Mel
Late Wednesday Afternoon, December 17th, 2014
Janet poked her head around my door frame. “A word Sheriff?”
“What's up?”
“I just got a call...anonymous...he refused to give his name, but he had what seemed like pretty credible information about a suspicious vehicle in a wealthy suburb.”
She took a seat in my only visitor chair. I still hadn't bothered with updating my office or moving into old Sheriff Carter's office now that I'd actually become the duly elected Sheriff of the county. I didn't have the time or the patience for that and the county really didn't have the budget anyway.
Mason continued, “The guy said he's one of the 'hired hands' at the Joseph Samuels estate.”
I let out a low whistle. “That's a horse farm northwest, up near Dillon Lake.”
“This is probably bunk then, a crackpot calling.” Janet looked frustrated.
“Why do you say that?”
“The guy was telling me that he'd heard about a couple of robberies and, because the Samuels are away in Europe right now, they were all being a little more vigilant. He said he'd seen a florist van cruising the area that shouldn’t have been around, like it was casing the houses in the area. If the Samuels place is a big farm, that doesn't make any sense.”
“Actually, it does. There's a development way up there that Samuels is on the back side of. He owns all of the acreage surrounding the development. His neighbors aren't real close together but they're not acres apart either. I think he originally owned all of the land and sold some of it off so he could raise a little cash for the expansion of his stables.”
Mason gave me a look, “Is there anybody in this county you don't know?”
“Sure, lots of people. As it happens, Joseph is big into pulling ponies, among many other horsey things, and so's my dad. We've been out to his place a time or two. What was the hand able to tell you about this florist van? Did he get a plate number?”
“No. He said he wasn't close enough. He said it was wrapped in a flower wrap like you see commercial vans. What he thought was odd was that there was no company name really visible at all and no phone number or website that he could see, just the FTD and Cookie Bouquet symbols.”
“Yeah, he's got something there.” Bingo! I did my best to control my excitement. “Janet, a real florist would have that stuff plastered all over the vehicle. They want their name and contact info out there.Finally,” I said, “we get a break!”
“Do you really think so Sheriff?”
“Listen to me; it’s the perfect cover. Florists run around in these areas like where these robberies have been happening all of the time, especially at this time of year with the holidays and parties and whatnot.”
“Yes, but at 1-2:00 in the morning?”
“That's when he said he saw it?”
“No, I'm just saying that our hits seem to have been late at night.”
“Well, there’s that...maybe they’re using a different vehicle for the burglary jobs but the florist van is a good cover when they’re casing neighborhoods.”
“So what do we do?”
###
In theory, staking out the temporarily empty Samuels' home seemed like a great idea. In practice, I was now regretting the decision. It wasn't bone chilling cold out, but it certainly wasn't warm and there was a steady breeze making things worse. I was well bundled but still cold and I didn't dare run the car and the heater much in fear of giving our hiding place away. I only ran things long enough to keep the windows clear but the constant wind was helping to keep the cold from settling on them from outside.
Then there was the other problem; the occupant of the passenger seat. Given my late day decision to do the stakeout, it was either bring Mason along again or pull someone from patrol. I really needed the deputies that were scheduled for patrol on the road tonight anyway since we were running a little thin so Mason it had to be.
So far, she'd been quiet – probably only to keep the window fog down inside – and well behaved but, I looked at the clock on the dash, – 10:32 – the night was still quite young.
###
Janet
Mmm, Mmm, Mmm. That's one fine looking woman sitting over there! And smart too...
I gotta figure out what makes her tick, what turns her on... I need to impress the hell out of her; get her to see what she's missing. I hope this business with Nevil Harper blows sky high! I'm gonna be all over that...then she'll see.
We waited and watched until nearly 2:00 but there was no suspicious activity in the area at all...nothing. After 11:00 or so, nobody was out and about and moving anywhere.
“I guess we should call it,” Mel said aloud after several long minutes of silence between us. “I wonder if it’s just too cold for anyone to bother?”
“Wish I could answer that for you Sheriff. I guess we just have to keep trying. Maybe tomorrow night?”
Mel sighed and I turned to inspect her face more closely in the darkness of the car. “It's frustrating isn't it?” I asked her.
“It's not that...not really. This is all a part of the job.” She turned the key and the engine sprang to life. Adjusting the heater knobs to start heat flowing, she continued, “I don't know how you're working it out with your mom. Personally, the late nights in these far flung northern parts of the county that are an hour’s drive home for me over back country roads and the early mornings back at my desk are starting to wear on me a little and...well, I know Dana's getting annoyed too.”
I was surprised at her revelation and had to hold back a smile. “Actually,” I told her, “so Shane and I are staggered a bit, he's been coming in early and I've been coming in, in the late morning, these last couple of days. I've been able to help mom in the morning and then, tonight, I gave her, her night pills and got her settled in for the night before I reported back to the station.”
These hours aren't affecting me at all. It's too bad about Dana...not! I couldn't help but smirk a little.