Page 35 of Out of the Shadows
“Where?”
“No idea.”
“What was he getting appraised?”
“He didn’t tell me. It wasn’t a large box, maybe about the size of a shoebox.”
Beth said, “Do you think something happened to him?”
“No,” Margo and Bob said simultaneously.
Bob said, “Honey, you know Charlie. He’s probably off trying to sell this stuff.”
“And not answering Laura’s calls?”
Margo said, “Mr. O’Neill, if he calls you, please ask him to call either myself or Laura as soon as possible. She’s worried because she hasn’t heard from him.”
Margo thanked them for their time and left.
She texted Jack that she might be later than she’d said because she had one more stop to make.
Chapter Twelve
Margo pulled into one of the four visitor slots in front of the Storage Spot and considered how she wanted to approach this.
She could go in straightforward, but they had no reason to tell her anything. The auction itself was public. She’d looked up the website and saw six units that had been auctioned off on Friday afternoon, and the one Charlie had bought—Unit 238—was evident because of a photo of the interior showing the boxes and furniture. Everything in the picture was in the O’Neills’ garage. She didn’t see a shoebox in the photo, but it could have been in one of the drawers.
Margo was not above lying to obtain information, but if she said she was with the law firm, that was easily disproved, and they might have lawyers get involved because they sold the unit.
She decided to wing it.
She walked in and two young men in short-sleeved button-down shirts and khakis sat behind the counter. One was inputting files into the computer, the other greeted her. He was tall with a used car salesman smile. “How may we help you?”
“I have some questions about your auction on Friday.”
“I’ll help if I can.”
“I went to your webpage that advertised the auction but couldn’t tell when it was posted.”
“Two weeks before the auction,” he said. “We take photos of the units in default and spread the word. Most of the people who come to auctions are professionals—they know what they’re looking for, what they can resell. And a good chunk are antique dealers who will bid on units with a lot of furniture. Sometimes we get amateurs who see an item and think they can get a good deal on it. They don’t always know the rules.”
“Like?”
“You buy the whole unit. You can’t pick and choose, and you can’t leave anything behind.”
“Do they have to take the stuff right then?”
“No, we give them twenty-four hours.”
“They pay when they pick up?”
He shook his head. “They pay as soon as they win the auction, before we allow them to look through the items. Generally, the winning bidders will pay, then enter and assess the goods, put their own lock on the unit, and return Saturday morning with a truck.”
“Are these auctions weekly or monthly?”
“Quarterly. We don’t have many units in default, so the owner plans for quarterly auctions. Why all the questions? You planning to get into the business?”
“No. A friend of mine was here on Friday—an amateur, he’d never done it before and was excited, told me all about it, but it seemed weird.”
