Case of the Fleet-Footed Mummy Read online

  Ammar refused to answer.

  “He was double-crossed,” Vance guessed. “Looks like Victor couldn’t pass up an opportunity to claim the pendant for himself. He got the drop on Ammar, tied him up, took the pendant, and left.”

  Ammar let his eyes drop to the ground and kept them there.

  Captain Nelson motioned to several of the officers standing silently behind him. They nodded. One pulled Ammar to his feet and snapped a set of cuffs on his wrists.

  “Ammar Fadil, you are being charged with the theft of property, possession of marijuana without a prescription, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.”

  He was led away as a dozen different conversations seemingly appeared out of nowhere. I heard the pendant and its present location get mentioned several times.

  “That’s enough, people,” Captain Nelson said as he addressed the people still in the room. “We will now focus all efforts on finding Mr. Preston. That will be all. Dismissed.”

  “You mean it? I don’t have to go in tomorrow morning? Omigod, thank you so much, honey!”

  Tori had wrapped her arms around her husband and was shaking with excitement. Vance gave her a spin before he set her down. He smiled at his wife.

  “I told you that I’d get this figured out.”

  Tori blinked a few times at him, “Actually, you didn’t.”

  Vance sighed, “Oh, just give me this moment, will you?”

  “Oh, you big hunk of a stud, you. You are my knight in shining armor. Come with me now so I can show you how much I appreciate what you just did for me.”

  Vance’s face turned Coke-can red.

  “Tori! Knock it off! Not in front of our friends!”

  Jillian and I both laughed. Vance and I headed back to my house after Ammar had been officially charged. Jillian and Tori had been giggling like school girls but instantly clammed up the moment we had walked through the doors. From the looks on their faces they must have been talking about one of us. Or both. It was hard to tell.

  Sherlock and Watson were both out cold. Sherlock was on his back on the couch, stretched out length-wise, with all four paws in the air. Watson was on the rug in front of the fireplace in her usual position, which I had found out from other corgi owners was often referred to as the ‘Flying Squirrel’: stretched out on the ground with both stumpy legs sticking directly out behind the dog, and the front two paws were tucked close to the body but also facing backward. To me it looked as uncomfortable as hell, but clearly she must have enjoyed it.

  “Did they recover the pendant?” Jillian hopefully asked.

  “They will when they track down Victor Preston,” Vance vowed. “He’s got the pendant and he jumped ship. His store was abandoned, as was his house.”

  “Did Ammar confess to anything?” Tori wanted to know.

  “He confessed to everything but killing his brother. I’m positive he killed his father, too. You should’ve seen the look on his face when I brought that up. Utter shock. I’m sure the Egyptian authorities will want to have a word with him.”

  Even though it was closing in on eleven o’clock, the four of us were not ready to call it a night. We decided we wanted to celebrate. Tori called her friend, who was looking after her kids, and bribed her to stay a little longer. Together we headed for the cars, intent on stopping by The Lonely Gringo, Pomme Valley’s equivalent of a Denny’s, for a bite to eat. Maybe a drink. They usually didn’t close until midnight, so we had a little time. Plus, Vance tells me their terrace is open until midnight, too. It meant the dogs could come. I, on the other hand, had every intention of leaving them home. However, both dogs were instantly awake the moment both Jillian and I stood up. Somehow, and I still don’t how they do it, they could tell we were planning on leaving.

  “Just take them along,” Vance said. “The owner is a buddy of mine. He loves dogs.”

  Sherlock and Watson ran for the door. Watson nudged one of the leashes. I looked at Tori and rolled my eyes.

  “Does Anubis ever do this to you?” I asked.

  “What, want to go on rides?” Tori asked. “Of course. They’re dogs. They can tell when you’re preparing to leave the house. They feel it is their job to protect you, so they want to come along. I already have a contingency plan in place if I ever want to leave the house without Anubis.”

  I watched Jillian collect her purse and put on her sweater.

