Parisian Affair (36 page)

'And now this Tadjer character is trying to
get them all back,' Todd stated.

'Exactly,' Allegra said.

'Why?' Todd asked.

'They'll be much more valuable that way. A
huge matched number of emeralds. And they may have an extremely
important provenance.'

'So that would make them even more valuable,'
Todd said.

Allegra nodded. 'Yes. They could've belonged
to Marie Antoinette or somebody as famous. You can imagine what
that would do to their value. You saw what people were willing to
pay for Princess Karima's ring alone.'

'But I wonder why Tadjer sold them off in the
first place if that's the case,' he said, his practical mind at
work.

'He wasn't in control then. Jules Levant
was.'

'A small detail that I forgot,' Todd
admitted.

'But the number one reason that they were
sold separately was that Jules Levant got them by some irregular
means.'

'Stolen?'

'Maybe. Or whoever was selling them didn't
want anyone to know,' Allegra said. 'Anyway, I'm going to get
started on the telephone. Using the hotel switchboard will be
easier, if more expensive. But since we're not footing the bill,
why not? The Vicomte de Rabe is right here in Paris. I'll see what
I can find out there.'

She picked up the receiver at the bedside and
dialed the switchboard. 'This is Mademoiselle Sheridan,' she said.
'I would like to be connected with the Vicomte Philippe de Rabe's
residence, please.'

'One moment, mademoiselle,' the operator
said, without missing a beat.

Allegra put her hand over the receiver.
'They're so used to important names at the Ritz, the operator
didn't give it a second thought.'

Todd grinned.

The number began ringing, and Allegra removed
her hand from the receiver. The phone was picked up on the second
ring. '
Bonjour
,' a female voice said.

'
Bonjour
,' Allegra replied. 'Le
Vicomte de Rabe,
s'il vous plait
.'

There was a momentary silence, then, 'Le
vicomte
is deceased,' the voice said.

'Oh, my, I'm terribly sorry,' Allegra said.
'Is it possible to speak to the
vicomtesse?
'

'Who should I say is calling?'

'My name is Allegra Sheridan,' she replied.
'I'm doing an article and research on jewelry, and one of the
pieces that I'm writing about belongs to the
vicomtesse
.'

'One moment,' the woman replied.

Allegra crossed her fingers and held them in
the air for Todd to see. Todd responded by crossing two toes and
holding them up for her to see. She almost laughed aloud.

'Madame Sheridan?' The voice bespoke
cultivation, sophistication, and glamour ail in those two
words.

Allegra wouldn't correct her for saying
madame
. '
Oui
,' she said.

'I can speak English,' the vicomtesse said.
'What is it that you want to know, madame?'

'I'm doing some research for a magazine on
emeralds,' Allegra replied, 'and I saw the magnificent emerald
necklace that the
vicomte
purchased several years ago from
Jules Levant,' she said.

'Yes?' the
vicomtesse
replied.

She's not going to make this easy
,
Allegra thought. 'I hope I don't appear to be nosy,' she said, 'but
I wondered if the necklace is still in your possession. You see,
I'm tracing the provenances of several very important emerald
jewels as part of the article. If you don't want your name
mentioned, then I'll certainly honor your request.'

'I see,' the
vicomtesse
replied. She
cleared her throat before continuing. 'I'm afraid, madame, that
you've called the wrong party.'

'Excuse me?' she responded.

'My late husband did not buy the emerald
necklace for me, madame,' the
vicomtesse
said. 'He bought it
for his mistress.'

Oh, my God, Allegra thought with horror. What
have I done?
'I—I'm sorry,' she said. 'I had no idea.'

'Of course not,' the
vicomtesse
said.
'Why would you? Should you want to pursue this further, I suggest
you call Danielle Dandois. If you'll wait a moment, I'll give you
the number.'

'Thank you,' Allegra said.

There was silence for a few moments; then the
vicomtesse
came back on the line. 'Have you a pen and
paper?'

'Yes,' Allegra replied, quickly taking the
pad and pen from the bedside table.

The
vicomtesse
gave her the telephone
number. 'I wish you luck,' she said afterward. 'I'm afraid Danielle
is . . . shall we say she is not always terribly responsible about
things.'

'I can't thank you enough,' Allegra said.

