Charlotte is hosting an auction of carnival antiques including many beautiful antique merry-go-round horses. In order to attract additional bidders she invites a traveling carnival managed by Boswell, an aging showman who indulges liberally in nicotine and alcohol. He asks Lovejoy to help him cash in his 'pension,' a huge collection of antique brass candlesticks, largely Georgian and Elizabethan. Unfortunately an aristocratic family in the area is burgled for the third time in the past year while the fair's in town. Suspicion falls on Boswell and he's arrested. He claims he's innocent and Lovejoy, who was with him when the theft took place, believes him and works to prove his innocence. As a sidebar, Lovejoy asks Beth to bid on a seemingly pedestrian painting in the auction, but no one can figure out why.
—duke1029@aol.com