One morning before Christmas, one of our sales associates mentioned that a strand of black pearls was missing. This was a strand that was usually displayed in our window showcase and fell in the price range that did not have to be secured in our vault at night. With the volume of sales that we had experienced during the holiday season, we thought they may have been sold. The bust was redisplayed and nothing more was thought of it. A few days after the New Year one of my associates noticed a hamster leisurely walking beside one of the showcases. After he was caught and returned to the pet store that is located next to us, we found his home. It was nicely decorated with some shredded paper and 60 of the 64 black pearls that had made up the strand. We are not sure where the other four pearls are … and we don’t think we want to know.  
 
CHRIS S., 
WILMINGTON, NC