“It’s none of your business.”
“I think it’s a little my business, considering the sex we had.”
Ben started screeching again.
I could now see why Calvin was at wit’s end. I glared at the bird myself before catching the word it kept repeating. “Book.”
“What?”
I held my hand up and listened as Ben repeated the phrase before scrubbing in an agitated manner at its feathers. “Three words, I think.Dun,dun, book. Who’s the—Where’s the book?”
“How can you tell?” Calvin asked.
“You know, one sense is weak, so the others compensate,” I replied. “I’ve got excellent hearing.”
“You don’t say?” he asked. “Then which book are we talking about?”
“I don’t know.”
“Exceptional detective work, Sherlock,” Calvin concluded.
“Wow, you’re such an asshole today.”
“Someone has access to your shop’s security code,” Calvin said, ignoring the comment as he raised the bag up to stress his point. “You said only you had it.”
“Okay, I lied.”
“Who else knows it, Sebastian?”
“Neil and my dad. Oh, and the crazed Edgar Allan Poe killer, of course. Did I not mention that one?” I tapped my chin thoughtfully.
Calvin dumped the bag onto his desk, turning the note over carefully by the corner. He read the scrawled message in silence. “Threats and love notes.”
“Sounds like my second boyfriend,” I joked.
“You’re a riot, Sebastian.”
“Remember to tip your waitress.”
Calvin crossed his arms and looked back at me. “What do you know about this note?”
I shrugged. “It’s a line from Poe’s poem ‘Tamerlane.’” When Calvin failed to respond, I asked, “What?”
“Is ‘Tamerlane’ a book by him too?”
“No, it’s just a poem,” I said. “Well, if memory serves me correct, he released it and a few other poems on their own and it was calledTamerlane, so yeah, technically you’re right.”
Calvin moved around me, went to his filing cabinet, pulled out a large folder, and flipped through the hefty contents.
“What did I say?”
“Do you know a Gregory Thompson?”
“Should I?”
“He’s a member of the antiquing community.”
“Well, it’s not like we all get together for drinks on Tuesday evenings,” I replied. “He’s in the city?”
