The Missing Earring: Part 3

Andy and I started putting up signs of a lost earring, by putting our name, phone number and offering a reward to anybody who finds it.

Andy smirks and says, ‘’This is a good way to bribe someone who could have your earrings, Holly.’’

‘’I don’t think they’ll weasel their way out of it.’’ I laughed.

Andy and I order ice cream from the ice cream truck. I had chocolate and Andy had strawberry and vanilla. We observed other people. People-watching is Andy and I’s favourite hobby, we observe people through our binoculars without them noticing. We saw a woman pushing her baby in a stroller and a man with sunglasses who had a black bag. I know you shouldn’t judge people by their looks, but this guy looked suspicious, and Andy and I started getting negative vibes from him. I rummaged through my purse, took out my notebook and noted down our no.3 suspect. Andy and I confronted him.

‘’Good afternoon, sir,’’ I greeted him.

‘’Good afternoon to you, ma’am, what can I do for you?’’ the man asked.

‘’We just wanted to ask you some questions. Have you seen our lost earring, somewhere?’’

‘’What? No, I haven’t,’’ he replied warily.

‘’Really? Have you read the signs, sir?’’ I asked.

‘’What are you implying? You think I’m a thief, don’t you,’’ he said with gritted teeth.

‘’No, of course not,’’ I said backing away from the man.

‘’Well yeah, you’re acting like I stole it,’’ he said sarcastically.

We started to get suspicious because of the way he reacted when we asked him about my stolen earring.

Oh no, I wonder, the man knows we’re on to him, what do we do?

‘’Shouldn’t we call the police?’’ Andy asked.

‘’No, not yet,   we are still not one hundred percent sure that he’s guilty,’’ I replied.

‘’But, what if he is? He could be lying, you never know. That is how most suspects behave when they’re being interrogated.’’

‘’I guess you’re right,’’ I sighed then said,’’ but it is better if we don’t get the police involved, like I said, we don’t know for sure if it is really him. He’s innocent until proven guilty.’’

I had a nightmare about our no.3 suspect, which was the man we had confronted earlier, that he kidnapped Andy, then tortured her, while I watched helplessly. The guy takes out a jewelry box and a bag loaded with money, then laughs maliciously. I recognize the pearl earring which he takes out from the jewelry box as mine.

I wake up with a start, sigh with relief when I see Andy still sleeping peacefully next to me, safe and sound.

Andy was right, I thought, that guy could be a thief. Or maybe it was just a dream and my mind was playing tricks on me.

To be continued....