Chapter 2: The Power of Love
Venice. Monday, March 31, 2008.
Raquel's Lost Treasures boutique was located close to a canal in a narrow passageway of medieval buildings. She'd told Neal that all the items on display were reproductions. If she still fenced the occasional stolen artifact, she was careful not to let him know about it.
He hadn't seen her since his wedding, but they'd corresponded. Alex Hunter took Raquel up on her offer and was now managing a branch boutique for her in Monte Carlo.
"Married life becomes you, darling," Raquel said as she kissed him on each cheek in the Italian manner. "I wonder if it would do the same for me."
"Do you have someone in mind?" Neal asked, keeping his tone equally light as she led him into her office and closed the door. He assumed she was simply making pleasant banter. On the other hand, she hadn't quoted ancient Egyptian love poetry to him as she always used to when they greeted each other.
Her lips quirked into a half-smile. "Perhaps. It's even not inconceivable that someday I'll open a branch boutique in New York."
"Who is the lucky person?" Raquel hadn't hinted about anyone in her life during their correspondence. But the fact she dropped such blatant hints meant that she wanted to discuss him. And that in itself was a shock. She never had with any of her other lovers.
He happened to glance at her desk. An open letter was under a scarab paperweight. He drew closer. The handwriting was very familiar. He spun around to face Raquel. "Vanya Sherkov? My art advisor?"
"Don't look so startled," she chided. "I grant you he's not like the other men I've ... dated. Perhaps that's why I find him so captivating."
The lost emerald ring was quickly relegated to the shelf. Vanya and Raquel had been seated at the same table during Neal and Sara's wedding reception. Both were fascinating conversationalists and Raquel had an academic background. Neal thought they would share some interests, but he'd never expected it would go any further.
"How long has this been going on?" Wrapping his head around the notion that Vanya and Raquel were dating wasn't easy. Vanya didn't look like anyone who normally needed to be protected but Raquel could provoke an exception.
"We exchanged business cards at your wedding. He wrote me about an upcoming exhibition at the Met. I told him about the Caravaggio retrospective that took place last year." She paused to shrug. "One thing led to another. He came to Venice last summer. We went to Spain over the winter holidays ..." She swallowed, looking surprisingly anxious. "Has he mentioned me to you?"
"No, not that it means anything. Lately, our talks have mainly been about my dissertation." He stopped to consider his words. "I value Vanya highly. I wouldn't want to see him get hurt."
She winced. "I suppose I deserve that. But you can rest easy. I suspect I feel even more protective of him than you. Vanya's not like anyone else I've ever dated."
That's putting it mildly.
"At the start, we were simply friends who enjoyed each other's company. But then, last summer ... He sparked feelings I'd begun wondering if I'd ever experience. Neal, I'm in love with him. And I think—I hope—the feeling's mutual." The unspoken plea in her eyes was for him not to sabotage it.
"How much does he know about you?" Neal asked. He knew what he probably would have done in her situation—correction—had done with Fiona.
"Only what won't get me—or him—into trouble. I'd made a bargain with Alex to see if we could stay legit for two years. I haven't cheated and I don't think she has."
"When did you make the bet?" Neal asked.
"Shortly after your wedding. Alex visited me over the winter holidays and accepted my employment offer." She smiled. "You and Sara were quite a topic of conversation. This was only a month after you'd gotten married. Alex was still surprised that you'd managed to make ... shall we call it a career change?"
"I surprise myself sometimes," Neal admitted. Raquel might continue to believe that he occasionally did jobs on the side.
"After you rescued her from the mobster, you told her she had a great opportunity to make a fresh start. In a way, you provided the same chance for me. Working with you and Sara to free her, attending your wedding ..." Raquel shrugged. "Don't let it go to your head. You're cocky enough!"
"Hey, if two of my best friends manage to find a safe path to happiness, I won't do anything to dissuade you."
"Does that include not telling Vanya about my past?" she challenged.
"That's your decision to make," he assured her. "But if you truly want to make your relationship a success, be as open as you can ... without incriminating yourself. That's worked out well for me and Sara." He hesitated. This was the perfect moment for a little nudge. "If you were to help me find the missing ring, I would be happy to let Vanya know about it. He's familiar with my work with Interpol Art Crimes and already knows about the theft."
Raquel hesitated for a moment and then smiled. "I must confess, I was quite intrigued by the case. That ring is a popular piece for reproductions. I've sold many high-grade copies at my boutique. Why someone would want to steal the original is an interesting puzzle."
"I asked myself the same question." The case reminded him in some respects of the McNally Solitaire. "The likeliest buyer is someone with a personal connection. Does anyone come to mind?"
"As you know, my client list of antiquities is extensive. Some are particularly interested in one type of gem, and that led me to consider the emerald's significance. To Egyptians, emeralds symbolized fertility and eternal life."
