Chapter 1 THE ALBRECHT CASE

On the 25th day of June, 1990. Around 2pm, the skies were clear and the sun smiled brightly.

A train was moving speedily along it's tracks with steam emanating from it's chimney, the train was about 2,500 feet and contained roughly 25 cars, it's exterior wasn't anything spectacular as it was plated in brown and black color.

In one of the middle train cars, by the window sat a gorgeous brunette-haired woman, she had blue eyes with soft supple, smooth and clear skin, she was dressed in a red velvet dress and her hair was packed in a bonnet which was neatly trimmed with frills and artificial flowers, she appeared busy as she was jotting something down in a small blue notepad, the lines on her forehead was creased. She was trying to solve a case which was a hard nut to crack.

"Dollface, you know there's something called breaks and leisure, right?" came a deep masculine voice opposite her, it belonged to a tall man who sat opposite her, he was about 6 feet tall, dressed in a well-ironed suit with a vest, had a top hat on his head and a long straight brown coat complementing his suit.

The woman dropped the pen she was using to write as she looked at her counterpart, she wasn't smiling, and she wore a look of seriousness.

"Michael, I have informed you several times, you are to address me as Angelina, I shall not be casually spoken to as I am not one of the women you cavort with," she sternly warns him.

"Don't you think it's an honor," Michael grins. "It's not everyday a woman gets to fuck a 9 inch cock."

"This discussion is unnecessary," Angelina says dismissively as she goes back to jotting down in her notepad. "The only thing we should be discussing is the next job. God knows we need the money."

Michael bit his lower lip as he heard that, his left eye closed halfway before it returned to it's original position.

"Michael," Angelina began without looking up from the notepad she was writing. "I have been with you for over eight years, we have solved so many cases together, I know when you are nervous."

"Nervous," Michael begins with a forced smile. "This handsome rogue right here doesn't know what that word means."

"Really," Angelina smiled as she closed her book, narrowing her gaze at him, her eyes turned to his right feet, he was tapping it on the ground repeatedly. "Most humans find it uncomfortable sitting in the same position for long and for those with motion sickness, it's even worse when they are in vehicles, we have been in the moving train for narrowly three hours, forty-nine minutes and fifty-six seconds, you weren't tapping your feet at all as you had accustomed yourself to it but as I spoke about the need for a next big job, three things happened," Angeline smiled as she raised three fingers with her right arm. "One, you began to close your right eye when you haven't shown any other symptom of insomnia. Two, you bit your lower lip and the last one, sweat broke off your forehead."

As she said that, Michael quickly brushes his forehead, putting his arm to his head, he noticed it was wet with sweat.

"And that's another trick I pulled on you," Angelina now had a sinister smile on. "You weren't sweating before but when you thought that I had realized that you were bothered with something, your body had automatically released some cortisol in your system making you sweat at the moment you brushed your face," Angelina grinned as she now rested her back on the chair more comfortably. "Michael Dicapprio, care to inform me what the problem is?"

Michael knew Angelina, and she was the only one who could help with the dilemma he was facing at the moment. He had to come clean now, or he could kiss her help goodbye. "You really are one of a kind," he adjusted his position on his seat, he continued. "You know about the Albrecht Necklace right?"

"The Albrecht necklace," Angelina begins with mild smile. "I know of it, it's pendant is a padparadscha sapphire with a diameter of roughly 12.71 centimeters while it's bail is made up of roughly 20-karat gold. It was rumored to have been won at the auction seventeen years ago by an unknown source but later, it was retrieved by the government and placed in the museum of new York so people could feast their eyes on the most expensive necklace in the world," Angelina ends. "It's net worth is about twenty-seven million dollars."

"Th...that's a lot of words," Michael says as he bows his head. "You see there was this mi... minor inci... incident regarding this necklace and I am sorta..."

"If you are referring to the incident which occurred six days ago in the museum," Angelina began. "Using the word minor is much of an understatement, one of the guards was killed and the other was brutally injured. According to the American society of appraisers, the necklace which was put as display in the museum for the past fifteen was fake while the original one was only returned yesterday, it's trending practically everywhere in America if not beyond, the local policemen don't have a lead on what's going on," Angelina smiled as she closed her eyes.

"Wow, you really do know a lot about it," Michael began as he scratched the back of his head. "So are you planning on taking the case?"

"There's no cash involved," Angelina answered dismissively. "Also, you are a negro, no offence," Angelina said as she looked up at him, Michael wore a teary expression but he quickly brushed it off.

"None taken," he said as he thought. "Fuck you, Angelina." Michael was light-skinned in complexion, and his brown eyes complemented his skin perfectly.

"Police officers aren't especially fond of your race so two of us going together to take on one of their cases wouldn't go well," Angelina continues. "Besides, there's another case which I heard about, that's why I quickly came to New York from North Dakota, the pay for the new job is seven thousand, and five hundred dollars."

"That's really a lot, any idea on what the case is?"

"Not much, all I know is that it's about a woman whose husband was killed six days ago, my source told me she claimed the police officers were incompetent as they hadn't found anything relating to the incident for the past six days. As a result, she's looking to hire a private investigator to bring her husband's murderer to justice."

"Sounds like a pained bitch," Michael said with a snicker, Angelina looked up at Michael with a disappointed look. If looks could kill, Michael would be six feet underground.

"And yet that so called pained bitch has more wealth that your ancestral line combined," Angelina answered as she returned to writing on her notepad.

"Ouch," Michael muttered.

"Seeing as how you referred to the Albrecht case and how you were stammering. I can certainly infer you are related to this case in a definitely negative way," Angelina smiled as she looked up at him. Michael shuddered on his seat and his face wore an uneasy expression. "If I am to take a guess based on your expression and how you suddenly shook on the seat. I will say you are wanted by the cops as a suspect, your fingerprints must have been found on the returned necklace and seeing as how you shook and you didn't make a reference to the other guards, they must have tried to capture you but you made an escape and also, there's no link with you and the murders, though the cops should have overlooked that, they won't as pinning everything on you would be easier and less stressful for them, you are like the sacrificial lamb in this case."

"Jeez, am I that easy to read?" Michael asks.

"No," Angelina smirks. "I am just that good at deductions."