Sandpiper Way (Cedar Cove #8)(73)

“I’d better talk to Allan soon,” he mumbled, eager to clear the air.

Emily remained in her chair. “There’s something else,” she said in a low voice.

“What now?” he asked with a groan.

Emily opened her purse clasp and withdrew a clear plastic bag that she held out to him.

Dave stared at the diamond earrings, then back at her, utterly perplexed. “What’s this?”

“You don’t know?” She sounded astonished.

“No.” He was beginning to feel angry. What was she up to?

“You don’t recognize these earrings?”

“Should I?” He dropped them on his desk.

Reaching inside her purse for a tissue, Emily dabbed her eyes. “I found them in your suit coat pocket.”

She might as well have hit him in the stomach with a baseball bat. Dave literally fell back in his chair. It took a moment for the information to sink in. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse. “When?”

“The night of our anniversary dinner. I picked up your coat and one of them fell out. I discovered the second one in the other pocket.”

“And you thought…” He couldn’t say the words.

“In the beginning I assumed you were involved with another woman. Then later, after I learned about the watch, I assumed Mrs. Evans had given you the earrings, too, and that…that you intended to give them to me for Christmas.”

“The earrings belonged to Martha?”

Tears spilling down her pale cheeks, Emily nodded.

“How do you know that?”

“I…I saw a photograph of them in the file that came with her will.”

No wonder Emily had been so moody. Dave shook his head helplessly. “Emily,” he said, holding her gaze, “I swear to you on my life that I’ve never seen those earrings until this minute.”

“How’d they get into your pocket then?” she demanded.

He didn’t have an explanation nor could he guess how it had happened. “I don’t have a clue.”

Pressing her hands to her mouth, Emily doubled over and started to weep in earnest.

Dave felt like weeping himself. The news about the watch had horrified him, but that was minor compared to what he felt now. “It can’t be,” he murmured. “It just can’t be.”

“I saw a picture with my own eyes,” she said through her tears. “Mrs. Evans had more than one pair of diamond earrings, so…so she had everything photographed.”

Dave was too stunned to speak.

Emily had managed to control her sobbing, which had dwindled down to a series of indelicate sniffles. “I think you should talk to Troy Davis,” she said, her eyes imploring him.

Had she lost all sense? “He’ll arrest me if I do.” The evidence pointed directly at him and Troy wouldn’t have any choice but to hold Dave for questioning.

“You have to,” Emily insisted. “Otherwise no one will ever believe you.”

But Dave had nothing to offer the sheriff. Nothing to justify his possession of the watch, unless that letter came to light. And certainly nothing to explain the earrings. He wouldn’t know what to say.

“Please, Dave.”

“I can’t.” He had to get through Christmas first and then he’d deal with this situation. He simply couldn’t do it now.

“Why not?” She watched him intently.

“Emily, think about it. We’re less than two weeks from Christmas. I’m responsible for organizing all our Christmas events, which includes delivering the charity baskets. And I have my hours at the bank.” His mind whirled with everything that needed to be done before and during the holidays. He had yet to write his sermon for the Christmas Eve service and frankly he’d prefer not to do it in jail.

“Dave, you can’t put this off.”

“I have no other option.” A thought suddenly struck him. “Have you told anyone else about this?”

“No.”

“Thank God.” That, at least, was a relief.

“You’ve got to talk to Sheriff Davis! You can’t have this hanging over your head. If the information somehow came out, it could ruin our lives.”

“The only one who knows about it is you.”

“But if Sheriff Davis finds out…” Her eyes pleaded with him. “Don’t you remember you lost the watch at Olivia Griffin’s?”

He dismissed her concern. He’d worried about it earlier, but he doubted Olivia would place any significance on his having the watch. Dave had picked it up the next day. She’d probably forgotten the whole thing by now.

“It can wait,” he said. He didn’t think Emily fully understood the pressure he was under. “I’m innocent.”

“Of course you are.”

He noted the slight hesitation in her voice. “You don’t believe that, do you?”

Quickly she looked away. “Of course I do. But I’d feel a lot more comfortable if you went to see Sheriff Davis. We could go together and talk to him. He’s a reasonable man.”

“I agree, but if we go to him now he might detain me and that can’t happen. Not less than two weeks before Christmas. Don’t you realize how many responsibilities I’m juggling?” Dave didn’t need one more problem to complicate his already overloaded schedule. “It can wait for another two weeks.”