Alarmed, Tom walked over to the side of the room, with Sybil following closely, and rang his brother, assuming all number of family emergencies. What he heard, when Jim finally answered on the other end was, perhaps, the only such scenario he hadn’t imagined.
“Not sure how to say this,” Jim said, “but Liam and Edna stole a month’s worth of cash from Charlie’s safe last night. According to the message Liam left me this morning, well, … apparently, they’ve eloped.”
“You’ve got to be fecking kidding me!”
“I wish I were, Tom. I’m not sure what to do. I called mam and da to see if he called them, but nothing. They’re beside themselves, of course, and have no idea how we’re going to make Charlie whole again.”
“Does he have insurance that covers theft?” Tom asked hopefully, knowing from what Sybil had said of Edna and knowing his own brother, that whatever money they’d taken was as good as spent.
“That’s where it gets tricky,” Liam said. “He can only file a claim if he submits a police report.”
“He should,” Tom said without hesitation.
“Tommy—”
“Jim, how long have we known Charlie? Are you really asking him to look the other way. They robbed him!”
“I know, I know. I don’t like anything about this situation. Liam was always wild, but never like this. I don’t want to put this entirely on Edna, but I still can’t believe she’s a thief. She seemed so nice.”
Tom stole a glance at Sybil who had stepped a few feet away to give him some privacy. “People aren’t always what they seem.”
Musings of a Yankee Countess 