was and the theory that she'd been murdered in the act.
When we finished, Eddie was shaking his head. "She had it all. And she needed more." He clucked his tongue. "So sad."
I had to agree.
He picked up the gem and held it up to the light. "Though, I can see how she was tempted. Look at how it sparkles."
"Eddie," Ava said, looking nervous as her eyes followed the gem. "Maybe you should just put it down."
"I mean, I've never actually seen one so big," Eddie said, tossing it from one hand to the other. "Or heavy."
"Eddie," Ava said, warning in her voice. "Let's just set it down on the counter, huh?"
"And it's so expertly cut." Eddie held it up to the light again, squinting one eye. "I'm no jeweler, but that's gotta be what, eight carats? Nine? Fifteen?"
"Twelve. But Eddie, can you please just set it down—"
But Ava didn't get to finish.
I watched it play out before me as if in horrible slow motion.
Eddie spun, his eyes going toward Ava, as his thick fingers fumbled with the gem. It slipped, and he used the other hand to try to catch it.
David's eyes went wide.
Ava gasped.
My heart skipped a beat.
And the gem slowly fell through the air, crashing to the tiled kitchen floor, where it shattered into dozens of tiny green pieces that scattered in all directions.
"No!" Ava cried out, dropping to her knees. "No, no, no, no!"
"I-I'm sorry." Eddie's skin went pale. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to…" He trailed off, and I swore he looked like he was going to cry.
I put a hand on his shoulder. "It's not your fault," I mumbled to him, even as my heart broke for Ava, who was carefully trying to gather up the tiny slivers of what had been her future in her hands.
"No, no, no!" she cried again.
I joined her on the floor. "Oh, Ava, I'm so sorry. We'll figure this out." Truthfully, I had no idea how to figure it out. Or fix it.
"Girls, get up," David said from behind us.
I spun around to find his eyes on the shards of emerald. He leaned down to help Ava off the floor. "Come on. It's okay."
"No, it's not okay!" Ava protested, though she did let him help her to a standing position. "You don't understand. I needed that emerald!"
David shook his head. "No you didn't."
"Yes I did!"
"Not that emerald."
Ava opened her mouth to protest again, but something in David's tone must have caught her attention the way it did mine.
"What do you mean, not that one?" I asked him.
"I mean," he said, his voice calm, "emeralds don't shatter."
Ava frowned, gaze going from me to Eddie to David. "Wh-what?"
"Emeralds are some of the hardest gemstones. They're rated at a 7.5–8 on the Mohs scale."
I blinked at him. Being that I could barely afford costume jewelry, I knew little about precious gems. "So, that means they don't break easily?"
"Correct. It would take some force. If I hit it with a hammer"—he shrugged—"yeah, it would chip. But not shatter like this," he finished, nodding to the floor.
"So you're saying that was not actually an emerald." I looked down at the sparkling green slivers on the tiles.
"It was a fake?" Eddie said. I could see the relief flooding through him. "I broke a fake?"
David nodded. Then he cocked his head to Ava. "Sorry, hon."
Ava shook her head. "No. I mean, I-I guess that's good news, right?"
"Then what was this one made of?" I asked, crouching down again to pick up a green shard.
"If I had to guess? Glass," David said.
I stood back up, holding the small piece in my hands. It had shattered a lot like a wineglass would.
"It must have been the fake that Gia planned to swap into the necklace after she stole the real one," Eddie surmised.
"So, if Gia still had the fake emerald in her bag, that means she hadn't yet switched them when the killer attacked her," I said.
"Which means the real emerald is still out there somewhere," Eddie added.
Ava sighed deeply. "The killer did take it after all."
We were all silent a moment, contemplating that depressing thought.
David opened another bottle of wine and poured all of us a refill, along with a glass for poor Eddie, who was still shaking. Ava slumped at the counter, looking like the emotional roller coaster had drained her. I grabbed a broom and swept up the mess on the floor.
I was just putting it away, feeling reasonably sure there was no green