quick on the uptake. I didn’t want her poking around.
“We don’t know if the bomb was intended for our store, or if the placement was just an unfortunate coincidence,” I said, though I had my own opinions on the matter. “If someone wants to set off a bomb downtown for whatever reason, it’s going to be in front of someone’s business. Right now, we don’t know enough to leap to conclusions. We sell antiques. Not what most people consider to be a dangerous profession.” That wasn’t exactly the truth, but she wouldn’t believe me if I told her, so I didn’t.
“Your store’s been around for a very long time,” Monroe said, taking a slow tour of the shelves in the front. She didn’t pick anything up to examine, but I could see her making mental note of the details. “That’s unusual.”
“Not so much here in Charleston,” I replied as I began to move trays of rings and bracelets and watches from the safe into the cases. “People love their history. And there are plenty of good antiques.”
“Uh huh.” She didn’t look like the type who had much use for antiques. “So do you have any enemies, Ms. Kincaide?”
Yeah, but all of them are dead or undead, I thought. Not exactly something I could say out loud. “No one I can think of,” I replied.
“Just odd for a random bomb to show up in front of a store and there to be absolutely no connection to the owners,” she mused. Her casual manner didn’t fool me a bit. Detective Monroe was a pit bull in a suit, and I wanted her gone and paying attention to someone else as quickly as possible.
“I’ll be grateful when the police find whoever was responsible,” I said, arranging the trays of jewelry carefully. My comment sounded good, but I knew the police weren’t going to get to the bottom of this case. Not when supernatural bad guys were involved.
“Have you seen anyone lurking around the store?” she asked. “Anyone who didn’t belong?”
Only Daniel Hunter, but he wasn’t a problem for the police. “No. We get all types in here, but no one suspicious lately.”
“I heard that you sometimes buy pieces from guys who bid on unclaimed baggage and abandoned storage units,” Monroe said, taking way too long to make her way around our displays. “Sometimes, those types of people don’t come by their merchandise in quite the way they say they do. Have you seen anything odd come through recently from those sources?”
I knew what she was hinting at. Sometimes, people who claimed to job odd lots tended to get a little iffy about ownership, meaning they were fencing stolen goods. In other cases, people who legitimately bid on luggage or storage units discovered later that the things they purchased were hot.
“We’ve been in business for over three hundred years, Detective,” I said, trying to keep my voice neutral. “And that’s never been a problem. Certainly it’s never caused anyone to try to blow up the store – if the store was really the bomber’s target. Are you even investigating the idea that the bomber could have had a different agenda – like mass panic?” I paused. “Did you have any other questions?” I added. “Because I don’t think I have anything else to offer.”
Monroe looked at me appraisingly. “Wasn’t your part-time helper hurt when the guy next door disappeared?”
She damn well knew about Maggie. I was getting tired of playing games. “Yes, Maggie got hurt. Have your officers made any progress in finding the guy who went missing?”
Monroe might have heard the impatience in my voice. I saw a flicker of annoyance in her eyes. “No, we haven’t. Seems like your employee got pretty lucky.”
I put the last tray in the glass case and straightened up. “Detective Monroe,” I said. “I’m a little confused. Last night, someone tried to set off a bomb in front of my store. Whether or not they were aiming for us in particular, that could have destroyed my business. A few days ago, my employee was hurt, as you note, in a yet-unsolved attack. It would seem to me that we’re the ones needing the protection, but so far, this conversation has had an unfriendly tone to it, and I’d like to know why.”
Monroe stood up sharply. I could see she didn’t like to be challenged, but she was in my shop wasting my time, and since my people had been victimized, I’d had it with the insinuations.