The Jewels of Sofia Tate by Doris Etienne

How can it be? She’s one of the only friends I’ve made around here. I was going to help her find some missing jewels and everything. And now ... this.”
    â€œMissing jewels?” her mother said, lifting an eyebrow.
    â€œYeah. It’s a long story,” Garnet replied, waving a hand.
    â€œHow old is she?”
    â€œI don’t know. Around eighty, I guess.”
    â€œShe’s getting up there, Garnet. And if she’s not been well, as you’ve said, anything can happen. You know that,” she gently reminded her.
    The image of Elizabeth sprawled out in the front hall and the smashed vase behind her came rushing back to Garnet. Then she remembered she had left some of her things behind at the house.
    â€œMom, can we stop off at Elizabeth’s before we go home? I left my bike and knapsack there.”
    She directed her mother to Elizabeth’s street, and as they neared the house, she recalled some other details from that afternoon.
    â€œYou know, when I rode my bike here this afternoon, there was this car at the front of Elizabeth’s house.”
    â€œYou mean, she had a visitor?”
    â€œI don’t know,” Garnet replied. “It was all kind of weird.”
    Her mother frowned. “Weird? What do you mean?”
    â€œWell, I was coming up the street and all of a sudden this car took off from the curb. The driver seemed in an awful hurry and nearly hit me and another car. Then when I got to the house, the front door was open and Elizabethwas lying on the floor with a vase smashed next to her.”
    Her mother’s eyes widened. “Did you get a look at the driver?”
    Garnet shook her head. “No, the car windows were tinted and I couldn’t see inside.”
    Her mother shook her head in disbelief. “Did you get a licence number or a description of the car or anything?”
    â€œNo. No licence number. It happened so fast I didn’t think to look. But the car was dark blue — a BMW.”
    They stopped in the driveway and Garnet got out of the car. She breathed a sigh of relief to see that her bicycle was still at the side where she had left it. Her mother helped her load it into the trunk, then went with Garnet as she opened the front door. Garnet hadn’t even thought to lock it when she left with the ambulance attendants.
    The knapsack, along with her helmet and headset, were lying next to the shattered vase. Garnet reached for the headset, then gave a short yelp. She looked at her finger. She had grazed it on something sharp — one of the jagged pieces of broken ceramic.
    â€œWhat’s wrong?”
    Garnet held up the finger for her mother to examine.
    â€œIt’s not deep. You’ll live,” her mother declared. But it still hurt and Garnet sucked on it.
    Just then, Ginger sauntered into the entrance, carefully stepping around the shards of ceramic. “I thinkwe better clean this up or that cat’s going to get hurt, too,” Garnet’s mother remarked. “Do you know where we might find a broom?”
    â€œMaybe in the kitchen,” Garnet replied as she quickly gathered the cat up in her arms. “Come on, Ginger.”
    In the pantry, they found a dustpan and hand brush. Garnet’s mother placed them inside a bucket and they returned to the front hall. While Garnet held on to Ginger, her mother leaned Elizabeth’s cane against the wall and moved Garnet’s things aside. She gathered up the larger ceramic shards first, then swept up the smaller ones, placing everything inside the bucket. When she finished, she carried everything back to the kitchen while Garnet waited for her in the front hall.
    As Garnet stood there, something shiny next to the wall, under the hall table, caught her attention. She set Ginger down to pick it up. It appeared to be a metal clip with a black square centre — onyx, Garnet thought, set in gold. A cufflink, perhaps? She placed the clip on the