sometimes quote the Bible. He’d go on about the ’Day of Christ,’ or how if the owner of the house had known what time the thief was coming, he’d have kept watch and not let the thief break in. He’d ramble on and on, whether anyone was listening or not.

      “In the end he contracted pneumonia and became delirious with fever. The doctor was called but nothing could be done for him. The housekeeper did her best to keep him comfortable and, of course, I tried to help, for Albert’s sake, but I’m afraid I wasn’t able to do much. Whenever I’d enter his room, he’d only shout at me. I don’t think he remembered who I was anymore. Except on the day he died. That day, the housekeeper summoned me and said that Mr. Tate should like to speak with me.”

      Garnet lifted her eyebrows. “What did he say?”

      “Well, as you can imagine, I was a little taken aback. I didn’t know what he wanted from me. He was quite feverish and gasping when I entered the room, and I thought, at first, that maybe the housekeeper had misunderstood. But he looked right at me when he spoke, and he seemed to be trying to relay a message. He said, ’The angel. Tell Albert. The angel. Look. The cross. Remember Thomas. The angel will guide you.’ Something like that. I assumed it was more of his nonsensical religious gibberish. I had no idea who Thomas was or what he was talking about. But he pointed to that angel.” Elizabeth directed a finger toward the mantelpiece where a silver angel stood to the right of the clock. “He used to keep it on his night stand.”

      “So, what was he trying to tell you?” Garnet asked.

      “I don’t know. That is, I don’t know for sure.” Elizabeth’s eyes were downcast as she twisted the gold ring on her left hand. “I wrote to Albert about his father’s death and what he had said to me. Albert replied that I was not to worry. He would explain everything to me when he returned. But he never did come back, you see, so there was never any explanation.” She gave a deep sigh. “Maybe Reginald was just talking gibberish — that’s what Albert would have told me. He was strange, after all. Anyone could see it.” Elizabeth pursed her lips. “The thing is, something happened a few years after the war that has always made me wonder.”

      “Wonder what?” Garnet asked.

      “Wonder if his words were more than just gibberish. You see, one spring night, after I’d been out, I returned home and heard noises in the house. I noticed a broken window in the kitchen and quickly realized I had an intruder, so I left to call the police from the neighbour’s house. They soon arrived, but the intruder escaped and ran to the park where he had left his car. He sped away and the police followed. They chased him all the way to the outskirts of the city, but before they could stop him, he lost control, drove into the Grand River, and drowned. I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately. Sometimes my mind even plays tricks on me and I dream that I hear someone walking around the house at night.” Her pale blue eyes narrowed behind her gold-rimmed glasses. “The point is, I’ve always wondered whether that was a random break-in or if the intruder knew anything about the jewels.”

      Garnet’s eyebrows knitted together. “The jewels? What jewels, Elizabeth?”

      “The royal jewels of Sofia Tate.”

      2

      Portrait of Sofia Tate

      A loud knock sounded at the door and Gerdie pattered to the front hall to answer it.

      “Hello, Danny,” Garnet heard her say in a monotone voice.

      “Hello, Miss Pitt,” a young man’s voice replied. “How are you today?” he added cheerfully.

      “Fine. Just fine. Come on back to the kitchen with those,” she ordered. Garnet heard Gerdie’s footsteps move down the hallway, with heavier ones following.

      Elizabeth reached for her cane. “Sounds like Danny’s here with the groceries,” she said. “Excuse me.” She rose from the chair and shuffled out of the room, leaving Garnet alone.

      “Hello, Danny,” she heard Elizabeth say.

      “Hello, Mrs. Tate. How are you today?”

      “I’m fine, thank you, Danny. Feels like another hot one, though. How would you like a nice cold glass of lemonade?”

      “That would be great, Mrs. Tate,” Danny replied. “I’ll just finish bringing in the rest of the groceries first. Should I bring them through the back?”

      “Yes,” Elizabeth replied. “Why don’t you go through there right now?”

      A door slammed and, moments later, Elizabeth poked her face into the living room. “Garnet, may I offer you some lemonade?”

      Garnet nodded. “Yes, please.”

      “Why don’t you come back to the kitchen?”

      “Sure,” Garnet replied, and she hopped off the couch.

      The back door swung open and a tall figure with muscular arms lifted a large cardboard box of groceries onto the kitchen table. His blue polo shirt had the Pioneer Foods logo on the front of it.

      “Danny, I’d like you to meet my new friend, Garnet. Garnet, this is Danny, the best grocery delivery boy in the city.”

      Danny laughed. “Tell my boss that.”

      “I’m sure your father already knows.” Elizabeth smiled and turned to Garnet. “Danny’s father manages the Pioneer Foods grocery store chain.”

      “Hi,” Danny said, flashing a wide, lopsided smile.

      “Hi,” Garnet said, and blushed as she realized that she recognized him from school. Only no one there called him Danny. He was Dan Peters and everyone knew him. She had heard his name announced several times in past weeks for winning at various track-and-field events, and newspaper clippings describing his victories had been posted on the bulletin board in the hall. He was fairly good-looking, Garnet supposed, with his short, black hair and the bluest eyes she had ever seen.

      Dan tilted his head to one side. “Haven’t I seen you at school?” he asked.

      Garnet felt herself flush to an even deeper shade of red. He knew she existed. “Maybe. But I just started at Cameron a few weeks ago.”

      “So, you already know each other,” Elizabeth said, clasping her hands. “Isn’t that wonderful?”

      Hardly, Garnet thought, since she barely knew anyone at Cameron Heights. And even if she did, people like Dan Peters would definitely be out of her league.

      “You’ll be graduating soon, won’t you, Danny?” Elizabeth said as she finished pouring three glasses of lemonade from a pitcher.

      “Only a few weeks left. I’ll be going to Wilfrid Laurier in the fall.”

      “What will you be studying?” Elizabeth asked, handing them each a glass.

      “Business.”

      “Handsome and bright,” Elizabeth said. “That’s how Albert was, too.”

      Dan tipped back the glass and emptied it in a couple of gulps before setting it next to the sink. “That was great. Thanks for the lemonade. I hate to rush, but I’ve got a few more deliveries to make this morning.”

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