Page 16 of Heart of a Hero

“Let’s start by having you tell us what happened when you came downstairs, Mrs. Delgato.”

She sucked in a deep breath. “I always rise first since Jonny’s surgery. He had a hip replacement two weeks ago. I wake up and usually come downstairs to start the coffee and then go back upstairs to be around while he gets dressed. And today…” She placed her hand over her chest. “Lord, have mercy. I was shocked, and it hit my heart.”

“What did you see, Mrs. Delgato?”

“Well, the door wasn’t closed all the way. My first thought was that I’d not secured it when we went to bed, but I always do. My Jonny used to until his surgery, but I’m very particular about checking the doors at night. I hurried over to it and saw the wood had been dug out around the lock! Then I was afraid that whoever broke in might still be here. That’s when I ran upstairs, into the bedroom, locked the door, and told Jonny we had to call the sheriff’s office! The nice lady on the line told me to stay upstairs, and the detectives were on their way.”

“You did real good, Donna,” Jonny said, patting his wife’s hand.

“Absolutely,” Mark agreed, earning a smile from her. “Now, once you came back down when it was determined safe and the deputies were here, was there anything else missing besides your wallet and the drugs?”

“No. The deputies noticed my purse on the counter and had me look inside. Sure enough, my wallet had been gone through. That’s what was so weird, Detective Robbins! They could have taken the whole thing but left my driver’s license and insurance cards. The cash and credit cards were gone!”

He looked over as one of the forensic team stepped to the doorway that led to the kitchen. “No prints on the wallet other than Mrs. Delgato’s.”

Mark nodded, then asked about the missing drugs.

“The pill bottles were there, but I immediately noticed two were missing. When you make sure your husband takes his pills at the right time, believe me, I keep them in order. When I checked, the bottle of oxycodone was missing, and so was the Xanax.”

“I haven’t been taking the narcotic,” Jonny said. “Just Tylenol.”

“Yes, but since they were from the hospital, I wanted to have them in case he needed them. We would have brought them to the pharmacy when they have dispose-pill days.”

“I know you’re very specific, Mrs. Delgato, but I want to make sure that those were the only drugs taken?”

She nodded so hard her curls bounced around her face. “Absolutely, Detective. It was only those two. I know I was flustered, but I had Jonny check over them with me.”

When he and Brad left the Delgato’s house to drive back to the station, he was even more frustrated. “What doesn’t make any sense is how random yet purposeful these burglaries are.”

Brad nodded, leaning his head back and cracking it to one side. “I know. I was just thinking the same thing.”

We’ve had times in the middle of the night, during the day… from large homes to much more modest ones.”

“And what has been taken doesn’t always fall into a pattern,” Brad added. “Cash, credit cards, and some prescription drugs seem to be common items. But we’ve also had jewelry and, in two cases, expensive cell phones and tablets while other electronics were left.”

“Everything has been small,” Mark noted. “Something easily carried.”

“Thinking one person acting alone?”

“Maybe. At least one person is breaking, entering, and stealing. Less noise. No talking. Take what can fit into a small pack.”

“A minute ago, you said random and purposeful.”

Mark looked over at his partner. “Yeah?”

“Let’s not focus on the random… let’s concentrate on the purposeful.”

Nodding, Mark agreed. “Sounds good.”

Fifteen minutes later, they walked into the bullpen and sat at their desks. “Pull up the Binley case,” Brad said. “I’ll look at the Osters’ burglary. Let’s make a list of any possible similarities of what was taken, not how they entered.”

After carefully reviewing the evidence, Mark finally leaned back in his seat and groaned. Brad looked over and chuckled. “Mind fucking, isn’t it?”

They each rolled to the side of their desks to look at their findings together. Mark pointed at the items he’d listed. “Each theft included narcotic prescription pills and anything else that might be usable on the black market. Cash and credit cards if they were readily available. Those were the only things taken from both cases you had me look at. What about you?”

“The same thing—prescriptions, cash, credit cards.”

“Most people don’t keep much cash nowadays, so the amounts vary. The Binleys only had about fifty dollars, while the Osters lost about four hundred.” Mark stared at the simple lists, then asked, “Cash is easy, but the credit cards?”

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