Thanks again for the feedback! I really appreciate it! On with Act 2! And I just realized that Vanilla Coke wasn't out yet during the timeline I set this story in, but hey, just use your imaginations!
~~~~~~
Act 2
*BANG**BANG**BANG*
"Come on Fawkes! Rise 'n' Shine!"
Darien was suddenly woken by a loud banging on his apartment door. Dazed and confused he rolled out of bed (literally), picked himself up off the floor and opened the door.
"Hobbes, what are you doing here?"
"Hurry and clean yourself up," Hobbes said as he walked into the apartment and helped himself to some juice from the refrigerator.
"Uh, why?"
"Why? Because, my friend, today is the start of a beautiful, glorious Monday, and you already missed our meeting with the Official. Needless to say he was less than happy at that so I made up a story that you were with the Keeper, getting examined or whatever it is she does to you down there, and told him that I would just get you on our way out."
Hobbes took a drink of juice and then stared at Darien.
"Why aren't you moving? Come on, we're gonna be late!"
Darien was still standing by his apartment door, holding onto the doorknob with the door still open, and staring at Hobbes with a completely incoherant look on his face.
"Wait, it's Monday? Bobby, have you taken your pills today?"
"Of course I have," he said proudly,"and yes it is Monday because that is the day that comes after Sunday and before Tuesday."
"Are you sure? It can't be. What happened to my Sunday?"
"I have no idea, kid, but by the looks of yourself you probably slept right through it. Now, come on, we've gotta get movin'."
Still slightly confused, Darien closed his door and headed to the bathroom. He brushed his teeth, washed his face, and put five different kinds of gel in his hair. He then walked to his closet to find some fresh clothes. From his closet he called out to Hobbes.
"Hey, where are we going anyway?"
"Back to the Ryan's house. Our little soccer mom thief came home."
"What?!"
"Yep. Gotta call from Mr. Ryan this morning, right in the middle of the Fat Man's daily speech. Said he woke yesterday morning and she was right there in bed, acting like nothing had happened."
Darien emerged from his closet wearing a pair of brown slacks and his favorite orange shirt. He grabbed his tan, leather jacket and headed for the door.
"Well, Hobbesy, let's go see what little miss housewife was up to last week."
The two men exited the apartment.
~~~~
"I can't believe you got us lost in Suburbia, again."
"It's not my fault. These developments need, like, little kiosks or something so that you can figure out where you're going."
"Kiosks?"
"Ya know, those little sign board thingies they have at malls and stuff with info and the maps that say 'you are here'?"
"Those are called kiosks? Uh, I guess you do learn something new everyday. Oh wait, here we go, Willow Drive. Make a right here."
Hobbes sharply turned the van, almost tipping it.
"Holy crap Hobbes! Are you trying to get us killed here?"
"It's not my fault; it's the frickin' van. Steering's all out of whack. Fat Man doesn't pay enough to get this thing fixed."
"Yet, instead of letting it get stolen, and then getting a new one, you insist that we lock the doors and call it Golda?"
"I never said she was perfect Fawkes, but she's still my van."
"Whatever. Okay, slow down, we're almost there. 719, 717, 715, 713! Pull her over."
Hobbes gently pulled Golda over to the curb.
"All right sweetheart. That's a good van," he whispered as he shut off the engine.
"Give me a break," Darien mumbled as he got out of the van and slammed the door.
"You locked it, right?"
Darien just kept walking towards the Ryan's house.
"Fawkes, I'm serious, is the van locked on your side?"
Still, Darien remained silent. He knocked on the Ryan's front door.
"Come on, Fawkes. Just tell me if you locked it or not. What's the big deal? Just say you locked..."
The door swung open. Mr. Ryan stood in doorway, a huge smile covering his face.
"Agent Hobbes! Agent Fawkes!" He shook their hands,"It is so good to see you again! Please come inside. I took off work today to stay home with Jane. Can I offering you anything? Coffee, water, Vanilla Coke?"
