The rejection was equal parts welcome and unwelcome. What? It was her job to reject! … Oh, God. Was she getting old? She was going to turn twenty next year. Twenty! In ten years afterward, she’d be this geezer’s age! Had he guessed her profession?

Scratch that. The rejection was entirely unwelcome.

“I- apologize for being a waste of your time,” she echoed, painted lips tight in a thin smile. “Constable Crane.”

At that, her smile finally dropped and she watched his reaction coolly.