The charges weren’t dropped. The DA wasn’t bought and paid for the way Joffee was. But Charles did manage to get her out on bail.
Jenay walked into Jericho Inn’s VIP suite like a woman given a last minute reprieve. Charles was with her, as his two sons had gone back to their college campus, but he didn’t feel any gratitude whatsoever.
“Where was the suitcase?” he asked her, as soon as they entered the suite.
“Back here,” Jenay said as she escorted him into the bedroom. “The cops were searching every room. I was with the Robbery detective when they entered this room and searched it.”
“So you saw those jewels in your suitcase with your own two eyes?”
Jenay nodded. “Yes. They were there. That wasn’t a mistake or any setup by the police. They had been placed in my suitcase. But I didn’t place them there. I swear to you, Charles. I had nothing to do with this!”
Her tears returned and Charles held her again. “Don’t cry,” he said tenderly, as she cried in his arms.
“I was only trying to do my job. I never seen inside of that safe. Meg told me it existed, and had shown it to me, but I never even thought to look inside of it. Meg had the responsibility for doing the end-of-day check. I viewed my role as the backup. I knew the code and I knew what to look for if somebody had tampered with it. But even Meg said there had been no tampering. She checked in every way she could. And I believe her.”
Charles nodded. “I do too.” Then Charles pulled her back and looked into her eyes. “But I want you to stop worrying about that. We’ll get this figured out. I’ll hire the best detectives in this country if I have to. You will not be going back to that jail, I promise you that. Now let’s get you a bath, and get you to bed.”
“You’re going to stay here tonight?”
Charles was touched by her need. “Yes,” he said. “There’s nowhere else I would rather be.”
Jenay attempted to smile, and she nodded okay. But even Charles’s presence that night could not quell her devastated heart.
The next morning, while Charles was still asleep, she woke up with a start. She remembered it. She remembered it when she was going over the books with a fine tooth comb. It was a small matter, but it could mean a lot.
Charles had her in a bear of a hug, and she had to peel away his big arms just to get out of bed. But she got up, showered and dressed, hurried downstairs and then into her office. When she found what she was looking for, she began to hurry toward the elevator just as Meg was coming in to work.
“You’re free!” Meg said with joy in her voice, and ran into Jenay’s arms. “When did they let you out?”
“Late yesterday. I don’t know how Charles pulled it off, but he managed to get my case on the docket before court adjourned for the night, and the judge granted me bail.”
“Bail? You mean they didn’t drop the charges?” Meg was disappointed.
“No. But . . . Meg, I know you have a key to the house safe. Right?”
“Right.”
“Who else has a key?”
“You.”
“And?”
“And that’s it.”
“Are you positive?”
“I’m positive.”
Jenay nodded. “Okay,” she said. “Thanks for the info.” And then she hurried back upstairs.
When Charles opened his eyes a few minutes later, Jenay was sitting on the edge of the bed. But she wasn’t smiling. She had a look of grave concern.
He leaned up on his elbows. “What is it now?” he asked her.
“When you took over this place, Charles, did you have all of the locks changed, or did you just reprogram them?”
“No. They had those old-styled key entry locks. I changed the entire building to keycard locks.”
“And there were levels of master keys, right?”
“Right. The maids could enter the bedrooms, and maintenance could enter the outer rooms, etc.. But only myself, my manager, and my bookkeeper, Meg, had access to the entire building.”
“Including the safe?”
“Right.”
“And you have your key, Meg has hers, and I have Beatrice’s.”
“That’s right.”
Jenay handed him the paper she found. “Then what is this?”
Charles looked at it. He flung his hair out of his face. “What is it?”
“An order for a brand new, full access, master key. For your new GM. For me.”
“I’ll be damn,” Charles said, reading the invoice. “You’re right.”
“You didn’t order it?”
“No.”
“Beatrice signed for it.”
“I see that.”