day off, but his mind was plagued with the events of the past few months. Alliston had never been a euphoric, crime-free haven, by any means, but people could walk through town after dark without being afraid. The Magic Men hadn’t been overtly violent, but any animal has the capacity for violence when backed into a corner. Humans are the most vicious animals of all, and that potential for violence had everyone on edge. Beyond that, people of the town felt violated by the persistent break-ins, which had them distrusting the police.
So, as much as Picault needed a day off, he wanted to unravel as much of the mystery surrounding The Magic Men as he could.
He started out on the south side of the main street, walking past The Gadget Factory. He considered the facts of that heist: During business hours, employees tied up, goods and cash stolen, alarm system present but not activated.
As Picault browsed the aisles, the two young men working paid no attention to him, continuing their animated conversation from behind the checkout counter. Perhaps they weren’t fazed by the robbery, or they figured they didn’t get paid enough to put themselves in harm’s way. Nor should they have to. Ten minutes browsing the electronics store, Picault found nothing helpful, so he left.
Another hundred yards down the street, on the north side, was GoldenWood Furniture. They had taken an entire week to get their showroom cleaned up, and another three weeks beyond that to have everything restocked. While the thieves hadn’t made out with much that would be of any use to them, they made life miserable for the business owners.
Picault stepped inside, noting the carefully curated furniture displays. He was a bachelor, and his furniture left a lot to be desired, so, for a moment, he considered purchasing a new sofa while he was there. He shook the thought from his head, determined to focus on what he came for. He considered the facts of the invasion: After business hours, no employees present, cash and personal information stolen, store vandalized, alarm system present but deactivated.
As he considered the crime, a woman, who looked to be in her early thirties, with long flaxen blonde hair and a soft figure, welcomed Picault, asking if he needed any assistance. He played along, wanting to get some insight into the store without seeming suspicious, and by the end, he bought a new charcoal grey sofa. The woman was effective at her job.
New sofa. No intel. Still, nothing of note.
His third stop was LifeZest Pharmacy, which was open for business the following day after the robbery but opened a few hours late. The door chimed when Picault walked inside, which it hadn’t before. He figured that was their newest security measure. He spun his head around inside the entrance, looking to see if there were any other obvious security measures in place, and noticed a sticker on the window. The same company that provided security for Hooves & Paws. It would make sense that The Magic Men were able to determine which alarm system they’d be dealing with because every business they’d broken into had the company’s logo on the window. Picault was sure of it.
Just to be thorough, he left the pharmacy, crossed back to the north side of the street, and walked by the jewellery store. Sure enough, there was the same sticker. He wandered down the street, trying to find any other businesses with the same security logo, but there were none. The only five on the street with that logo had already been hit.
Picault was irritated he hadn’t made the connection sooner, because he may have been able to stop Dr. Harper’s clinic from being robbed had he noticed.
That revelation gave Picault something new to go on. It may be a dead end, but at least it was something to investigate. He had been longing for a promotion for so long and wanted the higher-ups to see his potential. His motives for catching The Magic Men weren’t selfish, though. He wanted to put an end to their crime spree. He just wouldn’t complain if catching them resulted in his promotion, too.
Day off or not, he walked back to his SUV and drove to the station. He was going to relay what he’d found to the detectives.
Chen was on duty, sitting at his desk with paperwork edge to edge, and three takeout coffee cups littered across his workspace. “Picault, what are you doing here? In street clothes?”
Picault glanced down, taking in his navy polo shirt and jeans. “I was walking downtown, and I noticed something. I was hoping to run it by you.”
“Give me a second.” Chen scrambled to sort some of his paperwork, shoving things haphazardly into file folders and sweeping his empty cups into the garbage can he lifted from under his desk. “Sorry, I’m up to my eyeballs in Magic Men stuff, and nothing seems to be panning out. I hope you’ve got something good.”
Picault relayed what he had discovered, and Chen was cautiously optimistic that it could turn into a decent lead. He told Picault he’d make some calls to the security company and let him know the outcome, but he didn’t want to leave, knowing they could have a break in the case. Picault hung around listening to Chen speak to the security company representatives and get passed from one person to the next since no one seemed to have an answer.
When Chen ended the call, he blew out a breath and slumped in his chair. “They were reluctant to provide any information without a warrant, so I’m afraid I didn’t get far. I told them they didn’t need to give me specifics, but I wanted to know if the same technician installed the systems on each of the addresses.”
Picault sat up straighter in his chair, eager for the answer.
“It was four different guys who installed them, and each one was done in a different year. The newest one is three years old, so I doubt our perps are employees.”
That’s not what Picault wanted to hear. Well, he was happy to hear that employees weren’t responsible, but he didn’t want to hear they didn’t have any answers. “What else did they say?”
“Not much. They wouldn’t give me addresses for other businesses in town with their systems. They’re probably trying to save face now that it’s obvious their systems have been targeted. They’ll have to do damage control if that gets out. Business before safety.” Chen rolled his eyes.
Picault was irritated. For a company that made money protecting people and places, they weren’t putting their customers first by shutting out the police. That was usually the way, though. So often the police would try to help and get caught up in so much red tape, they’d be mummified by it all.
His co-workers on duty might not be able to spend their shift cruising town looking for window stickers, but there was nothing to stop Picault from using his day off to discover potential targets.
So that’s exactly what he did.
Armed with a list of businesses and an approximate date for their next strike, Picault was hopeful he’d finally have a win. A win for the town, and for his career.