Fleeced: A Regan Reilly Mystery

sell their diamonds, and fork over what would amount to four million dollars to the club.
“It should certainly help get this joint jumping again.” Nat chuckled.
Nat had also decided it was high time to make some final decisions about who would get Wendy’s jewelry. When he was gone, he wanted the baubles to be appreciated. But while he was alive he couldn’t bear the thought of Wendy’s jewels adorning another woman’s body. He conducted his private, loving inventory and was about to put the jewelry back in the safe when once again his eyes fell on the special red-velvet jewelry case.
Nat’s hands trembled slightly as he reached for it. Cradling the case in his outstretched palms, he opened it carefully and stared at the four large and brilliant diamonds that in a matter of days would be turned into cold, hard cash. “I hate to say good-bye to you guys after fifty years of togetherness, but this club of ours really needs the dough.” Nat laughed and placed the box back down on the desk.
A surge of excitement coursed through his veins, and he clapped his hands. This is going to be fun, he thought. Helping this club fix itself up. The big one hundredth anniversary party on Saturday night. More parties to celebrate throughout the year. Ben and I will be at the helm of it all. It sure brightens up a dreary March.
The raw wind outside suddenly seemed to penetrate the apartment. Nat pulled his bathrobe closer and looked around at his living room appreciatively. The glorious wood paneling, the antique furniture, the wrought iron staircase that led up to a balcony with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, the tops of which overlooked the couch, the fireplace, and the pair of life-sized sheep that were perched in front of the window.
Nat and Wendy had bought them early in their marriage because they reminded her of her childhood days on a sheep farm in England. Over the years, Nat had surprised her with any sheep knickknacks he could get his hands on. But the two stuffed sheep were her favorites. They were the children she never had. She loved them so much that when she made a generous donation to the Settlers’ Club right before she died three years ago, it was with the understanding that when she and Nat were both dead, the club would take those sheep and put them in a place of honor in the front parlor.
Yes indeed, this has been a wonderful place to live for more than fifty years, Nat thought. Ben and I made the right decision to be such generous souls and make sure it keeps going!
He jumped up, grabbed the red box, and walked over to the sheep, whom he and Wendy had named Dolly and Bah-Bah. He pulled the two glass stones out of Dolly’s eye sockets and replaced them with two of the diamonds. He then repeated the procedure on Bah-Bah, stood back, and smiled.
“The eyes have it!” He laughed. “You two look like a million bucks. Your mama, Wendy, loved it when you slept with the diamonds in your eyes. She said you were her precious jewels. This is one of the last nights your eyes will have that special sparkle.”
Carefully, Nat pulled the strands of wool that were their bangs over their now valuable eyes and patted them both. He dropped the glass stones into the red box and replaced it on the desk.
I’ll take my shower and then close up shop here, he thought with a smile. He shuffled down the long hallway and through his bedroom. In the opulent marble master bathroom, Nat turned on the jets in the shower full force.
“That’ll feel good on these old bones,” he muttered as he walked past the oversize Jacuzzi and back into his bedroom, closing the bathroom door behind him. “Warm it up a little in there first,” he said.
The ten o’clock news would just be starting. He lay down on his bed, grabbed the remote control, and flicked on the television. What a day, he thought, chuckling happily. Making plans to give away several million bucks can really tire you out. Nat closed his eyes for what he thought would be a moment but quickly dozed off. When he awoke with a start, the clock on the bedside table read 10:38.
Nat pulled his eighty-three-year-old body up and slid down off the old-fashioned four-poster bed that his dear wife had purchased three decades ago at a most serendipitous garage sale. As he pushed open the bathroom door, a wall of steam enveloped him. “Ahhhhhh,” he grunted as he took off his bathrobe and hung it on a hook.
But something was wrong. He peered through the steam and stepped toward the Jacuzzi. It was filled with water. “What?” he said aloud as fear clutched his heart. “I didn’t turn this on… did I?”
“No, you didn’t.”
Startled, Nat spun around. He started to speak, but before the words came out, an intruder emerged from the steam and gave Nat a forceful shove that sent him hurtling backward into the Jacuzzi. Nat’s head banged against the side of the tub before it slid below the surface of the water.
“Perfect.” The intruder watched as Nat’s body settled into a nearly motionless state, swaying ever so gently with the movement of the slowly calming water. “It’s a shame how many people lose their lives when they slip in the tub. A crying shame.”
A moment later, the shower jets were turned off and the inside of the stall had been wiped dry.

2
If just this morning someone had said to Thomas Pilsner, “Have a nice day,” he would have responded in the usual robotic fashion that most of the rest of the world did when they heard the clichéd phrase.
What a difference twelve hours makes.
How could he have known that at lunchtime two members of the club where he was president would give him the greatest news in the world? The