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“You found something interesting about Russell Sterling’s burglary?”
“Yep.” Carlita tapped the top of the police report. “This confirms what Reese mentioned. The perps tore Sterling’s office apart.”
“Maybe they thought he kept the good stuff in there.”
“And they somehow figured out how to disarm his alarm system.”
“Hmm…an inside job?”
“That’s what I’m thinking. It was an inside job. What if Sterling found out he knew who the burglars were?” Carlita’s mind whirled. “What if he figured it out and never turned them into the authorities?”
“Or it was Sterling himself,” Pete said.
“But why would a successful business owner break into our businesses?”
“Unless the burglars were looking for something.”
Carlita wrinkled her nose. “If it’s the same people, and they were looking for something specific, why break into a grocery store? They’re working on different ends of the spectrum. Goods versus information.”
“You have a valid point. Elvira’s place and Sterling’s place are offices while the pawn shop and grocery store both stock goods. None of it makes sense.”
“Nope.” As soon as they got home, Pete took off to go check in with his restaurant manager.
After he left, Carlita placed the papers on the counter. She grabbed a pen and yellow pad and began jotting down notes about what she knew.
-Sterling attended the fundraiser.
-Sterling’s business was also broken into.
-Sterling’s burglars disarmed his alarm.
-Similar to Elvira’s place, the burglars ransacked the office. Confirm with Dernice the office files were messed with.
-Raffle ticket found on Elvira’s roof. From the fundraiser.
-When questioned, Sterling was reluctant to discuss the incident.
Carlita tracked down her cell phone and texted Dernice, asking if she was available to chat.
Wrapping up my gig. I’m heading back to the office to do some busywork.
Mind if I swing by?
Be my guest. I should be there in ten or less.
Thanks. See you soon.
While Carlita waited, she read Sterling’s police report word for word and line by line. The more she read, the more convinced she was that his burglary was an inside job. But how was it linked to the Walton Square break-ins and theft at Colby’s Corner Store?
At the ten-minute mark, Carlita gathered up the papers and ran downstairs. She hopped in her car and drove straight over to Elvira’s place.
Reaching the parking lot, she found Dernice standing in front of Elvira’s work van. Vinnie stood nearby, smoking a cigarette. “Hey, Ma.”
“Hey, Son. Where’s Brittney and little Vin?”
“Visiting with Shelby and Violet. I came out to have a smoke and ran into Dernice.”
“I was telling him Elvira is gonna be bummed she missed seeing him.” Dernice snapped her fingers. “Can you do me a huge favor?”
“What?”
“Take a picture of Vinnie and me.”
Carlita tilted her head. “You want me to take a picture of you and my son?”
“For Elvira.”
To describe Elvira as having a crush on Carlita’s son might be a slight understatement. The woman was madly in love with Vinnie. Carlita might be a little biased, but she thought all of her sons were good-looking guys, like their father had been.
But Vinnie had a little something extra. Maybe it was his swagger or the way he looked at the ladies that made them swoon. Or it could be his “bad boy” image attracted them. Whatever it was, Elvira was somewhat obsessed, at least as far as he was concerned.
He took a final drag off his cigarette and tossed the butt on the ground. “You two sure like to mess with each other.”
“Hand me the phone.”
“Would it be too much trouble for us to look like we’re…”
“Cozy?” Vinnie suggested.
“Yeah. Cozy.”
“Not at all.” Graciously accommodating Dernice’s request, Vinnie placed his arm around her shoulders. She leaned in with a look of pure delight on her face.
Carlita snapped several pictures and handed the phone back. “I took a few.”
“Thanks. Man, is she gonna be kicking herself,” Dernice cackled. “This is great. Thanks, Vinnie.”
“You’re welcome.” He excused himself and headed back inside Tony and Shelby’s apartment.
“Poor Elvira is missing out all the way around.” Carlita waved the file folder she was holding in the air. “I have some interesting information, possibly linking the Walton Square burglaries to another recent incident.”
“What is it?”
“Before I show you, I got to thinking about the break-in here at Elvira’s. You mentioned it looked as if maybe some of your files or filing cabinets had been tampered with.”
“They were. At first, I thought an employee had been in a hurry and left them messed up, but after checking around, nobody claims to have done it.”
“Unless they didn’t want to admit to making a mess,” Carlita said.
“Yeah. You wouldn’t know it by the looks of her van, but Elvira is a stickler for being tidy, at least as far as the business is concerned. The employees know me. They know I wouldn’t get onto them about it. All the staff has heard about the burglary and would tell me if it had been one of them.”
“So, we’re back to the theory maybe the burglars were digging around looking for something.”
“They wasted their time. Elvira locks up high-profile or potentially problematic cases for obvious reasons. The other burglary you mentioned, did they happen to have their office trashed?”
“Yes. They broke into the building, somehow disarmed the alarm and targeted the owner’s office,” Carlita said. “Pete and I went by there a little while ago to ask the guy about it. He was…shall we say…less than cooperative.”
“Less than cooperative?”
“I offered to show him our surveillance footage of the burglars breaking in. He said something along the lines of unless we were investigators, he wasn’t interested.”
“Weird.” Dernice frowned. “Did he say if they took anything of value, like cash on hand?”
“No.” Carlita handed the report to Dernice. “Here’s a copy of the police report.”
Dernice flipped the folder open and studied the top sheet. Her eyes grew round as saucers. “Russell Sterling’s business was broken into?” She rattled off the date. “We need to track down Elvira.”
“Why?”
“Because Sterling hired EC Investigative Services not long ago to look into discrepancies in his company’s books.”