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6
Cora pulled up along the sidewalk next to Perry’s Pawnshop. Like most days, she ended up in the older, less savory part of town, but that was to be expected. Many of the reported robberies took place along Front Street, which was filled with hole-in-the-wall bars, pipe and tobacco shops, dry cleaners, and various other small businesses. The pawnshop had been there since before Cora was born, and Perry never missed an opportunity to remind her. Like many of the older locals, he’d known Cora’s father, and he considered her to be a good egg, despite her willingness to use government mind control devices like cell phones and computers. For a guy who sold electronics, Perry was unusually old-school. He insisted on only using a landline phone and an old-fashioned cash register with paper receipts.
Liam had grown quiet in the car, and she had no clue why. From what she’d witnessed, his moods seemed mercurial. One moment he was fascinating and engaging, and the next he seemed uncomfortable and withdrawn. She still couldn’t get over the feeling that he was hiding something, but everyone had their stories. Maybe he just wasn’t ready to share much about himself. Come to think of it, she wasn’t normally the type of person to talk a lot about herself with people she’d just met. She’d always been more of a gathering-of-information type. But with him, she had no problem telling him personal stories. How was it possible to feel simultaneously unsettled, yet strangely comfortable with a person?
She cut the engine and unfastened her seat belt. Liam was giving her that intense, almost pained look again. Her skin prickled, and this time, rather than ignoring it, she faced him. “Okay, what?”
He blinked. “Nothing.”
“No. You’ve got something on your mind. Just tell me.”
He looked away and mumbled, “How am I supposed to do this?”
“Easy,” Cora said, opening her door. “We go in there and ask Perry what he saw last night during the robbery. Standard routine. Just follow my lead.”
Perry’s Pawn Shop smelled like cash, dust and broken dreams. The shelves were filled with odds and ends in no particular order. Musical instruments were piled beside outdated electronics. Designer handbags of questionable authenticity and random crystal tableware jockeyed for space beside old gym equipment, baby strollers and vacuum cleaners. There was a glass case along one wall filled with knives and guns, and two more cases filled with jewelry. Some of them were old estate pieces, but there was a section of engagement and wedding rings that seemed to outnumber the rest of the jewelry, which always struck Cora as sad. All those symbols of hope, traded away for something else.
She absently fingered the gold pendant around her neck.
Liam came to stand beside her, his dark eyes fixed on the jewelry display. “So many jewels,” he murmured. “This Perry must be a very wealthy man.”
“Ha!” Perry cackled as he stepped into the front room. He looked like a grizzled sea captain, with white hair and skin like leather left too long in the sun. “From your lips to God’s ears, son. Been waiting for my ship to come in for decades. Figure it must’ve sank at sea, by now.” When he saw Cora, his wrinkled face splintered into a grin. “Little Cora McLeod!”
She grinned back. He’d been calling her that for as long as she could remember and, if nothing else, Perry was a creature of habit. He wasn’t big on change, but Cora didn’t hold it against him. “Hi, Perry. This is Officer O’Connor. He’s just transferred here from Raleigh, and he’ll be working with me this week.”
“You’re in good hands, then,” he said to Liam, hooking his thumbs into the pockets of his jeans. “Cora knows everything about this town. I’ve been running this shop since before she was born. She used to come in here with her dad when she was this high.” He held his palm low, parallel to the floor. “When she was five years old, she asked me to sell her a gun, so she could protect people from bad guys.” He cackled again. “Can you believe it?”
“Cora wanting to protect people?” There was a thread of pride in Liam’s voice. “Aye, I can believe it.”
“Aye?” Perry squinted at Liam. “You Irish?”
He nodded.
“Your accent’s not too noticeable, though. How long you been away from Ireland?”
“Feels like centuries.” Liam looked down at the jewels in the case, smoothing his hand over the glass.
“I bet you miss the good stuff.” Perry made a motion like he was tipping back a drink. “That Irish whiskey’s liquid gold, I tell you. I used to know me a girl from Dublin who could drink anyone under the table. She was my kind of lady, you know what I mean?” He wiggled his bushy white eyebrows.
“Aye, Perry.” Liam gave him a crocodile grin. “I surely do.”
Cora decided to change the subject before they started breaking into bawdy limericks. “We’re here to ask you a couple of questions about the robbery last night. At the Gas n’ Go on the corner? I just wanted to follow up to see if there’s anything you might have seen. I know you’re a few stores down, but is there anything you can think of that might be useful?”
“It’s like I told the cops last night, I was watching TV, so I missed the whole thing.” Perry looked truly disappointed, and even a little embarrassed. For a renowned neighborhood busybody, he probably felt like he’d been slacking on the job.
“Did you maybe hear anything unusual?”
Perry scratched his beard. “Sorry, no. But why don’t you ask little Billy Mac? He’s always out and about. I saw him on the street near the Gas n’ Go yesterday evening.”
Cora murmured her thanks for the lead, though it wasn’t much to go on. After a few more questions, she realized Perry was a dead end. She and Liam spent the next couple of hours checking in with all the shop owners on the street, but all she found out was that Mrs. Minniver’s cat had kittens in the front window of her thrift store, somebody spray-painted #JusticeForDolphins in the sushi restaurant bathroom, and Liam O’Connor had an annoying, overprotective streak that rivaled her own father’s.
They were walking past a liquor store when a street person leered at her. He was slouched on the pavement, leaning against the wall, eyeing Cora like she was a new bottle of top-shelf whiskey. She fully intended to ignore him, until he made a lewd comment about her backside.
She turned and opened her mouth to say something, but before she could form words, Liam flew at him.
He slammed the man up against the wall.
The man made a surprised, gurgling sound that ended on a choked cough.
