"Just lucky, I guess," she quipped as she went back to the outer office. Mac struggled through the stack, sorting it into 'today', 'this week', and 'lose it' piles. Much of the last pile lay on the floor because he had missed the paper-recycling bin. The cleaning crew last night had moved it from its usual spot. Still sitting at the bottom of the second pile for about the fifth day was an invitation to attend the formal retirement dinner of the Chief of Police of a Syracuse suburb. Mac was ignoring it, of course, because he just couldn't picture himself at a black-tie affair. All those years in undercover work meant no ties at all, much less a black bow. Two tickets were available for him and a guest, the invitation said. Carolyn would fit in perfectly at that kind of thing. He wondered if she would even accept his invitation. Figuring the worst she could say was 'no', he reached for the phone but was stopped by the buzz of the intercom. "Chief, Mavis just called to confirm that Elliot White, who owns the property where The Costume Nook is located, hasn't bought or sold any other properties within the past year.
