Read Online Amaretto Amber (Franki Amato Mysteries Book 3) by Traci Andrighetti - Free Book Online
Authors: Traci Andrighetti
Ads: Link
covered her back." She scratched her five o'clock shadow. "So unladylike."
I thought of the platinum blonde I'd seen leaving the club, but I hadn't noticed a tattoo. "What did Amber do about it?"
"Well, she never opened the door. But the girl kept coming around, as recently as two weeks ago."
I twisted my mouth to one side. "That's weird, considering that Amber had stopped stripping."
"It's one of the reasons that I thought she'd gotten back into prostitution," she said with a knowing look. "Maybe the client wasn't interested in blowing his money on a stripper anymore when he could get straight up sex."
Veronica stopped typing. "Glenda said that you asked whether Amber was wearing a necklace."
She nodded. "That's why I'm here. A month ago I inherited an antique necklace—a gold chain with a flower and an emerald-cut amber pendant—and it's missing. I showed the necklace to Amber when I first got it, and if what Glenda told me was correct, then I think she stole it from my apartment and was wearing it when she was killed."
I leaned forward with my coffee cup between my hands. "We saw the chain, but there was no pendant. That could either mean that she was killed for the necklace or that the killer took it as a memento."
Carnie frowned like a sad clown. "That's what I was afraid of. That amber was priceless, and I made the mistake of telling that to Amber."
"But amber is fairly inexpensive," Veronica said. "What was so special about this piece?"
She hesitated. "It was from the Amber Room, the one that the Prussian King Frederick William I gave to Tsar Peter the Great in 1716."
Veronica gasped, and her eyes lit up like amber in sunlight. "That's the room the Nazis stole from Catherine Palace during World War II."
"Yes, and it has never been found. Experts say that it's worth at least three hundred and eighty-five million dollars."
After I recovered my ability to speak, I asked, "If the room is missing, how did you get a piece?"
"My grandmother was from Russia, and she was a maid in the palace." She twisted a crown-shaped ring around her French-manicured finger. "When the Nazis dismantled the room, small pieces of amber broke off. They picked up every piece they could find, but they overlooked one that had been cut like a gemstone. My grandmother took it and intended to return it after the war, but her family fled the country. And then when the Soviets began work on a replica of the room in 1979, my mother had the amber made into a necklace."
I swallowed the last of my coffee and placed the mug on the table in front of me. "So, technically, that pendant belongs to the Russians."
Carnie's face flushed, and her bulbous nose turned as red as Ronald McDonald's. "My mother believed that the Soviets were evil like the Nazis, and she didn't trust them to return the amber to the palace," she huffed. "Besides, after the replica of the room was unveiled, it didn't seem as important."
"Just to clarify," Veronica began in a high-pitched, we-can't-afford-to-lose-this-client tone, "are you hiring us to find the pendant or to investigate Amber's death?"
"Both," she replied. "As soon as I report the theft of the necklace, which I intend to do today, I figure I'll become a suspect in her murder."
She figured right. I knew from my time on the force that she would be questioned, especially now that someone had ripped the priceless pendant from Amber's lifeless neck.
"And even though Amber and I weren't close," she continued, pressing a hand to her ample bosom, "I wouldn't feel right if I didn't have you try to find her killer. I inherited some money with the necklace, so I can cover your expenses."
"It's very admirable of you to honor Amber that way," Veronica said, her voice soft. "We'll do our best to see that the killer and the necklace are found."
I was thinking that we should do our best to find that three hundred and eighty-five million dollar room too. "Is there anything else we should know?"
Carnie bowed her head,
I thought of the platinum blonde I'd seen leaving the club, but I hadn't noticed a tattoo. "What did Amber do about it?"
"Well, she never opened the door. But the girl kept coming around, as recently as two weeks ago."
I twisted my mouth to one side. "That's weird, considering that Amber had stopped stripping."
"It's one of the reasons that I thought she'd gotten back into prostitution," she said with a knowing look. "Maybe the client wasn't interested in blowing his money on a stripper anymore when he could get straight up sex."
Veronica stopped typing. "Glenda said that you asked whether Amber was wearing a necklace."
She nodded. "That's why I'm here. A month ago I inherited an antique necklace—a gold chain with a flower and an emerald-cut amber pendant—and it's missing. I showed the necklace to Amber when I first got it, and if what Glenda told me was correct, then I think she stole it from my apartment and was wearing it when she was killed."
I leaned forward with my coffee cup between my hands. "We saw the chain, but there was no pendant. That could either mean that she was killed for the necklace or that the killer took it as a memento."
Carnie frowned like a sad clown. "That's what I was afraid of. That amber was priceless, and I made the mistake of telling that to Amber."
"But amber is fairly inexpensive," Veronica said. "What was so special about this piece?"
She hesitated. "It was from the Amber Room, the one that the Prussian King Frederick William I gave to Tsar Peter the Great in 1716."
Veronica gasped, and her eyes lit up like amber in sunlight. "That's the room the Nazis stole from Catherine Palace during World War II."
"Yes, and it has never been found. Experts say that it's worth at least three hundred and eighty-five million dollars."
After I recovered my ability to speak, I asked, "If the room is missing, how did you get a piece?"
"My grandmother was from Russia, and she was a maid in the palace." She twisted a crown-shaped ring around her French-manicured finger. "When the Nazis dismantled the room, small pieces of amber broke off. They picked up every piece they could find, but they overlooked one that had been cut like a gemstone. My grandmother took it and intended to return it after the war, but her family fled the country. And then when the Soviets began work on a replica of the room in 1979, my mother had the amber made into a necklace."
I swallowed the last of my coffee and placed the mug on the table in front of me. "So, technically, that pendant belongs to the Russians."
Carnie's face flushed, and her bulbous nose turned as red as Ronald McDonald's. "My mother believed that the Soviets were evil like the Nazis, and she didn't trust them to return the amber to the palace," she huffed. "Besides, after the replica of the room was unveiled, it didn't seem as important."
"Just to clarify," Veronica began in a high-pitched, we-can't-afford-to-lose-this-client tone, "are you hiring us to find the pendant or to investigate Amber's death?"
"Both," she replied. "As soon as I report the theft of the necklace, which I intend to do today, I figure I'll become a suspect in her murder."
She figured right. I knew from my time on the force that she would be questioned, especially now that someone had ripped the priceless pendant from Amber's lifeless neck.
"And even though Amber and I weren't close," she continued, pressing a hand to her ample bosom, "I wouldn't feel right if I didn't have you try to find her killer. I inherited some money with the necklace, so I can cover your expenses."
"It's very admirable of you to honor Amber that way," Veronica said, her voice soft. "We'll do our best to see that the killer and the necklace are found."
I was thinking that we should do our best to find that three hundred and eighty-five million dollar room too. "Is there anything else we should know?"
Carnie bowed her head,
Similar Books
