display counter. A short man, he was dressed in an old-fashioned but well-pressed suit with a white shirt and striped tie. His hair was brushed back from his face, revealing deep lines running across his forehead. Something about his round face and deep-set dark eyes suggested an Eastern European heritage.
“Hello,” Penny began. “I wonder if you can do an appraisal for me. It’s a little embarrassing, really, but a friend of mine gave me a brooch as a present, and another friend suggested I should have it appraised, in case it needs to be insured. I’m afraid I don’t know if it’s valuable or not. I don’t even know where he bought it.” She gave a little laugh. “Or even if he bought it.”
The jeweler raised an impressive set of bushy eyebrows.
“Oh, heavens no, I certainly didn’t mean that it might be stolen, no, nothing like that, in fact my friend, the man who gave it to me is a police officer. I simply meant it might have belonged to his mother, or…”
“Oh, right,” said the jeweler. “Would you by any chance be Penny Brannigan?”
“Yes, I am,” said Penny, somewhat surprised that he should know her name. “Have we met before? I’m sorry, I know in a small town our paths have probably crossed, but…”
“No, it’s just that I remember now. Your piece’ll be the snowflake brooch with the rose-cut centre stone, surrounded by six heart-shaped settings, each holding two smaller stones, and six emerald cuts forming a-”
Penny laughed and held up her hand. “You’re familiar with it, I see.”
“Familiar with it? I made it!” said the jeweler, opening a drawer and removing an envelope. “He was going to give this to you, but it took me a few days to write it up, so you can have it now. He called to say he was going to suggest you come in and get it. He just didn’t want to give the appraisal to you at the same time as he gave you your gift.” He handed over the envelope and leaned on the counter.
“So tell me, how do you like it?”
“I love it,” Penny said. “It’s beautiful, and I will treasure it all the more knowing that you made it.” The jeweler came around from behind the counter and gave Penny a shy smile. “The police officer knew exactly what he wanted for you,” he said, “so it wasn’t too difficult. Between us we worked out something he thought you might like.
“I told your friend that if he ever needed any other fine jewelry for you”-he gave a little open-handed gesture-“a ring, for example, to come and see me. I would create something very beautiful.”
Penny felt the beginning of an uncomfortable blush begin to creep up her neck.
“I don’t know about that!”
The jeweler smiled as he held the door open for her, and as she stepped out into the street, she tucked the envelope he had given her into an outside pocket of her bag, snapped it shut, and after a longing glance in the bakery window, set off on the short walk back to the spa.
The morning was mild, but dark clouds were gathering once again to settle on the tops of the hills and she could sense the coming of rain.
A few minutes later, in the privacy of her office, she pulled out the envelope, opened it, and unfolded the document it contained. A little smile played at the corner of her lips at the sight of the colour digital photo of her brooch, displayed to sparkling advantage against a black velvet cloth, stapled to the piece of paper. She glanced over a detailed description of the brooch, the cut and positioning of the stones, the total carat weight, the white gold setting until she arrived at the insured value at the bottom. Her mouth opened slightly and her head jutted forward. That much, she thought. He spent that much on a brooch for me? She picked up her bag, unzipped it, and reached inside to pull out the little red box containing her brooch. It was not on top where she was sure she had placed it just before leaving home, so thinking it might have settled or shifted within the bag as it had been carried about all morning, she scrabbled around inside the bag. An icy sense of panic began to creep into her chest when she did not feel it. She touched the familiar shape of her wallet, her diary, and a small makeup bag. With her heart beginning to pound, she picked up the bag, dumped its contents on her desk, and spread them out. The box was not there. She felt in the four side pockets, hoping against hope but knowing that the smooth leather box she longed to touch would not be there. As waves of disbelief tinged with fear began to wash over her, she rushed down the hall to the reception area.
“Rhian,” she croaked, barely able to speak because her mouth was so dry, “did you see a small red leather jewelry box this morning? It was in my bag and now it’s not there. Is it on your desk?”
“No, I didn’t see any jewelry box,” Rhian said, looking up from her computer and then shifting her coffee mug and a few pieces of paper around on her desk. “I’ll have a look, though.”
“Where’s Victoria?”
“She’s, ah, let me see, did she tell me where she was going? She was here about half an hour ago and then, I think she…” Rhian held her hand to her face.
“Rhian! Where is she? Tell me!”
Not waiting for an answer, Penny ran back to her office and picked up her mobile.
It seemed an age until Victoria answered.
“Where are you? I need to see you.”
“Why? What’s the matter? You sound terrible.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m at the salon with Eirlys packing up the rest of the nail varnishes. Where did you think I would be?”
“Victoria, come back, please, now. Don’t ask any questions. Just come back.”
Penny pressed the button to end the call and with a dreadful desperation began turning over the things on her desk. Why is it, she wondered vaguely, when you’ve lost or misplaced something you keep looking for it in the same place? If it wasn’t there the first time you looked, why would you expect it to be there the second time? Or the third? Or the fourth?
She checked the floor around her desk and then hurried down the hall to Rhian’s reception desk.
“Rhian, stop what you’re doing and help me look for that jewelry box. Clear everything off your desk right now, please.”
Rhian did as she was told, but as Penny dreaded, the box was nowhere to be seen. She stepped back from Rhian’s desk just as a breathless Victoria burst through the door.
Penny gestured toward her office and the two women walked quickly down the hall.
“For God’s sake, Penny, what is it? What’s happened? I’ve been imagining all kinds of awful things on my way here. Tell me what’s happened.”
“You know that snowflake brooch Gareth gave me? It’s gone missing. I’ve looked everywhere and I can’t find it.”
“It’ll turn up, surely,” Victoria said. “You probably set it down somewhere where it didn’t belong, and when you least expect to see it, there it’ll be.”
Penny shook her head and whispered, “No. The brooch was in its little box, and I remember very clearly putting it in my bag this morning and then closing the zipper. I came here, set the bag down on the reception desk, went to the jeweler’s, came back here, and when I looked for it, it was gone. Rhian and I have looked everywhere.”
“Right. Well, before we panic, call the jeweler and see if you left it there.”
“No,” said Penny emphatically. “I didn’t take it out of my bag. He had already done the appraisal, so he didn’t need to see the brooch. In fact, he made it.”
“Oh, right. OK, well then, go home and look for it there. Perhaps you only think you put it in your bag, and it’s sitting on the table or counter or wherever you had your bag. Is that possible?”
Penny pursed her lips and closed her eyes. “I suppose it might be possible if I didn’t remember so clearly setting it in my bag. I will look at home, though, just in case.”
Victoria made an apologetic little gesture that included a shrug and something approaching a grimace.
“Was it very valuable, or dare I ask?”
Penny handed Victoria the appraisal document. Victoria’s lower jaw dropped and she breathed in sharply.
“The awful thing is I know I should call the police, but I can’t bear to tell him I lost it,” Penny said. She hesitated. “One thing, though, did cross my mind, and that is that the jeweler who did the evaluation told me he had made the brooch. I was thinking maybe I could ask him to make a duplicate, and then I wouldn’t have to tell Gareth.”
“No,” said Victoria. “You don’t want to do that. You know you don’t.”
“No, I guess I don’t. But I really don’t want to tell him, either.”
Victoria brightened. “Look, how about this? Go home and see if it’s there. I really hope it is, but if it isn’t, then call Bethan, and ask her to come and see you. You can talk to her about it. She’ll know what to do and how to
