Page 2 of Silent Bones (High Peaks Murder, Mystery and Crime Thrillers #7)
A late August heat shimmered off the parking lot of the CVS Pharmacy on Main Street in High Peaks, transforming the asphalt into a wavering mirage that made Noah Sutherland's eyes water.
He twisted in the drivers seat of the unmarked van, watching as Detective Angus McKenzie organized the evidence boxes that would finally close the book on what had become known as the "CVS Receipt Scam. "
"Bloody hell, Sutherland," McKenzie muttered in his thick Scottish accent, wiping sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand as he climbed into the front passenger seat.
"Six months of surveillance, and it all comes down to watching these lassies wave fake receipts like they're boarding passes to paradise. "
Noah couldn't help but smile.
After working side by side with the Adirondack Country Sheriff’s Office for the better part of two years, he'd grown accustomed to their detective's colorful commentary.
"Sometimes the simple cons are the most effective," he said.
"Fake a receipt, walk out with confidence.
Who's going to question a little old lady with a piece of paper? "
Through the van's tinted windows, they could see the three women who had just completed their final performance, though they didn't know it yet.
The suspects moved, loading stolen merchandise into oversized tote bags while maintaining the casual demeanor of ordinary shoppers.
Their target today: high-end vitamins, electric toothbrushes, and premium skincare products.
"Aye, but the arrogance of it," McKenzie continued, reaching for his radio. "Same routine, similar stores, same bloody cards. You'd think they'd mix it up a bit or CVS would have clued in faster."
The truth is, it hadn’t gone unnoticed. The case had started six months ago when a CVS loss prevention team noticed a disturbing pattern.
The same bank cards were showing up in cancelled transactions across multiple stores throughout the Adirondack region.
What began as isolated incidents of shoplifting had evolved into something far more sophisticated, a coordinated retail crime ring that had defrauded CVS of an estimated $1. 9 million across forty-eight stores.
Noah keyed his radio. "All units, subjects are mobile. Repeat, subjects are mobile and heading to the silver Nissan."
The investigation had been a masterclass in patience and pattern recognition.
Database analysis revealed countless incidents across upstate New York, all following the same modus operandi.
The thieves would fill shopping carts with high-value merchandise, proceed to self-checkout, insert their bank cards, then hit cancel just as the transaction processed.
The machine would print a cancelled transaction record that looked legitimate to anyone giving it a cursory glance.
"Movement on the northeast corner," came the crackling response from Detective Lisa Chen, positioned across the street. "Silver Nissan, Quebec plates, three occupants."
McKenzie snorted. "Quebec plates. Should've known. Nothing good ever comes from Quebec."
"Your prejudices are showing again," Noah said, already reaching for his seatbelt. The Nissan was pulling out of the parking lot, heading toward the highway that would take them to their next destination, a storage facility in Elizabethtown that had become the nerve center of their operation.
The surveillance phase had been the most challenging part of the investigation.
Following the suspects required coordinating with multiple law enforcement agencies as the thieves moved from High Peaks to Saranac Lake, then other towns in the area, and finally to Elizabethtown.
On their most productive day, Noah and McKenzie had documented thefts at four different locations, watching the women execute their routine.
"You know what gets me?" McKenzie said as they began following the Nissan at a discreet distance. "It's not just the theft. It's the whole bloody ecosystem they built around it."
Noah nodded.
The theft was just the beginning. The stolen merchandise was then collected by a central figure, Marcus Pellegrino, a former CVS employee who had been terminated for inventory discrepancies two years earlier.
Pellegrino operated out of a warehouse in Elizabethtown, where he stored thousands of products from multiple retailers.
The stolen goods were then shipped to Amazon warehouses across the Northeast through his company, "Quick Flip Solutions. "
"GPS shows they're heading toward Route 9," Noah reported into his radio. "All units maintain surveillance distance."
The money laundering aspect of the operation was perhaps the most sophisticated element.
Cash proceeds from Amazon sales were converted into gold jewelry purchases, with suspects frequenting establishments in High Peaks and Albany.
