by Ash Czarnota

The town square was buzzing with the titillate murmurs of all of Evening Shire gathered before Shaun. It was a beautiful day, but Shaun was being cooked by the high noon sun beating on the crown of his head. He looked toward Fiona who gave an encouraging nod. Shaun cleared his throat and a sudden lull came over the crowd. 

From one pocket, Shaun withdrew a small piece of crumpled and dirt speckled paper and from the other…the missing necklace! The townspeople let out a collective gasp. 

“You found it, Shaun!” Jayne cried out.

“And it’s still in mint condition. Smashing!” Peter added. 

“Well, I should hope so,” Shaun stated matter of factly, “Since I found it in your shop.”

Another round of gasps made its way through the crowd followed by confused expressions and exasperated exclamations.

“So, what you’re sayin’, Shaun,” Derek called from the doorway of his pub, “Is that you went on a wild goose chase and stirred up gossip around town only come to find the Brown’s don’t know how to properly tend to their belongings?”

“I resent your tone, Johnson,” Peter snarled. 

Shaun’s eye twitched in annoyance. “Enough,” He barked, “If you’ll let me, I’ll explain exactly what happened.”

All eyes were on Shaun. He took a deep breath, then continued.

“I was walking home yesterday after my round of interviews and came across this piece of paper in the town square green,” Shaun raised his hand to indicate the piece of evidence, “I realized it was a price tag. The price matched that of the missing necklace. It was also covered in black cat hair.”

“Oh, dear,” Jayne moaned.

Shaun had an inkling Peter and Jayne knew where he was going with this.

“Oi, don’t the Brown’s have a black cat?” Colin asked.

Shaun nodded and continued, “I took this price tag back to the Brown’s yesterday evening. They were heading out for dinner and told me I could have the place to myself to investigate and gather evidence as necessary. Their cat greeted me at the door. I must say, Mr. Brown, he’s a feisty fellow.”

Peter shrugged, “Just an affectionate and mischievous lad. He’s no harm.”

Shaun nodded more emphatically. “Mischievous indeed. As I was touring your shop, the furry lad became agitated when I approached the desk. I thoroughly examined every part of the desk, turning over its contents, but ultimately coming up short. The bloody cat was meowing up a storm by this point. Poor lad was probably miffed I disturbed his collection of shiny trinkets. My last resort was to move the desk away from the wall.”

Shaun held up the necklace, “This is what I found wedged between the small pocket of space between that wall and the desk.”

More excited murmurs arose from the crowd.

“This was no thief in the night. This was an accident caused by a mischievous cat with too much time on its paws.”

Peter and Jayne stepped forward from the crowd, faces and ears beet red from embarrassment, and quietly claimed the necklace from Shaun.

“Thank you,” Peter murmured gratefully and shook Shaun’s hand.

“All in a day’s work,” Shaun grinned, “Oh, and Peter?”

“Aye, Shaun?”

“I’d appreciate it if you gave special consideration or even a discount for the Vicar boy. He’s sweet on my Rosie and I know she’d look absolutely divine in it.”