e9c12ac8d703d9a536f23183edf8b22c

“Oh, that’s a great relief. You see, I felt bad not complying with a direct order from the strong arm of the law, and I was actually on the verge of handing over the diamond. I’ve always prided myself in being a law-abiding citizen, and so when they asked me to hand over the stone I immediately assumed—”

“It’s fine,” said Odelia, stemming the flow of words. “I think I better be going now, and make sure this little gem is tucked away safely where no one will find it.” She patted her purse, and it was clear that she wanted to get out of there as soon as possible and get this most dangerous assignment over with posthaste.

“Thank you so much, Mrs. Poole,” said the jeweler, and clasped his hands together gratefully. “Your uncle told me this was your idea, and I want you to know that I can’t thank you enough.”

“That’s all right. You did your part, Mr. Linoski, and for that I’m sure the owners of the Pink Lady will be most grateful.”

The jeweler licked his lips.“Will there be a finder’s fee, you think? I know I didn’t technically find the stone, but I was instrumental in its safekeeping, so I just wondered…”

“As soon as we can track down the owners, I’ll be sure to tell them what an important part you played,” Odelia assured the man. She was slowly backtracking to the door, eager to get on her way.

We followed suit, and soon we were out on the sidewalk again, and lo and behold: a car had driven up, and we recognized the person behind the wheel as Odelia’s husband Chase.

“Get in,” he said, and we all did. “And now let’s get the hell out of here,” he grunted, and was soon peeling away from the curb and making good time for the good ol’ homestead.

8

If Odelia and Chase had stuck around for just a little while longer, they would have discovered that all of their precautions hadn’t been in vain. For the moment they were out of sight, two men appeared in the window above the bakery across the street from Thormond Linoski’s gem emporium. One of the men was heavyset and suffered the misfortune of having to go through life without the benefit of a neck, while his partner in crime was a small, scrawny type with the face of a ferret.

“Dammit,” said the ferrety one, whose name was Jerry Vale, and had been in and out of jail so many times the episodes had blurred in his mind. “I knew we should have grabbed that thing when we had the chance.”

“But how, Jer?” asked the no-neck one, who answered to the name Johnny Carew. “How could we grab the thing?”

“Simple. You could have knocked that guy’s block off, and then we could have grabbed the stone.”

“But you said he probably kept it in the vault.”

“Then you could have told him to take it out of the vault, or else.”

“Or else what, Jer? You said no violence. And besides, we’re on the straight and narrow now, and people on the straight and narrow don’t go and knock other people’s blocks off.”

“Mh,” said Jer, who looked as if he hadn’t exactly figured this one out himself yet.

“Besides, now we know that Odelia has it, things are a lot simpler.”

“Simpler?” Jerry whipped his head around to look at his associate so fast it cricked—he did have a neck, and right now it hurt from having sat there in their small apartment, keeping an eye on the comings and goings across the street. “Simpler? It’s just become a lot more complicated!”

“But don’t you see, Jer?” said his friend, holding up two hands the size of coal shovels. “Now we can simply walk up to Odelia and tell her nicely to hand over the stone. Easy peasy!”

“Nothing doing,” Jerry grunted irritably. He rubbed his painful neck. It was bad enough that they’d lost the damn stone, but they were forced to stay in an apartment the size of a broom closet, and sleep on a mattress that was so worn out his back was killing him. “I know Odelia Poole, Johnny. The moment she got hold of that rock she’s never letting go again. No, we can kiss that precious Pink Lady goodbye. It’s gone. And you and me missed the chance of a lifetime.”

“Don’t be so glum, Jer,” said his friend, placing one of those coal shovels on Jerry’s shoulder and squeezing. “You know what we should do? We should talk to Marge. Marge likes us. In fact she likes us so much there’s nothing she wouldn’t do for us.”

“Says you.”

“No, but it’s true. Remember how nice she was when she offered us that job at the library?”

“Mh.”

“I say we go over there right now and have a nice chat with her. We’ll simply explain the situation and I’m sure she’ll do the right thing.”

“Mh.”

If Jerry didn’t sound convinced, it was because he had a much more dour outlook on life than Johnny, who was one of those rare people who always saw the good in others, unlike Jerry, who always saw the worst.

“My neck hurts,” he lamented, “and so does my back. I’m going to the pharmacy.” He then wagged a finger in his friend’s face. “You stay here, you hear me? You’ve messed up once, I don’t need you to mess up again.”