Drummond’s purse, they were discovered, and we’ve been working diligently to get them back to the proper owner.”
“But . . . how did you know that owner was me?”
“Because that’s what I do,” Derrick said coolly. “In that little knickknack business I own.”
Edmund looked shattered. He took a deep breath. “I hired, um, unsavory types to, ah, follow Miss Drummond.”
Derrick wasn’t surprised. He held up his hand to keep Edmund from saying anything else. “Oliver, send those lads on their way. I’m sure Mr. Cooke will be depositing payment into their accounts in the morning. No reason for them to hang about unnecessarily.”
Edmund stared at him in surprise. “Who are you talking to?”
“None of your business,” Derrick said. He looked at the man who had taken from him what he’d thought he wanted the most. “That’s over with. Back to business. Have a look at those stones.”
Edmund looked at them, counted them, then looked at Derrick in astonishment. “They’re all here. All four dozen—but—” He gasped, then he let out his breath slowly. “They’re not separated.” He looked around himself frantically. “Lights!” he shouted. “Turn on the bloody houselights!”
“Edmund, Edmund,” Derrick said with exaggerated concern. “Don’t get so worked up about this.”
“You idiot,” Edmund snarled, “they’re all mixed up.”
Derrick frowned. “All mixed up?”
Edmund made a noise of impatience. “The regular stones with the other ones.”
“What other ones?”
Edmund shot him a look of disgust. “What, you don’t know this? There are thirty-six regular stones, then twelve that are magical.”
Derrick would have smiled, but it was obvious to him the man in front of him was absolutely serious. “Magical?”
“Lights!” Edmund bellowed, then he took a deep breath. “One of my ancestors had these stolen from him by his son. He had them given back to him by a . . .” He looked around, then leaned closer. “By a young woman who he was convinced was a fairy. He had tried to give her twelve in gratitude for the return of the rest, but she had them delivered back to him. He was told they were covered in fairy dust, something that was certainly true given that she had sprung up from Faery through a ring in the grass.”
“Oh,” Derrick said, drawing the word out as long as possible to give himself time to come up with something else to say. “Interesting.”
The houselights went on and Edmund rolled his eyes and stomped off to a spot where the lights were actually of some use, then started to poke at his inheritance.
Derrick leaned his head back. “Fairy dust?”
“I told Granny they were fairly dusty,” Samantha said with a snort.
“Fairly dusty, fairy dusted—what’s the difference?”
“Apparently a family legend,” Samantha said. “And that didn’t take him long, did it?”
Derrick had to agree that it hadn’t. Edmund had the gems divided into two hands. He came to a stop in front of Derrick and looked at him.
“I owe you a debt I cannot repay,” he said, sounding as if the words were being pulled out of him by Victorian dental pliers. “I’d like to give you one of these.”
“Four,” Samantha said promptly.
Edmund gaped at her. Derrick had to admit he did the same thing. But Samantha Drummond was on fire. She looked at Edmund Cooke coolly.
“We’ll have four, because there were four of us involved in getting you your inheritance back. And we’ll have four from the fairy dust collection.” She picked up the plastic bag and held it open. “Put the regular ones in here.”
He did, looking at her as if he feared she would hurt him if he didn’t comply.
She zipped up the bag, then handed it back to him. “Now, pick four from the other hand.”
“That’s a lot of money,” he managed.
“I’m sure the original fairy would consider counting the cost to be terribly gauche. You cost Derrick his career because of your cowardice. Make it up to him right now.”
Derrick could only stand there and marvel at her. Had he ever wished she would just stand up for herself a bit more?
He had the feeling he might live to regret that wish.
Edmund looked, then gingerly flicked the four smallest stones away from the rest of them. Derrick supposed he would have only been surprised by anything else. Edmund looked at those four for several moments in silence, then held them out.
“Thank you.”
Derrick accepted them only because Samantha elbowed him so hard in the ribs.
“It might pay your rent for a few months,” Edmund added.
Derrick winced at that because Oliver’s snort had almost