Show Time by Suzanne Trauth Page A

Jerome had bought the ring here.
    He studied my outfit. “Are you from the police?”
    I hesitated. “No. I’m not. But Jerome was a good friend and I just want to help find out what happened to him.”
    The manager studied me for a moment, then nodded. “I didn’t identify him at first. But now I remember.” He put his glasses back on. “It was maybe . . . a month or so ago.”
    â€œYou’re sure it was him?”
    â€œYes. It was him. I remember because he mentioned the theater and some play it was getting ready to do.”
    Must have been Romeo and Juliet . “Do you remember anything else about him? Anything he said or did that seemed strange? Or interesting?”
    â€œHe said his purchase was for someone special. He was very happy. Smiling a lot.”
    Oh, poor Jerome . “Did he mention a name?”
    The manager shook his head. “No.”
    He must have realized there was no sale here because he moved toward a display case in the rear of the store.
    â€œDo you have a receipt? Could you tell me what he paid for the ring? Some way I could confirm the date?” I thought I was skating on thin ice, but there was no harm in pushing the envelope a bit.
    The manager stopped. “Customer purchases are confidential.” He lowered his voice. “Anyway, he might have bought a ring here from another employee. But the day I met him, he purchased a gold bracelet. Fourteen karats.”

Chapter 10
    T here was definitely someone in the picture and Jerome was wooing her with jewelry. Expensive jewelry, from the look of things. I wondered where he’d gotten the money and if Chief Thompson had sorted through Jerome’s bank accounts and credit card statements yet.
    I called Carol on my way back to Etonville. I offered to pick up Pauli at Snippets and bring him to the Windjammer and set him up in a back booth to work on the website, which reminded me I had to confirm a price with Pauli. But first I had one more stop to make.
    * * *
    As I described my visit to Jerome’s home, Chief Thompson’s expression conveyed surprise and suspicion. He rolled up the sleeves of his pale blue shirt and loosened the matching tie. Guess he’d come straight to the station from the funeral.
    â€œIt’s not really a crime scene, right? There was no yellow tape and the landlady’s father was very accommodating.”
    He ran his hand through his hair for the third time in fifteen minutes. “What did you find? I assume you found something or I wouldn’t be hearing this.”
    I dug my hand into my purse and withdrew the velvet ring box.
    â€œWhat the—?” He looked up at me, then down to my palm and tentatively reached out.
    â€œOpen it.”
    The little black ring case looked miniscule in the chief’s muscular hand. He slipped a thumbnail in the opening, pushed gently, and let out a sound that wasn’t quite an actual word.
    â€œIt’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
    He snapped the box shut. “Where did you say you found this?”
    â€œIn the closet. In a suit jacket pocket.” I waited for him to react. “I assume officers searched the room, but I guess they just missed—”
    Bill laid the ring box on his desk. “It should have been Suki, but we were up to our eyeballs in paperwork so I sent—”
    â€œRalph.”
    â€œYeah. He said there was nothing out of the ordinary, just clothes and bathroom toiletries.” Bill gave me a cool appraisal. “Pretty clever of you, doing police detection. Got anything else planned?”
    I blushed. This was the moment to tell him about the visit to Sadlers Jewelry store, but instinct made me stop. TMI for one visit?
    â€œNot really.”
    â€œOkay. I’ll have Officer Shung stop by Sadlers later,” he said.
    â€œOh! Well . . .”
    He eyed me suspiciously. “Something wrong?”
    â€œNo . . . uh . . . I . . . was just