Page 42 of Last Resort

“Gone,” Erik said as a siren sounded in the distance. He went to the panel by the store’s entrance and entered the code, silencing the alarm, and then examined the lock.

“Idiot tried to pick it—with a keypad right next to it, so there was no question about a security system,” Erik muttered. “Doesn’t look like there’s any damage.”

He and Ben made sure their guns were carefully set aside on the steps and out of sight by the time the squad car pulled up.

“Everyone okay?” Deputy Jeremy Williams knew Ben and Erik on sight and gave them a once-over, probably looking for blood.

“Yeah, we’re fine,” Erik replied. “Thanks for coming so quickly. It looks like someone tried to jimmy the lock but didn’t get very far.”

Williams bent over to have a look at the door, then straightened and nodded. “Alarm scared him away before he could do much. That’s a good thing. Have you seen anyone hanging around, casing the place?” Thankfully, he didn’t seem fazed by the fact that both Ben and Erik had wet hair and had clearly been interrupted.

Erik glanced at Ben and knew they were thinking the same thing. “Holden Carr,” Erik said.

“The guy who came to claim the murder vic’s body?” Williams asked.

“Just a hunch, but something about the guy seems off,” Erik replied. “He stopped in at the store earlier today, and it seemed to me that he was fishing for information more than he was actually shopping.”

“He showed up at the rental office today too. I said I couldn’t let him take any of his uncle’s things until the chief gave the okay,” Ben added. “And I had the same feeling Erik did—that he was angling for gossip. It just struck me strange.”

Williams grimaced. “Carr’s been busy—he was at headquarters too. Seemed to be in a hurry to get the personal effects from the dead guy. I don’t think he made a good impression on the chief.”

Erik and Ben sometimes butted heads with Chief Hendricks, but Erik respected the man’s ability as an agent of the law.

“I didn’t get a look at the perp,” Erik confessed. “But if you want to come inside, we can look at the video.”

He opened the shop and headed to the monitor in the office. Ben and Williams crowded around him as Erik backed up the recording.

“There,” he said as a shadowy form approached. The person kept their head down, and between a ball cap, hoodie, and health mask, the face was hidden. Dark loose clothing made it difficult to judge height, weight, or gender. Gloves meant no fingerprints.

The thief ignored the keypad and tried to pick the lock, then fled. The whole incident took less than a minute.

“Not a pro,” Williams surmised, straightening. “An experienced thief would have had a scrambler or a code key for the box.”

“Not to mention that he sucked at lockpicking,” Ben observed. “Which to me makes Carr even more of a suspect. He might have played a burglar on Broadway, but he doesn’t strike me as a B&E type of guy.”

“I’d agree, from what little I saw of him,” Williams said. “Think he hired someone? That seems more his speed. Maybe they were just testing our system, seeing how long it took for help to arrive.”

Erik gave the cop a look. “Is there a directory of Cape May rent-a-robbers? If he came in from the city, how would he know any of the local troublemakers?”

Williams shrugged. “Just tossing out ideas. Your thief might not have known how to break in, but he did know how not to give anything away on the security camera, so he at least anticipated there would be surveillance.”

“Sorry to run you out here for nothing,” Erik said.

“Livened up a boring shift,” Williams joked. “I’ll take a look around outside, but if he stuck to the sidewalk, there won’t be footprints. Maybe some nearby places have surveillance cameras I can check. And since he didn’t break the plate glass window, I think that rules out a smash-and-grab. If he just wanted a quick buck, he’d have gone for anything he could snatch.”

“Which means he might have been looking for something specific,” Ben added. A glance between Ben and Erik passed a wordless conversation, making it clear they were both thinking about the poker chips.

“Did you get any high-end, really expensive pieces lately?” Williams asked.

Erik shook his head. Whatever the chips were, they wouldn’t be attractive to a thief looking to fence the loot for a quick buck. “It’s been quiet lately. The last estate sale brought in some nice mid-range items, but nothing particularly rare or expensive—at least, not by the shop’s standards of expensive.”

Cape May catered to an upscale crowd, so Erik’s store wasn’t out of line price-wise from the other shops offering quality goods.

“If someone just wanted fast money, it would be a lot easier to sell stuff from just about any other store in town,” Ben pointed out. “Pricy purses or jewelry wouldn’t be as identifiable. Erik’s items are one-of-a-kind.”

“Anyone ever tell you that you think like a perp?” Wilson joked.

“Ex-cop. What can I say?”

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