Alex Harris 00 - Armed

up. “What do you mean? How can that be? Isn’t Emmanuelle halfway to Sing Sing by now?”
    “Unfortunately we don’t have anything on her. We searched her apartment while we had her at the station and found nothing. No bloody rag, no reference to diamonds, nothing. We’re checking into her bank accounts but I don’t think we’ll get much there either.”
    “What does she say?” I asked, not able to keep the skepticism out of my voice.
    “Demanded to have a lawyer present, everything you see on TV. Once she calmed down, she managed to clear up a few things.”
    “Such as?”
    “She verified she’d been terminated from her previous position because of suspicion of embezzlement. She didn’t admit it; just said she had been terminated. Blamed the incident as a set-up by a colleague but swears nothing like that happened at Poupée—at least not to her knowledge.”
    “Is she still at the station?”
    “No, we let her go.”
    “What!”
    “Alex, we have nothing on her. She may be an alleged embezzler but that’s not against the law. Personally I think she had nothing to do with it other than a bad choice in a romantic partner. We found nothing at her apartment, or anywhere else for that matter, to link her to the murder or diamonds.”
    I heard the weariness in John’s voice and tried to keep my words calm. “Well, did she say why she and Mrs. Scott fought?”
    “Yeah, she said Mrs. Scott knew about her past termination, threatened to tell Mr. Poupée if she didn’t quit and get out. She said she loved the job and refused to leave. She also says Mrs. Scott never accused her of anything to do with diamonds.”
    “Oh.”
    “And as far as Emmanuelle’s alibi goes, we have someone who remembers seeing her at her apartment, well, in her car anyway, at around five.”
    “That doesn’t mean anything.” I said. “Mrs. Scott was alive then. Emmanuelle certainly could have gone to the factory at five-thirty.”
    “Yeah, but why would she? How would she have known Mrs. Scott had a late meeting with Mr. Poupée?”
    “Maybe she overheard them talking,” I suggested half-heartedly.
    “We checked that out. Mr. Poupée said they didn’t plan their meeting until early that morning and he’s almost certain Emmanuelle wasn’t in yet.” John let out a huge sigh.
    “Can’t you hold her on suspicion of diamond smuggling?”
    “Not right now. We’re still searching for the source and when we find it, it might very well lead back to her. But until then, we just have to wait.”
    “What if she leaves town?”
    “We’ve suggested she doesn’t for the time being. What are your plans for Christmas day?”
    “What? Oh sorry. Something keeps pulling at my subconscious. I wish I could focus on it. Christmas? I’ll be spending the day, actually Christmas Eve as well, over at my parents. How about you?”
    “Pretty much the same. I always spend it with my family. Could we get together some time on Christmas, maybe in the evening?”
    “Well, I’ll be with my family—wait, how about if you come by my parents’ house sometime in the evening for eggnog and dessert. We usually have several neighbors stopping by.”
    “That sounds nice. I enjoyed talking with them the other day.”
    I gave him the address and said I would see him then.
    “See who when?” Sam asked as she walked into my office and plopped herself down in the chair.
    “John. He wanted to fill me in on the latest developments, of which there are none.” I threw down my pencil in disgust. “And he wants to get together Christmas night. I invited him over for some eggnog in the evening.”
    “You don’t sound too happy about it.”
    “Oh, I am. I just thought by now Emmanuelle would have been arrested, confessed to the whole thing, dragged Jerry in with her, and we could lock them up and throw away the key.”
    “I take it that hasn’t happened.”
    “No. Okay.” I tried to sound more festive. “Enough. I am kind of excited about John coming over on Christmas.”
    “Mom and Dad liked him. They’ll be thrilled he’s joining us. So, not to change the subject, but when are we going to give Millie her gift?” Sam asked. “I think she’s dying to exchange presents.”
    “I can’t believe Christmas is Monday. Why don’t we order out for some sandwiches and have a little party in here?”
    “I’m glad we’re giving Millie the trip to Vermont. You should see the box! It’s about the size of a TV and inside are smaller boxes