Gentlemen Prefer Nerds (7 page)

“Sorry,” Maddie croaked. “What did you ask me?”

With every slow-motion grind of his jaws, Billson’s gum cracked with a tiny popping sound. “Who had access to the Rose in the past twenty-four hours?”

She couldn’t tell the detective that she’d let Rolf handle the diamond. The insurance would be void. Grace would be ruined, her shop forfeited to pay for the diamond. “I did, and also Kim, our jeweler.”

Billson stared at her fixedly with his large mild eyes. “No one else?”

Maddie wanted badly to swallow but she forced herself not to. “That’s right.”

“When did you first realize the diamond wasn’t the genuine article?”

“This morning when I unveiled it.”

“You can tell that at a glance?” He pulled a plastic sample bag from his pocket containing the substitute diamond. “This stone looks exactly like the description of the Rose.”

“To an untrained eye, perhaps.” After the police had dusted it for fingerprints Maddie had weighed and measured the synthetic stone so she could supply the relevant details. “The weight is virtually identical, give or take 0.005 of a milligram. But the color of the two stones is slightly different. The synthetic would have fooled most people, but I know the Rose as well as my own face. I knew at once that it wasn’t genuine by the difference in hue and intensity.”

A spark of interest lit the detective’s bland expression. “What do you mean?”

“Hue is the shade of pink. Intensity is the strength of the color,” Maddie explained. “Dark pink diamonds like the Rose are extremely rare, hence their high value. The diamond on the pedestal this morning had a slightly lighter tone and a less intense color.”

“So appearance alone tells you this isn’t a real diamond.” Billson held up the sample bag.

“It is a real diamond. Synthetic diamonds are grown in a laboratory but they have all the chemical properties of a mined diamond.”

“Then how do you know this one is synthetic?” he asked with a puzzled frown. “Can you tell by looking at it?”

“No,” she said patiently. “I did some simple tests in my workshop. A natural diamond doesn’t fluoresce under shortwave ultraviolet light, whereas a synthetic diamond glows yellowish-orange.”

“Interesting.” Billson tossed the bag casually from hand to hand.

She flinched as he nearly missed, catching the plastic bag by a corner. “That might be a synthetic but it’s still very valuable.”

“We’ll take good care of it, don’t you worry.” Billson pocketed the bag. “Who had access to the Rose besides you?”

He’d already asked her that. Was he trying to trip her up? “No one.”

“You didn’t take it out to show anyone?”

Maddie hesitated then, remembering that he’d already questioned Grace. “I did show it to a colleague, Dr. Rolf Hauzenegger, a highly respected diamond expert from the University of Johannesburg. I have a workshop and a small lab at the back of the store. Under my supervision he examined the gem under a microscope last night.”

“Could he have substituted the synthetic stone for the real one when you weren’t looking?”

“Absolutely not. I was with him every second.”

Billson wrote a few lines in his well-thumbed notepad. “You say he’s from Johannesburg. How well did you know him?”

“Not well,” Maddie admitted. “But I’ve followed his research for years. I met him in person for the first time on Tuesday.”

“Where? Under what circumstances?”

“We met for coffee a few blocks from here.”

“And you saw him again last night at the shop?” Billson suggested. “How long was he here?”

“The first time—” She broke off, aware her story was getting complicated.

“The first time?” Billson prompted.

“He arrived and we went out to dinner,” Maddie explained, trying not to wipe her hands on her dress. She had no reason to feel so nervous for herself or Rolf. They were both innocent. “Afterward we came back to the workshop so Rolf could look at the Rose.”

Billson’s eyes were a mesmerizing blue. “What exactly is the nature of your relationship with Dr. Hauzenegger?”

“Business,” Maddie said, then blushed. Billson continued to study her. The heat spread down her neck. “We’re also…friends.”

Billson made another note in his pad. “Did you sleep with him?”

“No!” Maddie said. “It was only a ki—” Breaking off, she dragged her jacket around her and clamped it as tightly as her lips.

Billson gave her a comforting pat on her arm, then smoothly changed tack. “I understand you’re a diamond expert yourself, Ms. Maloney.”

“It’s Dr. Maloney. I have a PhD in Mineralogy and diplomas in Gemology.”

“Do you know how to make a fake diamond?”

“Synthetic, you mean.” Maddie unclamped one arm to chew on a nail. “A great deal of expensive specialized equipment is necessary to grow a laboratory diamond.”

“But you do know how to?” he persisted.

“Theoretically,” she conceded. “I’ve never made one.”

