Double Take

while.”
    Dix said, “No college?”
    Savich shook his head. “It’s interesting, though. She did tell the truth when she could. About her brother, David Caldicott— he’s now thirty-three and plays the violin for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. He was evidently taught as a boy by one of his foster parents, a Maynard Lee Thornton, who played the fiddle like a dream. David had a truckload of talent. Maynard Lee managed to wrangle a violin for him, and was apparently an excellent teacher. Maynard Lee died when David was seventeen. When David turned eighteen, he took off for Europe, Prague, to be exact, then Paris, then London. According to his bio with the Atlanta Orchestra, he played his violin in clubs, in parks, in cafes, wherever.
    “Now I have another unbelievable coincidence for you, Dix, something I’m afraid throws a new light on everything. When David Caldicott got back to the U.S. he applied to and was accepted by your very own favorite music school—Stanislaus.”
    Dix could only stare at him. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
    Ruth said, “Come on, Dillon, you made that up.”
    Savich shook his head. “Nope.” He drew a deep breath. “Dix, he was in Maestro, at Stanislaus, when Christie disappeared.”
    Dix nearly fell off his chair. He rose, paced the length of the living room and back again. He felt like a fist was squeezing the life out of his heart. He sucked in a deep breath. He said as he turned to face them, “I mean, really, Savich, this is nuts, some sort of a vicious cosmic joke. The bracelet, Christie’s bracelet, it was on Charlotte’s wrist. Everything ties together now, but how? Did David realize his sister Charlotte was Christie’s twin? Did he murder her? Or was it Charlotte who murdered Christie? But why? Dammit, why?” He slammed his fist against the mantelpiece and winced.
    He rubbed his knuckles as he said, “And then there’s Thomas Pallack, bloody rich, hooked up through David Caldicott—it had to be—because Thomas knows Chappy, he was in Maestro. But how would David Caldicott meet Pallack? Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I’m going to shoot myself.”
    “It’s a head slammer, all right,” Sherlock said.
    “Lots of pieces flying around,” Ruth said. “But maybe they’ll come together, somehow.”
    Dix looked from one to the other. “Why, if Charlotte is innocent, if her husband is innocent, if it’s all a mad coincidence, why then didn’t she simply tell me her brother attended Stanislaus Music School? Like ‘Hey, you’re from Maestro, Virginia? Gee, my brother attended Stanislaus, and isn’t it a small world?’ Doesn’t that seem like the natural thing to say?”
    Savich said, “It’s certainly a question to ask her, but a believable answer would be easy, like ‘I forgot, it simply didn’t occur to me at the time,’ or ‘It didn’t seem important.’ “ He handed them a bowl of popcorn. “It’s well salted just as you like it, Ruth.”
    “The bracelet, Dix,” Sherlock said, “in your gut, how sure are you really that it’s Christie’s bracelet.”
    Dix said, “I was very certain when I first saw it, but all I can truthfully say is that it’s very similar. She even took it off so I could see it. That doesn’t bode well for her guilt, does it? Hooked at the back, where I’d had Christie’s bracelet engraved, but it was as clean as the day the bracelet was purchased. There was nothing there, no sign of the jeweler’s etchings.”
    Sherlock said, “We’ve got a guy in forensics who could scrub the queen’s name off her crown and no one would know. Platinum is easy.”
    Dix sat back, folded his arms over his chest. “If it could have been removed leaving no sign, then yes, I’m sure. Maybe if we could get ahold of that bracelet your forensics guy could check it out. But the only way I can see of getting ahold of the bracelet is to steal it.”
    Ruth said without pause, “I could arrange that. Not you, though, Dix, you don’t have enough experience. I’m sure my snitches have some friends on the West Coast who are into breaking and entering.”
    Savich laughed. “It’s true your informant network is top of the line, Ruth, but I’d prefer you didn’t contract out a robbery just yet.”
    Sherlock said thoughtfully, “It’s still not a bad idea. If we had that bracelet, we could check out where it was made, and that’d be one unknown down.”
    Savich said, “Let’s hold off a while on that. If there is indeed a