By his skeptical look, she was sure he was not yet taken in by her excuses; Ester, on the other hand, was more than taken in by the chiselled contours of his handsome face.
He was one of the constables, though – the chief constable – so she really ought to be on her best behaviour, shouldn’t she? She ought to try and make a dash for it when he turned to the barkeep, but she really did want a longer look at him, too.
“I had it when I came in tonight, my purse,” Ester offered, in half a ploy to keep the constable’s eyes off the barkeep and prevent the pair of them from lumping all the blame on her. “Cross my heart.” She traced that cross over her breast with her fingertip, maybe hoping to draw his attention a little, and then added, as she cast her own mournful look about the room in search of someone else to blame: “I truly had no idea Hogsmeade had so many thieves.”
He was one of the constables, though – the chief constable – so she really ought to be on her best behaviour, shouldn’t she? She ought to try and make a dash for it when he turned to the barkeep, but she really did want a longer look at him, too.
“I had it when I came in tonight, my purse,” Ester offered, in half a ploy to keep the constable’s eyes off the barkeep and prevent the pair of them from lumping all the blame on her. “Cross my heart.” She traced that cross over her breast with her fingertip, maybe hoping to draw his attention a little, and then added, as she cast her own mournful look about the room in search of someone else to blame: “I truly had no idea Hogsmeade had so many thieves.”
![[Image: uWJZ5yA.png]](https://i.imgur.com/uWJZ5yA.png)