"No, thank you Mr. Ryan. We're just glad to see that you're doing better. In fact that's kind of why we're here. We'd like to talk to your wife, if that's all right."
"Yes, of course. Right this way."
Mr. Ryan led them into the kitchen where his wife was busy doing the dishes from the morning's breakfast.
"Jane? These are Agents Hobbes and Fawkes. They are the agents looking into your case."
Mrs. Jane Ryan turned and smiled at the men. Sure enough, it was the woman from the surveilance photo, only she was wearing a different outfit.
"Nice to meet you. I'd shake your hands but," she laughed and pointed to the wet, yellow, rubber gloves she was wearing.
"That's perfectly all right, ma'am," Hobbes smiled back,"We just wanted to ask you a few questions, if that's all right."
"Oh, of course! I'm just as eager as you to figure out what happened."
"What do you mean?" Darien asked.
"Well the strange thing is Agent Fawkes, I don't remember anything!"
"Really? Well that's strange. Mrs. Ryan what is the last thing you remember, before your disappearance?"
"Well, Agent Hobbes, I guess I went missing on Friday, right?"
Hobbes nodded.
"Uhm, on Friday I did my normal chores-cook breakfast, clean up, pick the kids up from school-Then I took Kevin and Cynthia to the mall. Kevin really wanted to spend some of his birthday money. He got one of those new Playstations. He's such a sweetheart! Well, anyway, I helped him set it up, and then went to do some more chores. The next thing I know I'm waking up in bed and it's Sunday morning!"
"Mr. Ryan, if Jane came home Sunday why did you wait a day to contact us?" Hobbes inquired.
"Well, I was so excited to see Jane home I could barely speak and then we went to church, and I was going to call you after church, Agent Hobbes, but then I couldn't find the card you gave me until late last night, so I figured it was best to just call you first thing this morning."
"I see," Hobbes replied as he nodded his head.
"Is that all you remember, Mrs. Ryan?"
"I'm afraid so, Agent Fawkes, but if I think of anything else I'll call you right away."
"Thank you two for your time. If we come up with anything we'll let you know."
"Thank you Agent Hobbes, Agent Fawkes."
Darien and Hobbes shook hands with Mr. Ryan, waved good-bye to the Mrs. and headed back to the van. They hopped in and started driving to the Agency.
"So, when do we arrest her Hobbesy?"
"As soon as we figure out what happened."
"Do you believe any of what they said? I mean, they did seem pretty legit."
"The husband does, but, the wife. I mean how could you commit a felony and not know it?"
Before Darien could answer Hobbes' question, Bobby's cell phone rang.
"This is Hobbes...What?!...Where?!...You're kidding me?!...I know you're not kidding me, Eeeeberts, it's just an expression...More news?...Oh really...All right. We'll head over there first."
"What? What is it?"
"There's been another robbery."
"What? Where? You're kidding me!"
"That's what I said. Took place Saturday night. Centaur Scientific Research Company, outskirts of San Diego. Eberts says surveilance hasn't pulled up anything yet, but, some good news. He did do his homework this weekend and found out some interesting things that might be useful to solving this case."
"Oh really, and what would that be."
"Thing 1: Those little plates of metal, ya know, the ones dropped at each crime scene, are some sort of special new metal, manufactured at only one place-Lexcom International. "
"The place where the first robbery happened."
"Yup. That's where we're headed now. The research on that metal is headed by a Dr. Paul Ford."
"Shouldn't we head to the freshest crime scene first?"
"Still too many news cameras there right now. Some reporter got wind of how the first three robberies were connected and now the fourth place is swarmed. Being bombarded by a thousand reporters is not something I really wanna encounter on a Monday morning."
"Makes sense."
"Now, Thing 2: All of the crap being stolen, it's useless junk."
"Useless junk, how?"
"First thing stolen, a computer monitor. Useless. Everyone knows the hard-drive is where files and stuff are stored. Second thing: A large picture taken out of the CEO's office. Not even one that's worth a lot of money. Third thing: Mrs. Jane Ryan back there stole a tv. Centaur hasn't released what was stolen from them yet, but my guess is it's a desk lamp or something."