'Think nothing of it,' the
vicomtesse
replied, then hung up the receiver.

Allegra turned and looked at Todd.

'What?' he asked.

'I'm mortified,' she said, and told him what
had transpired.

Todd couldn't help his laughter. 'Jesus, this
is really opening a can of worms, isn't it?'

Allegra nodded. 'I suppose so. No, I know so.
Well, on to the next call.'

'How about a kiss first?' Todd said. He
didn't know whether it was the champagne or simply Allegra's allure
or his own body's greedy lust, but he felt incredibly horny.

'How about it?' she replied.

He took her into his arms and kissed her
passionately. When he drew back, she sighed. 'Ah, such a
temptation. But first things first. Let me make this call.'

He slipped an arm around her waist again.
'Okay,' he said, 'but try to hurry, huh?' He kissed the back of her
neck. 'I've got a monster in my pants.'

Allegra laughed and slapped his arm
playfully, then dialed the number the
vicomtesse
had given
her.

The telephone rang four times before it was
picked up. 'Danielle Dandois Antiquaire,' a male voice
answered.

Allegra was momentarily flummoxed. She hadn't
realized she was going to reach a business. 'Madame Dandois,
s'il vous plait
,' she said.

'Who is calling, please?' the man asked.

'My name is Allegra Sheridan. I'm afraid that
Madame Dandois doesn't know me. The Vicomtesse de Rabe gave me her
number.' Allegra was certain that the
vicomtesse's
name
would get her through to Madame Dandois.

'In regard to?' the man asked with a nasty
tone.

'It is a personal matter, monsieur.'

'Hold, please.'

After a moment a woman's voice came on the
line. 'Yes, this is Danielle Dandois. How may I help you?'

Allegra gave her the same pitch she'd given
the
vicomtesse
. When she was finished, Danielle Dandois
burst into gales of laughter. 'Sorry, Madame Sheridan,' she said.
'I can't help it. The vicomtesse will be stewing about this for
weeks to come.' She laughed helplessly again. 'But I'm afraid I
can't help you,' she finally said.

'Oh?' Allegra said, her heart sinking.

'No, madame,' the woman replied. 'You'll have
to call that bastard Ramtane Tadjer. He owns Jules Levant
Joaillier. He bought the necklace from me when Philippe died. I got
a good price from him, too, even though the bargaining went on for
weeks.'

'I see,' Allegra said. 'So he has the
necklace.'

'As far as I know,' the woman replied. 'I
never cared for it, really. Not to my taste. I only wore it for
Philippe. So Ram, the awful bastard, actually did me a favor taking
it off my hands.' She laughed again.

'Thank you very much for your help, madame,'
Allegra said.

Allegra replaced the receiver in its cradle.
She turned to Todd, who looked at her quizzically. 'Ramtane Tadjer
bought the necklace from her,' she said.

'That's great,' he said.

He hugged her, then kissed her lips. 'Why
don't you take a break and I'll make the next telephone call?'

'You don't have to do that,' Allegra said. 'I
started this and—'

'I'm here to help you,' Todd said. 'Remember?
Here, give me the list, and I'll try to get one of them.'

Allegra handed it to him, and Todd looked it
over. 'What if I try the Greek. Costas Stephanides. I always loved
that actress he shacked up with. What's her name?'

'Marina Koutsoukou,' Allegra replied. 'But
you're not going to be able to get hold of Stephanides, because he
died several years ago.'

'You're positive about that?'

Allegra nodded. 'Yes, so we have to try to
get hold of Marina Koutsoukou somehow or other.'

'Were they ever married?' Todd asked.

'I don't think so,' Allegra said. 'I know he
had this huge place on Mykonos, the Greek island. It used to be in
all the magazines.'

'I guess I could start by seeing if I can get
a number for a Stephanides on Mykonos,' Todd said. 'Here. Why don't
we change places. You spread out while I make this call.'

'You're a sweetheart,' Allegra said, giving
him a kiss. She climbed onto the bed from the edge and propped
herself against the pillows.

Todd scooted over to sit on the side of the
bed, then picked up the telephone receiver and dialed the
switchboard. 'I want to place a call to the residence of Costas
Stephanides in Mykonos, Greece,' he told the operator. 'I don't
have the number.'

He turned and winked at Allegra.

