Bea twisted her mouth. “Well, he’s been dead for years, so he won’t be mooching anymore. Anyway, I thought I’d take a last look at his pile. Some real pretty guitars. One of them has a note in it—says it’s a gift from some famous musician. I’ve heard of his name. Steven. . .” She wiggled her fingers and pretended to be concentrating. “No, Stevie. Stevie Ray. . .” She continued to struggle, then gave a shrug of surrender. “Stevie Ray something-or-another. I can’t remember.”

“Stevie Ray Vaughan?”

“That’s it. Fancy guitar.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Mom. Why would someone that famous give Uncle Norman his guitar? Maybe Norman stole it—that would be more like him.” Since Rawson supposedly collected stolen guitars, I threw in this line to make sure he was listening. Then I collapsed slightly and shook my head with frustration. “Norman was a drunk who couldn’t even support himself. Anything he left in your attic is garbage, Mom. And when we sell the place, I’m getting rid of it all.”

“But I know this one is special. It even has the man’s initials on it in big sparkling letters.” Bea and I made brief eye contact when we noticed a rustling from the next table, but we kept up the act.

I leaned closer to her. “Look, I don’t want to hear. . .” But that was as far as I needed to go—the hook was set, and the fish was tugging on the line.

“Excuse me,” Rawson interrupted us, leaning closer from his table. “I couldn’t help but overhear that you found a rare guitar. I happen to collect guitars, and I might be interested in taking this one off your hands.”

I kept up the routine. “You see, Mom? Now you’ve got everyone thinking that the crap in your attic is valuable.” I turned to Rawson. “I’m sorry to bother you—I’m sure it’s nothing. My mother is always finding things that she thinks are gems. And my uncle was a complete loser, so whatever he left up there is worthless, believe me.”

Bea got excited. “No it’s not. I even took a picture of it.” She fumbled in her purse and pulled out her phone. “Norman told me once that he had treasure up there.”




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