The Jewels of Sofia Tate (7 page)

“So, what does this verse mean?” Garnet asked, struggling to understand.

“Do you know the Easter story at all, when Jesus arose from the dead, the morning of the third day after he was crucified?”

Garnet nodded. “When I was little, Nana used to sometimes take me to Sunday school.” Beyond that though, apart from her grandmother's funeral, she had not set foot inside a church in years. It wasn't that she didn't believe in God. She did pray sometimes, but only if she felt that she really needed some extra help.

“In this chapter there were two women named Mary who went to visit the tomb where Jesus had been buried. The tomb was actually a cave. When they got there, they discovered the stone from the cave had already been rolled away and an angel was waiting for them to give instructions. He told them not to be afraid, that Jesus was raised from the dead and they were to go and tell his disciples this.”

Garnet bit her lower lip. “You were right, Elizabeth. This has nothing to do with any jewels. What does the
other verse say?” She placed the magnifying glass over the right wing. “Ps. 45:13.”

“So that verse would be found in the book of Psalms, in the Old Testament, chapter 45, verse 13,” Elizabeth explained.

Garnet found the page and read aloud. “'The king's daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold.'” She glanced up. “Well, at least now it might be talking about jewellery.”

Elizabeth gave a little snort. “That it is. But if it's supposed to be a clue to anything, what does it mean?” she asked, her voice rising slightly. “Over the years, I've searched this house from top to bottom. Any hiding spot I could think of, I've looked in. I've knocked at walls, checked for loose floorboards, you name it. Since I couldn't find them in the house, I even went to different banks in the city to see if Reginald had any safe-deposit boxes that I couldn't find the keys to, but everything has come up empty. I don't need the jewels for money. I would only like to see them once before I die. And if they are hidden in this house, I don't want them lost forever!”

The phone gave a shrill ring in the kitchen. “Excuse me,” Elizabeth said. She reached for her cane and left Garnet alone.

Garnet picked up the angel again. She ran her fingers over the delicate silver feathers, searching for any other
potential clues she might have missed. Snippets of the telephone conversation drifted to Garnet's ears as Elizabeth's voice became louder and slightly unsteady.

“Fifty thousand dollars? I don't know ...” There was a pause. “Give me a few days. I'll help your friend, but this is the last time....” Another pause. “Goodbye, then.”

Garnet looked up at Elizabeth as she returned to the living room, leaning heavily on her cane. Her face was flushed and beaded with moisture.

“Are you okay?” Garnet asked.

Elizabeth nodded but Garnet could see that she was not. She set the angel down on the mantel and rushed to Elizabeth's side, the vision of her collapsing on the grass still fresh in her mind. “Come, sit down,” she said, guiding her to the sofa and easing her down. “Do you want a glass of water or something?”

“I need my pills. My nitroglycerines,” Elizabeth answered weakly. “They're in the kitchen on the countertop with all the other medicine.”

Garnet bolted out of the room, then returned with the blue bottle and a glass of water, which she set down on the table. Elizabeth's open palm shook as she held it out for Garnet to give her the pill. She slipped the pill under her tongue and leaned back, closing her eyes. Garnet sat down next to her and watched as Elizabeth's colour returned to normal.

That telephone call, whatever it had been about, had left her seriously agitated. Who had the caller been and what had been said to upset her so? Fifty thousand dollars? That was a lot of money. Surely nobody was asking Elizabeth to give them that much. Did this have anything to do with the money she had seen in Elizabeth's purse the other day? She wanted to ask her about it but now wasn't the time. Anyway, if Elizabeth wanted her to know, maybe she would tell her later.

Garnet looked down at Elizabeth's sapphire ring next to the gold wedding band and in a calm, soothing voice attempted to distract her. “Don't worry, Elizabeth. I'm going to help you find those jewels, I promise. I'll search the house from top to bottom, whatever it takes. But I'll probably need your help. You might even have to answer some questions for me. Are you with me on this?”

