Chapter 5:

            The next day, the three left their motel room at 9:30 A.M. and drove over to the east side of Portsmouth. There, they parked in front of the public library, a brown and tan stone building with a pediment supported by columns.

            Griswold got out of the car with her notebook and Tickler, saying, “I’ll be in there for, at most, forty-five minutes. Stay here and guard Bill and the necklace.”

            “Will do,” Jamie replied. “By the way, what are you looking for in there?”

            “Hopefully, I can find some information about this Valden fellow in the library’s archives,” she said before closing the door and walking across the lawn.

            Bill perked up and asked, “Did she say Valden?”

            “Yeah, why?” Jamie asked.

            “I’ve heard of him!” he said excitedly. “Remember when I told you that I had a criminal record?”

            “Yeah,” she replied.

            “Well, when I was in prison, I was cellmates with this guy who was arrested for selling drugs. I think his name was...Gosnich! Alan Gosnich! I heard him grumbling a lot to himself about how once he got out of prison, he was going to give some guy named Valden hell.” 

            Jamie quickly turned to face Bill and asked, “Why was this guy so pissed at Valden?”

            “From what I could tell,” said Bill, “Valden supplied Gosnich with drugs to sell and told him that if he was ever caught, he’d make sure the charges didn’t stick. Unfortunately, for Gosnich, Valden hung him out to dry.”

            “So Valden’s a local drug pusher?”

            “Sounds like.”

            Jamie, after thinking for moment, said, “You’ve gotta tell Griswold when she gets back. This could be important information.”

            “Yes ma’am.”

            About an hour later, Griswold got back in the passenger seat with a troubled look on her face. “Well, that was underwhelming,” she said as she shook her head.

            “You find anything?” Jamie asked.

            “I found some stuff,” Griswold said disappointedly, “but I’m not sure if it’ll help the case.”

            “Let’s hear it,” Jamie said. “You might be surprised.”

            “All right,” Griswold said. “The only things I could find that were even close were a few stories about a pharmaceuticals executive named Ignatius Valden. Apparently, this guy had some asshole son that made an incalculable number of poor decisions and kept getting in trouble, as one does when one’s father is loaded. However, because it was his kid, Ignatius kept bailing him out. About five years ago, though, all of that changed as Ignatius walked in on his son holding a full-out orgy in his penthouse apartment. And this involved a lot of expensive shit...a lot of weird, expensive shit. I mean, everyone was wearing velvet masks and – ”

            “You can spare us the details,” Jamie interrupted.

            “Right. Sorry,” Griswold said. “Anyway, Ignatius could not justify his son’s actions and was so upset about everything that he kicked him out of the house and will. No one has seen or heard from him since. However, a few weeks after this occurred, half of Ignatius’ fortune and a truck full of new painkillers from one of his manufacturing sites was stolen. People think this was the son’s doing, but they have no hard proof of this.”

            “What was the son’s name?” asked Jamie.

            “Bobby, I think?” replied Griswold.

            After thinking for a moment, Jamie smiled wide. “I have a feeling you might want to listen to something Bill has to say,” she said.

            They both turned back to face Bill as he told Griswold all he had told Jamie. Griswold’s eyes sparkled with excitement as she listened. Once Bill had finished, she turned to Jamie and asked, “Are you insinuating that Ignatius’ asshole son is our Robert Valden?”

            “It would make sense,” Jamie replied, “that he became a drug dealer since he seems to have made off with a bunch of cash and…well…drugs.”

            “Brilliant! Simply brilliant!” replied Griswold.

            “So, we’ve got a suspect we have to keep an eye on?” Jamie asked.

            “Oh no,” said Griswold excitedly. “It’s much better than that. We’ve actually solved the case!”

            Bill and Jamie looked at each other in surprise. “Wha-What do you mean?” Jamie asked. “We still don’t know why Valden is after the necklace and what his connection to the case is.”

            “Yes, we do,” said Griswold. “Because, if my hunch is correct, Valden is after the necklace because he used it to kill Rebecca.”

            Bill and Jamie stared at Griswold in utter astonishment.

            “However,” said Griswold, “there is still one more thing I must get cleared up to be absolutely certain of this.” She turned back and asked, “Bill, after you and Rebecca broke up, did you ever see her again?”

            Bill thought for a moment before replying, “Yeah, she stopped by the mechanic’s place I work at.”

            “While she was there, did you ever see her wearing the necklace?” she asked.

            “Yeah…so?”

            “Good. Lastly, I need to know if you have any idea where she got it.”

            “She talked about how it was...it was a birthday present from her new boyfriend…some guy named…Rob?...I think?”

            At this point, Griswold lost all control. Laughing maniacally, she shouted, “Yes! Yes! Yes! I was right! I’ve done it yet again!”

            “What the hell are you talking about!?” Jamie asked.

            After calming down, Griswold said, “Here’s my theory: After Valden was kicked out of his father’s apartment and will, he steals a bunch of money and drugs from his father and runs off to the countryside of Ohio, where he figures he won’t have to worry about police. After a few years of making connections and setting up a system where he’s able to sufficiently distance himself from his crimes, he’s making a shit-ton of money and has everything under contol. One day, however, he ends up meeting Rebecca. After she becomes a part of his life, he panics and realizes that she has the potential to throw a wrench into his entire operation if she learns too much. In order to deal with this, he creates a failsafe in the form of the necklace.”