"If a client was superstitious, they might not be satisfied with a reproduction," Neal suggested, thoughts popping into his head.
Raquel studied her fingernails. "One name comes to mind—a banker in Cairo. He likes to compare his wife to Cleopatra and has made several purchases connected to her. Cleopatra was known to be fond of emeralds. She may have owned the ring."
"He could be worth checking out," Neal agreed.
"I heard his wife is expecting their first child. That could have provided an extra incentive. But you'll need something to pique his interest," she cautioned.
"I came equipped." His carnelian cat should not only gain him entrance but also conceivably enhance the reputation of the Red Diamonds. You wouldn't happen to know of any thieves who specialize in replacing historical gems with forgeries?"
"No, I don't. Although ... recently I've heard rumors of a crew calling themselves the Red Diamonds." She arched a brow at him.
Neal didn't miss a beat. "I've seen their messages on the Jewel Box, but as far as I know they aren't replacing gems with forgeries."
She nodded. "That does demand special skills ... and a trustworthy gemcutter. I'll let you know if anyone comes to mind."
Was this the start of a new partnership? Raquel could be merely indulging in a short-lived fantasy but he hoped that wasn't the case. He took her out to lunch afterward. Their conversation revolved around Vanya and the art history program. Neal didn't see what ulterior motive Raquel could have in initiating a relationship with his advisor, but he looked forward to discussing it with Sara. Had they unwittingly performed a matchmaking service at their wedding reception?
Winston-Winslow. The following Friday.
"We got him," Jones declared, pointing to a printout on Peter's desk. "I'm willing to bet ten bars of gold-pressed latinum that Trevor Minke is our culprit."
"This effort should earn us a special award for data crunching," Peter declared with a satisfied nod. Their team had spent weeks collecting and processing data for De Beers. The diamond consortium was headquartered in London. It had reached out to Win-Win largely because of the successful diamond sting Sara and Diana had run in Amsterdam. Aside from an initial fact-finding trip to London, Peter and his team performed the work remotely. This provided a good test of Julia Winslow's technique for processing massive amounts of data. At times, he and Jones had felt like they were sifting a massive sandpile for diamond dust.
Fairly early on, they established that De Beers was correct in believing someone was doctoring their inventory records. Peter had called on Neal's friend Aidan for the analysis. Root32, the company Travis and Aidan worked for, was now a full-fledged partner with Win-Win, making it easier to secure their assistance. Aidan backed out the tampered data to come up with forty occasions during the past three years when diamonds were stolen. At that point, it became a gigantic matching exercise of dates, locations, and bank accounts for the over twenty thousand employees.
"What do we know about Minke?" Peter asked.
"He works in the accounting department at their Cape Town office. Low-level position. Nothing particularly noteworthy on the surface." Jones pulled up the personnel record on his laptop and handed it to Peter. "The guy lives alone. Anomalies in his bank account are what caught our attention. Travel records indicate that he was in the vicinity during all the incidents we pinpointed where diamonds went missing."
Peter studied the file. Jones was right that the evidence was promising, but had they happened upon a much larger issue? "Nothing in his background indicates much computer expertise, but whoever tampered with the inventory records was a skilled hacker."
Jones nodded in agreement. "Did the guy fake his bio or someone else? He could be a member of a crew. Anna's digging into his background but we've probably already collected about all the data that can be accessed remotely. I'd like to go to Cape Town to start the next phase."
"You shouldn't go alone. I'd go, but the next opening in my schedule won't be for two weeks."
"Not a problem. Anna's offered to go with me," Jones said, completely deadpan.
Peter considered the idea. The fact they were romantically involved shouldn't make any more of a difference than when Neal and Sara worked a case together. "I can't think of a better candidate," Peter said, keeping his voice equally dispassionate. "How soon can you leave?"
"This weekend, if we can get a flight."
"Did you hear that Neal and Sara will be in Cape Town for a few days, starting on the fifteenth?"
Jones nodded. "But they're on vacation."
"You should go ahead and speak with Sara about it. Those two live for excitement. After all, they ran a con in the days leading up to their wedding. Does the suspect have any interests you could tap into?"
"Only one that I could find. He's an avid birdwatcher. Supposedly travels the globe to add birds to his list. It sounded a little wacky to me so I called Tricia to check it out."
Tricia Wiese was Peter's former second-in-command at White Collar and a birder. She continued to work at the Bureau as a behavior analyst and was also Win-Win's liaison with the Bureau on joint investigations.
"She told me Minke's behavior isn't unusual," Jones said. "Supposedly bird chasing is quite popular. Enthusiasts keep lists of sightings for personal satisfaction or bragging rights. I don't know how that helps us."
