progress

But you must.” Simon insisted. It didn’t do well to have clients pacing up and

down the office, not with Ms. August below us, who ran a small business

grooming pets. Fortunately, we had a set of stairs that lead straight up to the

second floor, making sure that our customers need not traipse through a fur

riddled mess.

While I was sure that Ms. August was a tidy and clean person, allergies didn’t

much care for even the lightest of messes. Dander, I think they called it.

Finally, Mr. Judas took a seat, hands folded up neatly in his lap.

Simon nodded in satisfaction. “Now then, tell me what the trouble is.”

“Where do I start? I suppose I should tell you what was stolen? It was a jewel,

the most beautiful jewel you have ever laid eyes on. It shone like the sun on the

ocean waves, and was a goodly size too.”

Immediately I could tell that we were going to take this case. Simon had that

look about him that said so, and in truth, we rarely turned anything down.

Especially not a case from a friend. Nothing was too big or too small for Simon

to handle, and while I would rather not spend my time searching for lost cats, or

trying to catch a spouse cheating, Simon was fond of saying that we shouldn’t

be picky in how we helped people.

“Tell me from the beginning. When did you receive this jewel, and from who?”

Nothing pleased him more than a complex mystery, and he would have

forgotten to eat (and to sleep) were it not for me and Joseph. More Joseph than

I, who could be just as bad once I was at the heart of a mystery. My favorites

were locked room mysteries, but alas those were found mostly in fiction and

not in real life.

In anticipation, I took out a notepad and pencil, which I always carried with me.

Just in case. Simon had a terrific memory, but mine was only average, and it was

more useful to have the information written down where I could find it than to

spend hours racking my brain for the thing that had been forgotten.

Mr. Judas licked his lips, nervously, fidgeting about in the seat. Doubtless, this

jewel was worth a lot of money.

“Yesterday, at about two o’clock in the afternoon, I received a package at my

store. I hadn’t been expecting anything, and the store was rather quiet, so I

decided to open it. Inside the first box was a second, and upon it was a note. Well, I’d only gone and forgotten my own birthday, which my friend in Africa

had remembered for me.”

How a fellow could forget his own birthday was beyond me, but Mr. Judas had

no family here, and despite his love of gathering information was actually rather

tight with anything to do with himself. I knew where he had come from, and a

little about his journey to this town, but beyond that, he was an enigma.

“I was shocked when I opened it, in all honesty. Such a thing…for me. At first, I

had thought to keep it, because a gift should be appreciated, and it was such a

cheerful looking jewel, but I very quickly made the decision that I should sell it.

I’ve been in a desperate need of money lately, with the opening of that big

supermarket around the corner, and I couldn’t see any other way to get the

money at all. But, I hadn’t completely sold the idea to myself, so I decided to

keep the jewel somewhere safe while I slept on the decision.”

Mr. Judas was talking far more than he usually would, and I put it down to the

nerves and stress of the situation.

“I have a very secure safe, one with a computerized mechanical lock, where I

keep my money for the shop. It is a very good safe, or at least that is what I

believed until today. This morning, maybe three o’clock – this is what I learned

from the police – somebody has broken into my store. But by the time they

arrived the thief was gone.

But I didn’t find all of that out until this morning when I went to the shop early

to relieve my assistant. I was shocked to find the police there, standing around a

broken window. I was very pleased to see that the safe was still locked, but

when I opened it up the jewel was gone!”

He paused, then added, “The strangest thing is that they left the money.”

“That is strange,” I said, unable to fathom why the thief would do that.

Kindness? Lack of time? Tempered greed?

Simon was quiet for a moment, absorbing the details of the case. Then he

nodded slowly as if he understood what the rest of us didn’t.

“A few questions, Tamayo.”

“Whatever you need, just please, help.”

“First of all, are you certain that you locked up the safe?

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***