Murder on Consignment by Susan Furlong Bolliger Read Free Book Online Page A

you want, you could go through some of the stuff out back. We’ve been sorting through a couple of lots from estate sales and there’s some things we can’t use.”
    “Sure, thanks, ” I muttered as she turned and started for another part of the store.
    Not knowing what else to do, I headed for the Retro Metro’s dumpster which, lucky for me, turned out to be a virtual smorgasbord of resalable goodies. Unbelievable what Shep was throwing away these days. I guess his clientele base had moved a little more upscale. Good for me, because my clientele (the Third Saturday Flea Market crowd) wasn’t so hard to please. They were going to jump all over the corner shelf unit I was trying to cram under my passenger seat. Not to mention the CD rack, wooden stepstool, and miscellaneous kitsch I’d found buried throughout the dumpster—my personal favorite being a framed cross-stitch sampler that said:  Funny, I don’t remember being absentminded . What a hoot! I’d probably sell it to someone’s grandma for five bucks.
    I was struggling to fit my acquisitio ns in between the packages I still needed to ship when I looked up and saw Sean. He was across the lot, leaning against his car, watching me. I shoved the sampler between some boxes, slammed my back hatch, and crossed the lot with clenched fists.
    As I approached , he held up the sequined purse I’d left behind the night before. “Peace offering,” he said, smiling as if last night’s fight never happened. That’s the thing with guys; they could turn it on and off. Not me, I carried a grudge.
    “Thanks,” I said, snatching my purse before he could change his mind. “What are you doing here?” 
    “I’m still looking for Shep. Heard from him?”
    “No, but I just talked to Pauline and she said he’s taking some time off or something.”
    “Really? Did he mentioned this vacation to you before?”
    We stood, staring at each other.
    “Why are you so stuck on this Shep thing? You can’t possibly think he had something to do with Jane’s murder.”
    “I’m not sure wh at to think. I have to say it seems strange we can’t track him down.” I started to protest, but he cut in, “There’s another possibility, too.”
    “What?”
    “He could have witnessed something. We have Jane’s phone records and they show that Shep called later that day. Since the teapot was wrapped, I’m assuming he changed his mind about buying it and was going to come back and pick it up.”
    “And, you think he came by last night and witnessed something and now he’s in danger?”
    “It’s hard to tell. It could be anything. I’m going to talk to his employees now.”
    I glanced over my shoulder at the Retro Metro. “Good luck. I just tried to get something out of Pauline, but she was pretty tight-lipped.”
    “There’s something else,” he started as I turned to leave. I faced him again, noticing his eyes were darting about nervously. “I want to explain… I mean, I feel bad you found out about me getting married. I should have told you the other day…I just…” His voice faded to a whisper.
    A thousand ugly retorts popped into my head, but I managed to keep them to myself. “What do you want me to say? Congratulations?” 
    “No…I mean, yes. Thanks. I just…well, I wanted to clear the air. Like I said, I felt bad because I didn’t really tell you the other day when we were at the crime scene. I didn’t know how to tell you. Then I saw you last night at The Classy Closet, and well…you know how that went. By the way, Sarah said she ran into you at the bridal shop. Why were you at the bridal shop?” 
    “Why do you care?” I shot back.
    He shrugged. “Just wondered. Are you serious about someone?”
    My mind raced. Would he feel jealous if I said yes? Maybe I should make up a fake fiancé and see how he reacted. Then I reconsidered. “No, I’m not dating anyone. I haven’t since…” I let my words drop. “My cousin, Cherry Gallagher, is getting