Page 30 of A Touch of Murder
"Is there an extra charge for that?" she asked.
"Nope, you'll just have to give Jacey an email so we can forward the audio file to you there." Adam tried not to gasp as Jacey opened the box, and he stared at the large necklace. The chain was thick around the neck, with diamonds and maybe sapphires going around the neck and spilling into an oval at the base that was also filled with diamonds. If this was real, it was very expensive. The thought of this woman carrying it around in a box was a bit unsettling. Still, before he reacted, he needed to see the history and find out if there was a chance those diamonds were real. "It's beautiful."
"Thank you. It's too much to ever wear, but my family has been proud of it for years. My mother passed before my grandmother, so it went to me when she passed many years ago.I've kept it in a safe at home, but I want to know what it is before I pass it down to my daughter." Mrs. Kendal stared at the necklace with heartfelt admiration.
"Well, let's see what we have here." Adam pulled off his glove and carefully reached for the necklace. It was heavy in his hands, but he didn't have time to consider that as visions started to play in his head. He closed his eyes and let them come. "Smell roses, very strong smell. Pale hands holding the necklace. A man with white gloves on his hands putting it around a woman's neck. The room they are in is what we would now say is filled with antiques. Another vision of the woman wearing it. She's got a crown on her head. Not huge, more like a band of jewels that lay low on her head. But I sense royalty." Adam held his breath as he saw a man fingering the necklace around the woman's neck. He focused harder on the man. No, it couldn't be. He had to be mistaken. If this was real, it was priceless. A piece of history. Adam let the vision play out, keeping quiet for several minutes as he tried to confirm what he was seeing. He slowly opened his eyes and set the necklace back into place. "Give me a moment. I have a lot to tell you." He put the glove back on his hand and took the open water bottle Jacey handed to him.
"You mean you saw more than you said out loud?" she asked.
Jacey nodded. "Sometimes he needs to focus on what is going on in the vision and doesn't say it out loud right away. Give him a second to recover and he'll tell you everything. We're recording this, so you won't miss a thing."
"Recover? Is he okay?" She looked at Adam with a worried expression.
"He's fine. Just feels dehydrated after doing a reading. He'll get some water in him and be fine," Jacey assured her.
Adam drank the water and tore into a candy bar. After a few pieces, he glanced at Jacey. "Can you grab my laptop, please? I need to look something up."
"Sure." Jacey got up and grabbed Adam's laptop from the desk and brought it over to the table.
Adam took the laptop and quickly looked up Joséphine Bonaparte. He blinked at the images of her several times, unable to believe what he was seeing. He quickly pulled up information on the woman, then looked for images of her first husband. Adam was stunned. He'd held antique jewelry before, but nothing with such historical value. "Okay, I know you won't want to believe a word I say, but I can tell you, I'm never wrong about what I see. The history may differ than I think. That will be for you to research in time, but this necklace seems not only to be very expensive because of the jewels, but also because of its historic value."
"What are you saying?" Mrs. Kendal asked cautiously.
"I saw a woman wearing this necklace and the man beside her reminded me of Napoleon Bonaparte."
"What?" The woman put her hand to her chest.
"Wait, there is more." Adam wanted to get everything out. "I do not think Napoleon gave her the necklace. I see another man putting it around her neck and clasping it for her. He kisses her neck. I think this was her first husband, Alexandre de Beauharnais. He was later killed, and she later married Napoleon. When I looked up Alexandre's image, it is the man I saw standing behind her. I think this necklace belonged at one time to Joséphine de Beauharnais or Empress Joséphine as she was also called." Adam turned the computer around to show Mrs. Kendal a couple photos of the woman. "Do you know if you have relatives from France?"
"Yes, but I know little about the history there or of our relatives from there." Mrs. Kendal's hand shook as she reached out and touched the laptop screen.
"I assume from what I saw that your necklace is from the late seventeen-hundreds. I can't be sure. I do know she was wearing it while she was with Napoleon, but I do think her first husband was the one to give it to her." Adam prayed the woman didn't have a heart attack as she stared at the pictures. "Mrs. Kendal, are you local?"
"What? Oh, yes, I live here in Hidden Falls with my husband." She flicked her gaze up to Adam, then back to the computer.
"What I'd like to do is have Jacey call one of our local police officers to come here—"
"No, you can't take it from me. It's been in my family for so many years." Mrs. Kendal reached for the box.
"No, no. That isn't what I was suggesting. I'd like to ask the officer to escort you down to the bank where you can put this in a safe deposit box where it will be safe. Not only do I think these jewels are real and very valuable, but the history behind this necklace could make it priceless. You'll need to find someone who is knowledgeable about the history and about jewelry to confirm everything I've said, but I don't think this is something you want to keep at home. Jacey and I won't speak to anyone about what we know, but you really don't want to risk a historical piece like this being lost in a fire or stolen from your home," Adam told her.
"You're serious?" She sat back, taking a long breath.
"Yes, Ma'am, I'm very serious. Confident enough that I don't feel comfortable letting you just walk out of here carrying this without some kind of security or escort." Adam glanced at Jacey. "Can you call the station and request an officer to escort Mrs.Kendal to the bank, or home if she chooses? Either way, she needs someone with her."
Jacey glanced at the older woman. "Is this okay with you?"
She nodded, then blinked as tears filled her eyes. "My grandmother told me it was an important piece of French history, but I never imagined."
As Jacey went out to call the police, Adam stood and got a box of tissue and set it beside Mrs. Kendal. "It's an amazing heirloom."
Mrs. Kendal laughed. "I guess it's time I do my genealogy, isn't it?"
Adam grinned. "I hope you stop by once you do and tell me what you find."
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Barret walked into Chubby's, the local burger joint, and waited until the line at the counter had cleared. He smiled at the teenager working. "Hi, I was hoping to speak to you and your other co-workers for a second. I'm trying to find out if anyone has seen either of these men around town." He showed her the printed images of Maggie's drawings.
