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Andy understood the reason behind that wary glance. Clark wondered if Andy knew the reason Uncle C. had ended Clark’s term of employment at Time in a Bottle. And yes, Andy did know. Or at least knew enough to guess. In his twenties, Clark had worked at the shop, but had been “let go,” when Uncle C. had found the petty cash box emptied. There had been nofamily council, and certainly no formal complaint, but Clark had been out.

“Cutty’s needed help for a long time, and Fleur had a lot of wonderful ideas for the shop.”

“I thought she had her own little gift shop to run?”

“She did. But it went under.” Clark added defensively, “Forty-five percent of new businesses fail in the first five years, and Fleur was a victim of those statistics.”

“Sure.”

“But just because the shop is gone doesn’t mean the bills stop piling up. My job pays well enough, but I was never meant to be an electrical technician. I hate it. So when Cutty started hinting that maybe he needed a partner, well, it seemed like maybe everything would be okay.”

“I see.” Or at least, Andy thought he did.

“It’s a great opportunity for both of us. Me and Fleur, that is.”

“Right.”

“You weren’t here.”

“No, I know.”

“We weren’t taking anything that belonged toyou. No way is someone like you going to bury yourself in a place like Safehaven.”

“Right now, I have no idea what I’m doing,” Andy said. “That’s the truth.”

Clark frowned. “But you’re not going tostay.”

“I’m staying until I know what’s happening with Uncle C. That’s definite.” Granted, it had not been definite until that very moment.

Clark bit his lip. Nodded. “Sure.”

Andy struggled briefly with his resentments and then tried to live up to Uncle C.’s expectations. “Thanks for telling me. I understand a little better why you and Fleur feel so possessiveof the shop, and I appreciate the explanation. I’m not making plans to stay for good. Whatever happens is going to be up to Uncle C.”

Clark thought that over. “That’s fair.” He glanced around the crowded shelves and aisles. “Meanwhile you’re going to play detective?”

“I wouldn’t put it like that, exactly.”

“I would. Quinn Rafferty was always a terrible influence on you.” Clark was sort of joking, but not entirely. It was an opinion shared by many, back in the day.

“This doesn’t have anything to do with Quinn.” Andy tried to control his irritation. “Iwant to know what’s going on here.”

“Well, what do you think is going on?” Clark stared down at the inventory sheets spread across the countertop.

“I don’t know. I thought for a few minutes maybe I was onto something. Uncle C. seems to be missing a snow globe. But my count shows there was one already missing when the first break-in occurred, so that theory doesn’t seem to hold water anymore.”

“No pun intended?” Clark was grinning. “Asnow globe?” He chuckled.

“I know.” The only reason Andy had focused on snow globes was because of the odd little man in the green fedora.

In other words, he was clutching at straws.

Clark looked ceilingward toward the cobwebbed rafters. “How can you even tell what’s missing?”

“I counted the snow globes in the case and compared that tally to Uncle C.’s invoice book and last year’s inventory. Uncle C. bought a bunch of globes over the past few months, which makes sense since a lot of customers still view them as seasonal items, but he didn’t really sell any until last week. Last week, he sold three. Which leaves us one short.”

“You do remember that Cutty didn’t keep the best records, right?”

“He wasn’t meticulous, but he did keep records.” Uncle C. wasn’t always prompt about updating his inventory on paper because he had a very good memory and relied on that. But typically, his books were no more than a couple of days behind the real-life count.