“You’re glowing again, in a purely normal fashion, not in a witchy way,” Ange said.
“It’s nice to be back in my old world, where I don’t have to make things up as I go along,” I admitted.
“Like me, when I shape a blob of molten glass into the exact thing I’ve pictured in my mind,” Ange said.
“Yes.”
Chapter 19
We left the dogs in the car, with the window rolled down an inch.
“We’ll start with the office,” I said.
A dimpled woman with a red beehive greeted us with a cheerful, “Hiya ladies, what can I do for you?”
“Hiya.” Ange matched the upbeat lilt. “I was wondering if there’s anyone that I can talk to about a teensy item missing from my delivery? Or maybe I could go search for myself, with my friend?”
“Oh my. We’ve never lost anything. Is it valuable?” The woman patted her beehive, as if trying to ascertain the missing item wasn’t lodged in there.
“It’s nothing special, except for my mom. A silver napkin ring, like the ones she used to have when she was knee-high and visited her me-maw.” Ange clasped her chest. “It’s for her birthday, you see.”
“That’s so sweet of you. What did you say was your name?”
“Ange Gale.”
The woman tapped away on her keyboard. “Gale. Wheelbarrow, shovel …” She listed all the items Ange had purchased on that day. “There’s no napkin ring listed.”
“Oh dear, no wonder it wasn’t delivered.” Ange opened her purse, searched through the contents, and produced a folded piece of paper. “Here’s the receipt. If I could have a quick look, or talk to the men in charge of preparing the deliveries?”
“If you give me a minute, I’ll take you over myself. Honestly, it’s been one thing after another with this fair. My psychic warned me to stay away from crowds last weekend, but I said to myself, girl, if you want to pay your bills, you gotta risk it and go to work.”
“Your psychic?” I asked.
“She’s a lifesaver, and costs only 50 cents a minute when you call her the first time. She knew straight away that my boyfriend was up to no good, the lying, cheating so-and-so, stringing me along when he was married the whole time. She said I need to move on, because I’m a goddess and deserve better.”
“We hear you, sister,” Ange commiserated.
“Talking to her was the best five dollars I’ve ever spent. Only a few days later I met my new fella at bingo. He’s been taking me out twice already, for a movie and dinner. None of the early bird discounts for him.” She switched off her laptop and motioned us to follow her.
We passed through the cavernous room, where folded trestle tables were stacked on one side, and stacks of covered furniture waited their turn. Pages with lot numbers and addresses were laminated and tacked to a cork board.
The woman pulled out her phone and brought up a floorplan. Without pausing, she took us to the spot where Ange had discovered the wheelbarrow. She pointed to the side. “That’s where you’d havebought the napkin. Lovely selection of old silver, I recollect.” She peered around.
“What’s behind the partition?” I asked, innocently. I hadn’t noticed it during the event, but now I spotted the tracks for sliding room dividers on the high ceilings. In front of us, one had been pushed across and locked.
The up to now so chatty lady clammed up. “Nothing of importance.”
Ange searched the floor. “I wonder if the napkin ring has rolled off the table and is now laying on the other side,” she wondered aloud.
“Not likely. The police …” The woman blushed.
“I don’t think anybody could have helped himself to a few items? It must be difficult to prevent theft, with so many people going in and out.”
“Oh no. We have a very reliable safety procedure, and our guards know all the tricks. After closing time, only verified buyers or sellers are allowed in, to have a looky-loo and arrange for transport, if they haven’t done so already.”
“I don’t know how anybody can keep track of all the things that are going on. You must be super organized,” I marveled.
“It’s all a matter of experience, and our boys have been doing the job forever.” She showed her dimples, obviously relieved that we’d dropped the subject of the police poking around. “Bless them, when we’re really busy like now, they go so far as to use their coffee break to work on their schedule.”