The jewelry served a dual purpose, concealing the criminal source of income while providing a portable asset that could be easily transported across borders when worn.
McKenzie's phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen and grinned. "Pellegrino just pulled into the storage facility. The whole crew is about to be in one place."
Noah felt the familiar rush of adrenaline that came with the conclusion of a long investigation. "Team Two, what's your status?"
"In position at the storage facility," came the reply. "Waiting for your signal."
The breakthrough in the case had come three weeks ago when they'd finally connected the dots between the theft operation and the Amazon resale business.
Surveillance footage from the storage facility showed Canada Post vans making regular pickups, and a Google search of "Quick Flip Solutions" had led them directly to an Amazon seller page featuring products that matched stolen merchandise.
"You ready for this, Sutherland?" McKenzie asked.
"Been ready for months," Noah replied, checking his weapon. “Move in!”
As they approached the storage facility, Noah couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction.
This case represented everything he loved about police work: the patient investigation, the collaborative effort, the moment when all the pieces finally clicked into place.
It was the kind of case that reminded him why he'd become a cop in the first place.
The warehouse door rolled up with a metallic screech that cut through the afternoon heat.
Noah stepped inside, immediately struck by the industrial scale of the operation.
Shelves stretched from floor to ceiling, packed with merchandise still bearing CVS price tags.
The air was thick with the scent of cardboard and plastic, mixed with the faint odor of adhesive remover.
"Christ almighty," McKenzie whistled, pulling out his phone to document the scene. "It's a bloody CVS stockroom in here."
Marcus Pellegrino sat in handcuffs on a folding chair, his face a mask of resigned defeat.
The former CVS employee had watched his carefully constructed empire crumble in a matter of hours.
Around him, evidence technicians photographed and catalogued merchandise worth an estimated eight hundred thousand dollars.
"Mr. Pellegrino," Noah said, approaching the suspect. "Quite an operation you've got here. Who’s your connection in Quebec?"
Pellegrino looked up, his eyes red-rimmed and exhausted. "Screw you. I want a lawyer."
"That's your right," Noah replied. "But I have to ask, was it worth it? All this for what, a couple million in sales?"
"It wasn’t all about the money. You wouldn’t understand," Pellegrino said.
“Try me.”
His voice barely above a whisper, he replied, "I lost everything when CVS fired me. My house, my wife, my kids. This was supposed to be my second chance."
McKenzie appeared at Noah's shoulder, holding a bottle of adhesive remover. "Aye, nothing says second chance like organized retail crime. I bet your family are really proud of you. "
Noah walked deeper into the warehouse, marveling at the organization.
Products were sorted by category and retailer, with shipping labels already prepared for Amazon fulfillment centers.
In the corner, two shipping containers sat empty, revealing the volume of merchandise that had already been processed.
"Detective Sutherland," called Evidence Technician Sarah Martinez. "You need to see this."
She led him to a small office area where a computer displayed spreadsheets tracking inventory, sales figures, and shipping schedules. The level of sophistication was impressive, this wasn't some amateur operation run out of a garage.
"There is a nice paper trail. Amazon provided us with more than a hundred pages of documentation," Martinez explained. "Everything Pellegrino had stored in their warehouses. Dog collars, circuit breakers, ink cartridges, premium vitamins. If it was stolen from CVS, it's on this list."
Noah studied the documents, calculating the scope of the operation. The theft ring had been more successful than anyone had imagined. "And the women? The actual thieves?"
"Being processed at the county jail," McKenzie said, rejoining them. "Turns out they're all from the same extended family in Quebec. Pellegrino recruited them through social media, promised them a percentage of the sales."
"And the jewelry purchases?"
"That's where it gets interesting. Pellegrino admits to buying gold and silver, but claims it was for his girlfriend in Montreal. Says she was supposed to sell it and send him the cash."
Noah nodded. It was a classic laundering scheme, convert stolen goods to cash, cash to precious metals, then back to cash in a different jurisdiction. Simple, effective, and difficult to trace.
"Sir?" Martinez approached with a tablet displaying photographs. "We found this in Pellegrino's car."