Alex Harris 00 - Armed

eavesdropped. I heard him say something about a shipment that never arrived at the customer’s destination.”
    “So what does that have to do with a box of eyes?” Sam asked, sounding a bit confused.
    “It wasn’t the whole shipment, just a portion and, judging by what Richard said and how worried he sounded, the person on the other end must have been furious. After the phone call, he flew out of his office and went to the factory. A short time later he came back and called the same person saying he looked all over and couldn’t find it. The next day, I saw him out in the factory arguing with Jerry Gagliano so I don’t think it had been found by then. The irony of it all is that I asked everyone if they’d given Mrs. Scott a package to mail because she gave Andy five packages. I never asked Richard. But it must have been his package Mrs. Scott gave to Andy. This whole thing would have been figured out if I had only asked him about the extra package. Damn!”
    “Or you could have been killed,” John said solemnly.
    I became very still. “I didn’t think of that.”
    “This is why it might be best to leave the detecting to the police.”
    I wanted to tell him I figured it all out—well, most of it—but changed my mind. Instead, I added, “Oh, I forgot. Richard made a reference to a telephone conversation on Tuesday night. So he must have come to the office then.”
    “Not necessarily. He could have made his call from home or his cell. But what makes you think his missing box and the one with the diamonds are one in the same?” John asked.
    I leaned back in my chair and ran my hands through my hair before continuing. “Let’s say it’s a normal box of eyes. Okay, it’s inconvenient but you just fax the factory in Europe and get another one sent by Fed-Ex. That’s how it’s done. Sandy Knap explained it to me. No big deal, right? You’re a week, two at the most, off schedule. But now let’s say the box contained something a little more valuable than some plastic orbs.”
    “Right. Diamonds. Can’t exactly rustle some up on the spur of the moment and send them out,” Sam said.
    “Exactly. So Richard is gone for a week and when he gets back he finds out an order of diamonds is gone. Why? Because Mrs. Scott took the box for evidence. She had a lot of stuff about diamond smuggling on her computer. She must have put in a lot of time figuring all this out.”
    “So you think he came to the office on Tuesday night, finds the box missing, confronts Mrs. Scott, and kills her because she won’t give it back?” Sam asked in a somewhat bewildered tone. “How did he know she took the box in the first place?”
    “I’m not sure,” I responded. “But we know she confronted Emmanuelle about something. Or maybe she overheard Richard and Emmanuelle talking and searched out in the factory one night, and Voila!”
    John shook his head. He had on a pink shirt under a gray pullover sweater. I thought the combination did wonderful things to his eyes.
    “What makes you think Richard and Emmanuelle are in this together?” he asked. “She’s still denying any part in anything, meaning murder or diamonds.”
    “But you said diamond smuggling involves more than one, and if Emmanuelle is involved, she’d have to have a partner.” I snapped my fingers. “Come to think of it, I saw the two of them having lunch together the other day. They seemed to be having a good time. Probably thinking of how they would spend all their diamond earnings,” I said narrowing my eyes going for the Jessica Fletcher-figures-it-all-out look.
    John crossed his arms and slouched down in the chair. “I don’t know. I’m not saying she’s off the hook as a suspect, but something tells me she’s innocent. When did you hear all this?”
    “Let me see, it must have been Thursday when I first heard Richard on the phone. And then I saw him out in the factory the next day arguing with Jerry! Hey, why couldn’t his partner be Jerry?” I leaned back in my chair again. “You know, why not? Who better to get the product in and out of the factory than the foreman? Even if Emmanuelle is involved, why not Jerry, too? And…” I picked up steam, “if Jerry thinks Mrs. Scott took the diamonds, coupled with the fact she rejected his advances, well, I can see him killing her. The murder did take place in the factory, his territory.”
    “Where did they get the diamonds to begin with?” Sam asked.
    “I haven’t figured that one out