Garage Sale Stalker (Garage Sale Mysteries) Read Online Free Page A

her tape measure. Darn, too long for the mud room that needed seating space. She walked a last once-around the driveway, porch and garage.
    Of the dozen shoppers here, she recognized several “Regulars” as she called them because of their frequent attendance at these sales. There was “Englishman,” a quiet fellow concentrating on reusable construction materials and “Steve dore,” a large man with an angular face and thick, white hair, who typically bought furniture. She’d observed him consigning some at the local Treasure Trove thrift shop and guessed he refurbished and sold pieces found at these sales.
    She noticed “Duchess,” a tall, el egant-looking middle aged woman with dark brown hair piled into a tall beehive atop her head, who moved regally among the wares, fingering better quality jewelry, linens, china, silver and leather and buying upscale items.
    Sometimes Jennifer saw friends or neighbors at these sales. For instance, that man with the curly black hair and scimitar-shaped scar on his lower left cheek. He looked familiar, but why—a distant neighbor, a clerk in a store she patronized, a waiter in one of the many local restaurants she and Jason frequented? She’d certainly seen him more than once!
    Wait! A month ago at an estate sale, they passed on the stairs when she started down as he came up—and more recently, last week at a moving sale. Now it all came back: she’d seen him prior to that in Great Falls and again in Vienna. But wasn’t something about him different then? She thought she remembered the scar but his hair… was her memory failing?
    If a Regular, he needed a name. His cheek blemish reminded her of the dueling scars from centuries earlier when fencing was commonplace. Though not likely what disfigured this young man, Jennifer nevertheless chose “Swordsman.”
    Refocusing on the sale, she spotted a new-looking four-slice toaster, but did it work? She moved toward Seller who, without a calculator, attempted to total the prices of numerous items a Buyer handed her. As she waited in the check-out line, Jennifer’s eyes surveyed the other shoppers to assure that the ill-mannered blond body-builder wasn’t there. Mercifully, her turn came next.
    “You have such great stuff that I’m back again!” Jennifer said to Seller, trying to sound cheerier than she felt. She held up the toaster. “What are you asking for this?”
    “How about $4.00?”
    Great price, but Jennifer knew that pur chasing used items cautioned “buyer beware.” In their zeal to complete a sale, some Sellers couldn’t resist stretching the truth a little and, unlike protocol for store purchases, you couldn’t return faulty merchandise the next day. All electrical appliances invited testing, as did anything battery-operated. The cardboard box in her van held aids to cope with this need, such as light bulbs to test lamps, various batteries, a flashlight and screw drivers, together with rope to tie down the SUV ’s tailgate if something large had to stick out, a bungee cord, packaging tape, newspapers for wrapping glass or ceramics and a blanket/pillow combo to cushion fragile cargo.
    “Do you mind plugging it in, please, to make sure it works?” Jennifer asked.
    “I guess it is only fair to test it,” Seller acknowledged, “although I didn’t really set up for that...”
    “Have you an extension cord or maybe there’s an electrical outlet in the garage?”
    “Let me think,” said the bewildered Seller. “I’m pretty sure there’s no plug in the garage. I... I guess you could try an outlet in the kitchen. I understand you want to be sure. Just go on in....”
    “Thanks!” Jennifer hurried to the back of the garage, through the kitchen door into the house. “Hello,” she called, not wanting to startle anyone inside. “Hello,” she called again. Silence.
    Plugging the toaster into the first outlet she saw, she depressed its plunger and watched closely as the coils inside glowed. Though