No Noose is Good Noose

Sometimes it doesn't pay to be a good guy!
So, yesterday we get a call that always has resonated fear in me.  Seems that three of the bikes we bought over the last month were stolen.  They were sold to us by the same person, and turns out they were part of a larger robbery.  When the detective informed me of this, I had to go back through my records to discover the original purchase date.  See, last year we finally got registered with the same program that pawn shops use.  Hence why we take ID's, fingerprints and all the sellers pertinents, then enter it into the states data base.  Apparently, though, we are supposed to hold the purchased item for 15 days, to give the police an opportunity to review the info.  Thanks.  Good info to have.  Well, as it turns out, two of the bikes bought almost a month ago sat here for over three weeks before we did anything with them.  Inadvertently we held them for over the fifteen day period.  However, when the officer asked me to hold them until he could come down and make an identification, I had to inform him that the two bought last month were no longer here.  They were bought as parts bikes, as they were thoroughly thrashed, but we had just stuck them out back for further determination as to what we would do with them.  This past Saturday and Monday we did the purge of all bikes not to be rebuilt.  When he heard this he became slightly annoyed, asking why I had gotten rid of them so soon.  The other problem is, the alleged owner of the bikes has no sales records or serial numbers to prove the bikes are his.  On top of that, the two bikes in question are two of the MOST common Mountain Bikes sold at Wal-Mart!!  Bikes we see in here every week!  Of course, the whole situation is one of those "hurry up and wait" scenarios where he stated he'd be down here in "a day or so" to check them out and identify (the last remaining one we DO have is more uncommon then the other two) so of course, the nervous worrier in me started to freak out and become stressed and maudlin.  Not wanting to just fester, I contacted the Dept of Revenue to find out exactly how long the waiting period was (yes, 15 days not 30 like the officer proclaimed).  I also spoke with the DoR's lawyer who informed me that we did everything we were legally required to do, and the only time an extension can be granted to the police is if they identify the item as potentially stolen within the first 15 days.  Trouble is, now I have to tell the officer that!  ARRGH!  Like I want to be the one to inform a detective that he has misunderstood!  The whole reason we fought so long and hard to be excepted on the reporting program was to AVOID the possibility of inadvertently buying a stolen bike!  Now, it would seem that diligence and desire to be a law abiding, straight forward establishment has bitten us in the ass!
Yay!
ANYWAY!
Unfortunately the nail biting, fretting and fuming (not to mention phone calls and hold time) consumed the majority of my day, and we didn't get a bloody thing done!  Hopefully, I can put this all past me and actually get back in the groove. 
I will take a customary moment, though, and thank everyone who paid us a visit yesterday.  Found homes for two rides and the remaining repairs (all but two) came in and picked up!  Of course, got more in, so that keeps an even balance!
All right, back to work we go!
See ya soon!