Chapter 12: The Inventory Angel
I unlock the shop Tuesday morning and immediately know something's wrong.
Not wrong like broken-in wrong. Wrong like someone's been here wrong.
Every comic on the wall is perfectly aligned. The new releases section—which I left in mild disarray last night after a rush of customers—is now organized by publisher, then alphabetically within each publisher. The back issue bins are labeled with color-coded tags I definitely didn't buy.
And there's a spreadsheet on my counter.
A physical, printed spreadsheet. Detailed inventory counts. Publisher breakdowns. Sales velocity calculations. Optimal reorder recommendations.
I pick it up with shaking hands. This is professional-level organization. The kind of system that takes hours to implement.
Who the hell did this?
I check the door—locked when I arrived, deadbolt engaged. Windows are secure. Register is untouched, yesterday's take still in the safe. Nothing's stolen. If anything, things are added. New shelf dividers. Price labels that are cleaner than mine.
My phone buzzes. Leonard: Coming by at lunch. Need a break from the lab.
I text back: Something weird happened. Need your detective brain.
"This is either really creepy or really romantic," Howard says, examining the spreadsheet like it's evidence at a crime scene.
Leonard is methodically checking the shop. "Nothing's missing?"
"Nothing. Everything's just... better organized."
"Maybe you have a fairy godmother." Howard grins. "A hot, comic-loving fairy godmother who breaks into shops at night to organize inventory. I should be so lucky."
"That's not a thing."
"It could be a thing. Beautiful woman, sees your shop, falls in love with your—" He gestures vaguely. "—comic selection. Decides to help anonymously because she's shy."
"Or it's a helpful ghost," Leonard suggests, completely serious. "The building's old, right? Maybe a previous tenant died doing inventory and their spirit is bound to complete the task for eternity."
I stare at him. "Did you just propose a haunting?"
"I'm saying we can't rule out paranormal activity."
"I hate both of you."
But the theories keep coming. Howard's convinced it's a woman with a crush. Leonard's genuinely considering supernatural explanations. I'm just trying to figure out how someone got in.
"Do you have security cameras?" Leonard asks.
"Can't afford them yet."
"What about spare keys? Who has access?"
I mentally run through the list. "Just me. I mean, I gave Sheldon a key after the Klingon thing, but—"
"Wait." Howard stops mid-pace. "You gave Sheldon a key to your shop?"
"Yeah, like three weeks ago. He kept showing up when I was closed, getting annoyed about optimal Wednesday arrival times. I figured if he had a key he could just wait inside instead of standing on the sidewalk looking pathetic."
Leonard and Howard exchange looks.
"What?"
"Stuart," Leonard says slowly. "This level of organization? The color-coded system? The spreadsheet?"
"Oh my god." Howard's eyes widen. "It's Sheldon. Sheldon's your Inventory Angel."
"No way. Sheldon would've said something. He doesn't do things secretly."
"Unless the disorganization was driving him crazy and he couldn't help himself," Leonard counters. "You know how he gets about chaos. Remember when he reorganized Penny's apartment while she was at work?"
"He did what?"
"Took him six hours. She was furious. He genuinely didn't understand why she was upset."
Oh no.
"So you think Sheldon's been coming here at night to organize my inventory?"
"It's the only explanation that makes sense," Howard says. "The precision, the system, the spreadsheet—that's pure Sheldon."
Leonard nods. "We should stake out the shop. Catch him in the act."
"Or I could just ask him."
"Where's the fun in that?"
We plan the stakeout for that night. Howard insists on his car—"Better sightlines and I have snacks"—parked across the street. Leonard brings an insane amount of energy drinks. I bring a thermos of coffee and a deep sense that my life has become a sitcom.
"What time does Sheldon usually do weird compulsive things?" I ask as we settle in around 2 AM.
"There's no usual time for Sheldon's compulsions," Leonard says from the backseat. "They happen when they happen."
Howard's already eating his third granola bar. "How long are we doing this?"
"Until five. If nothing happens by then, we call it."
The next two hours are mind-numbingly boring. Howard falls asleep around 3:15, snoring softly against the driver's side window. Leonard's fighting to stay awake, doing that head-bob thing where he keeps jerking back to consciousness.
