Page 41 of Snowflakes and Sparks

“And you’re not a burden,” Alex said. “This is standard town policy. We help each other out, no matter what.”

I plastered on a smile. “Well, I can’t go against town policy now can I?”

“That’s the spirit,” Addy said. “Now, where do you keep the garbage bags?”

***

Three hours and several full garbage bags later, Addy and I had managed to get the entire store back to an acceptable state. I had vacuumed everything twice, to make sure not one shard of glass got left behind. The milk had been mopped up and I’d scrubbed the floors. I could only hope there wouldn’t be too many stains left after everything had dried.

After throwing out the last unsalvageable copies of Becca’s books, I’d sent Addy home so she could sleep. I was exhausted as well, but still needed to redecorate my Christmas tree.

As I swept up the last shards of baubles from around the tree Addy and I had put back up, I noticed a piece of jewelry amongst the glass. I carefully pulled it out. A small feather earring rested in the palm of my hand. One of my customers had probably lost it while browsing through books. I decided to put it behind the counter so that I would be able to easily locate it if and when the rightful owner showed up to claim it.

I looked around the store and felt a sense of relief wash over me. Nothing gave away the fact that Got It Covered had been trashed by an insane person, apart from the still drying floor. I did lose a lot of stock, but at least I wouldn’t have to cancel the signing.

A short knock on the door startled me.

“Hey, Hollywood.”

“Hey, Doug,” I said, letting the police officer in. “Nice to see you again. Although I’d love for the circumstances to be different.”

“That’s what everyone always says,” he replied with a smile. “I went to talk with your neighbors, but most of them were at the community center, working on the decorations for the Snow Ball.”

“So you didn’t find out anything,” I said.

Doug shook his head. “I’m sorry, love. But don’t worry. That doesn’t mean this case can’t be solved.”

“Thanks anyway. I appreciate you taking the time to help me.”

He let out a loud laugh. “Of course, it’s my job after all. Speaking of which, why don’t we go through the house together and check all the weak points in your security?”

“Sure.” We investigated every window and door in the house, after which Doug told me that it would be best to put extra locks on all of them and maybe have some of the windows replaced entirely, as they were easy to break.

“Look,” he said then, while pointing at the back door. It was slightly ajar. “This is definitely how the culprit was able to get into the store. The door is so old that anyone could push it open.”

“I’ll make sure to share all of this information with the owners so that they can fix the security issues around the place,” I said. “I don’t know if I’ll feel safe sleeping here tonight, though.”

“Tell you what, I’ll put a sliding lock on the back door for you. That way you’ll be safe until the door gets replaced.”

I walked to the counter and handed Doug the earring I’d found earlier. “I did find this on the floor. Maybe it could lead to a tip?”

Doug put the earring in his coat pocket. “Tell you what, I’ll have Hugo write an article about it. There’s a special Christmas issue ofOld Pine Weeklyreleasing tomorrow. I’m sure he can fit it in somewhere.”

“Thanks so much, Doug.”

“No worries. I want to find this perp as much as you.”

By the time Doug left, all I wanted was to get some sleep, but I still had to redecorate my Christmas tree. Without any leftover decorations, that would be hard.

I pulled my coat on and went next door to Alex’s house. Maybe he had an extra set of baubles stacked somewhere that I could use.

His front door swung open and an involuntary chuckle escaped from my mouth. Alex was standing in the doorway wearing an apron with pictures of dancing reindeer on it. He was holding a big mixing bowl in his arms, as if he was a housewife from the fifties.

“Wow, you look… different,” I said.

“If you tell me I look like an old lady, I’ll have to wrestle you to the ground,” he said with a grin.

I held up my hands. “You won’t hear a peep out of me. Grandma,” I added.

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