I got to Things Past at
two-thirty. Philip was helping a customer so I took a look around. Lots of
furniture, most of which to my unpracticed eye looked like things you'd find in
any middle-class home. Guess that's why I'm the PI and he's the antiques
dealer. There were also plenty of dishes and such that reminded me of my
grandmother's house when I was a kid. The stuff she warned me to be careful not
to break when I was playing or helping her do dishes.
On one wall there were two
cases full of jewelry. A clerk stood close by as I looked at what they held. I
had the feeling he thought I'd try a smash-and-grab since I was wearing jeans,
a T-shirt and a cargo jacket with large pockets---not slacks and a button-down.
I chuckled to myself, wondering what he'd do if I did.
Someone touched my shoulder.
Turning, I saw it was Philips. He suggested we go into his office so I followed
him there, telling him quietly before we entered that I was going to look for
any bugs while we talked. "Keep the conversation strictly to why I'm
supposedly here. Act as if you're getting the necklace from the safe and give
me the appraiser's address. You can mention the break-in since that's the
reason you're having me do this, but as if you're just reiterating something
you already told me. They undoubtedly know, or have surmised, that you did come to my place in person to hire
me. I wouldn't be here otherwise."
He nodded and we went into
his office. It was pretty much what I expected—a space to work. The desk was
utilitarian. The table holding a coffeepot and assorted cups was something
you'd get at Target. The only fancy thing was a bookcase along one wall. It was
probably mahogany was my guess, glass-fronted—with locks on the double doors—and
full of old books. When I asked— while using my detector to check for any
listening devices—he said the books came from various estate sales.
"They're more valuable than the ones we keep in the showroom. Thus the
reason they're in here, under lock and key."
After that we talked
business, while I went through the rest of the room. It didn't take too long to
find what I was looking for. One bug was in the phone, not unexpectedly. Two others
were in light-fixtures, and the last one was hidden in the kneehole of his
desk. I left them all where they were. Removing them would just give Caiazzo's
people a head's up that I might be expecting trouble from them. Not that they'd
think otherwise, since Philips had hired me, but no sense in adding more fuel
to the fire.
Fifteen minutes after I'd
entered the office I left, carrying the box that had originally held the
necklace in one of my jacket's deep pockets. Outside the store, I carefully
scanned the area for potential trouble even though it was too soon for any of
Caiazzo's people to have arrived. I hoped. The plan wouldn't work if they tried
something before I got to—and left—the appraiser's. Well now that I think about
it, it would. But not the way I wanted it to. Having someone stick a gun in my
back and relieve me of the box, and then take off, would not give me a chance
to have a face-to-face with them. And that's what I wanted. I owed them.
Besides which, with luck, I might learn something about Caiazzo's theft ring
that I could take to the cops. Something like—what happened to the man who
brought the necklace to Phillips and where did they bury the body?
