I was thinking it through again. I was sure I had it. "Did you find something?" he asked from behind me.
"I think so," I told him. "See here? Charlie knows a lot about coins. It's his hobby. He collects them, lectures at a coin society and often takes excursions with them to coin museums."
"Okay?" Solomon frowned.
"He knows all about coins," I said, taking the list from him. I scanned it, then flipped to the next page. There it was! Something so innocuous, I totally ignored it. "There was a coin magazine amongst the things we salvaged in the vault but where were the coins? Nowhere to be found. That’s because there weren't any. Not a single one."
"A magazine? That's your bright revelation?"
"There's no point in keeping a coin collector magazine in a bank vault. It's worth even less than the five-dollar cover price someone paid for it. But I'll bet the content is valuable information. That’s why it was folded up and stuffed inside."
"You're way ahead of me here. Are you saying the stolen item is a coin?"
"Yep! That's exactly what I'm saying. A coin is small and portable. It would easily fit into that box and is the type of thing Joe Bagshot would steal, right? Small, valuable and highly portable. It could be worth a fortune to a private collector and Charlie would know that. He said he occasionally remained in the room while people were putting their precious items inside their boxes. What if he saw a rare coin and realized what it was? Except he couldn't get it as long as Bagshot were alive. He might have even researched it in advance. When he realized Bagshot's box was the target, he knew what was stolen and also that Bagshot wasn't coming back for it."
"So he hired us to track it down in order to claim it for himself. No one could deny it wasn't his all along. He could probably justify our fee in the bank records as investigative security measures or some other plausible excuse."
"He relied on us not realizing its value or provenance. We might find the robbers and the stash, never bothering to recognize a little, tiny coin."
"You might have just cracked the case," said Solomon, leaning down to plant a kiss on my cheek. "I knew hiring you was the best idea I ever had."
"Marrying me was the best idea you ever had."
"It's not a competition. Take the win," he said and kissed me again. "If Lucas can tie a coin to one of Bagshot's suspected robberies, we’ll have a solid foundation to work from."
"There's only one problem with that," I said. An alert popped on my screen that I had an email from Annie Woodley. I ignored it for the moment while I assembled my thoughts about Charlie. "We can't tie any of this to Charlie, not in a concrete way, and it doesn't help us find whoever stole the coin, assuming that's what it is. It might already be long gone."
"Charlie doesn't seem to think so."
"Charlie has no clue who stole it or who ordered the theft. He's just hopes we can get it before it disappears into thin air. I bet he'd take possession of it, wait a few months or even a couple of years and then sell it. He knows exactly the kind of people who would be interested in purchasing it."
"I'm going to take this information to Jord and see what he makes of it," decided Solomon. "Want to come?"
My phone buzzed and I picked it up. Maddox texted CALL ME ASAP. "I have to focus on Sophie right now," I said. "And call Maddox back. I think he has information for me." Before I could even hit dial, my phone rang. The hospital’s number flashed on the screen.
"Lexi?" Alice asked through the sounds of commotion and a high-pitched beep.
"Is everything okay?" I replied.
"I'm at the hospital. Austen and Sophie were attacked."
"What?! Are they okay?"
"I think you should come here now. As fast as you can!"
Chapter Nineteen
I raced from the elevator, sliding on a puddle of spilled coffee, only for my path to be blocked by two large police officers. "You can't go in there," said one.
"Austen Takahashi is my client," I said, attempting to duck past him but the officer blocked my way, causing me to weave again. Several people in white coats and scrubs moved around Sophie's room, their voices low and anxious.
"This is a crime scene," he said politely. "I'll have to ask