This, That, and the Other

The first thing the two detectives noticed when they arrived at the scene was that the place was in shambles. Everything, from furniture to clothing to books, was strewn about in a seemingly haphazard manner.

A uniformed officer approached the detectives. “This place is a mess,” he said. “We’re just starting to sort through it all.”

Getting right down to business, Detective Morrisey asked, “What did the owners report as missing?”

“Mr. Von Cloussan said that he was holding the world-famous Haverford ruby, which he was planning to auction off at Sotheby’s tomorrow,” the officer said.

“The genuine Haverford ruby?” Detective Hayden asked. “That’s got to be worth a nice chunk of change.”

“Yeah, I read about that,” Morrisey said. “That jewel has been appraised at close to half a million smackeroos.”

“They’ve started dusting for prints,” the office said, “but the thief or thieves must have been wearing gloves. No fingerprints other than those belonging to Von Claussan and his wife have been found.”

“We can’t rule out an inside job,” Morrisey said, thoughtfully. “What if the Von Cloussans staged this whole scene to make it look like the ruby was stolen, and plan to collect on the insurance?” he wondered out loud.

Written for these one-word prompts: Word of the Day Challenge (shambles), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (haphazard), Scotts Daily Prompt (genuine), Your Daily Word Prompt (change), and Ragtag Daily Prompt (jewel).