Simon smirked. "I get it. You're into stuffed animals. I bet you have a whole collection of them at home."
"Something like that. Can I get my darts now?"
"Anything you want, pal."
Simon placed three darts on the counter, and William threw each one in quick succession, breaking three balloons.
"Oh, very impressive," Simon said, clapping slowly. "So what do you want? It's the pink bunny holding the big red heart, isn't it? I bet you had your eye on that the whole time."
"Actually," William said, "I'd like that green stone on that long chain."
Simon raised his eyebrows. "So you're into jewelry? I should have guessed."
He reached over the shelf and pulled a necklace off a nail.
"I'd like to say you have good taste," Simon said, holding the chain up, "but this has to be one of the ugliest things I've ever seen. I suppose you've got just the outfit to wear it with."
"Thanks," William said shortly as he accepted the necklace.
"Would you like to try again?" Simon asked. "We've got a lovely pair of blue plastic earrings here. I'm sure they'd bring out the color in your eyes."
"Simon, stop," I said. "That's enough."
He shrugged. "I'm just trying to give the man what he wants."
"Let's go, William," I said.
William was turning the necklace over in his fingers abstractedly, and he didn't even look up when I pulled him away from Simon's booth.
A few stalls away, there was a gap just big enough for the two of us to fit into, and I guided William out of the walkway into it.
"So what's going on?" I asked. "Why did you want that necklace so much?"
William handed his prize to me. "Do you know what this is? By that I mean, do you know what this is made out of?"
I looked the necklace over. The stone was thick and green and slightly cloudy in color. It was suspended from a black metal chain, and it was set into an intricately worked piece of the same black metal.
"I don't know what this is," I replied. "But I'm afraid I have to agree with Simon—this necklace isn't especially attractive. The stone looks like it's seen better days."
"That unattractive stone is actually an emerald," William said.
"An emerald?" I said. "I thought they were—shinier—than this."
"They are if they're taken care of properly. And one this size would be worth quite a lot. The chain and the setting are both silver—they're just tarnished. This is an antique piece of jewelry that's been moldering somewhere for quite a long time."
"But you aren't interested in this as an antique, are you?" I handed the necklace back to William. "There's another reason this necklace attracted your attention."
"Yes, there's another reason," William said, turning the stone over in his fingers again. "I can't understand what this is doing here."
"So what's so special about it?"
William looked up at me. "Are you sure nothing was troubling you earlier? Did anything strange happen to you today? Anything at all?"
I thought about the note, but I still hesitated to mention it.
"Why are you worried?" I asked. "Is the necklace something dangerous?"
William looked back down at the necklace and didn't reply.
Just then, I heard a brass band strike up, and William turned to look.
"Sounds like they're getting ready to dedicate the statue," he said. "Do you want to go over and watch?"
"William," I said, "what about the necklace?"
He shook his head. "To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what this is, but I think I've seen something like it before. There's no cause for alarm yet."
"Yet?" I said.
William gave me a reassuring smile. "I misspoke. There's no cause for alarm at all. This necklace is just a—curiosity."
"But—"
"Katie, please. I really don't know anything yet." He put the necklace in the pocket of his shirt and held out his hand. "Let's go see that statue."
I wasn't really satisfied with William's answer, but I could tell that he wasn't going to say any more about it at the moment. I decided to let it drop for the time being. With a sense of resignation, I took his hand, and we began to walk.
As I did so, something made me look around, and I caught sight of a familiar face in the crowd—someone I'd never expected to see in this part of the world. It was a silver-haired man—and he was moving quickly through the crowd. He seemed to be headed right toward me.