LITMIR.BIZ

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detectives assigned to the case. They followed up and someone in her building with a window facing the street remembers seeing a light-colored sedan parked across the street in a delivery zone. Says it was there for some time before it pulled out and clipped Ms. Ware.”

      “There was a witness to the accident?”

      “Several of them, including the doorman of her building. All agree that it was a light-colored car. One insisted it was a Mercedes. But no one got a plate number. That’s where things stand.”

      “So Eva Ware’s death probably wasn’t an accident.”

      “That’s my gut feeling.”

      “You know a lot about a case you’re not working,” Jase said.

      “I liked Eva Ware. She was a classy lady. So is her daughter Jordan. How’s she holding up?”

      That’s exactly what Jase wanted to know. He still hadn’t been able to reach Jordan on her cell. “I haven’t had a chance to connect with her yet. Thanks, Dave.”

      “No problem. Keep me in the loop if you find out anything.”

      “Will do.”

      As Jase closed his cell, Maddie shook her head. “Jordan never said a word about Eva’s death being anything other than an accident.”

      Jase lifted the coffeepot and topped off both of their mugs. “That’s probably how the original report read. It sounds to me like Detective Stanton was the one to push looking into it more carefully. By that time Jordan was probably caught up in making funeral arrangements. I wish I’d been here.” It ate bitterly at him that Jordan had had to handle everything on her own.

      “I wish that I could have been here for her too. I don’t know if I could have made it through my father’s death if Cash hadn’t been there for me.”

      Tilting her head, Maddie studied Jase for a moment. “You believed that Eva’s death wasn’t an accident even before you called Detective Stanton. Why? Is there someone who would want to harm her?”

      “Perhaps.” For a minute, Jase debated how much he wanted to tell Maddie and decided she’d have to know it all. Jordan too. “Have you been able to reach your sister? I tried her cell earlier with no luck.”

      “Cell signals are seldom available at the ranch. And the land line seems to be out. I called before I showered. There was a nasty storm predicted last night. But she intends to go into Santa Fe today and visit the hotel where they’re holding the jewelry show tomorrow. Her cell should work there, and she’ll call. It’s our plan to keep in daily contact. And you must know how Jordan is about plans.”

      Jase smiled. “A real stickler.”

      Maddie set her coffee on the counter. “You haven’t answered my question. Why did you instantly suspect that our mother’s death might not be an accident?”

      “Do you ever have gut feelings that something isn’t quite right?”

      She met his eyes. “Yes. I get them sometimes when I’m designing a piece of jewelry. Then I know I’m going in the wrong direction.”

      Jase leaned against the counter and crossed his legs at the ankles. Maddie Farrell was a good listener, astute too. Maybe it would help him to talk it out. “I got one the minute you told me that Eva had been run down. A few days before I left for South America, your mother’s store was broken into and approximately one hundred thousand dollars worth of jewelry was stolen.”

      Maddie frowned. “Jordan told me about that. She said that they’d gotten past the security. Considering the kind of pieces I’ve seen on Eva Ware’s Web site, I’m surprised they didn’t steal more. Some of her individual pieces go for two or three times that.”

      Smart girl, Jase thought. “The break-in occurred in the main salon. Most of the designs are kept in the safe and only brought out at a specific customer’s request. But there were more expensive pieces on display. The police thought that the thief or thieves purposely took small pieces that could easily be fenced. And they only took pieces with gems.”

      “Which could be taken out and sold.”

      “That was the thinking. Detective Stanton worked the case, but Eva asked me to look into it also. I would have anyway since I was the one who’d installed the security system. The robbery was a very slick job. Either the thief was a highly sophisticated pro, or he’d had help from the inside. I thought the latter and I told Eva. She hired me to look into it further when I got back from South America. I suggested that she let me turn the investigation over to my partner, Dino Angelis, but she refused.”

      “Maybe she wanted a little time to gather information herself. Could be she suspected who the insider was and she wanted to be able to confront him or her.”

      Jase studied her. “Yeah. That’s what I thought at the time, but how did you make that leap? You didn’t even know Eva.”

      “I guess because if I were in her place, that’s how I’d want to handle it. Jordan tells me that the business meant the world to Eva, that she’d devoted her life to it. On a much smaller scale, I know how I feel about my own fledgling design business. And I can sympathize with Eva wanting to try to handle it herself. Maybe she didn’t even want the thief prosecuted.”

      “Why not?”

      “Perhaps she didn’t want a scandal. As I understand from Jordan, almost everyone there has been with her a long time.”

      “Good point.”

      Maddie climbed on a stool and folded her hands in front of her. “So. How are we going to find out who broke into Eva Ware Designs?”

      He frowned at her. “We’re not.”

      “We have to.”

      Jase straightened from the counter. “Maddie, if Eva did figure out who the thief was and threatened exposure, that person might be the one who ran her down. If he or she killed once, they won’t hesitate to do it again.”

      Maddie swallowed hard and tried to ignore the sudden chill that radiated through her. Hearing the words spoken aloud in that blunt tone was a lot worse than thinking it. “You believe the thief killed Eva?”

      “It’s a strong possibility, and I think that’s why my friend Dave Stanton is keeping an eye on the file.”

      His eyes had gone as flat as his tone. He was purposely trying to scare her. “But you’re going to look further into the robbery?”

      “Yes.”

      If he was right and someone had run Eva down, there was no way she wasn’t going to do her best to find the person. She just had to find the right strategy to convince him. “I can help.”

      “No. It’s too dangerous. Do what you came here to do—get to know your mother and her jewelry design business. My office will handle looking into who might have been behind the break-in and robbery.”

      A plan was already forming in her mind. Maddie leaned forward. “But I’m going to be on the inside. And my cover is perfect. Jordan has told everyone about me. I’m Eva Ware’s other daughter, the one she left behind. I can play on the sympathy factor. Not from my cousin Adam, but perhaps from the others.”

      Jase moved to her then and covered her folded hands with his. “I’m sorry. It’s got to be rough on you.”

      “On Jordan too.”

      “Yes.”

      “That’s exactly what the others are going to think. And I’ll be expected to ask a lot of questions anyway. I already intend to talk to people about Eva—what she was like, how she got started in the business, what her creative process was like. It’s the only way that I have of getting to know her now. I’m going to insist on a tour of her workroom.”

      Jase was looking at her, saying nothing. But he was thinking. She could almost

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