buttons are missing.”
Nev’s expression brightened. It wasn’t so much a smile as it was an acknowledgment
that there might be at least a glimmer of light at the end of the investigative tunnel.
“Of course! And if we know which ones are missing—”
He expected me to supply the logical rest of the statement, but honestly, I couldn’t.
“I’m not sure what it tells us,” I admitted. “But it’s a start.”
He was hoping for more. He settled for what he got, leaning over to take a look at
the pictures that I laid out one by one on my desk.
“This is a sort of greenish button,” he said, picking up the first photo and giving
it a careful once-over. “Looks like glass.”
“You’re learning.” I leaned over his shoulder so I could tap a finger against the
button in the photo. “This button is made out of uranium glass, or what some modern
collectors call Vaseline glass. And this one…” I put the first picture back on the
desk and handed him the second.
Nev looked at it for a moment, and maybe I was tired and, thus, being fanciful, but
I liked to think that he was trying to call up any little bit of button knowledge
he’d learned from me in the past months. It was sweet of him, really. Even when he
finally pursed his lips and gave up. “It’s a button with a picture of a red fish on
it. Honest to gosh…” Shaking his head, he set the picture back where it came from.
“Before I met you, I never even imagined there were buttons as fancy as that. I mean,
who even thinks about buttons?”
He knew the answer to that question, which explains why he cringed as soon as the
words left his mouth. When he bent to retrieve the last photo, the tips of Nev’s ears
were pink. “And one more photo of a button with a picture of a…” He squinted for a
clearer look. “It looks like a metal button with a building or something on it.”
“Check, check, and check.” I laid out the pictures side by side. “Now, either these
buttons are still outside and the techs just never found them…” He was sitting in
the wing chair in the far corner of the shop reading a magazine and not paying the
least bit of attention to me, but I offered an apologetic look in Jason’s direction
anyway. “Or—”
“Or the techs couldn’t find the buttons because they’re not out there.” Head cocked,
Nev thought this over. “Are any of these buttons worth stealing?”
“Stealing? Well, yeah. I suppose so. I don’t know a button collector anywhere who
hasn’t seen that one, perfect button they need to complete a competition tray and
not thought about making off with it. Even if they’d never actually do it. Killing
for a button, that’s another matter.”Rather than think about what sort of warped person might actually murder a fellow
human being for the sake of a button, I concentrated on the facts. I tapped a finger
against the photos, first of the uranium glass button, then of the metal button. “These,
not so much. But this one…” I moved on to the picture of the beautifully enameled
button with the fish at the center of it. “This one’s old, and valuable.”
“Valuable enough to kill for?”
I made a face. “Is anything that valuable?”
“What you think and what I think don’t really matter. You know that, Josie. It’s what
a killer thinks that counts. If we knew if these three buttons were really missing…”
I’d been waiting for the opening. Yeah, it was kind of shallow of me, showing off
like this, but let’s face it, I wasn’t about to miss the opportunity to impress Nev.
Besides, I had a very real skill I could offer at this point in the investigation
and I could guarantee that neither Nev nor Jason could hold a candle to it. It would
have been careless of me not to step forward and use my expertise.
I ducked into the back room, got a special keychain from the drawer in the worktable,
and breezed back into the shop.
Nev’s expression brightened. It wasn’t so much a smile as it was an acknowledgment
that there might be at least a glimmer of light at the end of the investigative tunnel.
“Of course! And if we know which ones are missing—”
He expected me to supply the logical rest of the statement, but honestly, I couldn’t.
“I’m not sure what it tells us,” I admitted. “But it’s a start.”
He was hoping for more. He settled for what he got, leaning over to take a look at
the pictures that I laid out one by one on my desk.
“This is a sort of greenish button,” he said, picking up the first photo and giving
it a careful once-over. “Looks like glass.”
“You’re learning.” I leaned over his shoulder so I could tap a finger against the
button in the photo. “This button is made out of uranium glass, or what some modern
collectors call Vaseline glass. And this one…” I put the first picture back on the
desk and handed him the second.
Nev looked at it for a moment, and maybe I was tired and, thus, being fanciful, but
I liked to think that he was trying to call up any little bit of button knowledge
he’d learned from me in the past months. It was sweet of him, really. Even when he
finally pursed his lips and gave up. “It’s a button with a picture of a red fish on
it. Honest to gosh…” Shaking his head, he set the picture back where it came from.
“Before I met you, I never even imagined there were buttons as fancy as that. I mean,
who even thinks about buttons?”
He knew the answer to that question, which explains why he cringed as soon as the
words left his mouth. When he bent to retrieve the last photo, the tips of Nev’s ears
were pink. “And one more photo of a button with a picture of a…” He squinted for a
clearer look. “It looks like a metal button with a building or something on it.”
“Check, check, and check.” I laid out the pictures side by side. “Now, either these
buttons are still outside and the techs just never found them…” He was sitting in
the wing chair in the far corner of the shop reading a magazine and not paying the
least bit of attention to me, but I offered an apologetic look in Jason’s direction
anyway. “Or—”
“Or the techs couldn’t find the buttons because they’re not out there.” Head cocked,
Nev thought this over. “Are any of these buttons worth stealing?”
“Stealing? Well, yeah. I suppose so. I don’t know a button collector anywhere who
hasn’t seen that one, perfect button they need to complete a competition tray and
not thought about making off with it. Even if they’d never actually do it. Killing
for a button, that’s another matter.”Rather than think about what sort of warped person might actually murder a fellow
human being for the sake of a button, I concentrated on the facts. I tapped a finger
against the photos, first of the uranium glass button, then of the metal button. “These,
not so much. But this one…” I moved on to the picture of the beautifully enameled
button with the fish at the center of it. “This one’s old, and valuable.”
“Valuable enough to kill for?”
I made a face. “Is anything that valuable?”
“What you think and what I think don’t really matter. You know that, Josie. It’s what
a killer thinks that counts. If we knew if these three buttons were really missing…”
I’d been waiting for the opening. Yeah, it was kind of shallow of me, showing off
like this, but let’s face it, I wasn’t about to miss the opportunity to impress Nev.
Besides, I had a very real skill I could offer at this point in the investigation
and I could guarantee that neither Nev nor Jason could hold a candle to it. It would
have been careless of me not to step forward and use my expertise.
I ducked into the back room, got a special keychain from the drawer in the worktable,
and breezed back into the shop.
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