Riddled with Deceit: A Martha's Vineyard Mystery

The film opens with a violent attempted robbery at a Boston auction house involving the Lakshmi emeralds, leaving one thief in a coma and another at large. Jeff Jackson, a retired Boston detective living a quiet life on Martha's Vineyard, is recruited by Chief Madeiras to provide security for an unveiling event at the Pendray Hotel. The hotel's owner, Britt Prajna, has finally recovered her family's ancestral brooch, which is rumored to be cursed. During the high-society gala, the power is intentionally cut, Britt is knocked unconscious, and the brooch is stolen from a safe that required a master code. Jeff and Zee Madeiras, the Chief's daughter and a medical examiner, find Britt's godfather and attorney, Willard Gilford, dead in his home. Zee's autopsy reveals that Willard didn't just die of natural causes; he was tortured with a stun gun, which triggered a fatal heart attack due to his pre-existing heart condition. The investigation initially focuses on Britt's disgruntled cousin Lloyd and the shady auctioneer Victor Gaines. However, Jeff realizes that Willard actually staged the initial theft himself to hide the brooch and protect Britt from the 'curse' and the violence surrounding the gems. The real villains are revealed to be Freddy and Regina Fields, the couple who supposedly 'found' the brooch; they are in massive IRS debt and were working with the escaped Boston thief, Rodney Emerson. After the Fields kill Emerson to cover their tracks, they kidnap Britt and take her to a lighthouse, believing she knows where Willard hid the treasure. Jeff and Zee intervene, with Jeff using a fake brooch to distract the Fields before the police arrive. The mystery concludes when Jeff decodes a riddle in Willard's final letter, leading them to the real emeralds hidden inside a scale model of a lighthouse at the hotel. The movie ends on a lighthearted note with Jeff and Zee engaging in a competitive 'blind taste test' of their respective homemade tartar sauces.