Page 35 of The Wicked

Love2Craft:Are you sure? The Naruki Valentines only come in cotton candy, champagne, and peach.

MsSparkle:They also released two limited-edition colours: Violet Dream and Skybaby Blue. Do your research.

Love2Craft:There’s no need to be rude.

MsSparkle:I wasn’t. I was being accurate.

Love2Craft:Oh, please.Do your research?You should change your username to MsPassiveAggressive.

MsSparkle:Only one of us is being rude. Why don’t you go pintuck yourself?

Click.I closed the browser tab and hoped to fuck I never had to visit the Coffee & Crafts discussion board again. But I had three possible leads, and MsSparkle—who definitely sounded like the kind of pedant I tried to avoid at parties—actually did know what she was talking about. To my admittedly untrained eyes, those roses looked like Naruki beads, and I fired off a message to the manufacturer via the contact form on their website.Please can you provide a list of your US stockists, in particular, those on the West Coast.

And then I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

The reply came in the early hours of Monday morning, before I’d had time for my first coffee, written in both polite English and what I assumed was Japanese.

Dear Sir,

Please be advised that we have one official stockist for our products on the West Coast of the United States:

The Craft Cabin,

Main Street,

Baldwin’s Shore,

Oregon.

We thank you for your interest in our products.

At your service always,

Aiko Tanaka.

The beads were sold in Baldwin’s Shore? Well, holy fuck. A craft store—Gracie had been absolutely right. Looked as if I’d be taking a drive west today.

* * *

The bell above the door of the Craft Cabin jingled as I pushed it open, ushering me into a sequinned version of hell. Everywhere I looked, there was glitter, yarn, paint, patterned paper, metal tools that looked more like torture implements, cutting mats, beads, plastic doohickeys, pencils, and a hundred kinds of glue, all wrapped in the smell of turpentine. A black cat sat on the register, washing its paws, and it gave me a dirty look as I approached.

“Can I help you?”

The woman sitting behind the register looked as if she belonged there. Her dress was a long, shapeless thing in mustard yellow, and she didn’t stop knitting as she spoke. Her name badge said “Darla” and she’d drawn a ray of sunshine in one corner.

“Do you stock Naruki Valentine beads?”

“Sure do, hun.” She waved toward the far side of the store. “They’re right over there by the silk flowers, but we’re waiting for a fresh shipment to arrive. It should be here next week or the week after.”

“I’m actually looking for a lady who purchased some. The blue roses. I appreciate you won’t be able to divulge confidential information, but I was hoping you might be able to remember who she was and pass on a message.”

“You’ll have to explain.”

“Maybe it’s easier if I show you?” I took the Riya de Leon pump out of my messenger bag and set it on the counter. The cat hissed and ran off. “I’m trying to find the woman who lost this shoe, and the beads seem to be my best hope of identifying her.”

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