"It gives Minke a reason to travel," Peter speculated. "He smuggles the diamonds out of vaults, takes them to someone to fence ... What's he doing with the profit?"
"Not spending it on himself, that's for sure. He lives in a modest apartment. The only big charges on his credit card are for airplane tickets."
"My gut's telling me Minke may just be the tip of a much larger operation," Peter said. "I'll contact De Beers to obtain the necessary permissions. We don't want to tip our hand too soon. You and Anna will be on your own. Don't engage in any risky behavior."
"Don't worry. I won't pull a Caffrey on you, especially with Anna there." Jones paused for a moment. "And if we do call on Neal and Sara, I'll make sure they heed your warning too."
#
When Sara arrived home that evening, she found June and Janet poring over a blueprint in the game room. Was more remodeling on tap? Her news could wait.
"Whatever you two are scheming, I want in," she declared.
"Then you better help yourself to a drink," June said. "Remodeling is always best discussed at happy hour. I'm drinking a Manhattan, and Janet's having wine."
"In honor of Neal, I'll have a vodka martini, shaken not stirred."
"How's our man in Cairo?" June asked.
"Your news first," Sara said firmly. "That martini won't take a minute to make."
"I suspect ours won't be as dramatic as yours," Janet said when Sara had returned from the wet bar, glass in hand. "The remodeling is for the girls club. This was Elizabeth's idea. No, on second thought, it was the girls' idea. Her cooking show is so popular, they pleaded for more apprentice cooking stations."
"Fortunately, Eric had planned for a possible expansion," June said. "The room is large enough to hold at least four more islands. Carmen has prepared several options to consider. Elizabeth picked her favorite but wouldn't tell us which one it was. She wants us to vote too."
Carmen was one of Eric's sisters and a skilled electrician. Sara sat down at the game table to study the blueprint. "It's an easy choice. Go for the maximum number of stations. The girls won't mind if they're close together. They'll enjoy seeing what the others are doing."
"That's what we decided too," June said. "And it will make it easier for the camera operators. Sara, your turn now. Did Neal recover the emerald?"
"Raquel's tip paid off!" she said, raising her glass to her absent husband. "Neal portrayed himself as a seller's agent specializing in antiques. The carnelian cat ring he'd taken along was sufficient inducement for the man to meet with him. Naturally, the man claimed he believed the emerald ring was a reproduction."
June and Janet nodded knowingly. That was the standard M.O. of buyers of stolen merchandise. It was usually impossible to charge them with a crime.
"I'm sure the buyer helpfully provided the name of the store where he'd acquired it as well as a sales receipt," Janet said.
"Naturally. Neal went to the store along with agents of the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities. No other stolen merchandise was found. The store had several other copies of the Met's emerald ring. Whoever stole the original had cleverly hidden his tracks."
"Were any other stolen items found in the buyer's collection?" June asked.
"No, and Neal suspects the man had a special motive for this purchase. Anna Hsu had researched the buyer for Neal. His wife had been seeing a fertility clinic for five years. Last month she became pregnant." Sara quirked an eyebrow. "Was it merely a coincidence that it was about the same time the buyer purchased the ring?"
June smiled. "Or the magical power of emeralds? I could tease you about future emerald purchases but I'll restrain myself."
"Please do!" Sara said with a laugh. Not that she hadn't joked with Neal about it. "The best part is that Neal will return home tomorrow. We'll fly to Cape Town together!"
"Byron and I loved our trip to South Africa," June said. "We were there in 1999. The Mount Nelson was our favorite hotel. Think of me when you and Neal have high tea there."
Neal had picked the hotel based on June's recommendation. She'd also supplied them with an extensive list of vineyards to visit—far more than they'd have time for.
"I'm already looking forward to your reports," Janet said. "South Africa is on Mozzie's and my bucket list. Between the wildlife, botany, and stargazing opportunities, we may need several weeks."
June eyed her skeptically. "With all the projects you're juggling, when would you ever have the time?"
"Perhaps we can turn it into a retreat," she suggested. "Mozzie could write while I work on designs."
Sara smiled. "With an African-themed fashion show the result? I hope you plan that trip soon!" She suspected Janet was engaging in the type of daydreaming she and Neal did about kids. As a practical matter, Janet was already committed to several Broadway productions, not to mention the Doctor Who musical she and Mozzie were collaborating on.
"Sara, perhaps you can wrap your trip into the Red Diamonds con," June suggested.
"Neal and I are already discussing options. How could we avoid it with so many of the world's most famous diamonds coming from South African mines? But we may get sidetracked. Peter and Jones approached me today with an idea for the De Beers case they're investigating."
June smiled. "It's been my experience that a woman can never have too many diamonds ... or cons based on them."
Notes: The McNally Solitaire featured in Scotch on the Rocks. Sara and Diana's diamond sting was in Vermeer Interrupted.