“Oh, dry up,” Evie muttered. “He probably stole it himself.”
Sam forced himself not to look up. “I’m so broke I had to jump the turnstile to take the train. You can call a cop if you want to. In fact, I wouldn’t blame you a bit. But I’m as honest as a senator about finding your fenced goods, sir. I hope that counts for something.”
“I hear they feed you in Sing Sing,” Evie muttered. “Three squares a day.”
“Evangeline,” Will said with a sigh. “Charity begins at home.”
“So does mental illness.”
Will drummed his fingers on the back of a chair. “It was wrong to take Evangeline’s money, no matter how dire your straits at the time. However, you acted quite nobly in returning the museum’s property when you didn’t have to. I’d never thought about security for the museum before.” Will scratched his head, looking around at the precious books.
“If you don’t mind my saying, sir, you can’t be too careful these days.”
“I’ll say.” Evie glared at Sam.
Will nodded, thinking it over. “Very well. How would you like an honest job at the museum? There’s plenty to be done, and you could stay here at night to thwart any unwanted thieves.”
Evie whirled around to face Will. “Unc! He’s a thief!”
“Yes. So he is. Are you a good thief, Sam?”
Sam smiled. “The best, sir.”
“A good thief in need of a job,” Will mused. “I suppose you may start right away.”
“Will, Evie’s right. You don’t know him, and he’ll only be in the way,” Jericho said quietly. “I could keep watch if you need me to.”
“I don’t think that’s wise, Jericho,” Will answered quietly. Evie didn’t know what he meant by that, but Jericho’s face went stony. “We can always use an extra hand, especially now that we’re investigating a murder.”
“A murder?” Sam said. “Sounds exciting.”
“They might be investigating yours pretty soon, pal,” Evie warned.
“Yes, well, I do hope you’re not averse to hard work,” Will said.
“Nothing better than an honest day’s work, I always say, sir.”
Will checked his watch again. “I am now nine minutes late. Jericho, could you return Mr. Lloyd’s coat and show him to the filing, please?”
A thoroughly irritated Jericho retrieved Sam’s coat from the closet and handed it over a bit roughly.
“He is enormous,” Sam whispered to Evie. “What do you feed him?”
Evie leaned close. “I’m on to you, pal. You so much as whistle off-key and I promise I will personally give you the bum’s rush. You won’t even have time to grab your hat.”
“Well.” Sam nodded, slipping on the coat. “I am pretty fond of this hat. Nice to see you again, Sister.”
“The pleasure was all yours,” Evie said and ran to catch Will. Behind her, she could hear Sam whistling “Am I Wasting My Time on You?” He was whistling off-key, and Evie had the distinct impression he was doing it deliberately.
“Unc!” Evie called. She caught up with Will at the front door.
“Evie, can this wait? The ladies of the Ancient Order of the whatever-it-is—”
“Phoenix,” Evie supplied.
“Phoenix are expecting me, and if I can’t hail a taxicab, I’ll go from being forgivably late to being egregiously late.”
“Unc, you can’t let Sam Lloyd work here. Not with all those priceless artifacts! He’s likely to rob you blind.”
“It’s precisely those qualities that could prove useful.”
“What do you mean?”
“From time to time, the museum has to be… clever in ferreting out objects, stories, and people before anyone else gets there. It’s delicate.”
“You expect me to believe that there are other people who want those creepy things?”
“You’d be surprised.”
“He’s still a thief.”
“A thief who reads Kierkegaard is an interesting thief, indeed.”
“But Unc—”
“Evangeline, not everyone starts life in a comfortable house on a comfortable street in Ohio,” Will said pointedly.
The comment stung. Why was Will defending Sam Lloyd, a common criminal, over her? After all, Sam was a stranger; she was family. Weren’t family supposed to protect their own? But he’d sided with the opponent, just like her father and mother had sided with Harold Brodie instead of defending their own daughter. If Uncle Will wanted to be foolish, well, that was his affair. She’d been stupid to try to intervene.