Plum Lovin' (Stephanie Plum 12.50)

“Jeez, that's too bad. Still, you're lucky you have this pawnshop. Is it yours?”

“Yeah, sort of. I owe some people money, but I'll take care of that as soon as my luck changes.”

I wandered around, looking in the cases. “You used to have a real pretty necklace in the window, but I haven't seen it lately.”

“The one with the red stone? It got stolen. Some lady came in and robbed me and shot me in the foot.”

“Get out!”

“Honest to God. I still can't get a shoe on that foot.”

“That's horrible. Did she get arrested?”

“Yeah, but the cops didn't recover the necklace.”

“Wow.”

“I got a bottle of real good hooch behind the counter,” Cramp said. “You want some to help get you warmed up?”

“Sure.”

Cramp pulled out a bottle of Jack Daniel's and set it on the display case. “Help yourself.”

“Do you have a glass?”

“I have glasses upstairs. That's where I live.”

“Maybe we could go upstairs.”

“Yeah, that'd be real good, but like I told you, I don't have any money.”

“Well, what the heck, it's cold, and I don't have anything better to do. Let's go upstairs anyway.”

Cramp looked like he was going to keel over.

“But what about the shop?” I asked.

“I'll close it,” Cramp said, hurrying to the front door, throwing the bolt, changing the sign around to say closed. “There's never much business on Sunday anyway” He took the bottle of Jack and motioned me to the rear of the pawnshop. “I have stairs that go up to my apartment,” he said. 'We don't even have to go out."

The stairs were narrow and dark and creaky, leading to a small apartment that was also narrow and dark and creaky. The front room had a television on a card table, and opposite the television was a daybed covered with a floral quilt. A scarred end table had been placed to one side of the daybed.

Cramp got a couple glasses from the kitchen. He set the glasses on the end table and filled them with the Jack. “Down the hatch,” he said, and he emptied his glass.

I sipped demurely at mine. “It's nice up here,” I said.

Cramp looked around. “Used to be nicer before my luck changed. I had some real good pieces, but you know how it is when you're in retail. You have to turn a profit when you get a buyer.”

“I bet you were sorry to get robbed of the necklace. It looked expensive.”

“I wish I never saw that necklace. Look what it got me… a shot-up foot.”

“I think it's an interesting story. It could probably even be a movie.”

“You think?” Cramp poured himself more Jack. “Yeah, I guess it could make a movie.”

Okay I had him. He wasn't a smart guy and he was a little drunk, and it was going to be easy to get him rolling on an ego trip.

“Who hocked the necklace?” I asked Cramp. “Was it someone glamorous?”