Chapter 342

“It must be important, or you wouldn’t be calling me,” I heard Shane say. “Can you give me a hint about what it’s about?”

“Daisy and I are staying at Alex’s mansion while he’s away on a cruise,” Victor said. Why don’t you come for dinner, and we’ll discuss it? We’ll wait for you and dine when you get here.”

“I’ll be there soon,” Shane agreed. “I’m ten minutes away.”

“You want Shane to write the story of the antiquities thefts,” I guessed. “Do you think the newspapers will print it if he does?”

“They print every word Shane writes,” Victor replied. “But we will see what he thinks.”

“Shane may not want to take on the story,” I said. I didn’t want to start trouble for him. He had a promising career ahead of him.

“We can ask,” Victor said and kissed my hand.

I was glad Victor thought of asking Shane to correct the TV news report. It was past time Victor and I fought back.

An article telling the truth about how the thief was caught would be a beginning. And with Shane’s name on it, there was good chance people would read it.

I alerted Benson that we were expecting a guest for dinner and asked him to apologize to the cook for the short notice.

Shane arrived by the time I finished my wine. We went directly to the dining room and enjoyed roasted venison. After a scrumptious Charlotte Russe for dessert, we began to tell Shane what happened.

He was intrigued by the story and wanted to know more.

“I’d need to interview everyone involved,” Shane said.

“Of course,” Victor agreed. “I’ll let security know you will stop by the complex to speak to Findlay and Tony.”

“Perhaps Daisy would accompany me,” Shane said. “She can also take me to speak to the others involved.”

“I’d be happy to go with you,” I said and offered Shane more of the dessert.

Shane accepted another helping. “If you’re up to it, Daisy, I want to interview you more thoroughly before I speak to the others. I want to approach the story as professionally as possible.”

“That sounds wonderful,” I said.

Shane retrieved his voice recorder from his car, and we went to the parlor for my interview. It felt different to be a source for a story instead of the writer.

The interview went smoothly, and I shared several photos I had taken of the thief during the stakeout at Lucy’s home.

“This is absolute proof of your claims,” Shane said. “I’m surprised the police didn’t want copies of these photos.”

“Are you going to interview the police for the story?” Victor asked.

“Yes,” Shane replied. “This story will have two angles. The first will be Daisy’s amazing courage and kindness in helping Lucy Basil. The second will be her poor treatment by the police.”

“The police didn’t mention Daisy at all to the TV station,” Victor said. He was still angry that the police took all the credit for stopping the thief.

“I will ask them why on video,” Shane promised. “Now, I must say goodnight. Thank you for the delicious dinner. I haven’t had venison in a long time.”

“You’re welcome.” Victor shook Shane’s hand. “Thank you for taking on the story.”

“Writing it won’t cause any problems for you?” I asked as we walked Shane through the foyer.

“Reporting the truth should never cause the reporter problems,” Shane replied. “News outlets that I work with know that.”

Victor and I smiled.

“I’ll pick you up in the morning,” Shane told me. “You should make some calls and see who will be available to speak to me tomorrow.”

“I will make the calls over my morning coffee,” I promised.

Shane left, and Victor and I went upstairs to my bedroom.

Victor was asleep by the time I climbed out of my bath, but he roused enough to take me into his arms when I climbed into the bed.

Shane picked me up at nine-thirty the following day. He was eager to start talking to the sources and was pleased to hear everyone involved consented to be interviewed for his story.

We started with Lucy. She told Shane how she had been terrorized by a burglar who couldn’t be stopped by locked doors.

She patted my arm affectionately. “If it wasn’t for Daisy, I might have had to move, my career as a restorer would be over, and I wouldn’t have gotten my heirloom Lycaon figurine back.”

Lucy also confirmed my poor treatment by the police officers who were first on the scene.

Next, we went to the homeless shelter. Amy was spending the day there. We found her ordering supplies.

“I’m glad somebody in the press is sticking up for Daisy,” Amy told Shane. “They have been outright lying about her.”

“You witnessed how the police officers who responded to Daisy’s call treated her, right?” Shane asked.

“Not only did I see it, I recorded it with my phone,” Amy replied. “Would you like a copy of the video?”

Shane gave Amy his cell number and had her text a copy of the video to him. Then we watched it on his phone.

“This is outrageous!” he declared. “And if it wasn’t for you, they wouldn’t have known the burglar’s identity or where to find the stolen items.”

We left Amy and went to The Association next. The security guard who escorted us to Findlay was kind and a little in awe of Shane.

Findlay was busy at his desk when we knocked on his door, but he greeted us warmly.

“Hello, Daisy,” he said with a grin. “And this must be Shane Ross.”

The two men shook hands before Shane went into professional mode and started the interview.

“When my mother-in-law needed help with a serious problem, I immediately thought of asking Daisy for help,” Findlay said. “Besides being one of the kindest people I know, Daisy Wilson has a knack for solving crimes.”

Findlay asked Tony to come to his office for his interview. He was happy to cooperate and reinforced everything the others had told Shane.

Shane and I stopped at Victor’s office on our way out of the building.

Victor stood when we peeked inside his door. “Come on in. How are the interviews coming along?”

“I’ve got everything I need except for my talk with the police,” Shane said. “I would rather Daisy not accompany me to the police station.”

“I agree,” Victor said. “They’ll talk more freely if she isn’t with you.”

“I’ll drop her at home before I go,” Shane said.

Victor shook Shane’s hand again. “Thank you for your help.”

“I think it’s going to be a good story,” Shane said. “And it should help people to see the truth.”

Shane took me back to the mansion. I was nervous about the article, but I knew I could trust Shane to be fair and truthful.

I didn’t hear from him again until after dinner. Victor and I were settling in the living room to watch a movie when he received a text.

Victor smiled as he read the message and held out his phone for me to read it.

“I emailed a copy of the article to you and Daisy. The Gazette is printing it in the morning,” the message said. “I think you and Daisy will be pleased.”

Grabbing my phone, I checked my email and found the article.

Shane started the story by telling his readers about Lucy’s mysterious burglar and how I was asked to look into it because of my love of helping others and my gift for solving crimes.

Then he explained how I set a trap for the thief and caught them red-handed. He praised my calling the police and providing them with photographic evidence of the criminal’s identity.

He described my encounter with the first two police officers on the scene and promised to release the video of my poor treatment by those two officers to the TV stations.

When the police lieutenant was shown Amy's video, he told Shane he would investigate the incident.

The article wrapped up with Shane’s declaration that many news platforms were lying about me because they were being influenced by wealthy Alphas who were angry about the new laws.

“Thank you for asking Shane to do this,” I said and curled up in Victor’s arms.

“It is a good article,” Victor agreed. “It should help restore your reputation.”

“I hope so,” I said. “But now I’m going to be too excited to sleep. I can’t wait to see it in the morning newspapers.”

“I think I may have something to help you relax so you can get to sleep,” Victor murmured.

“Oh, what is it?” I asked innocently.

“Let’s go upstairs, and I’ll show you,” he said.