Picking up from yesterday…

Confronting the half-empty lot where Diamond Comics Distributors was supposed to be, I finally walked into the supermarket (I was jonesing pretty hard for some orange juice, anyway) and asked the first clerk I saw.

“Oh, yeah,” she said. “It’s behind the Dollar General.”

And so it was. I could tell because of the piece of paper that said “Diamond” they had taped next to the steel door on the otherwise featureless white brick wall.

Nevertheless, once I got the attention of a helpful employee inside, she let me back my car up and place all 201 books into a waiting carrying cart. 20. 60. 100. 140. 160. 180. 200…

Wait.

No.

The last box had been opened already, before I put it in the car, without my realizing. It only contained 17 copies. There were three extras I’d left in the car, which I’d thought meant I had 203. But… 200. I was one short.

No.

I was one short.

No.

I did what anyone would have, of course: set fire to the car and drove it directly into the side of the building.

Tomorrow: the somewhat more prosaic conclusion!