Rarities Unlimited 04 - The Color of Death

you.”
    Sam sorted through the stacks until he found the right file and passed it over the desk. “It won’t do you any good. Mandel was so deep in the closet that no one but his lovers knew. And my informant. They were half brother and sister through the mother. Mandel’s father is my informant’s stepfather. Lee didn’t tell anyone but her that he was gay.”
    “What does his lover say? Did he know about the package?”
    “He denies it. He’s still crying over Mandel. They were planning to be married June eighth, the anniversary of their first date.”
    “Check him out anyway.”
    “An agent in Los Angeles is doing just that.” Sam gave up trying to sit and stood with his thumbs hooked into the back pockets of his jeans. “Nothing worth reporting so far. Norm Gallagher—Mandel’s lover—has a junior partnership in an investment firm that specializes in managing money for ‘alternative lifestyle’ clients. Everybody knows Norm is gay and no one gives a crap. In other words, he’s notbeing blackmailed, doesn’t have a gambling habit, doesn’t do drugs, and is helping to take care of his ailing parents, who knew he was gay before he did.”
    “Dead end,” Doug summarized.
    “I told them to keep digging, but I’m not holding my breath waiting for any big revelation.”
    Doug grunted. “Okay. Your snitch—”
    “Confidential informant,” Sam cut in. “Snitches are lowlifes. She doesn’t fit that profile.”
    “Whatever. She knew what was in the package, but didn’t do the courier, Mandel. Her stepfather knew the timing, but he didn’t do it either, pending new evidence. Who else knew?”
    “McCloud.”
    “You think the brother-in-law of a sitting president is a murderer and a thief?” Doug asked in rising tones.
    “I have an agent working on a follow-up interview with McCloud.”
    “Holy Mary, mother of God.” Doug put his face in his hands. “And my name is on the request for interview, right?”
    “You’re my SAC.”
    “I’m looking at early retirement in Fargo.” Doug straightened and sighed. “Well, I’ll finally be able to try cross-country skiing.”
    “Don’t forget ice sculpture.”
    “You’re thinking of Minnesota. North Dakota doesn’t have that much water. Tell me somebody else besides McCloud knew about the shipment.”
    “According to him, he didn’t tell anyone,” Sam said.
    “Do you believe him?”
    “No. I think there might be an insurance issue if he ran off at the mouth about deliveries. Whatever. It probably doesn’t matter. Couriers get clouted all the time and the thief doesn’t know until he opens the package what the prize is.”
    Doug picked up a pen, looked like he wanted to break it, and set it aside. “You’re not making me feel any better.”
    “Story of my life.”
    “Change it. Make me feel better.”
    “My CI found one of McCloud’s missing stones in Mike Purcell’s display case,” Sam said.
    “Which one?”
    “An emerald-cut blue sapphire as big as your thumb. Bigger actually. You have small hands.”
    “Blue sapphire? Aren’t they all blue?”
    “Don’t start. And no.”
    Doug’s eyes narrowed. “Wait. Wasn’t there something about a Natalie Cutter switching stones on Purcell?”
    “Yeah. I caught her on the second switch.”
    “Back up. You lost me.”
    “She was—and is—trying to prove that her half brother, Lee Mandel, isn’t a thief who took off for the tropics with a big-boobed blonde on his arm.”
    “You said he was gay.”
    “He was,” Sam said. “Apparently, whoever was out setting up false leads for us to follow didn’t know that. Like I said, Mandel was way deep in the closet.”
    “Okay.” Doug pushed back and fiddled with a paper clip. “So you’re assuming whoever clouted Mandel didn’t know he was gay. Go back to Purcell’s sapphire.”
    “Again, this doesn’t leave the room. If it becomes general knowledge in the strike force, we take a big step back from catching the guy.”
    Doug nodded.
    “McCloud’s shipment was seven blue sapphires that had been cut and polished in seven different shapes by my CI. He called them the Seven Sins.”
    “Seven stones worth a million bucks.”
    “My CI says that’s only what McCloud had in the rough and in her work. Market value would be at least twice that, maybe more. Depends on who fell in love with the stones and how hot the bidding got.”
    Doug straightened one curve of the paper clip.
    “The important thing is that somehow Purcell