A zoom call with an older couple living in a retirement village took up the next hour. When finally she disconnected from the call, she found Lydia waiting outside her door. Seeing she was free, Lydia came in, and sat in one of the chairs facing her.
"You're in the clear," she told Harper. "Although I can't imagine why Janis picked you, particularly, as the culprit."
Harper could have told her why, but preferred not to be seen as lodging complaints for what was, essentially, nothing more than petty harassment. "So who was it?" she asked.
Lydia's expression changed to one of bewilderment. "That's the interesting thing. No one."
Whoa, she was not expecting that. "No one?"
"No. And Janis states clearly she bought the stockings on her way to work, to have a spare pair."
Harper nodded in understanding, as she, too, always kept a backup pair with her, although now they were safely in her staff locker.
Lydia went on, "The wrapper from the stockings was still in her drawer, ripped open, and Janis even showed me proof of purchase from a convenience store this morning, before work. But according to everyone I spoke with, not a single person entered her cubicle while she was having lunch, plus she never left her workstation all morning. We double-checked the footage for the time around her coffee break too, and came up empty."
Harper blinked. "Okay, that is... weird? I'd suggest maybe she did it herself, but she was so furious about it... which I totally get, by the way... I really don't see that as a possibility."
"No." Lydia sighed, pushing some fly-away strands of hair off her face. "It's just very strange, and you know," she glanced around to be sure no one was in hearing distance, "given what we are, when we say something is strange, we mean Strange, with a capital S!"
Harper grinned at her. "I know, right?"
Lydia stood up, smoothing the lines of her cream linen jacket. "Well, I'll leave you to it. You haven't had lunch yet, have you?"
"No, I was about to go, when I had a call from the Mason's. We've been playing phone tag all morning, so I wanted to take their call when we finally connected."
"Go take it now, then, I'll let the receptionists know."
"Thank you, Lydia."
Harper grabbed her lunch from her locker, avoiding the break room and its Hostile Harpies (with apologies to real harpies). Still stinging from the recent accusation, she headed to the small park two blocks away. She settled at a picnic table with her purse, Kindle and lunch, grateful for the shade of a large tree and the cool Hudson breeze on this warm summer day.
With a sigh, she stood when her phone chimed its warning. After disposing of her sandwich wrapper in the garbage bin, she made her way back to work. At least, she mused, spending her break away from the building meant no one could pin any wrongdoing on her.
Jake was still at the back door when she returned, and he grinned at her. "I heard about the drama of the hair pulling and the pantyhose."
Harper grimaced. "I'm sure everyone has by now. Have Steve or Lydia told you the really weird part?"
"About what was on the security cams? Yeah. That is weird. Have you thought maybe Janis did it herself, to blame you?"
"Yes, and Lydia and I even talked about that briefly... at least," she amended, "not the part about so she could blame it on me, just that she did it herself. But the thing is, Jake, she was just too mad. I don't think even she can fake that level of mad."
"Poltergeist?" He suggested, with a chuckle.
Harper rolled her eyes. "That's taking it a bit too far, don't you think?"
Jake swiped his own card to unlock the door, and held it open for her, with a wink. "At least, it couldn't have happened to a better person."
That startled a laugh from her. "You're too right!"
She stowed her cooler in her locker and made for the kitchen to pour coffee. She'd regret her growing addiction later, but dealing with false accusations required caffeine. Unlike her morning black coffee meant to wake her up, this afternoon cup was for comfort - so she grabbed a creamer and some packets of sugar.
Back at her desk with coffee in hand, Harper felt an odd tug near her ankle, like snagged pantyhose. A quick glance showed nothing amiss. Okay, weird. Her phone pinged, and she swiped it to find a text message. It was all she could do not to whoop aloud… she'd been approved for the apartment! All she had to do was drop by after work to sign the paperwork,and it was hers!
With an effort she considered truly praiseworthy, Harper did not bounce in her chair, but, oh! She wanted to! Her steaming coffee caught her attention, and with a grin of delight that wouldn't be suppressed, she reached for the creamer. As she began to peel the top off the creamer, another stronger tug on her lower leg, more insistent, made her pause. She pushed back her chair to check the floor - empty. And her nylons remained pristine, no runs in sight.
Reyna stirred suddenly, and nudged her.Magic.
Magic? Oh. Oh, now, wait a minute. A wild thought came to her. She glanced at the creamer in her hand, and slowly placed it back on the desk. Surely not? And yet, there had been someone pulling Tiffany's hair that morning, and the destruction of Janis's nylons but no one caught on the camera.
