Page 31 of Screwed

Instead of my friends though, it’s Officer Miles.

“Hey,” I greet him and I can’t help but wonder if he has good news or bad news for me.

My anxiety levels start to spike as he walks farther into my store.

“Hello, Ms. Maeve. How are you doing this morning?” He asks me as he looks around the store.

“Pretty good. Did you have any news for me?” I ask him anxiously and he gives me a patient smile.

“No, not yet. I was hoping that you could answer a few more questions for me?”

“Of course. Whatever you need, whatever I can do to help catch the guy and get back my antiques.”

“Can you give me a better description of the items that were stolen?”

I start to list off the four items that were stolen. I have a few pictures of them from when they were still in my grandparents’ house and I offer to email them to him once I get home.

“If the thief were to sell the items, how much do you think that they would get for them?” He asks me as he scribbles some notes down on his pad.

“It depends. If they sell them at a pawnshop or something, probably not much. Maybe around a grand for all of the four pieces. If he took his time selling them and they went to private buyers or an auction house, it would be a little bit more than that. Probably closer to twenty-five hundred.”

He nods as he keeps writing and I try to think of anything else that would be useful.

“Do you think that that’s what they did?” I ask, my voice coming out quieter than I expected.

I don’t know what I’m hoping for here. That he pawns them or sells them to someone who would at least appreciate them.

“I doubt it. I think that they were after some quick cash and thought that the old pieces would be worth a lot. I bet they’ll try to pawn them and then we’ll be able to catch them.”

He gives me a reassuring nod but it doesn’t really help.

“Thanks for this,” Officer Miles says as he closes his notebook. “We’ll be in touch when we have some new information.”

“Do you have old information?” I blurt out, stopping him before he can leave. “I mean, do you have any leads?”

He gives me a small smile that has all of my hopes rising.

“Maybe but it’s too early to tell. We’ll be in contact once we have something concrete.”

“Oh, okay, thank you.”

He shakes my hand before he heads back outside to his cruiser. The streets are pretty deserted and I have a headache from the lack of sleep I got last night so I decide to close up shop early and head home.

It doesn’t take me long to lock up and turn off all of the lights. I take one last look across the street at the bar. I guess I won’t be stopping in to see Arlo tonight after all.

I climb into my car and turn toward home. I feel so overwhelmed with everything that has happened in the last twenty-four hours that maybe it’s for the best that I just spend some time alone tonight. It will give me time to clear my head before my second date tomorrow night.

I can’t help but hope that the police catch whoever broke in and stole from me soon. It feels strange to be running Blast From The Past Antiques without my grandma’s antiques beside the front counter. I know that it may sound stupid but it felt like she was in this with me with her things there. Now it just feels empty and wrong.

I try to push those thoughts aside and I rub my forehead as I drive through the light traffic downtown.

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