Page 26 - Labelle Gramercy, On the Case

Polished Off

“One bottle of brown liquid shoe polish knocked off the shelf
over the desk and broken,” she reported. “Nothing wiped out by the
polish that wasn’t recorded earlier.”
I could smell it. Turning back to Linsey, I said, “Nothing to worry
about. Is there any sort of ventilation in that back room? It might not
be good to breathe in the fumes from that stuff.”
Linsey smiled, obviously grateful for my intervention. “Well,
there’s a switch here for the exhaust fan in the attic. We usually turn
it on in the morning during the summer, but I see that it’s off right
now. There. That ought to clear some of it out.”
My ears drew my attention away from her to a conversation
beginning a few feet away, behind a display rack of celebrity
biographies recommended, in each case on a gaudy sticker affixed to
the front of the cover, by other celebrities. It was Labelle and the
handyman.
“Yes, I am Pete Boggs. I work here from time to time. Here—let
me find my driver’s license. It’s in my wallet. Oops.”
I heard fumbling on the floor, plastic cards and small pieces of
paper scraped up.
“Were you here yesterday?”
“Well, yes. I came by to ask Mariana if she needed anything taken
care of.”
“And that is why you were here today?”
“Yes. She wanted me to reinforce a bookshelf that some customer
had complained about, said it was about to fall over. Also said that
Iris complained about a pest infestation behind the New Age science
and fiction section.”
“Did anyone else hear her tell you that?”
“I don’t know. It’s hard to have a private conversation in this
place.”
I felt my face redden. But I did not make a sound—nor did
Linsey. We were partners in a rather petty crime.
“What time did you leave yesterday?”
I could just make out the top of Boggs’ head over the dust jacket
of She Had It All. His thin gray hair was slicked down laterally across
his pate, as in the usually hopeless attempt to cover a large bald spot.
“Probably late morning, definitely before noon.”
“Did you unlock the back door about half an hour ago?”

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