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“Straight news. Who, what, why, when, and where. But right now, all I’ve got is what, when, and where. Who and why remain to be discovered.” Lucy paused. “Do you want to make a statement?”
“Oh, right.” Corney took a minute to gather her thoughts. “Here goes: While we at the Chamber are disappointed at this turn of events, we are confident that the Tinker’s Cove Police Department will soon bring whoever perpetrated this crime to justice.”
“You’re a pro, Corney,” said Lucy, with an approving nod, closing her notebook and getting to her feet. Leaving Corney’s info booth office, Lucy admired the daffodils that were blooming in the window boxes. In window boxes and planters all over town, in fact, as a result of a recent drive by the Chamber to brighten up the town’s business district. Realizing she was right in front of Reliable Insurance, Lucy decided to pop in and check with Randy Lewis about the insurance policy covering the stolen egg.
When she entered, Randy looked up from the computer screen he was studying to greet her. “Hi, Lucy, what can I do for you?”
Lucy looked around the office, which was furnished in typical New England style. The walls were paneled, there were several pictures of sailboats, a practical gray-tweed carpet covered the floor, and a number of sturdy captain’s chairs were provided for clients. Randy’s desk sat in the middle of the room, flanked by file cabinets. A smaller desk, now vacant, sat to one side and was occupied on a part-time basis by his wife, who helped out when needed.
“I guess you’ve heard about the theft,” began Lucy, sitting down in one of the captain’s chairs.
“Bert called me with the news,” he said, shaking his head. “Terrible, absolutely terrible.” Randy was a middle-aged man carrying a few extra pounds, his cheeks were red, his hair was white, and he favored button-down shirts and pullover sweaters that zipped at the neck.
“I suppose Bert was checking on the egg’s insurance policy,” said Lucy, pulling her notebook out of her bag. “Is the theft covered?”
“Not with me,” he said. “And as I’m on the Chamber’s board of directors, I’m not aware of any policy covering the egg.”
“Wouldn’t the bank’s insurance policy cover it? They must have substantial coverage, no?”
“Bank insurance is provided by the government, but that’s for deposits. I’m sure they have some liability coverage for things like slip and fall accidents, probably provided by some banking industry organization.” He gave her a smile. “We’re much too small to handle anything on that scale. Reliable offers home, auto, and personal umbrella policies. Also life insurance.” He smiled, spotting an opportunity. “I would be happy to provide a no-cost assessment of your and Bill’s coverage, make sure your insurance has kept up with rising costs.”
“I think we’re all set,” said Lucy. “But thanks for the offer. About that egg, are you telling me it’s a total loss? That there was no insurance?”
Randy shook his head and clucked his tongue. “Afraid so. It’s really too bad that neither the bank, nor the Chamber, thought to provide a basic level of security for such a valuable artwork. I certainly could have arranged for a short-term policy to cover it, at minimal cost.”
“I guess it never occurred to them that anyone would steal it,” said Lucy, sensing some sour grapes in Randy’s attitude.
“As a matter of fact, I did propose insuring the valuable artifact, but was turned down.” He gave Lucy a knowing nod. “People are entirely too trusting. Do you know that most people in this town don’t even lock their doors? And I’ve seen cars with the windows open and the keys in the ignition. Can you imagine?”
Actually, Lucy could; she only locked her house when she and Bill took a rare vacation, and as for the car, well, on a frigid winter day it was smarter to leave the engine running if she was only dashing into the Quik-Stop for a bottle of milk. But maybe she, and a lot of people in Tinker’s Cove, were living in a fool’s paradise.
Reaching the office, Lucy greeted Phyllis and went straight to her desk; she needed to get Karl Klaus’s reaction to complete her story but wasn’t at all optimistic about reaching him. She had a cell phone number, but doubted Klaus bothered to keep it charged. Nevertheless, she had to try so she punched in the numbers and listened to the ringtones, waiting for the recording inviting her to leave a message after the beep.
“Yeah.” It was actually Karl Klaus, himself.
“Uh, hi. This is Lucy Stone at The Courier in Tinker’s Cove.”
“Whaddya want?”
“Oh, I don’t know if you’ve heard. You’re probably busy with your award. Congratulations, by the way. The reason I’m calling, however, is because your egg sculpture was stolen.”
“Hmm.”
“Do you want to make a statement?”
“Nah.”
Lucy was grabbing at straws. “Any reaction at all?”
“Nope.”
“Are you surprised?”
He snorted. “Pretty typical. Everybody’s out for themselves.”
“Is there any chance you have another egg sculpture? A replacement?”
“That was the last one.”
