They clicked glasses. Regan didn’t really feel like drinking the schnapps, but she figured she’d better show a spirit of camaraderie. It might entice Edward to talk. He looked to be in his mid-sixties, with a shock of pure-white hair, a little slash of a mustache, and big brown eyes that conveyed amusement. He was about five feet nine inches tall and had a thin frame. Regan got the feeling he was always in motion. He had a habit of pulling on the left shoulder of his sweater every few seconds.

“To Nat and Ben,” Edward said seriously. “May they rest in peace.”

I don’t think they’re going to rest in peace until the diamonds are found, Regan thought, but she took a tiny sip of the potent liquid, winced slightly, then cleared her throat. “I didn’t want to tell you on the phone, Edward. But the diamonds are missing.”

His eyes bulged and his face fell. “Missing?”

There goes his commission, Regan thought. “Missing,” she repeated. She told him the whole story. “They might have been stolen with Ben’s wallet. If that’s the case, a pickpocket got very lucky. Or they might have been taken from Nat’s apartment. I thought that if I talked to you, you might have some useful information for me. I just have a few questions …”

Edward poured some more schnapps for himself as he shook his head and pulled at his sweater. “Ask away.”

“Did you see these guys often?”

“Once every couple of months the whole card group would come up. We’d have a drink in the office and then go out to lunch. It was fun. They called themselves ‘the Suits.’”

“I heard about that.”

Edward nodded. “Nat, Ben, Abe, and Henry. Hearts, clubs, spades and diamonds!Friends for life. I tell ya, I wish I had a close-knit group like that. I have a lot of friends, mind you, but to have a group of four that spent fifty years together … They had a lot of history. They lived through children, grandchildren, divorces, wives’ deaths, occasional bickering. But every week they played cards. After Abe and Henry died this past year, Nat and Ben did a lot of soul-searching. They felt really bad about losing their friends. Neither one of them needed the money from the diamonds, and neither one wanted to spend it alone. The one hundredth anniversary of the club seemed the perfect solution. They figured they’d have more fun donating the money to the Settlers’ Club and telling them what to do with it.” Edward looked truly distressed. “They were so excited about the party tomorrow night.”

“Do you think they talked about the diamonds to other people?”

Edward shook his head. “They said it was their secret. But you know how secrets are.”

“Indeed I do,” Regan said.

“They used to call Ben ‘Big Mouth Ben.’”

“They did?”