THE NOSE AND HIS PERFUME

Chapter Six

Chapter Six: Mr. Hartford

Resting their elbows on the railing of the second floor balcony, Bunny and Beau looked down at the lobby below.

“We’re not going to be able to see anything from up here,” Penny objected. “What are we even looking for?”

“We’re watching people take numbers,” Bunny said.

Even at a distance, it was easy to tell when someone got one of the special numbers because of the way they reacted. Only a handful of small children, who were visibly bursting with excitement, got them.

“See,” Bunny said. “Only kids get the special numbers.”

“That doesn’t mean the Nose is stealing their happiness,” Beau said.

Bunny turned to ask Penny for her opinion. When she realized Penny wasn’t standing next to her anymore, she panicked for a second. Then she spotted Penny, standing a few feet away from them with her back to them.   

“Penny? Don’t you want to see?” Bunny asked her, waving her over.

“That man over there is stealing socks,” Penny said.

“Where?” the twins simultaneously asked.

Penny pointed. Casually, and not at the same time, the twins stole sideways glances in the direction she was pointing. Bunny saw a man nonchalantly plucking socks off of a rack and tucking them into his jacket pocket.

“That’s Mr. Hartford,” Bunny said.

“Shh,” said Beau, as Mr. Hartford looked up, seemingly having heard his name.

Mr. Hartford, the richest man in Grayton and owner of XEssence, went back to shoplifting. Despite the fact that he was stealing socks, he looked just as wealthy as everyone said he was. Projecting a windswept, casual elegance, he looked like someone who had just stepped off of a yacht. He was at least as tall as the Nose, but unlike the Nose, he was handsome and smiley, with thick, gray hair perfectly groomed into the kind of immovable style of a newscaster or politician.  

“Why is he stealing socks?” Penny whispered.

“I don’t know. He’s a billionaire,” Bunny said.

Sidling up to a bin of umbrellas, the twins stood with their backs to Mr. Hartford, watching him in the floor length mirror across the aisle. As the twins tailed him, spying on him, Penny nervously trotted to keep up. Mr. Hartford proceeded to slip ladies pantyhose into the breast pocket of his jacket, and then fill the pockets of his trousers with the cheap jewelry that hung on racks down the centre of the aisles. Then he walked right up to a holiday display of mannequins, seated around a lavishly decorated table, and stole a huge, plastic turkey. Holding the faux turkey under his arm like a football, Mr. Hartford strolled to the elevators.

Impulsively, Bunny called out his name. Trying to look like she hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary, she walked up to him and said hello, politely introducing herself, Beau, and Penny. Unabashed to be stealing a fake turkey, Mr. Hartford greeted them warmly in return, as they got on the elevator with him. Bunny explained she and Beau lived above the store. They got off the elevator with Mr. Hartford on the seventh floor.

Following Bunny’s lead, Beau and Penny acted as though they were going home. Then they doubled back, following Mr. Hartford into the store’s office, just in time to see him go into the conference room meetings were held in. Assuming the children must be looking for the Varshavskys, the receptionist at the front desk told them they were in a meeting.