The Obsolete

by Richard Hallows

About the Author: Richard Hallows is an award winning short story writer and has written three full length works of non-fiction and founded (the now defunct) indy publisher, Spikethecat.

Excerpt

“You don’t see many pawn shops around anymore, do you?” It was part question and part statement of fact, as the detective picked up an interesting piece of Clarence Cliff pottery: a teapot with an angular handle like a schoolboy’s set square. “Is this worth anything?” he asked.

“Three grand,” I told him.

“For a tea pot?” He stared at it and gently placed it back on the table from which he had taken it. “You’ve got to drink a lot of tea to justify a three grand tea pot.” The detective smiled and displayed his expensive dental work. You had to work a lot of extra shifts to afford teeth like that.

I smiled in agreement. If I had acquired any wisdom with age it was that the less said at times like this, the better.

“People collect them,” I told him.

“What kind of people?” he asked.

I shrugged.

“People who collect tea pots, I guess.”

“Did you buy it?” he asked.

“House clearance, I think.”

“Somebody didn’t bring it in to the shop to sell it to you?”

“No. Fairly sure it was a house clearance. eBay and Facebook have pretty much put an end to walk-ins. Everyone thinks they can get rich buying and selling on the Internet.”

Story Comments