Elizabeth opened her eyes. Smiling weakly, she nodded, and Garnet could feel her relax as a plump, wrinkled hand, speckled with age spots, stretched out and patted the top of Garnet's smooth, freckled one.

Garnet only hoped she could live up to her promise.

“I've decided to hire a private detective,” Garnet's mother announced.

It was Victoria Day. Garnet and her mother had walked over to Victoria Park and were listening to the strains of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony as the daylight faded on the fresh spring evening. Cars were parked along the side streets and people were piling out with blankets and lawn chairs. Later, there were to be fireworks on the grassy plain near the clock tower that had once graced the top of the long-demolished former city hall.

Garnet glanced over at her mother. “Wow, you really are getting serious about this now.”

Her mother shrugged. “I know. And maybe this whole thing is rather silly. I mean, who needs him now? I'm fifty years old. But I guess it's the curiosity getting the better of me. Why wasn't I told the truth?”

“I don't know,” Garnet replied, wondering herself what Nana had tried to hide about her first husband. “What will you do if the detective doesn't find anything?”

“If the investigation comes up empty, I guess I'll
just have to live with it.”

Several children twirled on the grass, inspired by Tchaikovsky's ballet waltz from Swan Lake. When the orchestra shifted to the cancan, they kicked their legs high into the air and children and adults alike swayed to the music. All seemed to be having a wonderful time.

But for Garnet, it had not turned out to be much of a holiday. After sleeping in, her day had started with the dreaded trigonometry assignment she had put off for the past week, which was worth twenty percent of her mark. It was due the next day and, once again, she had left things until the last minute. By late afternoon, when the paper remained almost as blank as her mind, it was obvious to her that summer school could become a reality. “I just don't get it!” she shrieked with frustration, throwing the textbook across her bedroom. It was at that point that she decided she needed a break and went downstairs to the computer.

She reread Amy's last email and replied.

Hey Amy!

How was Kurt's party? Things still suck here. Just wasted my day on the trig assignment from hell. Think I'm gonna fail.

I'm hanging out with an old lady now. She lives in this big house and has a cute grocery boy. Mom's still working all the time and looking for her dad. Still hope they transfer her back to Owen Sound. Talk to you soon.

G.

As the audience applauded the orchestra's piece, Garnet wondered how long it would be before Amy stopped replying to her emails altogether. What was Amy doing right now? she wondered. Most likely, it was something exciting. Something with Jody. Something not with her parents.

Out of the corner of her eye, Garnet noticed two tall figures as they approached the crowd. She caught her breath as she recognized one of them. Who could miss Dan with that athletic build and dark hair? The other one looked vaguely familiar — with a slighter build, but also athletic — and bleached-blond hair cut close to the scalp. They stopped just metres from her to face the orchestra. Dan's head turned slightly and Garnet caught his eye.

He smiled and waved to her. “Hey, Garnet, how are ya?”

“Okay,” she answered, trying to seem nonchalant as her heart did a flip-flop. They walked over to join her. “What're you doing here?” she asked.

“Just came to watch the fireworks,” Dan replied.

“Oh yeah,” Garnet responded, silently chiding herself. She hoped the increasing darkness would hide the red she was sure would creep into her face. Stupid question. Of course they were here to watch the fireworks. Just like everyone else.

Her mother looked on with curiosity and smiled at the boys. “Are these friends of yours, Garnet?”

Garnet shrugged one shoulder. “This is Dan. I met him at Elizabeth's. He delivers her groceries.”

Dan stared at Garnet for a moment, then said, “The grocery boy? Is that all I am? The grocery boy?” He put a fist to his heart and pretended to be hurt. “We had lunch together yesterday and everything. How soon the lady forgets!”

Garnet's eyes grew wide and her jaw dropped at his unexpected theatrics. Then she noticed the twitch at the corner of his mouth.

“All right. He's more than the grocery boy. Dan's a friend. Sorry,” she laughed.

