Midnight Jewels

good are you at walking dogs?"
    A Doberman in the corner whined in anticipation as if he had understood Croft's question.

    Two months after their return from Colorado, Mercy stood on a short ladder between two towering aisles of used books and waved a feather duster over the tops of the books. A bookseller's work was never done.
    As she worked she mentally planned the evening ahead. Croft would be returning soon from the two-day visit to one of his schools in California. She wanted to have something special for him. Something besides the scandalously tiny set of see-through baby doll pajamas she had bought the previous month for their honeymoon.
    Fresh shrimp might be nice. With a Caesar salad, perhaps. And a bottle of Chardonnay.
    The plans for dinner were falling into place nicely when Mercy sensed she was no longer alone in the shop. The bell over the door hadn't rung, but her feather duster stilled on top of the shelf of books. Mercy smiled to herself.
    Croft was back.
    She turned her head and there he was, standing at the end of the aisle. Dark and lean and potentially dangerous, but never a threat to her. As usual, he had materialized without a sound, but she knew he was very, very real. He held a package in his hand.
    "Croft! I wasn't expecting you for another couple of hours."
    He smiled and opened his arms as she clambered down off the ladder and raced toward him with a smile of eager welcome. "I got away early." He kissed her thoroughly before pushing the package into her hands. "Here. This is for you."
    "What is it?"
    "A gift from Ray Chandler;"
    "Chandler?" She wrinkled her nose as memory returned. "Oh, yes, your friend. The man whose daughter you rescued from that island. How did you happen to see him?"
    "I told you he worked for the government. Not being on overly familiar terms with the various and assorted government authorities, except for Ray, I decided to send him that strip of microfilm you found in
Valley
."
    "I wondered what you'd done with it." Mercy was busily unwrapping her package. "But why would he send me a gift? He doesn't know me."
    "No, but he's grateful for the gift you gave him."
    "The film?" Mercy looked up. "What was on it?"
    "A list of names. Some of them were powerful drug merchants with whom Gladstone did business in his earlier incarnation as Graves. The rest were the names of some interesting users."
    "Users?"
    "Very highly placed people in this country who apparently have a drug habit. It was more than just a list of names. It contained a variety of incriminating evidence against his business associates and the important buyers. Apparently Gladstone had developed the information while he was still known as Egan Graves and kept it as both an insurance policy and a potential source of blackmail. Most of the people on that slip of film are very powerful and virtually untouchable. But the information about them that Gladstone put together might make it possible for the various governmental authorities to identify and neutralize at least some of them."
    "Gladstone was trying to rebuild his kingdom."
    Croft nodded. "Having that list back would have given him a quick boost up to the status he had once enjoyed."
    Mercy finished unwrapping the package. When the nearly perfect first edition copy of Mrs. Beeton's
Book of Household Management
appeared, she laughed aloud. "An appropriate wedding gift for the bride."
    Croft frowned. "It's not exactly my field of interest, but I was told it was rare. Something that would attract a lot of interest in a catalog."
    "Oh, it definitely will," Mercy said quickly, examining the title page. "It's a first edition, 1861, and it's still in its original cloth binding. Fine condition, too. It's a lovely item. I can't wait to thank your friend Mr. Chandler."
    Croft relaxed, smiling indulgently. "He asked how he could thank you and I told him to find you a book you could use to restart your short-lived career as an antiquarian book dealer."
    Mercy laughed. "Mr. Chandler must have some interesting resources available to him."
    "He does." Croft glanced at his watch. "Ready to go home?"
    "I'm ready. We'll have to stop at the store on the way. I want to pick up some fresh shrimp and we need more dog food."
    He nodded. "Sounds fine. But then, everything sounds fine around you. Let's go."
    "Here, you can lock up." Mercy clutched her new treasure carefully and handed him the keys to the shop. Then she retrieved her purse from behind the counter, opened the door