The Skunk

"Not skunk!" the officer said. "That's pot." Not amused. (Certainly not your typical old-book smell.)
I cautioned the upstairs tenants and we have not again smelled skunk ~ until this week. It is a row of old buildings -- businesses downstairs, apartments upstairs, old dungeon-like basement. One expects the odd incident but it wasn't until a customer noted that "It smells like old books!" that our concern grew. The Neat Little Bookshop takes great pride in presenting, yes "used," but absolutely "like new" clean books. They don't smell. The lawyer next door pronounced it "Skunk!"

We try not to draw attention to this latest incident -- freshly perked vanilla coffee helps -- I learned not to mention it to our OPP customers. The landlord rattled some junk in the basement. Shuffled stuff and made a lot of noise. No evidence. We are not convinced that rattling the undesirable (or even the desirable tenants) is the best approach? But who does one call about skunk?