The other drawers appeared undisturbed. The second one contained extra staples, paperclips, pens and other office supplies, and the third held plastic bags and miscellaneous items. The bottom drawer was where she and BethAnn usually stored their purses.
While Branch dusted the top drawer for prints, she wandered around, taking a closer look at the items on the shelves. A small housewares section with candle holders, vases and knickknacks occupied one side of the store. She moved slowly down the aisle, looking at each object, then hesitated. Yesterday afternoon, she had unpacked a case of figurines and arranged them in three neat rows of four each. One row now contained three.
But that wasn’t what drew her attention. The missing figurine may have been sold the prior afternoon, but the remaining ones had been moved from their original positions. The rows were no longer ruler straight, and some of the figurines had been turned several degrees. A shopper may have picked up one or two, but not all of them.
She looked over at Chief Branch, who was finishing his work on the drawer. “This is going to sound crazy, but all of these figurines have been disturbed. And one’s missing.”
Branch made his way over to where she stood. “You’re sure?”
“I’m positive. I unpacked and put every one of them on the shelf myself.”
“I’ll go ahead and dust those, too.”
After a thorough inspection of the store, she returned to find him brushing fine black powder over a good portion of the counter.
“I decided to get this area, too, just in case.”
She watched him, brows drawn together. Branch didn’t take anything this seriously, especially when she was involved. And he probably wasn’t doing it for BethAnn’s sake, either. Granted, Jessica would have a big mess to clean up when he finished, something she needed to get done before the first customer arrived, but his diligence seemed to be about more than inconveniencing her. Branch was being too careful, too intent. Why the sudden change? His actions raised as many questions as the break-in itself.
BethAnn entered right after he left. “Branch was headed out of the parking lot as I was pulling in. I take it he didn’t come looking for embroidery or candle making supplies.”
Jessica smiled in spite of the seriousness of the situation. “As entertaining as it is to picture Branch getting in touch with his feminine side, that wasn’t why he was here. I arrived this morning to find a window broken.”
Alarm flashed across BethAnn’s face. “Was anything taken?”
“Not that I can tell. Yesterday’s receipts have been disturbed, and the Driggers figurines I put up seem to have been moved.” She frowned. “And I’ve got a bunch of black powder to clean up.”
“I’ll help you. It’s probably easier to get up as much as we can with the vacuum first, then clean everything with a damp cloth.”
“That’s pretty much what Shane said when he was helping me at the house. I’ve gotten more experience with fingerprint powder in the last week than I have in the entire rest of my life.” She closed the drawer that had been left open by Branch. “By the way, did one of the figurines sell?”
“Yes, right at the end of the day.”
Everything was accounted for. Apparently, they were dealing with a burglar who broke in to look at receipts and play with figurines.
And Chief Branch eagerly dusted everything as if he were conducting a murder investigation.
It made no sense. None at all.
Shane sat at his desk, scrolling through page after page on the screen of his laptop, phone pressed against his left ear. Ross had just sent through some background checks. Spike’s criminal report had been surprisingly short. Maybe he wasn’t the renegade that Shane initially thought. Or maybe he was smart enough to not get caught. Hammy obviously wasn’t.
Shane saved the twenty-six-page document in a folder he’d titled “background checks.”
“That’s it on the Driggers boys,” Ross said. “Carlton had only two sons.”
“Yep, these guys are definitely Hammy and Spike.” The photos left no doubt. Thaddeus and Wilford. No wonder they’d chosen nicknames.
“Wilford has managed to stay clean the past few years. Maybe he’s turned over a new leaf, figured his younger brother was getting into enough trouble for both of them.”
Shane snickered. “I doubt that. I think he’s just gotten smarter. Or luckier.”
“Any easy way to get inside their business?”
“Sometimes these factories do tours.” If so, he might have an opportunity to slip away from the group and do some snooping.
“What are your chances of getting a job there?”
“Probably not good, unless the hiring decisions are made by someone other than the Driggers brothers. When I went with Jess to pay Hammy a visit, big brother didn’t look too happy to see us.”
“Go ahead and give it a try.”
“Will do. I don’t know anything about making porcelain, but I could try to get something in shipping and receiving. I’m more than qualified to handle boxes.” And the Bureau would take care of the winning resume and the necessary employment authorization documents. “What about the Lotus? Anything back on it yet?”
“Yeah. It’s a 2019 Lotus Exige, registered to Priscilla Parker. But it was bought with a cashier’s check drawn on the account of Thaddeus Driggers.”
“That’s what I’ve heard around town, that Hammy bought it for her. Pretty lavish gift for a girlfriend.”
“Yeah, to the tune of a hundred twenty grand and some change.”
Once Ross ended the call, Shane took the time to read the two new reports more thoroughly. Spike’s was all of three pages. After three possession charges and two burglary charges, he seemed to have wised up. His last arrest was over six years ago.
Hammy hadn’t figured it out yet. He spent more time in jail than out. In fact, he was currently free on bond awaiting trial on his latest charge, possession with intent to sell. As with several of the other
