man's hand and walked away. The man wrapped the gems back up in the cloth and shoved them into his pocket before turning to go.
"There!" Ava cried, stabbing at the screen.
I hit the space bar on Al's computer, pausing the video, as the man turned his body. For that split second, his face was pointed directly at the camera.
Only, it was not the face of Carl Costello or Hughie Smart.
The dark-haired man had a very prominent cleft in his chin.
"Ohmigod, it's Stalker Guy!" Ava said. She turned to me. "That's him, right?"
I nodded, my mind churning over this unexpected development. "But what was Gia's stalker doing with the rubies?"
"That's the guy who ran you off the road?" David asked, leaning in to get a better look at the screen.
"Yes!" Ava said. "And possibly broke into Emmy's cottage."
"And was fencing stolen rubies from Daisy Dot's show." I turned to Ava and David. "Is it possible we've had it all wrong? Gia wasn't the thief after all?"
"But you found the fake emerald in her makeup bag," David reminded me.
"Right. I did." I glanced at the man's face on the screen again.
"Did you get what you needed?" Al asked, coming back over.
"Uh, yes, thank you," I told her. "Is there any way I could get a copy of this footage?" I asked, thinking that a picture of this guy's face could help Grant in his search for a name.
"Of course," Al said, spinning her laptop back around to face her. "I'd be happy to email you a copy."
"We just need the last couple of minutes," I told her. "Where his face is visible."
She nodded, though the way her eyes flickered up toward us, I could tell she was curious what we wanted with the guy. Luckily, she was a savvy enough pawn broker not to ask. Even if her shop was "family friendly."
I quickly gave her my email address, and with a few keystrokes, she sent the last minute of the video to us.
"Now, is there anything else I can help you all with today?" she asked, closing her laptop and stowing it back behind the counter again.
"No, thank you. You've been very helpful," Ava told her.
"Well, I'm always happy to help out a friend of a friend," she said. Then added, "Especially when there's a finder's fee involved." She gave us a wink.
* * *
"Okay, so Stalker Guy has the rubies," Ava said once we were back in her car and heading toward home.
"Or he had them a few weeks ago," David noted.
"Right," Ava agreed. "But how did he get them? Did he steal them from Daisy's show, or did he steal them from Gia?"
"Well, it feels unlikely he'd be in a position to steal them from Daisy's show himself. I mean, I suppose it's possible, but Gia would have had more access," I said.
"And she had a fake emerald," David pointed out again. "Which means she at least intended to steal the emerald."
"Right," I said. "It would be too coincidental if two different people stole the rubies and emerald."
"Okay, so let's still assume it was Gia who took the rubies and replaced them with fake glass ones," Ava said as she signaled and merged lanes. "Then, how did Stalker Guy get them from Gia? You think he stole them from her?"
"Or maybe," I said, a theory forming as I spoke. "Maybe she gave them to him."
Ava's eyes left the road just long enough to glance my way. "Why would she do that?"
"This guy has shown up in the background of a lot of photos where Gia is working. Fashion shows, photo shoots, even that car show."
"Right," Ava agreed, nodding.
"Well, maybe he wasn't actually stalking her. Maybe he was there for another reason?"
"Like what?" David asked from the back seat. "You think he was on to her theft?"
"Or maybe he was in on the theft."
I swiveled in my seat to see David's face break into a wicked grin as the implication set in. "Her partner in crime."
I nodded. "Exactly. I mean, where did Gia get those fake glass gems to swap for the real one?"
"I never thought of that," Ava mused.
"She had to have had someone make at least passable copies. Heck, we were all fooled by the emerald."
"So you think this guy is the one who made the fakes?" Ava asked.
"It's possible. Let's say Gia takes photos of the gems at fittings. She sends them to this guy. He creates a copy made of glass and gets it to Gia to