“Has Dr. Hauzenegger?”

“I have no idea but I doubt it. You’re barking up the wrong tree. I don’t know who stole the Rose but I’m positive it wasn’t Dr. Hauzenegger.”

“It’s unlikely he could have done it without inside help,” Billson mused. “Whoever stole this diamond was an accomplished thief.” He consulted his notebook, flipping back through the pages. “Is your father Albert Maloney?”

Maddie’s nail ripped down to the quick. She thrust her throbbing thumb into her pocket. Before she could reply, her phone rang. “Excuse me.” She turned away to answer it. “Hello?”

“It’s me, returning your call,” a familiar contralto boomed in her ear. “What’s going on?”

“Willa, am I glad to hear from you! It’s about Rolf Hauzenegger.”

“Rolf’s in the lecture theater right now, giving his talk. He’d love to have a peek at that pink diamond of yours. Could he come down sometime when you’re not busy?”

“He’s already seen it.” Maddie’s aching head whirled, and again she pressed her fingertips to her temples. “Last night.”

There was a pause. “That’s impossible,” Willa said, sounding puzzled. “Rolf spent the evening in the hospital.”

“What!”

“He sprained his ankle falling from a rock in the Grampians. We were at the E.R. for hours waiting for X-rays. Afterward I moved him out of his hotel and into my spare room. He’s been with me every minute of the past twenty-four hours.”

Oh God. Maddie felt dizzy. Then who had she had gone to the French restaurant with? Who had she allowed to handle the Rose? Who had she kissed?

The Chameleon? Maddie groaned.

“Dr. Maloney,” Billson interrupted. “May I ask who are you talking to?”

Maddie wished with all her heart that Detective Sergeant Billson would go away and stop bothering her with his simple but incriminating questions. She wished his army of police officers would vanish in a cloud of fingerprint dust. She wished Grace would fire her and get it over with. She wished she could go home to Jinx, curl up with a spy novel and enter a world where the villain carried an Uzi and had a name like Zordak so you knew exactly who he was right from the beginning. To hell with looking good in black leather. Adventure was vastly overrated.

“Actually, Willa, this isn’t the best time,” she said faintly. “The Rose is missing.” She held the phone away from her ear, wincing at Willa’s startled exclamations and questions, and clicked it off.

Billson doggedly repeated his question. “Is Albert Maloney, arrested in March of last year and charged with three counts of robbery, your father?”

“He was never convicted,” Maddie insisted but it sounded feeble, even to her.

Billson flipped his notebook shut. “I’m going to have to ask you to accompany me to the station.”

“Me? What for?”

“We would appreciate your further help with our inquiries.” The bland courtesy in his cow-eyes made Maddie shiver. “You can start by giving us contact details for your colleague, Dr. Hauzenegger.”

“Um, here’s the thing—it turns out I don’t know the real Dr. Rolf Hauzenegger,” she backpedaled, painfully aware of how dodgy that sounded. “I learned just now that the man I was with last night was an imposter. He’s probably a jewel thief called the Chameleon.” She winced. Even if it was the truth, it still sounded far-fetched.

From Billson’s skeptical expression it was evident he thought so too. “I understand you were the one who discovered the diamond out in the Kimberley.”

“That’s right,” Maddie said warily. “I was looking for rough diamonds for my PhD research.”

“And came across a stone worth twenty million dollars…” Billson paused, his blue eyes wide and bland. “It’s named after you too, isn’t it, Madeline Rose Maloney?”

“So?”

“So perhaps you think it belongs to you.”

“No, of course not. That’s ridiculous.”

A smidgeon of inner guilt must have flashed across her face. He nodded to a burly police officer who came forward to position himself on Maddie’s right. “Madeline Maloney, you are under arrest as an accomplice to theft.”

“I didn’t do anything!” Maddie gulped back her panic.

“Officer Dawkins will take your full statement at the station. You might want to have legal representation present.”

“Tiffany!” Maddie called, twisting to look back at her aunt’s young assistant. “Find me and Grace a lawyer.”

“My cousin Kylie is doing articles.” Tiffany picked up the phone. “Should I call her?”

Great. A baby lawyer. “Ask her for the name of someone experienced.”

“Experienced in what?”

For crying out loud.
“Defending people in court!”

“How long are you going to be gone?” Tiffany whimpered. “I can’t manage the store by myself.”

“Shut the shop until further notice. Don’t let anyone in,” Maddie added as Detective Sergeant Billson edged her toward the door. “I’ll be back as soon as a lawyer can arrange bail.”