            “Please?” Jamie said, struggling to keep up with Griswold’s train of thought.

            Griswold put on her gloves again and took out the evidence bag. She removed the necklace and took a magnifying glass from her pocket. She then held it up to the sapphire. “Look inside the jewel and tell me what you see,” she said.

            Jamie peered into the magnifying glass and stared for a few minutes before saying, “It almost looks like there’s something…flashing in there! It’s a bit dull, but I see it!”

            “Exactly,” said Griswold. “It’s a frequency emitter. Moreover, if you stare for even longer, so as to become accustomed to the dark hue of the stone, you’ll see that there is actually an extremely powerful, neodymium electromagnet and a timer embedded in the necklace’s setting.”

            “No way!” Jamie shouted. Bill sat there with his mouth open.

            “Yes way!” said Griswold.

            “Wait,” Jamie asked, “so how would this thing cause her to suffocate in the mud?”

            “Remember how Rebecca’s neck had those really deep marks from the chain and how I found that the jewel’s print in the mud was way too deep?” said Griswold. “Well, that’s because both were caused by the necklace being pulled to a second electromagnet of an opposite polarity. Buried beneath the mud, I am sure that the second half of a two-part failsafe will be found. It’s the only logical explanation.”

           “But, why would there be a second electromagnet in the mud instead of an iron bar, or something else a magnet is attracted to?” 

           “Very simple. Only another magnet could have been powerful enough to pull Rebecca from a standing position to face down in the mud. Moreover, Valden would not want the second half of his failsafe to be discovered, so he would use an electromagnet since the attraction could be turned off after a period of time. That way, the attraction wouldn’t point toward the failsafe’s other half. You see, after the frequency emitter in the necklace alerted the other electromagnet of Rebecca’s presence, the two would turn on, drag her down, and suffocate her. Then the timer would tell the two magnets to turn off and stay off after she had suffocated, but before the necklace was removed from the vicinity of the buried electromagnet, so as to keep it hidden.”

          “Holy crap…” Bill said in an awestruck tone. “So, you think he killed her because she knew too much?”

          “I do,” said Griswold, “She probably overheard one of his deals with a client and got suspicious. Valden, fearing Rebecca would blow his operation, enacted the failsafe by inviting her down to Turkey Creek Lake to meet up, allowing her to trip the system. Then, he had one of his cronies hide nearby so as to steal the necklace once it had served its purpose. When drunk Bill was rummaging around in the bushes for Jasper’s keys, the crony must have seized the opportunity to plant the necklace on him.”

           Bill and Jamie sat in silence. Suddenly, Bill grinned wide and said, “I can’t believe it….You’ve solved the mystery! You’ve proven I’m innocent! I’m a free man!”

           “Not just yet, Bill,” said Griswold. “We may know you’re innocent, but we have to prove this to the police.”

           “How do we do that if the police will arrest us for getting involved?” asked Jamie.

           “That…that is an excellent question,” replied Griswold.                                                       

            Griswold spent much of the remainder of the day in silent contemplation. Even when they ate dinner from the Bellini Cucina, a local Italian restaurant, she hardly touched her food and instead sat staring off into space and talking to herself. Jamie tried to convince her to eat, but to no avail.

            Once they were back at the motel, Griswold, needing a break, went to the parking lot and walked around in circles for a while. The cool evening air must have lifted her spirits, as when she got back to the room, she heated up her take-out in a microwave and devoured it.

            After she finished eating, Griswold’s eyes began to droop and a slight smile crossed her face. “Feeling better?” Jamie asked.

            Griswold gave a soft laugh. “Shut up,” she replied.

            “So…” Jamie said, “do you want to run some of your ideas by me?”

            Griswold paused before saying, “Sure. I suppose two heads are better than one.”

            “So, what’ve you got?”

            “I have a great idea for how to set Valden up by having him get caught by the police in a fake drug deal. I just don’t know how to lure him out. Knowing how secretive he is, we’ll probably have to go through one of his ne’er-do-wells to contact him. The sticking point is how we find them.”

            “‘Ne’er-do-wells?” Jamie said.

            Griswold shot her a dirty look.

            “I think I can help with that,” said Bill.

            “You can?” Jamie replied.

            “Yeah,” he said. “I’ve heard there’s a dealer who hangs out under the suspension bridge most nights. Maybe he knows Valden?”

            Griswold perked up at this. “Very interesting,” she mumbled. Griswold stared off into space for a few seconds before a huge grin crossed her face. “I’ve got it!” she said as she jumped out of her chair. “What if we pose as some of Valden’s cronies and claim that we’ve got a shipment from him? I’ll say that I need to confirm the delivery with Valden, but I’ve lost his number. He then gives me said number and we go through with the rest of our plan!”

            Jamie stared blankly at Griswold. “You sure about that?” she asked painfully.

            “Yep!” Griswold beamed. “Let’s do this!” 

            She headed for the door, a slight spring in her step. Bill and Jamie stared at each other in disbelief, but silently followed her anyway, Jamie putting on her mud-brown jacket on the way out.