  “Oh, yeah? And what’s that?”

  “I have a spare pair of shoes in the garage, along with a spare set of car keys. If I put on my shoes, or grab the keys off the holder while I’m still in the house then Anubis knows.”

  I nodded. Spare shoes in the garage? Keys, too? That was actually a really good idea.

  Five minutes later, with Jillian sitting in the passenger seat and both Sherlock and Watson in the back seat, I had just pulled my Jeep away from my driveway to follow Vance and Tori’s sedan when I saw their car come to a sudden stop. Unsure of what they were doing I pulled up alongside them. Thankfully at this time of night there was no oncoming traffic. Jillian rolled her window down as she attempted to see if everything was okay.

  “Vance is on the phone,” Jillian quietly observed.

  “How’s he look?” I softly asked.

  “Excited. Happy, even.”

  I propped myself up in my seat and tried to peer over Jillian’s shoulder to see for myself.

  “Really? That’s gotta be good news, right?”

  “He finished his call,” Jillian informed me. “Now he’s rolling his window down.”

  “Zack!” Vance’s voice called out. “Jillian! You aren’t gonna believe it!”

  “What’s the matter? I… You ask him,” I told Jillian. “You’re closer.”

  “Is everything alright?” Jillian asked.

  “They got him!” Vance excitedly told us. We each heard him whoop out loud.

  “Fantastic!” I shouted back. “Meet you at the restaurant! We want to hear all about it!”

  “He could have just called us,” Jillian pointed out. “Between the four of us there are four cell phones involved.”

  Once we were seated outside on the terrace at The Lonely Gringo, with our drinks in our hands and the dogs curled up at our feet, did we truly feel like the day was officially over. A quick glance across the street at the coffee shop’s digital sign confirmed that this particular day only had about thirty more minutes left to it. I took a pull from my beer and sighed contentedly.

  “So,” I said as I addressed Vance, “where’d they get him?”

  “The dumbass was speeding in Portland. That’s where they pulled him over. He’s being transferred back here tomorrow.”

  “Did he have the necklace on him?” Tori hopefully asked, just before she took a sip of her drink.

  “Pendant,” Vance, Jillian, and I simultaneously corrected.

  Tori damn-near snotted her margarita. She clapped a hand over mouth and hastily grabbed a napkin. Her eyes sparkled with amusement as she carefully swallowed her drink.

  Vance nodded, “Yes. He had it stashed in a suitcase. They’ve taken pictures of it and have already sent it to the station. Dr. Tarik gave us strict instructions to notify him the instant the pendant was recovered. They’ve already let him know and wouldn’t you know it? He’s on his way to the station. He wants to see the pictures to make sure the pendant is undamaged. Apparently his career is on the line and would prefer to continue to be in the employ of Egyptian Exhibitions.”

  “Can’t say that I blame him,” I observed. “I’ll bet he’s relieved.”

  Together, we sat in silence as we watched several cars drive by on C Street.

  “It’s a beautiful night,” Tori breathed, scooting her chair close to her husband’s. She leaned up against him once he put an arm around her.

  “It sure is. I’m so damn glad it’s over.”

  Vance’s cell shattered the moment.

  “Oh, you gotta be kidding me,” Vance grumbled as he pulled his cell out of his pock
et. He looked at the caller ID and scowled. “Samuelson. Yeah, I’m awake. We’re enjoying some quiet time at the… what? Hold on. I’m putting you on speakerphone.” Vance set his phone down on the table and tapped the screen. “Go ahead, Jones. Say that again.”

  I heard a man’s voice begin to speak.

  “I thought you should know, Detective. The pendant? The one they recovered from Victor Preston? It’s a fake.”

  eleven

  The following morning Vance and I were back at the station. This time I was standing with Captain Nelson on the other side of the one-way glass and watched as Vance entered the interrogation room and sat down on the same damn chair he had sat in when he had interrogated me. I know. I saw the familiar rips in the chair.

