The Chocolate Jewel Case: A Chocoholic Mystery by JoAnna Carl

the pool of light from the living and dining rooms and to see what was happening out there in the darkness.
    And I heard a motorboat.
    It roared suddenly. It was obviouslyright offshore, out in Lake Michigan, near the Double Diamond beach.
    “They’re escaping by boat.” It still seemed that I ought to be quiet, so I whispered the words.
    I began to go down the flagstone walk as quickly as possible. I didn’t run. There was no moon, and once I was away from the house the area was still as dark as the darkest chocolate in Aunt Nettie’s shop. But I managed to make myway to the deck that overlooked the lake.
    A man was standing on that deck, and I recognized the shape of him. It was Joe.
    “Did they get away?” I said.
    “I guess so. I didn’t follow closely enough to see all the details. I wasn’t eager to get shot.”
    I threw my arms around him. “You scared me to death, running out like that!”
    Joe patted me on the back. “I’m not dumb enough to get killed oversomebody else’s jewelry.”
    “Jewelry? Is that what they took?”
    “It’s gotta be. Alex is a jeweler, and he was calm as a millpond until he saw that denim bag. Then he got hysterical.”
    The sound of the boat was fading. I heard footsteps behind us, and the beam of a flashlight came bouncing down the walk toward us.
    “Joe! Lee!” Dick was coming.
    Joe answered him. “We’re here, Dick! They got away.”

    Dick came up to us, panting. He barely paused, then started down the steps toward the beach. But Joe caught his arm.
    “Dick, I think they went off in that boat. We’d better stay away from the beach until the cops get here. By some fluke they might have left a clue. A footprint or a beach shoe. Something.”
    Dick stopped and growled.
    I spoke quickly. “How’s Alex?”
    “The old bastard’s fine. If hewould have used a courier service like he should have . . .” Dick turned to Joe. “They’ve ripped out the phone line, and my cell phone won’t work out here on the lakeshore.”
    Cell phone service is quirky along the lake. Some companies have good service, and some don’t.
    “I’ll run to our house and call the cops,” Joe said. “You stay here.”
    I remembered that I ought to be a helpful guest, so Iwent back into the house with Dick. Alex was free, and his chair had been placed upright. He was sitting in it, holding his head in his hands. And moaning.
    “Oh, oh, oh. Oh, Garnet, I’ve wrecked your inheritance. Oh, oh, oh.”
    “Oh, Uncle Alex, do be quiet,” Garnet said sharply. “You didn’t do it on purpose. You’re not hurt seriously, and none of the rest of us is hurt at all. That’s what’s important.”

    Alex wasn’t comforted. As a matter of fact, Garnet didn’t look very comforted either, and Dick prowled up and down the room silently. We sat at the ravaged dinner table until Joe came back and said the Warner Pier police were on their way.
    Dick snorted. “The WPPD. Big deal!”
    “I recommended that the acting chief call in the state police,” Joe said.
    Dick shorted again. “How likely are they todo what you ask?”
    “Pretty likely,” Joe said.
    His voice was cold. I could tell he was losing his patience with Dick Garrett, so I spoke up. “Joe is Warner Pier City Attorney, and my aunt is married to the police chief.” They might as well know the worst about their neighbors. “I think the acting chief will listen to Joe.”
    “One of the functions of the Michigan State Police is to help small municipalitieswith investigations,” Joe said. “They’d be called in for any major robbery.”
    We heard the sirens then. “At least they’re fast,” Dick said.
    Alex was still moaning, and Garnet was still glaring at him.
    Then the siren was too loud for us to talk any more, so I sat down again and waited, ready to cooperate with the authorities.
    And wait was about all I did for the next couple of hours.
    The statepolice were there fairly quickly, but it took longer for the crime scene lab