The operator came back on the line. 'The
number is ringing, monsieur,' she said.

'
Merci
,' Todd replied, then turned to
Allegra. 'It's ringing,' he said with surprise.

The phone rang and rang and just when Todd
had about given up, a woman picked up. '
Kalimera,
' she
said.

'Kalimera,' Todd replied, using one of the
five Greek words he knew. 'Do you speak English?'

'Of course,' came the reply in what was
almost a snarl.

'Hi. My name is Todd Hall, and I'm writing an
article on important emeralds,' he said. He was glad he'd had the
champagne. It made lying so much easier.

'So?' came the impatient reply.

'I was trying to get in touch with someone in
Mr. Costas Stephanides's family, because—' he began.

'I am Arianna Stephanides,' the woman said.
'His daughter.'

'Wonderful,' Todd said enthusiastically.
'Perhaps you can help me. Your father bought a very important
emerald brooch from Jules Levant Joaillier several years ago,
and—'

'Get to the point,' the woman said in a rude
voice.

'Sorry,' Todd said apologetically. 'The
brooch is to be featured in my article along with other emeralds,
and I wondered if you still have it.'

'Why would I tell you?' the woman snapped.
'You could be a thief for all I know.'

Todd, fearing she would slam the telephone
down, quickly spat out a rush of words. 'I'm only a writer. A
simple student, really. I'm calling from New York City. I couldn't
steal it if I wanted to. I'm just doing an article on emeralds. And
this brooch is—'

'I don't have the emerald,' the woman said in
her harshest voice yet. 'My father's whore has it. Call the
bitch.'

She slammed down the receiver with a bang
that reverberated in Todd's ear. He turned to Allegra. 'Je-sus, I'm
great with the ladies,' he said.

'What happened?' Allegra asked.

He told her.

'Then we have to try to locate Marina
Koutsoukou another way,' Allegra said. 'I wonder if she still lives
in Mykonos?'

'One way to find out,' Todd replied, and he
dialed the switchboard again. He gave the operator the
instructions.

The phone was picked up after the second
ring. '
Kalimera.
' It was a man's voice.

'
Kalimera
,' Todd said. 'Do you speak
English?'

'Of course.' The reply was almost a snort of
derision this time.

'I'm trying to locate Marina Koutsoukou,'
Todd said. 'I'm writing an article on important emeralds, and one
of them is a brooch that Costas Stephanides gave her. I won—'

'Madame Koutsoukou is not here,' came the
snapped interruption.

'Do you know where I could locate her?' Todd
asked politely. 'This article is—'

'Madame is in London.'

Todd took a deep breath, wondering how he got
involved in this. But any misgivings he had were swept away when
Allegra ran a hand down his back and tickled his butt.

'Is it possible to get her number there?'
Todd asked. 'This is very important.'

'Madame's number is not given out to total
strangers,' the man said with satisfaction.

'But Costas Stephanides's daughter gave me
this number,' Todd said. 'She realized how important this is,
and—'

'Arianna Stephanides gave you this number?'
the man asked incredulously.

'Yes,' Todd said.

'Well, perhaps, I could give madame your
number,' the man said, 'and she could call you if she wants
to.'

'That would be wonderful,' Todd said. 'I'd
appreciate it. I'm at the Ritz hotel in Paris,' he said, and he
gave the man the number.

'Very well,' the man said. 'I'll call madame.
She will call you if she sees fit to do so.'

'Thank you so much,' Todd said.

'You're welcome, sir,' the man said.

Todd hung up and turned to Allegra. 'Well, if
you haven't already gathered what that was about, keep your fingers
crossed. 'Madame'—as her manservant, or whatever he is, calls
her—may be phoning us from London.'

'That's fabulous,' Allegra said, throwing her
arms around him. 'For that, you deserve a kiss.'

'At least,' Todd said, turning and taking her
into his arms. They kissed playfully at first and then, becoming
quickly aroused, Todd slipped his hands inside her robe and began
stroking her bare flesh, drawing her closer to him.

Letting the business at hand slip away,
Allegra allowed herself to enjoy Todd's gentle caresses, his
passionate kisses, and her body's response. She slid her hands up
and down his hard, muscled back, and up into his raven black hair
as his lips moved from hers down to her neck. His tongue licked a
path down to her breasts.