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Early the next morning, Pete gathered some supplies to secure the broken window before he and Carlita drove over to the pawn shop.

While he started working on the repair, Carlita ran inside to track her son down.

She found a bleary-eyed Tony seated at his desk, the norm now that baby Melody, the newest member of the Garlucci family, had arrived…and what a beautiful baby she was.

“I would ask how you slept last night, but I’m guessing not much,” Carlita teased.

“You guessed right. Although I will say we’re thankful Melody is on a regular feeding schedule.” Tony rubbed his eyes. “I think she has some sixth sense because it seems like as soon as I fall asleep after her feedings, she wakes right back up.”

“It’s a vicious cycle.” She patted his arm. “The good news is before you know it, your little angel will sleep for longer and longer stretches. Remember, she’s trying to adjust to her new environment.”

“I’m not complaining. The stinker has me wrapped around her little finger.” Tony leaned his elbows on the counter. “I was gonna give you a call but figured you would stop by with news about last night’s fundraiser. How much did we raise?”

“Over seventeen thousand dollars.”

Tony whistled loudly. “Seventeen grand. Good for them.”

“Steve was so excited. I couldn’t be prouder of our close-knit Savannah community,” Carlita said. “Unfortunately, not everyone was there to help.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ll show you.” She led Tony through the pawn shop, out the front door and to the side where Pete stood on the ladder, cleaning out the rest of the broken glass from the windowsill.

“What the…”

“We noticed it last night on our way home.”

“Someone broke the window to nowhere,” Tony said.

“They also busted the drainpipe on the way down, which will need to be fixed. We caught them on camera.” Carlita gave him the general timeframe. “Officer Jonkers came by. I’m not sure if you remember her.”

“From the Christmas boat parade a few years ago when Brittney’s bodyguard got snuffed out?”

“Yeah. You have a good memory,” she said. “Anyway, after she took the report, Pete and I walked around the block to make sure nothing else had been hit.”

“And?”

“Elvira’s place was also broken into.”

“By the same people?”

“We believe so. One of the burglars scaled the wall and climbed in through an upper level air vent,” Carlita said. “Colby’s Corner Store also got hit.”

“No kidding. All three were burglarized last night?”

“During the fundraiser.” Carlita turned her cell phone on and pulled up the photo she’d taken of the raffle ticket they found wedged under the shingle. “We found this on Elvira’s overhang.”

“It looks like one of our raffle tickets. So, whoever broke in figured they wouldn’t get caught.”

“That’s what we’re thinking.” Carlita told him she planned to check with the other Walton Square business owners to see if anyone else had been burglarized.

“They’re not very good thieves. First of all, we got cameras everywhere.”

“Cameras which recorded them, not to mention they left clues behind—the raffle ticket and a scrap of fabric that got caught inside the ductwork.”

“Too bad they didn’t get stuck,” Tony joked.

“No, but Dernice did.”

“Did what?”

“Got stuck inside the vent, trying to get the piece of fabric.”

His jaw dropped. “Dernice crawled into the air duct?”

“And had to be rescued. It was a mess.”

Pete made his way down the ladder. “I’m ready to put the plywood up. I hate to say it, but this might cost you a few coins. These old windows aren’t standard size. Ask me how I know.”

“Because you’ve had to replace some of yours,” Carlita said.

“Yep.” Pete dusted his hands. “I’ll need some help in getting the plywood secured.”

“You got it.”

Tracking down another ladder and working together, Tony and Pete carried the piece to the top. While Tony held the plywood, Pete nailed it in place.

They returned to the sidewalk and stood back to inspect their handiwork.

“Thanks for covering the window,” Tony said. “I’ll start making some calls to get a window company out here to give us a quote.”

“If you need help let me know.” Carlita told him she and Pete had done a preliminary check of their properties the previous night. “I don’t think we overlooked anything, but it might not be a bad idea to triple check to make sure the place is locked up tight tonight.”

“You know it.” Tony helped Pete carry his stuff back to the truck while Carlita trailed behind.

