Maddie Platt was not aware of the car that followed her when she stopped at the market and did the shopping, carefully gathering all the items she had been instructed to get. Nor did she notice it continued to follow her when she drove farther out of Ellenville, down narrow, winding roads to the rambling country house owned by the man she knew as Nigel Grey.
She let herself in and ten minutes later was startled when the doorbell rang. Nobody ever dropped in at this house. Furthermore, Mr. Grey had given her strict orders never to admit anyone. She was not about to open the door without knowing who it was.
When she peeked out the side window she saw the neatly dressed man standing on the top step. He saw her and held up a badge identifying him as an FBI agent. “FBI, ma’am. Would you please open the door so I can talk to you?”
Nervously, Maddie opened the door. Now she stood inches from the badge showing the unmistakable FBI seal and identifying picture of the agent.
“Good afternoon, ma’am. I’m FBI agent Milton Rose. I don’t mean to startle or upset you, but it’s very important that I speak with you about Mr. Jason Arnott. You are his housekeeper, aren’t you?”
“Sir, I don’t know any Mr. Arnott. This house is owned by Mr. Nigel Grey, and I’ve worked for him for many years. He’s due here this afternoon, in fact he should be here shortly. And I can tell you right now-I am under strict orders not to ever let anyone in this house without his permission.”
“Ma’am, I’m not asking to come in. I don’t have a search warrant. But I still need to talk to you. Your Mr. Grey is really Jason Arnott, whom we suspect has been responsible for dozens of burglaries involving fine art and other valuable items. He might even be responsible for the murder of a congressman’s elderly mother, who may have surprised him during the burglary of her home.”
“Oh my God,” Maddie gasped. Certainly Mr. Grey had always been completely a loner here, but she had just assumed that this Catskill home was where he escaped to for privacy and relaxation. She now realized that he might well have been “escaping” here for very different reasons.
Agent Rose went on to describe to her many of the stolen pieces of art and other items that had disappeared from homes where Arnott had previously attended social functions. Sadly, she confirmed that virtually all of these items were in this house. And, yes, the miniature oval blue frame encrusted with seed pearls, with a woman’s picture in it, was on his night table.
“Ma’am, we know that he will be here soon. I must ask you to come with us. I’m sure you didn’t know what was happening, and you’re not in any trouble. But we are going to make a telephone application for a search warrant so that we can search Mr. Arnott’s home and arrest him.”
Gently, Agent Rose led the bewildered Maddie to the waiting car.
“I can’t believe this,” she cried. “I just didn’t know.”