“I wouldn’t count on bail.” Billson’s mild round face with its complete lack of expression was positively sinister. He clamped his fingers around her upper arm and led her out.

On her other side, the burly officer jostled her as he plowed a path through the crowd. Reporters pressed forward. Snapping flashbulbs went off in her face. Dazed, she held an arm up, shielding her face. As she was steered toward the police car, she glimpsed a man walking swiftly toward her from Billson’s left.

Fabian.

The constable went ahead to open the door of the squad car. Then everything happened very quickly. Billson dropped to the ground abruptly with a strangled cry, his fingers wrenched from Maddie’s arm.

Fabian slipped into his place. With an arm around her waist he pulled her swiftly through the crowd away from the police. “Do you want the diamond back?”

“Do you have it?” Maddie demanded, almost tripping as Fabian hurried her along at a fast jog.

“I can help you get it. Are you ready to let me?”

Behind her, Maddie could hear police whistles and shouts. She glanced over her shoulder. Billson was staggering to his feet. She hated making decisions on the fly. “Can I think about it?”

“As long as you think while you run.” Fabian ducked into an alley, pulling her with him. They sprinted past empty milk crates piled against the brick wall, past a cluster of office workers smoking cigarettes. Parked behind a rubbish skip was Fabian’s black Maserati Spyder.

“You couldn’t find a more conspicuous car?” Maddie said, puffing.

“Stop! Police!” Detective Sergeant Billson yelled from the alley’s entrance. The constable ran ahead, his footsteps echoing in the narrow space between high walls.

Maddie slowed to glance over her shoulder. She should go back. Only criminals ran away from the police. She’d promised her mother she would never turn out like Al. Then Fabian’s grip tightened. She wasn’t being given a choice. She was being abducted in broad daylight. Her mouth opened and she began to scream.

Police whistles pierced the air. More shouts. A shot rang out. Chips of brick flew off the wall behind her head. Fabian pushed her head down and bundled her into the passenger seat of the Spyder. He dove behind the wheel and a second later the engine growled to life.

“Where—” The breath was knocked from Maddie’s lungs as the car leaped forward and she was flattened against the backseat. The high-powered sports car accelerated toward Billson and the other cop. “Jesus H. Christ Almighty!”

The policemen scrambled out of the way as the Spyder shot past them and screamed around the corner. Maddie fumbled for the seat belt. Fabian swerved at high speed, narrowly missing a pedestrian crossing the road to a tram stop. They screeched around another corner onto Swanston Street, the centrifugal force tearing Maddie’s hands apart before she could connect the two halves of her seat belt.

“Oh, my God!” she shrieked as the sports car slipped between two trams crossing the intersection from opposite directions, their bells clanging furiously. She tried to jam the buckle together but her hands were shaking too much to fasten it. A pedestrian’s terrified face flashed past her window as he leaped out of their path.

Then Fabian was roaring over the bridge across the Yarra River and speeding down St. Kilda Boulevard. They tore through a red light to the sound of honking horns, screeching brakes and, behind them, the clash of metal on metal. Maddie couldn’t look. The seat belt’s insert clattered against the bracket but wouldn’t go in. Fabian made another sharp turn that flung her against the car door, zooming beneath the shady overhanging branches of a residential side street. He shot down another side street and into an alley. As abruptly as they’d taken off, the car came to a halt.

Maddie’s fingers clicked the seat belt buckle together at last. She slumped against the seat, eyes shut, trembling. Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes. They were in the parking lot at the back of a ten-story red brick apartment building.

“This is where I live,” she said, dazed.

Fabian turned to her, his dark eyes faintly amused. “Are you all right?”

“No! I’m not all right!” She jerked upright. “In fact, I’m quite upset if you really want to know. Ever since I met you things have gone from bad to worse.” She struggled to get the seat belt undone but her hands were still shaking so badly that now she couldn’t get the catch to release.

Chuckling at her outburst, he got out of the car and came around to her door. He opened it and undid her belt. “Come. We don’t have much time.”

“What do you mean? Time until what?” She let him help her from the car then tugged her hand away and hurried toward the back door of the apartment building.

“Until the police catch up with us. Have you got your keys?”

“I left my purse at the shop.”

“No matter.” Removing a slim leather case from his inside pocket he opened it to reveal a lockpick set disturbingly like the one her father owned. Choosing a pick, Fabian inserted the hooked metal rod into the lock, jiggled the handle and held the door open for her.

“Hurry,” he said. “We have less than a quarter of an hour to get out of here.

