Chapter Three
“Maybe Jordan put them on another shelf. Maybe they’re in another aisle,” Eric said.
Cam closed her eyes and said, “Click.” Then she told Eric, “There are ten music sections in this store. We’ve already checked Popular, New Releases, and Country. It won’t take long to check the others.”
Cam checked the Show Tunes section. Eric checked Jazz. Then Cam checked Classical and Rap. Eric checked Easy Listening, Rhythm and Blues, and Specialty Recordings. They didn’t find the Triceratops Pops CDs.
“Let’s ask Jordan,” Cam said. “He put the CDs on the shelf. Maybe he can find them.”
Jordan was still in aisle six. A woman was talking to him.
“I’m looking for a tape. My daughter asked me to get it for her and I said, ‘That’s just what I’ll do.’ The tape is called Cupcake Love, or Cup Lake Glove, or Pups Above. I’m sure you know the one I mean.”
Jordan said very slowly, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
The woman smiled. “I’ll tell you about the people who made the tape. That’s just what I’ll do. It was a group called Teacher Creature or Fixture Mixture or Peach and Picture.”
Jordan looked at the woman for a long while. Then he said slowly, “You want me to find a tape for you. You don’t know the name of the tape and you don’t know the singing group.”
“That’s right,” the woman said.
“Well,” Jordan told her, “if the tape came out in the last five years, we probably have it. Why don’t you just look at all of our eight thousand tapes until you find one that looks right.”
The woman nodded her head and said, “That’s just what I’ll do.”
As the woman walked past, Eric whispered to her, “You could call your daughter and ask her the name of the tape. There’s a pay telephone right outside the store.”
“Oh my yes,” the woman said and smiled. “That’s just what I’ll do.”
“Could you please help me?” Cam asked Jordan.
She told him, “We looked in aisle two, case five, top shelf for the Triceratops Pops CDs. They are not there.”
“Yes they are,” Jordan said. “I put them there myself.”
Jordan took two CDs from the box he was still holding and put them on display.
“Please,” Cam said, “could you show us where the CDs are?”
Jordan dropped the box onto the cart. He started to walk toward aisle two. As he walked, he mumbled: “Next, I’ll have to show them where their pockets are so they can find their money. Then I’ll have to show them the exit. Maybe I’ll even have to walk them home.”
Jordan stopped. He pointed to a large 2.
“This is aisle two,” he told Cam and Eric. “We keep our Country music here. Now I’ll show you case five.”
Jordan brought them to case five. He pointed to the top shelf and said, “And here are your CDs.”
“No, they’re not,” Cam said.
Jordan turned. He looked on the top shelf. He looked on the other shelves, too. The CDs were gone.
“Well, this is where I put the CDs,” Jordan said.
“Maybe someone stole them,” Cam said.
Jordan said, “No. You can’t steal from here. We have a great security system.”
He thought for a moment. Then he said, “Maybe we sold all the CDs. Six is a lot to sell in just a few minutes. But this is a busy store and Triceratops Pops is a popular group. I’ll check the computer.”