Dan pulled up the collar of his jacket, as though his dignity had just been restored. “All right. That's better,” he said, giving a huge, lopsided grin. They all
laughed, then to Garnet's surprise, Dan turned to her mother and extended a hand. “Hi. I'm Dan Peters. Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, too,” Garnet's mother replied, taking his hand. “I'm Sharon Walcott, Garnet's mother.”

Dan nodded in his friend's direction. “And this is my friend, Justin Farrell.”

Justin smiled and shook her hand as well, but gave a simple wave to Garnet. His eyes narrowed. “Do I know you from somewhere?”

“Maybe from school,” Garnet replied. “I'm kinda new. We just moved here a few weeks ago.”

A woman's voice unexpectedly called out from across the crowd. “Sharon!” They all looked over in that direction and saw a woman waving. Garnet's mother waved back. “That's Susan with some people from work. Do you mind if I go say hello? I won't be long.”

Garnet shook her head. “No, go ahead.”

“Do you want to walk around with us?” Dan asked.

Garnet looked over at her mother who, in turn, took a harder look at the boys.

“Sure, go ahead,” her mother said. “If you can't find me later, just meet me back at the house.”

The park was filling up quickly with people as far back as the small lake in the centre. The smell of cigarette smoke intermingled with the scent of spring
flowers and fresh leaves. Dan and Justin met a number of friends as they walked around and they briefly stopped to talk with them. Garnet recognized few faces, but soon learned after introductions that many actually went to different schools and they knew each other from sports and church. Dan and Justin were more popular than she had realized, and she began to wonder how she had ended up with them. She thought that maybe she should go back to try to find her mother since she didn't know anyone and was beginning to feel like a tagalong.

“Hey, Justin!” a girl called out.

He looked over and smiled. “Hey, Sarah!” He ran over to talk to her but this time Dan stayed on the gravel path with Garnet.

“Want to sit down?” Dan asked.

Garnet raised her eyebrows and shrugged. “Sure.”

They found a place on the grass under a nearby tree. Garnet wrapped her arms around her legs, a sudden chill making her glad for her jacket; Dan stretched out his legs and leaned back on his arms. For the first few moments they didn't speak.

“So, how long have you been delivering groceries to Elizabeth?” Garnet asked.

Dan lifted a shoulder. “About a year now, I guess, since her health started to go downhill. Pioneer has a
free home-delivery service for people who can't make it to the grocery store.”

“But you already knew her from church?”

“Yeah,” Dan replied. “My grandfather's the minister there. I've actually known her all my life. She used to be my piano teacher. She's a great lady but hasn't been well for a while. I doubt she'll be able to handle that house much longer.” He looked over at Garnet. “How do you know her? I didn't catch that the other day.”

“Well, I was sitting in front of my house last Friday when she was walking by and fell down,” said Garnet. “She asked for her pills and I gave them to her. She seemed nice and it was hot, so I asked her if she wanted to come in and gave her some water.”

Dan frowned. “She fell? Where was she going?”

“Home. She was coming from the bank. I walked her home afterwards and went back Saturday to check on her to see how she was doing. That's when we started talking. She told me about her husband and his mother and about those jewels. I really am going to try to find them for her. I just hope they haven't already been stolen.”

“Stolen?
I'd be surprised if they ever
existed.”

Garnet swung her head to face to him. “What do you mean 'if they ever existed'? Of course they did. There's a picture of Albert's mother wearing them in the library. Don't you believe her?”

Dan shrugged. “Do you know the strange thing about Mrs. Tate's story?”

Garnet shook her head.

“I've known her all my life and yesterday was the first time I ever heard of any missing jewels.”

Garnet lifted her chin and sniffed. “Well
maybe
that's because she just never trusted anyone enough before.”

“And you think she should trust
you?
No offence, but how long did you say you've known her?”

Exactly three days.

“So, what are you saying? She invented the story?” Garnet snapped.

Dan grinned and seemed amused that she was losing her temper. He put his hands behind his head and lay down on the grass. “Maybe.”

Garnet's eyes narrowed. Was he always this annoying? “What do you mean 'maybe'? Why would she do that? Who would make up a story like that with so many details if it weren't true? Are you saying she's a liar?”