Esther Lucas showed Alice a revolving rack with simple chains in silver and gold. The gold ones looked identical to what she’d found.
“I’ve got pendants that go with them,” Esther explained, pointing out another rack, which held hearts, stars, and other shapes you could attach to the necklace.
“Someone dropped this one,” Alice explained. “How would I find the owner?”
“Apart from asking everyone in town?” Esther shrugged. “Honestly, if someone doesn’t ask around to see if their necklace has been found, I don’t see how you can tell. It’s a simple necklace. Nothing unique about it.”
“Do you remember selling a necklace like that recently?”
“Sure. I sell a lot of them. They’re a good gift item. I’d say half of Blithedale has bought one at some point and almost always with one or more pendants. Even I wear one…”
She unbuttoned the top of her blouse, revealing a necklace. It was identical to the one Alice had found.
“See how I’ve strung together several pendants?” Three stars hung from the gold chain. “Customers love to tailor the gift. Though I will say that women tend to be more creative than men. Some men default to hearts, thinking it’s the only romantic option.”
A thought occurred to Alice. What if the killer had worn a necklace with pendants? When the chain came undone, they would have fallen off and tumbled to the floor. Maybe the killer had managed to collect them before running out. Or maybe not. In which case, they lay hidden somewhere in the shadows.
She might have to sneak into Blithedale Books again to take another look around.
She thanked Esther and headed toward the exit, only to stop herself at the door. An idea niggled at the back of her mind.
“Esther, you said some men defaulted to hearts because it was romantic. So they were gifts?”
“Almost always. I got customers like Vince—” She put a hand to her chest and cast her eyes down in a gesture of respect, then carried right on talking: “—who bought several, each time choosing a single heart. But then I was surprised when an older guy came in and bought a chain, and he said it was for himself. He got a pendant with a dollar sign.”
Alice’s heart beat faster. Pieces of the puzzle were coming together, and they all had dollar signs on them.
“It wasn’t Darrell Townsend, was it?”
“Wow, how did you know that?”
“Lucky guess.”