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Dedication
To HT Night, for all his invaluable help
Merry Christmas, little brother
Christ house in the dark and watching Judge Judy rip so Enjoying this more than I probably should have, I hurried over to the door and opened it
My appointht on time His name was Charlie Anderson, and he was a tall felloith a short, gray beard, bad teeth, nervous eyes and a peaceful aura In fact, the aura that surrounded him was so serene that I did a double take
I showed him to my back office where he took a seat in one of the four client chairs I moved around my desk and sat in ht have blushed if I could have
I picked up e I said, "Youso that was lost"
"Stolen, actually"
I clicked open my pen "And as that?"
"A safe," he said
I think I blinked "A safe?"
"Yes A safe It was stolen from me, and I need your help to find it"
He explained The safe had been handed down through his faenerations It had never been opened, and no one kneas inside Charlie&039;s father, now deceased, had left the safe to hi of hoodluhborhood, and soon after, soas can, loose change fro man - and Charlie assured me he wasn&039;t - he would bet that these punks had stolen his safe
Iback and repeating what he&039;d just said Charlie was a shythe center of attention He was even shy about being the center of attention of a smallish woman in her small back office
"When was the safe stolen?"
"Two days ago"
"Where was it stolen from?"
"My home A mobile home A trailer, really"
I nodded I wasn&039;t sure I knehat the difference was, but kept that to myself "And where did you keep the safe in your trailer?"
"I kept it behind the furnace"
"Behind?"
"The furnace is non-functional"
"I see"
"If you remove the blower, there&039;s a space to hide stuff"
I nodded, i spot to ht so, too"
"Any chance it could have been stolen a while back, and you only recently noticed?"
He shrugged In fact, he often shrugged, so seemed to be a sort of nervous tic for Charlie He said, "A week ago, maybe"
"Were you alone when you checked the safe?"
"Yes"