I'm about to suggest we give up when the shop lights flicker on at 3:47 AM.
"Guys," I hiss. "Guys!"
They jolt awake. Through the window, we can see a figure moving inside. Methodical. Purposeful.
It's Sheldon.
He's wearing his regular clothes—not breaking-and-entering clothes, just his normal outfit. He's set up a portable workstation on my counter with labeled containers. As we watch, he systematically goes through each section, adjusting, organizing, updating his spreadsheet on a laptop.
It's weirdly beautiful. He's completely absorbed, humming something that might be the Star Trek theme. Every movement is precise. He's not stealing or vandalizing—he's optimizing.
"We have to confront him," Howard whispers.
"Now?" Leonard looks uncertain.
"He's literally reorganizing Stuart's shop at 4 AM. We need answers."
We cross the street and I unlock the door—my key, not Sheldon's. He doesn't even look up when we enter.
"Stuart. Leonard. Howard." He makes a note on his spreadsheet. "Your arrival time is statistically improbable for this hour. Are you conducting surveillance?"
"Sheldon." I approach slowly, like he's a spooked animal. "What are you doing?"
"Correcting entropy. The organizational system you implemented was chaotic. Items were placed based on convenience rather than optimal retrieval efficiency. Customer traffic patterns weren't considered. The back issue bins had no coherent categorization system." He gestures to his work. "I'm fixing it."
"At 4 AM?"
"This is the optimal time. No customers. No interruptions. I can work unimpeded by social obligations."
Leonard rubs his eyes. "Sheldon, you've been doing this how long?"
"Since Stuart gave me the key. Three weeks, approximately. I've been coming Tuesdays and Thursdays, the days with lowest customer volume according to Stuart's sales records."
"Why didn't you tell me?" I ask.
He finally looks up, genuinely confused. "You gave me a key. Access implies permission to utilize the space. I assumed you understood I would optimize the organizational structure. Was this not your intention?"
"I gave you a key so you could wait inside when I'm running late, not reorganize my entire inventory system."
"Oh." He considers this. "That seems inefficient. Why would you grant access without expecting improvements?"
Howard's trying not to laugh. Leonard just looks exhausted.
"Sheldon," I say carefully, "your system is actually really good. Like, really good. But you could've asked."
"Would you have agreed?"
"Probably."
"Then asking would have been redundant. The outcome is identical but asking wastes time explaining obvious benefits."
The logic is so perfectly Sheldon that I can't even be mad. And the truth is, his system is better than mine. Sales are up partly because customers can actually find things now. The spreadsheet he created tracks inventory better than my hand-written notes ever did.
"Can you teach me the system?" I ask.
His face lights up. "You want to learn?"
"Yeah. I mean, you've clearly put a lot of work into this. Might as well understand it."
"Excellent." He's already pulling out his laptop. "The system is based on a combination of Dewey Decimal organization principles and retail velocity optimization. Each section is color-coded by—"
"Maybe not at 4 AM," Leonard interrupts. "Some of us have work in three hours."
"Right." I look at Sheldon. "Thanks for doing this. Seriously. The shop looks amazing."
"You're welcome." He begins packing his supplies with the same methodical precision. "Should I continue Tuesday and Thursday maintenance?"
"Just... maybe text me first? So I know you're coming?"
"Acceptable compromise."
We lock up together. Dawn is starting to gray the sky. Howard's half-asleep on his feet. Leonard keeps yawning. Sheldon is bright-eyed and energized, probably ready to go straight to work.
"Mystery solved," Howard mumbles. "Not a hot woman. Just Sheldon being Sheldon."
"I can introduce you to available women if you'd like," Sheldon offers. "Though I should warn you, my social network is primarily comprised of scientists with specific personality disorders."
"Hard pass."
We separate to our cars. I sit in mine, watching the sun come up over Pasadena, thinking about Sheldon spending hours organizing my shop because chaos bothered him. Not for recognition or payment. Just because it needed fixing and he could fix it.
These are good people.
Weird people. Compulsive, awkward, socially unusual people. But good.
The kind of friends who reorganize your inventory at 4 AM because they care about your success.
I drive home as the city wakes up, exhausted and grateful, and think about how lucky I am to have found them.
Even if finding them required dying first.
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