“I need to check in at Ravello’s,” she said. “I figured I would stop by Mercedes’ place to find out if she noticed anything. I’ll also swing by Steve’s tattoo shop to see if I can confirm we have a match on the ticket we found.”

“I figured as much.” Pete sneaked in a kiss. “I’ve made plans for us this evening, so don’t gallivant around too late.”

“What plans?”

He pressed his finger to her lips. “It’s a surprise.”

“You know how I feel about surprises.”

“You’ll like this one,” he promised.

“Fine. I like being pleasantly surprised,” Carlita said. “I’m hoping we get lucky and these rookie burglars left more clues behind.”

After Pete left and Tony headed back inside the pawn shop, Carlita trekked to the restaurant to check in. She found Arnie, her head manager, prepping for lunch.

Carlita thanked him for all his hard work handling the food for the fundraiser. They chatted for a few minutes before she took off. Her next stop was her daughter’s place.

Reaching the second-floor apartment, she knocked on the door. When Mercedes didn’t answer, Carlita, thinking she wasn’t home, turned to go.

The door flew open. Mercedes appeared, her hair standing on end and looking as if she had just crawled out of bed. “Hey, Ma.”

“Hey, Mercedes. I’m sorry if I woke you.”

“It’s okay. I needed to get my butt out of bed. What’s up?”

Carlita briefly filled her daughter in. “I’m almost positive the ticket we found was from last night. I’m gonna swing by Steve’s place to see if it’s a match.”

“I kept track of the tickets and have all the numbers.” Mercedes ushered her mother inside. “I put them in a spreadsheet.”

Carlita’s heart skipped a beat. “Awesome. Can you tell me who got what tickets?”

“Unfortunately, no. There’s no way to tell who bought which ticket.”

“Bummer.”

Mercedes plopped down in front of her computer. She turned it on and logged in, pulling up a spreadsheet full of numbered columns. “It might take a minute. I don’t have every single number, only the run numbers.”

“The run numbers?” Carlita echoed.

“You know…starting at number one and ending at a hundred. I’ll show you what I mean.” Mercedes tapped the keys and zoomed in on the spreadsheet. “I kept track of who got what number run. For instance, the pawn shop had a certain set of tickets. Pete’s restaurant and his pirate ship had another. Ravello’s was a different series.”

“Ah.” Carlita arched her eyebrow. “I had no idea you kept track of where each roll of tickets went.”

“The goal was to keep the winners honest. You never know when someone might try to slip a few fakes in and win a prize without buying a raffle ticket.”

Carlita playfully nudged her. “I think you’ve been writing too many crime novels.”

“Hey, I’m sure it happens.” Mercedes grabbed a pen and notepad. “What’s the number?”

Carlita tracked down the photo she’d taken and rattled it off.

“Got it.”

Mercedes enlarged the screen and began making her way down the list. Row after row of tickets had gone out, not only to the businesses in Walton Square, but all over town.

“Wow. I had no idea you handed out all these tickets.”

“Paisley and I went door to door,” Mercedes chuckled. “We even went back to a few businesses who didn’t say yes right away. I think they got tired of seeing us.”

“All of our hard work paid off to the tune of over seventeen thousand dollars.”

“Isn’t it sweet?” Mercedes beamed. “Steve and Paisley texted me last night, thanking me again for helping.”

“I got the same text. I would hope if we were ever in the same position, our friends and neighbors would help us out, too.” Carlita squinted her eyes. “No match yet?”

“I’m getting near the end. Looking back, it would have made more sense for me to put them in numerical order versus alphabetical order by business name.”

“I think you did great. The fact you have this list is nothing short of a miracle,” Carlita said.

Mercedes grew quiet, scrolling through the list. “We’re down to The Flying Gunner, so we’re getting close to the end.”

“Hang on.” Carlita tapped the screen. “I think you passed the series this ticket might have been in.”

Mercedes scrolled back up. “Here it is. You were right, Ma. This ticket was from the fundraiser.”

“That’s not all.” Carlita’s scalp tingled when she noticed who had been given the roll of tickets. “I think we may have found our first clue.”