Free 1 Odds and Ends by Audrey Claire Page B

selecting something else. “What did you plan to do with this?”
    Jimmy nabbed the cookie from Odds and stuffed it into the bag. “I don’t have to answer that.”
    Peter eyed him, and Jimmy flushed.
    “I got it all from my job at the mall, but I didn’t steal it!”
    “No, because it’s all expired,” Peter said in disgust. “I’m guessing they asked you to toss it.”
    “Yeah, but most of it’s still good.” A glint of excitement sparked in his eyes. “I figure I can sell everything for a quarter of what the store was selling it for and make money that way. And before you say anything, it wasn’t my idea to use the bag. My buddy said he had something big enough. I never thought it was this.”
    “Very poor taste, Jimmy.” Nancy sniffed.
    “You can’t sell this.” Peter stood up. “Dump it.”
    “But I can—”
    “Go to jail now or later when you try to sell it.”
    Jimmy thrust the cookies with haphazard force into the bag. “Fine, but now you know I didn’t kill Coley. I was in the basement because that’s where I had this stuff hidden. Then after Coley was found, it was creepy to leave it down there.”
    “The basement was creepy but not the bag?”
    Jimmy scowled. “I wanted to take it all to Zabrina’s apartment, but she said I couldn’t. So I broke in…I mean, I tried this un locked empty apartment instead.”
    Peter ran a hand over his face and tugged Jimmy to his feet. “On second thought, I think you and I need to go to the station and have a nice long chat. Everyone else, clear out. No one touches this stuff. Got it?”
    Everyone murmured consent, and Margot returned to her apartment. She went over in her head how Jimmy had grabbed her when she tripped backward. At the time, she had thought he attacked her. Now she realized he probably wanted to stop her from crushing his contraband.
    She didn’t know anything about dollar stores, but maybe it was time to visit one.
     

Chapter Thirteen
     
    “Bucket, check. Mop, check. Cleaning supplies, got them.” Margot studied the line of items as she stood in the bathroom of her new employer.
    “You’re obsessed with bathrooms.”
    She peered at Odds sitting atop the sink and balancing on the edge. “I’m not obsessed. I’m starting here to get it out of the way. It’s the worst of the tasks I received. I have to stick the dishes in the dishwasher, do the vacuuming, wipe off all the counters, and throw in the load of laundry that’s waiting.”
    “Sounds like you’re spending the weekend in this dungeon.”
    “Don’t be ridiculous, Odds,” Margot scolded, but it sounded like that to her too. Especially since she wasn’t sure how the dishwasher or the washing machine worked. “She said I should be able to finish everything with time to spare in four hours.”
    “Good luck.” He jumped down from the sink.
    “Where are you going?”
    “I smell something interesting. Going to check it out.”
    Margot grumbled. “I thought you were here to help. Otherwise I would have left you home.”
    He moved delicately across the bedroom, but at her mention of helping, he paused and glanced back as if in disbelief. Pointed ears twitched, and he made a funny noise in his throat.
    Margot shook her fist at Odds’ retreating back and turned to her task. Well, the bathroom wouldn’t clean itself. She was determined to do a great job and get a good reference she could take to the next employer and the next. Before she knew it, she would be turning done jobs people were so eager to hire her.
    Picking up a green cylindrical container, Margot examined the side. “Yes! See, Odds, it has a picture of a sink here.”
    Since Odds wasn’t in the room, she shrugged and pulled the sticky tab off the top of the can. Round holes such as would be found in a salt or peppershaker appeared, and she dumped the can upside down over the sink. Greenish white powder poured out, and she shook harder to cover the entire surface of the sink. After that, she looked