“I’ll sign for it,” I quickly answered. I bent down and retrieved my keys as Jamie returned to the truck.
What could he have sent me? Mr. Robert would have had to get the package prepared and dropped off sometime between 2:00 p.m., when I left his house, and 6:00 p.m., when Citywide’s overnight delivery cutoff was. I supposed he’d given up on Barnes Brothers Shipping after the Kinetoscope snafu. Anyway, now I knew there had been a window of roughly fifteen hours in which to kill him. Good thing he’d mailed this packageafterI left, and I had multiple alibis to account for my whereabouts the rest of the afternoon and into the night. Otherwise the NYPD would be breathing down my neck about now.
I unlocked the front door and punched in the security code. I grabbed the books and tablet from the sidewalk and stepped into the dim shop. The place was a mess. Forget going to the fair before it ended that afternoon—I was going to be busy sprucing up after the shooting and police investigation. I set my things down on the nearest display table and returned to the doorway to meet Jamie.
I signed for the package, then exchanged her scanner for the box. “Thanks a lot.”
“No problem. Tell your boyfriend I said happy birthday.”
“Oh. Thanks, I will.”
Jamie clipped the scanner to her belt and left the threshold.
I shut and locked the door, walked across the shop, and put the box on the counter. I stood there for a good minute eyeing it, before I got up the nerve to grab a pair of scissors. Halfway through slicing the packing tape, my cell rang and I jumped.
I grabbed it from my pocket and answered. “I almost stabbed myself with scissors!”
“I’ll try harder next time,” Neil said with a serious tone.
“You know,” I began, finishing with the tape before putting the deadly weapon to one side, “I almost like this new ‘fuck it’ relationship we seem to be nurturing.”
“Yeah. Me too. Clearly I need to make some friends.”
“Have you finished at Mr. Robert’s house already?” I pushed the flaps of the box back and hesitantly dug into the packing peanuts. I pulled out— “An egg beater?”
“What?” Neil asked.
I stared at the rotary kitchen tool before setting it aside. “Huh? No, nothing.”
“I left early.”
“Why?”
“Because something in my gut told me you were up to no good.”
“It was probably indigestion,” I replied. “I’m at the Emporium.” I reached into the box again and this time retrieved a flour sifter, then cookie cutters…. The package was full of all the vintage kitchen supplies I’d been admiring at Mr. Robert’s house just the day before.
“But where did you plan to go after that?”
“Sunrise Film Academy.”
“This is why I left,” Neil stated.
“Iknowit’s Lee Straus,” I told him.
“What the hell are you going to do, Seb? Confront him?”
“I’ve done dumber things.”
“Don’t leave before I get there.”
“Bye, Dad.” I ended the call and stared at the baking tools for a moment.
A small pang went through my chest. Mr. Robert had given these to me, no doubt with the intention that “my boyfriend who likes to cook” should use them. I suddenly wished I could call and thank him for the thoughtful surprise. Here I’d been too distracted all week to seriously focus on gift-getting for Calvin, and a murdered old man ended up saving my ass. I carefully put the items back into the box, resealed it, and spent a few minutes wrapping it. Maybe Calvin wouldn’t notice the paper was from the Emporium….
My phone rang again as I knotted the ribbon into a bow. I picked it up and glanced at the caller ID. “Morning, Pop.”
“Hey, kiddo. Where’d you two hop off to so early?”
