Stolen with Style by Carina Axelsson Page A

one,” she said, pointing to her Mulberry satchel bag sitting on the trestle table next to mine. “I came straight back in here with my handbag, and then I took out the diamond—it was wrapped in a velvet pouch inside a clasped box. It’s a custom-made leather case—easy to open—and the diamond slid right out of the velvet pouch into my hand. I called Chandra to me and fastened it onto her hand. We stood exactly where you and I are standing now.”
    â€œAnd then Chandra went out on set wearing the Black Amelia?”
    â€œYes. And we took the photos.”
    â€œAnd then you put it back into the safe?”
    Cazzie wrinkled her brow. “No…I was going to, but after I took it off Chandra’s hand, Rafaela wanted to quickly try it on, and I let her. Then I removed it from her hand and slipped it back into the velvet pouch and then into the case. I put it in my handbag because I intended to go straight back downstairs and put it back in the safe. But then I stopped at Brandon’s computer. Peter and Brandon were looking at the shot we’d just done, and I wanted to have a quick peek…”
    â€œAnd during all of this, you’re sure your handbag didn’t leave your arm?”
    Cazzie nodded. “Positive.”
    â€œAnd did anyone see you put the diamond in your bag?”
    â€œWell, Chandra and Rafaela, obviously. Misty too. I’m not sure how much the others saw, but theoretically any of them could have seen me slip the diamond into my handbag.”
    â€œAnd did anyone get close to your handbag at this time?”
    Cazzie shook her head.
    â€œSo after taking a quick peek at the shot you’d just done, you took the diamond back to the safe downstairs?”
    Cazzie shook her head. “That had been my intention, but as I turned to leave, I smelled something burning and thought it was the iron—we leave the iron on all day for freshening up the clothes you girls wear. Anyway, I ran in here to check, but it wasn’t the iron. It was a fire.”
    â€œA fire ?”
    She nodded. “There was a fire in the building next door. Suddenly we heard an alarm going off, followed a few minutes later by police and fire sirens. I tell you, it really made us jump, because this corner of the city is always so quiet. Nothing ever happens here.”
    â€œHmm… Well, I want to hear about the fire, but first let’s backtrack a bit. What did you do with your handbag when you dashed in here to check the iron?”
    â€œI set it down there. Just as it is now.” Cazzie pointed to the far corner of the small trestle table that was against the left-hand wall of the dressing area. “On Friday, like today, I also had the iron set up on that corner of the table. My handbag was literally right next to me as I checked on the iron.”
    â€œSo no one could have tampered with it while you were in here?”
    â€œNo way. Impossible. No one came near it.”
    â€œRight. So you dash in, set your handbag down, and check on the iron, which is okay. And then?”
    She paused for a moment as if rewinding the event in her mind. “And then, as I was turning the iron off, the fire alarm rang.”
    â€œAnd what did you do when the fire alarm rang?”
    â€œI ran to the windows to see what was going on,” she said, pointing back into the main studio beyond the curtain divider.
    â€œWhat? You didn’t look out of these?” I pointed to the windows just opposite where we stood.
    Cazzie shook her head. “Those blinds are fixed. The owners of the studios don’t want to take any risk of having models ‘unintentionally’ photographed from one of the neighboring buildings. So I went back out into the studio area.”
    â€œRight. So you left the dressing area to look out the windows of the studio, leaving your handbag—with the diamond in it—on the trestle table?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œAnd what