“Mrs. Sinclair works long hours and there is no one in the other apartment.”
“Don’t worry about the landlord right now,” Dylan told her. “I’ll take care of all of this.”
“Thank you.” She really didn’t think she could deal with this on top of everything else. “Umm, my jewelry box. It’s in here.”
She walked into her bedroom and pushed the bed over a few inches. Colm nudged her out of the way and shoved it right over against the wall. She gave him a small smile before kneeling and pulling up a couple of the floorboards.
“I noticed these were loose when I first rented the place and I figured it would make a good hiding place. My jewelry doesn’t have much financial worth, but I have some sentimental pieces.” She pulled out the jewelry box. “I guess Iker’s men saved us from having to search through everything else.”
Opening the box, she pulled out her jewelry. Most of it was just costume stuff.
Once it was all lying on the floor, she turned the box upside down and shook it. Nothing.
“There’s nothing in here,” she told them.
Dylan took the box from her, running his fingers around the inside. “I can’t feel anything.”
Rogan inspected her jewelry.
“What’s this?” Rogan picked up a large ring, holding it up. There was a large, clear stone in the middle and it was surrounded by smaller stones. He walked over to the window, holding it up to the light.
“That was my grandmother’s. It’s fake and a little gaudy, but it’s all I have of her.”
“I don’t know that much about jewelry,” Rogan told her. “But I don’t think this is fake.”
“I got it appraised after my grandmother died for insurance purposes. It’s only worth a few hundred dollars.”
Rogan studied the ring which did seem to glisten more under the light. “I’m sure Aedan knows a jeweler. Let’s take everything back with us just in case.”
***
Dylan paced up and down Rogan’s living room as the jeweler inspected Tilly’s grandmother’s ring. Aedan and the jeweler had been waiting for them when they’d returned.
Dylan checked the time, resisting the urge to hurry the old guy along. He was all too aware of the hours ticking away, and if Rogan was wrong and this ring was fake then they were back to square one.
Tilly glanced over at him and he smiled at her reassuringly. The anxiety on her face eased a little, but he knew she was just as worried as he was.
“This is no fake,” the man finally said.
“It’s not?” Tilly asked, sitting forward.
“No, ma’am. These are real diamonds.”
“But I had an appraisal done four years ago,” she said. “They said the stones were fake. I wasn’t going to sell it so I wasn’t really worried. Are you saying they lied?”
“No.” He shook his head. “This ring has been tampered with. It looks like someone took out the fake stones and replaced them with real ones.”
“How much is it worth?” Dylan asked.
“Well, the setting is cheap. This band is only gold-plated. So the only worth is in the stones. I’d say close to one and a half million.”
“Holy moly,” Tilly said, her eyes wide.
Dylan shook his head as he stood behind the jeweler, placing a finger over his lips. She gave him a small nod to say she understood. They didn’t want the jeweler to know what was going on.
“Well, now we know where the Vipers money is,” Aedan said as he returned from walking the jeweler out.
“I can’t believe I had over a million dollars in my jewelry box this whole time,” she said in shock. “What if I’d lost it?”