She straightened up and started checking the coat rack, lifting sleeves and tapping the pockets of the jackets hanging there. I moved toward the bedroom doorway and looked around the dresser and the small table beside the bed, then crouched to glance under the bed frame.
Nothing.
"All of this for one earring," I muttered.
"It was a nice earring," Eleanor replied from the other side of the room. "I liked it."
"Fair enough. Was it the blue one?"
"Of course. Blue is my favorite color."
We kept searching for a few more minutes, moving from room to room, opening drawers, checking the bathroom counter, looking under the sink, and going back over the same spots in case either of us had missed it the first time. Eleanor kept muttering to herself while I looked through the obvious places. Every now and then, she would pause and ask if I had seen a small silver piece, and every time I had to tell her no.