“We?” Maddie exclaimed, incredulous. “No way, buster. I’m not going anywhere with you. I don’t know anything about you other than that you go through locks like water, you somehow knew the Rose was going to be stolen and you’re a maniac on the road. You could have got me killed back there.”

“If you prefer to be charged with theft, fine, I’ll leave you to your nice safe jail cell. But if you want to retrieve the Rose and save your aunt from bankruptcy then you’ll come with me.” With a small bow, he gestured her through the door.

Maddie glared at him and entered the concrete stairwell. Quickly she turned and tried to slam the door shut before Fabian could get in.

Effortlessly, he shouldered his way through. “Now, Maddie. If I’m going to help you, you must do as you’re told or you’re liable to get hurt.”

“By you?”

“Only cowards hurt women.”

“Oh, and brave ones kidnap them.” Furious, she marched up the stairs to the lobby, planning to run straight across and out the front doors. But just as they emerged into the floral-carpeted, wood-paneled foyer, Shirley Tamworth entered from the street with Pixie.

Maddie did a swift change of direction and made a beeline for the open doors of the elevator. She jabbed the up button, praying the door would close before either Shirley or Fabian could enter. Fabian slid in easily. Shaking his head at her clumsy escape attempt, he pressed the close door button. Shirley, despite her bulk, was speedy in her running shoes and red tracksuit. Wheezing, she bustled in, carrying a plastic bag of dog excrement and leading Pixie, whose topknot was tied with a pink ribbon. A Band-Aid was plastered across Pixie’s pushed-in muzzle.

The doors closed and the elevator was in motion.

“Pixie and I have a bone to pick with you, Maddie Maloney.” Shirley Tamworth pointed at her with the hand that held the bag of doggy-doo. “Your cat scratched my Pixie this morning as we were going out. You need to keep that feline inside. It’s against the law for cats to roam free. I’ll call the RSPCA and they’ll come and take the black devil away.”

Shirley Tamworth was a cat-hater and that made Maddie’s blood boil. But she’d been brought up to be kind to elderly ladies so she held her temper. “Pixie makes Jinx nervous. If you stopped your dog from barking at her, Jinx wouldn’t scratch.”

“Pixie doesn’t bark without good reason.” As if to prove the rule by the exception, Pixie began to yap loudly at the elevator door. “Shh, not now, sweetie-pie,” Mrs. Tamworth crooned. “We’ll sort out that nasty kitty cat.” The dog continued her high-pitched barking.

Fabian crouched in front of Pixie, held the dog firmly by the muzzle and stared into her eyes. Pixie whined once and dropped to her haunches, cowed and silent.

That’s some power, Maddie thought, agog at Pixie frozen on the floor.

Fabian rose to his full height and gazed down his hawklike nose at Shirley Tamworth. “I wouldn’t be in such a hurry to call the RSPCA if I were you. According to Pixie’s tag, her registration is out of date.”

Shirley made a noise in her throat curiously similar to her dog’s whine. “That can’t be.”

The elevator came to a halt on the fifth floor. Shirley slunk out, dragging Pixie after her. Fabian stood aside to let Maddie by. “That’s two favors you owe me.”

She lifted her chin and strode down the hall to her apartment. “You said the taxi didn’t count.”

“I changed my mind.” He waited, tapping his fingers against the wall, while she fumbled under the doormat for a spare key. “A child could discover that, you realize.”

Maddie glared at him and unlocked her door, resigned to him coming in whether or not she invited him. “Just exactly what is your interest in the Rose? And why would you risk getting in trouble with the police to help me? Are you a gemologist? Were you hoping to buy the diamond at auction? Because it’s already as good as sold.”

“None of the above.”

“Then—”

“I told you before. I’m acting for a private individual. My brief is to return the diamond to its rightful owner and thwart the jewel thief. I can’t say anything more.”

“But—”

“I promise you, our goals are the same even if our motives differ.” He strode past her into the apartment, a quick sideways glance taking in the rarely used kitchen on his way to the small lounge room. “Go pack an overnight bag. The helicopter will be here any minute.”

“Helicopter!” Maddie picked up Jinx, who was winding around her ankles, and followed Fabian into the lounge room. “Isn’t that a little over the top?”

“Once I make the decision to get out, I leave fast.” Fabian, hands on hips, jacket pushed back, scanned the potted ferns and overflowing bookshelves as if looking for exits.

Maddie dug her fingers into her cat’s thick black fur. “I’m not going in any helicopter.”

Fabian closed his eyes as if he were counting to ten. “Please do not tell me you’re afraid of flying.”

