"Francis, Dorothy - Keeping Sharp" - читать интересную книгу автора (Francis Dorothy)

"How may I help you today?" Blanche asked.

"Nicole didn't need to return," the man said. "I talked her into the two-carat ring with the wide band. You remember the one? She wanted a smaller diamond, but a man in my position wants his wife to wear the biggest and the best."

"Of course." Blanche wished Mr. Jenkins were in his office, but this was the day he arrived late. Had this man known that? Had he cased the place ahead of time? He still smelled faintly of beer.

Blanche walked to the back of the store, unlocked the display case, and brought the tray forward. She held the 2-carat ring for his inspection. "This is the one, right?"

"That's right, you old biddy." The man grabbed the ring, dropped it into his inside coat pocket and ran.

Blanche kneed the alarm button immediately and then, disregarding Mr. Jenkins' instructions, she ran around the counter and out after the man. Too late. He was already driving away. But wait. Maybe she wasn't too late.

She read the vanity plate on his car. MR. BIG. The police should have no trouble tracing that one. And if he was dumb enough to go around with a plate like that, she couldn't imagine they'd have a hard time catching up with him.

By the time Mr. Jenkins stepped into the store, the police were there with Mr. Big and the diamond in tow.

"Sir," an officer said, "due to your clerk's quick thinking and fast action, we're taking Mr. Big into custody. We'll need statements from both of you if you plan to press charges."

Mr. Jenkins towered over them all as he ran his hand over his balding head and jutted his strong jaw forward.

"Of course I do," Mr. Jenkins said. "I'll press charges, and I intend to press a salary raise on my dependable helper, Blanche Walker. It takes someone with experience to handle situations like this, and I'm proud to be her employer."

"Thank you, Mr. Jenkins." Blanche smiled at her employer and breathed freely for the first time since the new clerk had arrived. Maybe, she thought, she'd invite the other clerk to lunch one day soon.

After all, if she could handle a professional robber, she could handle an eighteen-year-old girl.


DOROTHY FRANCIS, a graduate of the University of Kansas and a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, currently writes mystery novels for young readers and short mystery fiction for adults. In 1999 her story "When in Rome" won a Derringer award from the Short Mystery Fiction Society. She writes from her home studios in Iowa and Florida.

Copyright (c) 2001 Dorothy Francis