“Yes, you are.” She flipped her free hand impatiently. “Just tell me. What did Mom steal—besides my car? How big of a mess are my sisters and I in? We need to know, and your wishy-washy answers aren’t helping.”

Although he made a sound of protest when she called him wishy-washy, he didn’t waste time contradicting her, for which she was grateful.

“She was arrested for breaking into Simone Pichet’s hotel room and stealing a very valuable necklace.”

“Thank you.” Her words were sincere, since it was so nice having even that small bit of information. Moving the phone away from her mouth, she spoke to her sisters. “She stole Simone Pichet’s necklace.”

“Simone Pichet…isn’t she that famous sculptor?” Felicity asked, and Molly gave a short nod. Even she knew of Simone Pichet’s work, and Molly was fairly clueless when it came to art.

Norah immediately began tapping her laptop keys, and Molly felt a moment of gratitude that computers and electronic devices hadn’t been listed in the search warrant. One of the detectives had tried to take Norah’s laptop, but Cara had stopped him. If all of their computers and phones had been taken, everything would’ve been so much harder.

“Allegedly.” John stressed the word, and Molly put the phone back to her ear. “She allegedly stole Simone Pichet’s necklace.”

“Knock it off, Carmondy. She stole it. She has never been falsely accused. Not once in her life. I stopped giving her the benefit of the doubt when I was eight, and I don’t need you trying to make me feel guilty. All I need from you is information.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…” He trailed off. When he spoke again, his voice was brisk and businesslike. “She pled innocent during her first advisement this afternoon.”

That new bit of information made Molly’s belly lurch with a whole new type of dread. “She had her first advisement hearing? Did the judge set bail?”

This time when he paused before speaking, she wanted to jump through the phone to rip the words out of him. “Yes. Five hundred.”

She blinked. “Five hundred? That’s it?”

“Thousand,” he clarified, and she froze in place. “Five hundred thousand.”

Molly’s lips were numb, but she somehow managed to ask, “Did she make bond?”

“Yes.” John didn’t sound happy.

A horrible thought occurred to her, making her stomach twist painfully. “Did you—”

“No!” There was no hesitation before his answer this time. “I wouldn’t do that. How could you think that I’d…?” He took a harsh, audible breath and then went quiet for a moment before speaking again, more calmly this time, although a hard edge remained to his voice. “It was Barney.”

She hadn’t believed things could get worse, but they suddenly had. “Barney Thompson?”

Her sisters, who’d been clustered around Norah, all trying to see her laptop screen, whipped around as one to stare at Molly. All she could do was stare back.

“This…is bad,” she finally said, and John barked out a humorless laugh.