  “How certain are you that the pendant is a fake?” I quietly asked the captain.

  “A hundred percent.”

  “I don’t get it. If Victor stole the fake pendant then what happened to the real one?”

  Captain Nelson turned to regard me.

  “I thought you said you were a writer? Haven’t you been able to figure this one out?”

  “Why does everyone assume I’m a damn mystery writer?” I grumbled.

  “Then what type of writer are you?” the captain asked.

  “Can you just tell me what happened?”

  “Victor Preston was double-crossed.”

  “By who?” I wanted to know.

  Captain Nelson pointed at Ammar.

  “Who else? Him.”

  “How can you be so certain?”

  “I’ve been doing my job for more years than I care to count,” Captain Nelson told me. “I pride myself for being able to read body language. I can tell almost immediately when someone is lying to me.”

  I had to order myself not to make a peep. He could pride himself? Please. I seem to recall the good captain here maintained I was guilty as hell when he thought I was the culprit behind the murders here a few months ago. It wasn’t until that news reporter made a full confession did he officially believe I was innocent.

  However, at the moment he was acting cordial to me, so I really shouldn’t push the issue.

  “So what is Ammar’s body language telling you now?”

  “That he’s hiding something.”

  “You think he knows that the pendant Victor absconded with is fake?”

  “Of course. Look at his face. The guy is all but smirking. He thinks he’s so smart. The fact is, the guy is as dumb as a bag of rocks.”

  I scratched the back of my head, “Come again?”

  “Why else would he still be in town?” the captain asked me as he glanced my way. “He’s stashed the pendant here in town. He thinks only he will be able to find it.”

  “Why isn’t he worried?” I asked, bewildered. “He’s going to be sent away. He’s not going to get a chance to recover the pendant. Why is he so smug?”

  “Because he probably knows that his home country’s penalties aren’t nearly as severe as what they’d be here. Either he figures he can make it back here before it’s found or else he’s going to send someone back here to claim it. Either way, that damn pendant needs to be found or else that smug sumbitch wins.” The captain looked over at me and his face became grim. “Do you want that to happen? I sure don’t. We need to find that pendant.”

  “He could have stashed it anywhere,” I pointed out. “How in the world do you think we’re going to be able to find it?”

  We heard a commotion in the interrogation room. Vance was standing up and pushing his chair away from the table. He glanced once at us through the mirror and nodded his head towards the hallway. He wanted to talk to us out there.

  I followed the captain out into the hallway and saw that they were huddled close together. Vance motioned me over.

  “The captain says you two already figured out what I just gleaned from our uncooperative friend.”

  “The pendant is still in town,” I guessed.

  Vance nodded, “Right. We need to find it.”

  “How?” I asked.

  Vance and the captain were both staring at me. The clouds parted and a few rays of comprehension finally hit me. They were asking if Sherlock would take the case.

  “Seriously? You think Sherlock can find it?”

  “He found the tiger,” Vance reminded me. “Let’s see if he can find this pendant. Look, Zack. At this point it can’t hurt to try. What do you say?”

  “We can try. Just don’t get your hopes up. Any idea where we should look?”

  Vance shrugged, “I don’t know. Maybe the school?”

  I returned home to collect the dogs. Sherlock and Watson were absolutely thrilled with the prospect of going for another ride. I pushed open my front door and led both dogs out. I’m sure from the way they were both pulling that it must looked like I was training the dogs to compete in the Iditarod. The only thing I needed in order to complete the picture was a sled.

  Fifteen minutes later we were pulling up to the high school. Unfortunately, class was in session. But, I did get permission from Principal Reezen to wander the halls. He did make me promise that if the dogs found anything that I’d let him know personally. He also warned me I had about 30 minutes before the next bell sounded.

  For half an hour we searched. The bell went off, turning the hallways into a maddening free-for-all as kids rushed to get to their next class. I had quite a few of the students tell me how cute they thought the dogs were.

