Neptune King and the Artifact

Neptune King and the Artifact is the 28th book in this detective series. When Neptune's sister, Mermaid Griffith goes on a shopping spree in Italy buying gifts for everyone at home, she has no idea just how much trouble her generosity will cause. The trouble starts that very night with her and her husband none the wiser as to why they're being targeted. First their hotel room is broken into, twice, and their belongings ransacked, then to her dismay she is no sooner home than her house...
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Neptune King and the Artifact is the 28th book in this detective series. When Neptune's sister, Mermaid Griffith goes on a shopping spree in Italy buying gifts for everyone at home, she has no idea just how much trouble her generosity will cause. The trouble starts that very night with her and her husband none the wiser as to why they're being targeted. First their hotel room is broken into, twice, and their belongings ransacked, then to her dismay she is no sooner home than her house is also broken into. The Griffiths stay at Neptune's house overnight mostly to stop Mermaid spending all night cleaning up the burglar's mess, but they are woken during the night to an intruder in Neptune's house, who manages to get away. Neptune's interest is captured instantly and he volunteers his and Shark's services, not realizing that this will be the first of many broken sleeps. Thanks to John Griffith being a superintendent at Scotland Yard, their friend Chief Inspector Daniel Dowling is assigned to the case and he sets about trying to trace and identify the burglar. Meantime, using the process of elimination, Neptune figures out what the burglar was after--Mermaid's gift to him. It looks like an ordinary statue to him, but given the burglar's persistence figures there is more to it than it seems. When the burglar is found dead in Neptune's office, it takes the case up a notch and introduces an unknown entity into the field. Someone who is willing to kill to get their hands on Neptune's gift. Someone who has already killed twice in Rome and who has followed the burglar to London. The threat is real and deadly. No one related to or associated with Neptune is safe as this mystery killer won't hesitate to kidnap one of them to use as leverage to force Neptune to hand over the artifact. Neptune's house goes into lock down with new security measures, and the Griffiths and Shark and his family move in with him for safety. The pressure they're under is intense and takes its toll on Rachel's health making Neptune more determined than ever to solve the case and catch the criminal. Numerous attempts are made to get at them, with several close calls. Neptune knows that this is no ordinary criminal that they are dealing with. He's a professional; he's from Italy--draw your own conclusions.