Looking for a Fence

Participants:

carson_icon.gif daphne_icon.gif

Scene Title Looking for a Fence
Synopsis … leads one thief to The Old Apothecary, and to an uncertain new employee.
Date February 27, 2010

The Old Apothecary


Carson is wandering around dusting, keeping the various knicknacks clean, and preparing to close up for the night; the young man has about half the lights already off even now but the door is still unlocked and the OPEN sign is still turned the right way.

The door swings open, and in comes Daphne, bundled against the chilly wintry day outside — a gray crocheted hat over her blonde locks, a red peacoat over jeans, hot pink snow boots clashing below. She's been by the curiosity shop in the past, but never been inside. A few items in her inventory at home need buyers, and she's always on the lookout for a new fence.

The petite speedster looks around curiously, nose wrinkling a little at the musty smell that always comes with antique stores, no matter how clean they are kept by busily dusting young men. She notices the resident such young man and gives a bit of a smirk. "Sorry, I thought you were open," she says, taking a step back toward the door as if to leave him once more to his industrious cleaning.

Carson shakes his head. "No, no, still open for another, um, half hour or so at least. Want some coffee?" he says, canting his head to the urn behind the counter. "Sixty cents, and we have sugar. Um, no milk today, though; all out."

Carson stores the duster under the counter and makes sure to smile, the somewhat ragged-looking young man still trying to make an effort at a good impression.

"Sixty cents? That's a random number. Fifty is convenient, two bits to rub together, but the extra dime is a bit unwieldy," Daphne says with a chuckle. "No thanks, I'm good." She wanders over to where the antique jewelry is displayed, brows knitting together as she studies the merchandise, to see if the items she has might fit in. "So, do you buy antiques? I have some stuff to sell but the pawn shops I used to deal with have gone out of business." One being on Staten Island and the other, well, the owner apparently died recently. Hard times for all.

Carson hesitates, and hmmms. "I don't know, really; the boss does buy stuff, as far as I know. I could look at it and tell him?" He straightens his sweater. "I know a couple pawn shops, but not in this area."

"Well, unless he just personally owned all this and is selling his own personal estate, he must, right?" Daphne says with a grin, and shrugs. "I have a lot of stuff, but I brought some things with me…" she reaches into her pocket to pull out a black velvet bag, reaching into it to pull out a few different pieces: an antique ruby ring, a pair of Victorian opera glasses, an ornate pewter letter opener, and a small Buddha statue.

Carson oohs and looks at the Stuff put out on the counter. "Yeah, that looks like the kind of stuff he might buy; I don't have any, you know, authority to purchase anything, though." He quirks a smile, then looks at the buddha statue a bit more carefully. "Did you inherit this stuff, yourself?"

"In a manner of speaking," Daphne says with a smirk. It's not her usual fare — she usually does better and bigger jobs, but these were a few curios she took while on the other jobs, and she might as well get some pocket change for them, right? She puts the items back in the bag, and gives a single-shouldered shrug. "No one will miss them, if that's what you mean." She never sells things in the same city she stole them from. It's easy enough to spread the wealth when she can be in another city in a few minutes, after all.

Carson blinks, and obviously catches on. "Oh, huh. I dunno if he buys stuff or not, now that I think about it. There's a guy a know that might, though. He likes, um, jewelry at least. Lester's Pawn up near the north end of the Village, ask for Lester and tell him you've got some prospects for him." The young man scratches his stubbly chin, tries to think. "Um, the.. ring and the statue. Dunno about that other stuff. He might take it on general principals, though."

Daphne laughs a little at the about-face in regards to this store's owner. "Your boss here is all legit? I'm kinda tired of pawn shops. These kinds of places usually pay better, since they don't have to deal with the loans and that sort of thing," she says, shrugging, as she pockets the velvet bag. "And I can get better stuff, if he has any particular needs… any area of merchandise he's looking to expand on."

Carson doesn't seem discomfitted by it. "Honestly, I have no idea; I just started here a couple days ago. He might; I mean, you know, you do what you need to, to get along." He checks the coffee urn, and a couple of the cases, as he talks. "I know he's usually looking for some books, but I'll ask him about, um, other stuff. Stop back in sometime, and I'll let you know." He hasn't considered that, but again if he has any objections it certainly doesn't show in his tone or manner. "I know he also sells bunches of I guess alternative medicine things? Like, roots, herbs, that sort? I don't get to deal with any of that since I'm, you know, just the clerk. But he might want stuff like that."

She smirks a little as he gets more uncomfortable. Nothing is more amusing to her than someone getting their underwear in a bunch! "That's cool. I'll check back. Also, if it's just something hard to get — not to, you know, steal, but if it's somewhere far away? I can usually do that too. So like, if he needs an herb from somewhere in Maine, I can manage that too, if he pays well enough." She glances around, but shakes her head. It's unlikely he can afford her rates. Why she's chasing this wild goose, she's not sure, as she doesn't need the money. "Thanks for your time. What's your name? In case I come in and you're not here."

"Carson," the young man says. "I dunno, I'd guess stuff he needs would come from China or something like that. So you do courier work, too?" He ponders. "Like I said, I'll ask. He might."

"Something like that," Daphne says with a grin. Courier work, indeed. "I can get things far away faster than most, anyway." She begins to head toward the door. "Thanks. I'll check back in sometime, then, Carson." She reaches the door, opening it to prepare to slip back out into the cold night.

Carson waves, and clicks off the last couple of lights, following Daphne out into the cold. The door clicks and he checks it to make sure it's locked, then he waves. "Nice to meet you, and check back later," he says.


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