Maddie paced the room, clutching Jinx. Running down the alley, the insane car trip, now a helicopter. Her nerves were completely unstrung. “I’m not afraid. I just don’t know how Jinx would take it. She’s never flown before.”

“The cat is not coming with us,” Fabian said flatly.

“Then I’m not going.” Maddie let Jinx drop to the floor and pulled out her phone. “In fact, I’ve changed my mind about working with you,” she said, punching in numbers. “I’m calling the police to tell them where I am. You can’t just come along and kidnap me in broad daylight.”

Swifter than she would have thought possible Fabian closed the distance between them and whipped her phone out of her fingers. With a touch of menace in his voice, he warned, “Don’t try that again.”

“But—”

“Do you want to go to jail?” he demanded. “The Chameleon is an accomplished criminal. He’ll have made certain his fingerprints are nowhere near the diamond display case, whereas yours will be all over it.”

Maddie felt the blood drain from her face. Wordlessly, she snatched her phone out of his grip, spearing him with a defiant glare as she put it back in her pocket. “A thief would wear gloves. My fingerprints are proof of my innocence.”

“Perhaps.” Fabian paced across to the window, flattened his back to the wall and peered down at the sidewalk from behind the lacy curtains. “But the police will waste valuable time questioning you when we should be going after the Chameleon. We need to find the thief before he leaves the country and the Rose disappears forever.”

“He couldn’t do that. The diamond is too well known. Already the police will have bulletins out internationally. He’d be picked up the instant he tried to sell it.”

“He won’t sell it.” Fabian glanced into the sky and then at his watch. “He’ll keep it for himself.”

“What makes you so sure?” Maddie asked.

“Six months ago in London he stole a valuable diamond necklace from a collection of centuries-old family jewels. The diamond, a twenty-carat champagne pear cut, hasn’t shown up on any of the world markets.”

“When something big happens in the gemological world, everyone in the industry hears about it,” Maddie objected. “I haven’t heard a word about this theft.”

“The family kept it quiet.”

“If you know so much about him, you go after him. I would only get in your way.”

“You can identify the Rose by sight,” he explained as he moved away from the window to prowl the living room. “The Chameleon may have other replicas. I wouldn’t be able to tell the genuine Rose from a synthetic diamond.”

“Look, I want the Rose back more than anyone but I can’t leave.”

“You don’t appear to understand the urgency of the situation.” He stood practically nose to nose with her. “Forget your bloody cat—”

“It’s my father,” Maddie said, holding her ground. “He has a heart condition.”

Fabian was taken aback but only for a second. “Would it make his health better or worse if you were arrested?”

“Well, probably worse but—”

“If you won’t pack, I’ll do it for you. Where’s your bedroom?” Turning on his heel, Fabian strode to the short hallway and correctly guessed the door on the right.

“Don’t you dare!” She hurried after him into her bedroom.

Standing between the queen-size bed and the dresser, he glanced around at the bed linen and draperies in mellow green and pale crimson. “Bold colors yet unexpectedly feminine. Interesting. And all to the good. To get the Rose back, I may need you to seduce the Chameleon.”

“What! Are you crazy?” Maddie exclaimed. “No way!”

Ignoring her protests, he opened her closet and riffled through her collection of op shop, vintage and homemade clothing. “You’ll need a new wardrobe if you’re going to interest a man like the Chameleon. Or indeed, any man between the ages of fifteen and seventy. Where are your evening gowns? Something that shows a bit of cleavage?”

“I don’t have any—” She broke off, fists clenched. She didn’t have to explain herself to this arrogant man.

“Cleavage? I suspect you do actually.” His swift gaze seemed to take in every curve she possessed beneath her layers of clothing.

“I meant,” she said through gritted teeth, “I don’t have any need for evening gowns. Or the desire for any.”

“What a dreary little life you must lead.” Abandoning the wardrobe, he turned to the chest of drawers and began pulling out various oddments of underwear.

“Hey!” she yelped. “Those are my private things.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve seen ladies undergarments before. Although not, I confess, decorated with barnyard animals.” He tossed a pair of blue panties adorned with fluffy yellow chicks onto the bed, then with a bemused expression, held up a bra in black and white Holstein spots. “Wherever do you find such things?”

Her cheeks burning, Maddie yanked her bra out of his hands. “You can leave now.”

The dull
thwap
of helicopter blades sounded outside, growing louder by the second.

“Your wish is my command,” Fabian said, glancing out the window. “There’s our ride.”