Page 24 of Nightshade
“Let’s go to my office,” he said. “We can talk privately there. Have you ever been to the club before, Sergeant?”
“No, I haven’t,” Stilwell said. “Before we talk, can you show me the hallway where the theft of the statue occurred?”
“Oh, of course. Right here.”
They walked through a sitting room with dark paneled walls and old leather chairs. It smelled faintly of cigars and money. From there they moved into a foyer where the front door was located. Crane turned left into a wide hallway also paneled in dark wood. Down the left side were multiple framed photos, most in sepia or black-and-white, of men over the past century standing next to their catches of marlins. Mounted above the line of frames was a marlin that Stilwell estimated was at least eight feet long, its black spine twisting, frozen in a fight lost a long time ago. A plaque below it said
983-POUNDBLACKMARLIN
CAUGHTSEPTEMBER14, 1931,ON THEMARYMAC
BYHORACEGRANT, MEMBERBMC
“Impressive, isn’t it?” Crane said.
“Sure is. If you’re into fishing,” Stilwell said.
Museum-style glass cases lined the right side of the hallway. There were three of them and they were mostly filled with fishing lures that had been used over the years to go after the club’s eponymous fish. There were unusual shells and pieces of coral, shark’steeth, and other knickknacks. Crane pointed to an empty pedestal that stood at the end of the line of cases.
“The sculpture was right here,” Crane said. “For nearly a century. Donated by one of the first presidents of the club, Noah Rossmore.”
Stilwell studied the marble pedestal.
“It wasn’t secured?” he asked.
“This is a gentlemen’s club, Sergeant,” Crane said. “We don’t lock things up and we don’t expect them to be taken.”
Stilwell nodded.
“So it could have just been lifted up without anyone having to touch the pedestal?” he asked. “No earthquake wax or anything that would make it difficult to come loose?”
“Nothing,” Crane said.
Stilwell started asking questions he already knew the answers to, but it was good practice to ask them again because sometimes new information came to the surface.
“How was it discovered missing?”
“It was actually one of our cleaning people who realized it was gone. Mrs. Landry. One of her jobs is to keep this hallway and its contents in pristine condition. She was dusting and saw the empty pedestal. She alerted me and I immediately called your department.”
“Got it. Is this a busy part of the club?”
“Well, this is our entry hallway, but most members come by boat and enter off the docks behind or on the starboard side of the building. Consequently, this hallway is used very infrequently.”
“Which makes it difficult to pinpoint when the statue was taken.”
“Yes, it does.”
“You suggested to Deputy Dunne that Leigh-Anne Moss took it, yes?”
“The deputy who responded to my call asked if I had any suspicions about who might have taken the piece, and I did say that a week earlier I’d let Ms. Moss go and she was not happy about it. But I didn’t directly accuse her of anything. I hope she doesn’t think that.”
“I haven’t talked to her yet. Let’s go to your office so we can talk about it.”
“By all means. Happy to.”
Crane’s office was upstairs at the back of the building. His desk was in front of a window that looked out across the harbor, and it reminded Stilwell of the view from the harbormaster’s tower.
“This is nice,” Stilwell said.
