I jerked away. “Why?”

“Don’t make a scene and we’ll try not to embarrass you.”

He propelled me through the crowd to a back room. A fat rat of a man, black mustache like whiskers, sat behind a desk.

“What you got, Ed?”

“Caught another thief, Boss.”

“Thief!” I exploded. “What do you mean, thief?”

The man behind the desk snarled in my direction. “Empty your pockets,” he demanded.

I was not surprised when I shoved my hands into my pockets and pulled out a necklace.

“I don’t know how this happened,” I stammered.

“Sure, you don’t,” the fat man said with a smirk. “Ed, call the police.”

“Oh, please don’t do that,” begged I.

“Maybe we can give her a break, Boss.”

The boss grinned. “Maybe.”

“Look, lady, we don’t want no trouble. Let’s try to work something out.”

“But I didn’t take the necklace.”

“It was in your pocket,” challenged the rat behind the desk. “Call the cops, Ed.”

“Listen, lady,” Ed pleaded. “Let’s say we forget the whole thing for a hundred dollars.”

A hundred dollars. I must’ve looked more prosperous than Edna. “You mean pay you off?”

Ed shrugged.

“Let me get this straight,” said I. “I pay you a hundred dollars and you don’t call the police. And you also keep the necklace. Is that the deal?”

“That’s the deal,” the boss said. “Take it or leave it.”

I opened my pocketbook and took out a small zippered leather purse. Ever so carefully I counted out the bills, each one wrinkled sufficiently to hide the tiny identification marks. As I counted I gave the two men in the room my drop-dead stare, but did it bother them? It did not. They seemed to think the whole thing was funny. Well, we’d just see who had the last laugh. I shut the change purse, dropped it back into my pocketbook, then turned in a huff and departed their establishment.

An hour later I was back at the cemetery.

“It’s me again, Frank,” I said. “I just wanted to let you know, I took care of Edna's problem. I had a hard time finding the bird-nest hat containing the little video camera. Remember how I use to fuss at you for cluttering up the basement with all those gadgets? Well, now I'm glad you did. I dropped the tape off down at headquarters just a few minutes ago. They said the warrants for the jewelry dealers would be ready in about an hour. Oh, and the fellows from Bunco said to tell you hey.”

I traced the name carved into the marble. I’d learned a lot being married to this man for fifty years. Not only did he know every trick in the business, he was also considered the best police chief the town ever had.

THE END