some clout at the club, and Ava's GTO arrived in record time. David gave the guy a big enough tip that I saw just how to earn that sort of speed, before he jumped into Ava's back seat.
"Well, I don't think it matters if Grant bought it or not," David said as soon as Ava pulled away from the curb. "What matters is we succeeded."
Ava's eyes shot to his in the rearview mirror. "What do you mean you succeeded?" She turned to me. "Did you…?"
"We found it." I gave her a triumphant smile.
"Ohmigosh!" She was so happy she swerved a little on the winding drive down toward the main road.
"Whoa, careful, Andretti," David said from the back.
"But you really have the emerald?" Ava asked, clearly having to force her attention back on the road.
"I do." I quickly filled her in on how we'd found the decoy jar of wrinkle cream as we made the trip back to Oak Valley.
By the time we'd arrived at the winery and parked in the gravel lot, Ava was practically vibrating with anticipation. I quickly ushered her and David in through the back door to the kitchen, where I produced the small container from my pocket and set it on the counter.
I noticed Ava's hands were trembling slightly as she unscrewed the top, though if she was feeling anything like I was, some of that was lingering adrenaline at our near miss with law enforcement.
She gasped out loud as she took off the lid and pulled her emerald out. "Emmy, you did it. You found it!" She turned a pair of watery eyes toward me.
"I helped," David protested on the other side of her.
Ava turned her grateful smile to him. "Thank you. My white knight once again."
David bowed at the compliment. "Anytime, mi'lady."
"The cuteness. It burns," I said, only half joking.
Though no one paid me any attention.
"So, I guess this means we were right about Gia," Ava mused, turning the gem over in her hand. "She did take it after all."
I nodded. "It looks like it."
"Do you think the killer knew?" she asked. "I mean, what Gia was up to?"
I shrugged. "I don't know. Honestly? I have no idea how the theft ties in with her death."
"Maybe someone figured out what she was doing, and that's why she was killed," David offered. "Didn't you say she'd done this before? Stolen jewelry from another runway?"
"Ruby earrings at Daisy Dot's spring show," I said. "They disappeared long enough for Gia to swap fake gems in place of the real ones."
"So, maybe Daisy Dot figured it out," he went on. "Maybe she realized her rubies were fake and put together what must have happened to them."
"It's possible," I agreed. I moved to the cupboard and pulled down three wineglasses. It was after five, and if there had ever been a day I needed to give my nerves a little Cabernet calming, it was that one. I grabbed a bottle of the red wine from a wooden rack on the counter, quickly uncorking it.
"If Daisy figured out that Gia had robbed her, maybe she confronted her at the Links show," Ava said, picking up the thread. "Maybe Gia denied it and they argued. Or maybe Daisy even saw Gia trying to pull the same thing again with the emerald."
"And she killed Gia out of revenge?" David asked.
"Revenge, anger, preventing another theft," Ava said. "It could have been a heat-of-the-moment attack. It's possible she didn't even realize she'd actually killed Gia until it was too late."
David nodded. "I could see that," he agreed as I handed glasses of wine to both him and Ava. "Thanks," he told me.
I nodded, raising my own glass up in a cheers motion. "To the return of the emerald."
Ava and David raised their glasses in salute before sipping.
Ava took a beat to enjoy the flavor before setting her glass down on the granite counter again. "You know, I think it could have been Daisy." She set the emerald down next to her wineglass. "But there are other people who might have been upset at Gia for what she was doing."
"Like her agent, Hughie Smart, for instance," I offered. "Maybe he went backstage to see Gia after the show, saw the empty pendant, and realized she'd stolen the emerald."
"Maybe he even realized she'd taken the rubies too," Ava added.
"And he killed her to what—save face?" David asked.
I shrugged. "Possibly. I mean, she was risking his reputation by stealing from designers. And we don't know how many