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That was true, though it didn’t happen as frequently as Quinn made it sound. Then again, maybe it happened more frequently these days. Still, Andy argued, “Yes, Uncle C.’s absent-minded, but he’d be bound to notice a pattern if he kept discovering snow globes after one of Millard’s visits.”

“Maybe. Maybe not.”

Andy said, “I just think there’s a whole village full of people we haven’t even considered.”

“It has to be someone with regular access to the shop.”

“Agreed.”

“Someone Cutty wouldn’t think twice about if he saw them wandering around say, during those Wednesday night poker games.”

“That’s just one possibility,” Andy said. “It could just as easily be the mail carrier. Or a local artist putting something on consignment. Or another shop owner getting rid of overstock.”

As the words left his mouth, he suddenly thought of Fleur and her failed gift shop. His heart seemed to flutter to a stop in his chest.

Oh hell.

“I can’t say Millard ever impressed me much,” Love said. “Though he strikes me as more lazy than dishonest. But nobody’s going to trust thousands of dollars’ worth of gemstones to the US post office. Those snow globes would have to be hand-delivered.”

“They trusted the US post office to ship themtothe Whittakers,” Andy pointed out.

“No. We don’t know that for a fact,” Quinn said. “For all we know, the Whittakers came and collected those orders in person. Or arranged for a delivery. Which is why there’s no shipping record on some of those orders. They weren’t shipped.”

That was possible. But it was also possible the orders had been FedExed or sent by UPS or, yes, that occasionally the Whittakers had risked having them sent through the mail since the whole idea of all this convoluted ping-ponging kitschy art objects around the country was to make it difficult to track the gems.

Orsomeone elsedonatedthose decoy globes to Uncle C., someone who could offer a reasonable explanation for getting rid of a bunch of seasonal ornaments because she no longer had any place to sell them. Someone who already demonstrated an alarmingly proprietary interest in Time in a Bottle.

No, he really didn’t want to start thinking like that. Andy didn’t like Fleur, but she was still family. Yes, she had her faults, but surely she wouldn’t do anything to place herself, Clark, or Uncle C. in such a dangerous position.

No, there had to be someone else. Someone still flying beneath the radar.

He tuned back in to the conversation to hear Quinn once more making his pitch against Chief Millard.

Quinn rejected the idea of someone else because of his antipathy for Chief Millard. Andy couldn’t fault him for that. Whatever Millard’s loyalties to old man Rafferty or resentmentstoward Quinn’s mother, hehadto have known Sorcha’s child was paying for other people’s sins. Instead of helping that lost and grieving kid, Millard had piled right on too.

Andy was on Quinn’s side. All the way. But that didn’t mean watching in silence when Quinn misstepped.

In fact, one of the things he liked and respected about Quinn was that, unlike Marcus, Quinn wasn’t angry at being challenged. He might argue his point to the death, but the death would not be Andy’s. Whereas with Marcus, daring to contradict him, especially in public, had always been viewed as a betrayal. And, per Marcus, with betrayal came consequences.

Quinn—all of them—were waiting for Andy’s response.

“If you’re right about not shipping the snow globes to Time in a Bottle, doesn’t that argument hold true of getting them to Chief Millard? How’s he receiving these stolen gems? Unless things have changed, it’s not like he travels a lot. I can’t picture him making regular trips to Bangor, let alone New York.”

Quinn gave a funny laugh. “There’s a point.”

“I think we should be looking at someone who travels more frequently or who receives regular shipments from New York.” And that was as far as Andy was prepared to go.

“Another gift-shop owner?” Administrative Assistant Lynch put down her notes. “Or someone running a mail-order business?”

“Then why would they need Time in a Bottle?” Colonel Love objected.

Lynch suggested, “A double blind? Another degree of separation?”

“That’s the driver behind the maneuvering and machinations,” Quinn said. “But from the outside, the network looks more complicated than it is. Basically, every six months or so, someone receives the snow globes, somehow gets them intoCutty’s inventory, and then the Whittakers place an order for them.” The look he gave Andy was one of challenge.

Andy said nothing. Thehowwas no longer his main concern. His focus was on thewho.

Quinn’s brows drew together.