Stefan pinched the bridge of his nose wondering how soon his next vacation was. He could already picture himself relaxing at the beach of the tropics with his wife. His job was tedious. He was tired of dealing with criminals. But one thing he was most tired of was the obtuseness of witnesses. A number of unsolved cases in Laod involving murder and theft were attributed to either a lack of witnesses or the witness’ refusal to help. He suspected Evangeline was being intentionally unhelpful with her ramblings about the mystery man.“He was handsome. He did not have an accent.”Unable to help himself he slammed his fist into the table. “Miss!”Evangeline jumped.“Look behind you,” Stefan said forcing himself to calm down. “How many blonde men do you know in Laod? The vast population is blonde. I don’t need to know how handsome he was or how he spoke, I want information!”Evangeline looked behind her as he asked. The two blonde officers looked at each other. “They didn’t look like these o

It was three days after she left Kleve that she got confirmation of a letter from Avenge. Albert had called early that morning while she prepared for another day at the office. He had news for her and it wasn’t friendly news but whatever it was he kept to himself saying he would tell her when he saw her. So she spent the day in her office half in thought of what the news was. The day after she returned to Port, Jay had gotten her the lawyer she wanted. A shrew, renowned divorce lawyer called Benedict Goldman. He was in his forties and not quite what she thought a divorce lawyer would look like. Where she had expected a balding head he had a full head of dark brown hair. She had expected shifting unfocused eyes, yet his gaze when he sat with her to discuss the complexity of her marriage certificate was steady and charming. Pity he was married and loved his wife, she thought to herself. He didn’t seem to be intimidated by the fact that his opponent was Noel Greer. He seemed intrigued

In Laod a light rain drizzled. It wasn't unusual during the pleasant summer to have a light downpour. It lasted for only a few minutes and then the sun broke through the clouds again, dragging the tourists from their lodges to historical sites, art shops and museums. Stefan Essen made his way to the station, grunting at the crowds in the streets. He hated tourists, they made his work harder than it was. Reports of robbery and murder were at an all-time high during the summer season. There were many unsolved cases from previous years, but none of them were as huge a deal as the disappearance and reappearance of the Royal Diamond necklace. The chief witness, Evangeline, the museum worker, was of zero help.Stefan's Senior Unit Chief wanted the case closed as soon as possible, and he was driving Stefan to a point of madness trying to find the man behind the name Danny Cooper. The pregnant woman who had caused the commotion at the museum had also been registered under a fake name. It did

"You look too excited," Albert observed as he took the package from her. They were in her house. Nancy was in the kitchen making food for lunch. She was wary of Albert but said nothing when Penelope asked her to make lunch for three. Penny had gotten rid of her wig to prevent shreds of evidence been traced back to her. Now she wore a lime green sweater and loose pants and walked barefoot across the Oriental rug in her living room. Her eyes sparkled."Penelope!"She jerked back to life. "What?""I don't like that look in your eyes. I understand that you once enjoyed the thrill of being the mistress of disguise, leaving the police scratching their heads in confusion while looking for loopholes to try to catch you but you are a respectable woman now with ..."She held up her hand and laughed. "Oh God Albert! I remember that I have a business to run."He narrowed his eyes at her turning the package containing the necklace over in his hands. He looked down at it. "That's good to know." He

The next day after a less than comfortable nap in a seedy motel Penny took a bath and checked her schedule. The Crepon house was on a hill in the south of the country. It was situated in a quiet part of town which should make her work easier. Yet she knew it was dangerous to think so. Crepon mansion was bugged with state of art security systems. Since the return of the jewelry, there had been an attempt to steal them and the security systems made short work of the amateur who tried to rob them. Well, Penny thought to herself as she purchased a bus ticket that would take her to the countryside, she only needed to get into the house for now, dealing with the security system would come later.Getting to the countryside took 4 hours and she spent those hours strategizing. Once in the countryside, she took her bag containing her lockpicking kit concealed as an ordinary make-up bag into a busy diner, taking advantage of the rush hour, she entered the changing room and snagged a random unif