The Clandestine Ruby

This manuscript is the sequel to the Gilded Web, which was a suspense novel about two college seniors, one white and one black, returning home to New York in 1980 to graduate after spending their summer break in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. They are traveling at night when they hit something but found nothing in the darkness of the night when they got out of the car to investigate. They found nothing but reported the accident to the sheriff, Toby Reliford, in a remote southern town of 750 people.

What they hit was a deer, but they were later framed by the coroner of this remote town to cover up for his drunken son and his friends, who had actually hit a drunken man on the dark road. Racism was rampant at this time, and because one of the students was a black man, they were put on trial for vehicular homicide and had to fight for their lives. The sheriff and his friend, a defense attorney, were the only ones to stand up for the two students. After a lengthy and involved investigation and trial, the two were cleared and allowed to go home.

As a result, the sheriff, Toby Reliford, was offered a job in the Bronx, New York, to run a private investigation agency owned by the two boys. This is where our story begins with the account of the first case of the agencyto find and recover a valuable missing heirloom ruby that was stolen from a large jewelry store and escaped the polices follow-up investigation.