and pointed toward Angela. The unnaturals dove aside just in case the wand misfired . . . but it emitted not even a spark of magic.
“One fifty,” I said. Angela had discreetly gone in and out of the pawnshop during the tumult of Senator Balfour’s street protest; I wondered why in the world she would want the ledger. Possibilities occurred to me in waves.
I did not like the way Missy Goodfellow conducted business. What if the Smile Syndicate was using the pawnshop for moving stolen merchandise, or as a front for drug operations—even selling illegal souvenirs? No telling what else I could find in the ledger. It might be a gold mine. Now I wanted it even more than before.
Angela looked at me as if I were a rank amateur. She glanced at her watch. “My time is worth more than this dickering. Five hundred for the ledger book.”
The unnaturals gasped, and I let out an involuntary groan. Five hundred dollars? To solve one pro bono case and an arson case for which the ghostly client might or might not be able to pay? There must be something very important in that book. I needed to have it.
“Seven fifty,” I said. Sheyenne and Robin would both be horrified, but from the look on Angela’s face, I knew she would never let the item go.
“A thousand,” she said with barely a second’s hesitation.
I decided to let her have the ledger. I guess I’d have to solve the cases some other way—but I’m a detective; that’s what I do.
The wizard waved the useless wand again. “Sold! To the woman in back.”
Angela produced a wad of bills and paid in cash so she could take the ledger book with her immediately. I thought about offering her a hundred dollars just for a quick look at the entries, but Angela would never go for that.
She walked past me, cradling the book close to her chest, and said with a sniff, “No need to air dirty laundry outside of the family.” Now I knew the Smile Syndicate was doing something underhanded.
I tried to accept defeat with good grace, though I don’t think I managed it.
So as not to go away completely empty-handed, I used the money to purchase Sheyenne’s jewelry. That made me feel good, a gesture I had to make for her, though I doubted it would quench her anger toward her brother.
CHAPTER 35
Once Robin started applying pressure on behalf of the Pattersons, she became an absolute pit bull. She did not include Harvey Jekyll’s case in her remarks or filings, deciding her best strategy was to achieve a victory with the likable couple first before she muddied the swamp.
In only a few days, Robin had filed an anti-discrimination complaint, sent out press releases, and generated a fair amount of publicity (and sympathy) for the Pattersons. Not only did the mortgage bank agree to review the previously declined application, but in a remarkably quick turnaround they relented and offered a loan with an expedited closing date, since the couple had been trying to purchase their dream home for months now.
The homeowners’ association held an emergency meeting so that Walter and Judy Patterson could present impassioned pleas, expressing their desire to have a nice, quiet life in a nice, quiet neighborhood. Sitting with her clients and smiling, Robin followed their statement with, “Walter and Judy Patterson are such a nice couple. Don’t you think they’ll make good witnesses in a discrimination lawsuit?”
Apparently agreeing, the homeowners’ association withdrew their bogus objections to having a werewolf and vampire couple in the neighborhood; they also paid a monetary concession to get the couple to drop their case—not a huge settlement, but enough to cover most of the Pattersons’ moving expenses.
Delighted, Robin told them to pack up the moving van for their home sweet home. I think, deep in her heart, Robin would have preferred to fight the case all the way, just to establish a legal precedent. However, she could still reference it as an example in her similar fight for Jekyll’s rights.
“Dan, you’re coming with me. The Pattersons and their moving van are heading off to the house, and we should be there for moral support. I’ve already alerted the local police and requested protection or crowd control if necessary.” She glanced out at the dingy buildings of the Unnatural Quarter. “Things might get ugly out there.”
We took Robin’s battered Pro Bono Mobile to Meadow Shadows, the quaint subdivision where the Pattersons had bought their dream home.