The women smiled politely and gave her directions.
“Thank you, ladies, so very much. Y’all have yourselves a nice day.” Eileen turned to leave and to look for another spot from which to observe the office until Marcus left the building.
He left much earlier than she had expected. Within a few minutes of her exit, he was already out the door. He was heading toward his flat. Eileen kept an eye on him as she quickly walked over to a souvenir vendor and bought a different cap. She ripped off the tags and threw them and her previous cap in a trash bin.
As she continued to follow him, it became even clearer that he was heading home. Maybe for lunch? She spoke into her sleeve to record his movements. They neared the entrance to his building, and Eileen slowed her pace as she watched him enter. She would find a place to wait.
* * *
Marcus entered his apartment, anticipating that Norma had already left. He was correct.
He walked into the large closet that contained the safe and punched the numbers. As an additional feature, the safe accepted only his or Norma’s fingerprints when the numbers were punched in. He peered into the velvet drawers and had not the slightest bit of remorse when he removed a gold bangle bracelet with five carats total weight in diamonds. If he recalled, it had been appraised at fifteen thousand dollars. That would do him for a bit, provided he could talk Franny into trading that way. He’d even offer Franny a good discount.
He pocketed the bracelet and moved some of the others around. The tennis bracelet would also fetch a good sum. Probably ten thousand dollars. He was so gleeful he almost had an erection. He couldn’t remember the last time that had happened. Yeah. Certainly not since he had married that gold digger. Men were idiots. He should be getting something out of this. But then he consoled himself with the cleverness of his new plan. He surveyed the area. Everything was in place.
* * *
Eileen watched as Marcus left the building and walked toward the Underground. She quickly followed and got into step with him. There were several people walking at the same pace, so it was not obvious that she was following him, not that he took any precautions to prevent being followed. When she had the opportunity, she pretended to rub her eye and spoke into the sleeve of her shirt, ticking off details of Marcus’s movements. He entered the Underground station and it appeared that he was heading toward the other side of the city. She slipped into the same subway car and kept an eye on him. After about twenty minutes, Marcus exited the train. Eileen followed.
When he got out to the street, Marcus headed to a very fine jewelry exchange. Eileen couldn’t risk getting too close, so she tried to pretend she was admiring some of the items in the store window. She could see Marcus speaking to a gentleman at the back of the store. Eileen snapped a photo of the gentleman with her wristwatch and sent it off to Avery with the name of the shop. In a very short time Marcus started heading toward the door and once he was back outside Eileen quickly turned away, and she watched him through the reflection in the window. He was heading back toward the Underground. Again, she kept a safe distance and continued to follow Marcus until he returned to his office. He had the biggest shit-eating grin on his face. Eileen was sure to capture that particular “Kodak moment.”
* * *
Marcus felt as if he were walking on air. The jeweler had swallowed the story about replicating the bracelet: the wife wanted to be able to wear it anywhere without worrying about losing it. The jeweler said it would take two days. The cost was three hundred pounds. He would ask Franny if he wanted the whole piece or just the diamonds. Another stroke of genius—he would offer the rest of the piece free. That should satisfy Franny O’Rourke.
His next challenge was getting through the week with the small supply of cocaine he had on hand. He could chop up some of the pills they had locked away in the vault, but he knew he would have to pay top dollar to replace them. Maybe he could curb his urges a tad.
Chapter 23
Pinewood
Charles brought the group up to speed with the information that had been coming in. “As you know, Avery is in Aspen, Sasha’s in New York, and Eileen’s in London. As you can see from all the blueprints Isabelle procured, the three offices have almost the exact same floor plan. Eileen planted a bug in the reception area to find out when the office would be clear for her to plant a few more, and Avery has already bugged the office in Aspen. Today he’s going to stake out the mysterious garage on Steinwood’s property.
“Eileen spotted a rather grungy-looking bloke leaving the office in London and took a photo. We ran it through the channels, and it turns out this person is a two-bit criminal named Jerry Hardy. Breaking and entering, shoplifting, and purse snatching. Also, several arrests for drug possession, to wit, pot and cocaine. It appears he has some connection with a drug concierge named Franny O’Rourke.”
Charlotte tentatively raised her hand. “May I ask what a drug concierge is?”
The women began to giggle.
Myra placed her hand on Charlotte’s. “Don’t mind them. They can be a little jaded.”
“Jaded? Us?” The sisters cackled with glee.
Charles cleared his throat and continued, “A drug concierge is someone who procures special orders for rock stars, wealthy men, models, designers. It’s one-stop shopping. They can get their hands on almost anything . . . heroin, cocaine, acid, marijuana, roofies—also known as Rohypnol, the date-rape drug—fentanyl, which is a synthetic opioid, crystal meth. It’s quite a menu. They also get a handsome commission, since money is no object to their clientele.”
“What kind of business would this punk have with Marcus?” Isabelle asked.
“Now, that is a very good question. Around lunchtime, Eileen followed Marcus from his office to his apartment building. He was inside for just a few minutes. She then followed him across town, where he went into a jewelry store. She couldn’t tell if he bought anything, but he came out with a wild look on his face. As she put it, ‘He looked like the Cheshire cat.’ He then went straight back to his office. She will be planting some bugs in Marcus’s office later. Sasha will be working on Corbett, who is out in Sag Harbor. Sasha spotted Corbett reading a Christie’s auction house catalog. According to her report, he had an expression of elation on his face while he was reading it. We need to find out what has enthralled both of these men so much.”
Annie chimed in. “I can call Victor at Christie’s, and Myra and I can pay him a visit when we go to New York.”
“You are going to have a very busy schedule,” Fergus observed.
“Yes, you are, because according to the blueprints, each office has a vault—a Scripps Safe TRXP Series pharmacy vault. We may need your safecracking expertise at all three locations. Those vaults are not easy to break into.” Charles looked directly at Annie, who eagerly rubbed her hands together.
Charlotte gasped at the revelation that her old friend, perhaps the richest woman in the world, was an accomplished safecracker. The girls all chuckled at her reaction.
Myra said, “Three critical things we must focus on. First, Maggie needs to talk to the Thompson family and see what we can learn about the circumstances of her death. Second, Isabelle and Alexis have to find out about Marjorie Brewster’s condition. Finally, as a group, we need to decide how these poor excuses for human beings are going to pay for their sins.”