  Ten minutes later, blissful silence. Lockers were slammed shut, classroom doors were closed, and my sanity returned. We explored the school grounds for close to an hour before we gave up. Sherlock simply had no interest in anything we looked at. Watson, on the other hand, was content to walk by my side as she watched her packmate sniff at various items.

  I called Vance and broke the bad news. I told him that the only thing I could do was possibly drive around town and see if Sherlock perked up at anything. He agreed. He told me that the Egyptian Embassy was sending two men to retrieve Ammar and should be there the following morning.

  “I so want to rub this in his face,” Vance told me. “Tell Sherlock that if he finds that pendant before Ammar is sent away then I’ll personally wear tights to our first dance lesson.”

  I laughed and hung up.

  An hour later we broke for lunch. I placed a carryout order at Casa de Joe’s, the town’s only Mexican food restaurant, and surprised Jillian at work. Together we had lunch in her office.

  “Have you guys had any luck yet?” Jillian asked after we had disposed of the Styrofoam containers our lunch had come in.

  “Nothing yet. I honestly don’t know where to look. Ammar was MIA for close to two days. That’s more than enough time to stash that pendant somewhere in town. Or out of town. Who knows?”

  “So what are you going to do?” Jillian asked.

  “I’ve got to keep looking. We need to find this pendant, Jillian.”

  Jillian laid a reassuring hand on mine.

  “It’s sweet of you to dedicate so much of your time to help Vance, but you have to consider that maybe we’ll never find it. I know that would be a tremendous loss to the archaeological world, but it’s just the way things happened.”

  I gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

  “You don’t understand. I have to find this thing.”

  “Why?” Jillian asked, puzzled.

  “Because Vance said that he’d wear tights on his first dancing lesson if Sherlock finds the pendant.”

  Jillian’s eyebrows shot straight up. A smile formed on her face. She pulled out her cell and sent off a text. Less than ten seconds later her phone chimed, signaling a message had been received. She read the message and burst out laughing.

  “What?” I asked. I already figured she had texted Tori.

  Jillian held her phone out to me. Yes, she had alerted Tori to what Vance had told me. Tori’s response?

  If Sherlock finds that pendant then I’ll make Vance wear the rest of that costume. P
eter Pan. Keep this between us!

  I snorted with laughter.

  “We’re heading back out. We’ve got ourselves a missing pendant to locate.”

  Jillian was trying to hold back a case of the giggles.

  “If you find it, please let me know, okay?”

  I assured her she’d be the first to know if we did.

  After two more hours of fruitless searching I was forced to make another stop. Sherlock had started his performance of what I affectionately term his ‘potty dance’, which meant he had grown super fidgety and wouldn’t stand still. We were nearing Gary’s Grocery, which I knew had the large parking lot, and decided to stop there. Once Sherlock had completed his business I was ready to head west, back into town, when I heard a woof.

  I brought the Jeep to an immediate stop. I turned to look at Sherlock. He, in turn, was staring out the window, straight at… the Square L. He woofed again. Curious, I turned right instead of left and drove towards the darkened store. Sherlock’s barks became more persistent.

  My hopes soared. Could Ammar have hidden the real pendant right under Victor Preston’s nose? I parked, let the dogs out, and walked towards the store. Watson was uninterested with the store but Sherlock continued to bark. He led me straight to the back door and pawed at it with one of his stumpy legs.

  I pulled out my cell and called Vance.

  “Zack? What’s up? Do you need… wait. Wait! Did you find it??”

  “We’re back at the Square L,” I told Vance. “I’ve driven all over this damn town and Sherlock hasn’t given me even the softest of growls. However, I drove by the store and he started to lose his mind. He took me straight back to the back door.”

  “The same one from last night?”

  “Yep. Unless you’ve got the keys to this place then I’m not gonna be able to do much here.”

  “Stay right there. I’m on my way.”

  Fifteen minutes later Vance was there. He pulled out a silver key ring with three different keys on it. He unlocked the door on the second attempt.