"So, whoa, wait a sec. Now why would someone bother to steal this crap?"
"Maybe it's not the crap that's important, but..."
"...but the fact that is able to be stolen, without leaving a trace."
"Exactly, my friend. Seems to me like our pal is just testing what she can do."
"She? You mean Jane."
"Right again. Maybe she did hit the first two places and..."
"...and the reason that she went missing Friday night was because she was gonna hit the second place the next night anyway. When were the first two robberies again?"
"Lexcom was hit Sunday night last week, Virgil Wednesday, and then Chadwell Friday."
"So, the first three were far enough part so that she could've stored the junk and been back home with time to plan until the next one. Except..."
"...Except for this last one because it the day after the third one."
"So, she hits Lexcom the first night, right, and takes some of those metal thingies so that she can leave one at each crime scene."
"You're thinking like an agent again, partner. I must be doing something right."
"So, when do you think we should arrest her now, Hobbesy?"
"I'm thinking that she thinks that we think she's innocent, so she thinks she's in the clear. I think we should let her think that and when she goes out for another little late night soccer practice we nab her and then she'll realize that what she was thinking we were thinking wasn't what we were thinking. What do you think?"
"I think we've gotta plan."
~~~~~
"Hello. I'm Agent Hobbes and this is Agent Fawkes. We are the agents that were assigned to your case and were just wondering if we could ask Dr. Ford a few questions."
"You guys are with the Bureau of Weights and Measures?" asked the receptionist at Lexcom, looking closely at the two men's badges.
"Yes, you see..." Darien started.
"Whatever. Dr. Ford's office is on the fourth floor. Here are two visitor's passes. He should be there right now."
"Uh, thank you," Darien replied,"That was easy, again," he said to Hobbes.
~~~~~~
Darien and Hobbes approached Dr. Ford's office and knocked.
"Come in!" shouted a voice from the inside.
"Thank you, Trevor, and I'll need those new reports by tomorrow morning."
"Yes, sir," said a meek, young man in front of Dr. Ford's desk.
Trevor smiled weakly at Darien and Hobbes as he left the office.
"Can I help you?" Dr. Ford asked.
He was a middle-aged man with a full head of gray hair. He wore a large pair of glasses that made his eyes look twice the size that they actually were.
"Dr. Ford, My name is Agent Hobbes, this is my partner, Agent Fawkes. We were assigned to your case."
"That would be my company's case, Agent Hobbes. I don't believe anything of mine was stolen."
"Actually," Darien said,"you might be wrong."
"Excuse me?" the doctor asked.
"Doctor," Hobbes continued, "are you aware that at every crime scene a small piece of metal was found."
"Yes, I-I do think I heard that on the news."
"Well, our agency traced tested that metal and it turns out that it's metal from you're in charge of researching."
"Are you kidding me?"
"I'm afraid not, sir," Darien said.
"Well, of course then, if it was tested, it's my metal. I'm the only one doing in the whole world that has that new metal. I created itactually, but the strange thing is, is that I do my inventory every day. I did an exceptionally thorough check the day after the robbery and it was all accounted for according to my inventory list."
"Could the inventory list have been altered by someone?" Hobbes asked.
"No, not possible. It's stored on my computer only. I'm the only one who has access to it, in case of a situation like this. How could anyone steal my metal! And then, just throw it on the ground like it was a piece of trash! It's absurd!"
Dr. Ford began to get very excited.
"It's all right, Dr. Ford. As soon as the case is closed, we can give you back your metal."
"Thank you, Agent Hobbes," the agitated man started to calm down,"Is there anything else I can do for you?"
"Just give me a call at this number," Hobbes handed him his card,"if you think of anything else, or if something turns up."
"Thank you."
"Thank you, Dr. Ford," Darien said.
Darien and Hobbes left the office.
"Make sure you get a good layout of the place Fawkes," Hobbes whispered to his partner as they were leaving the building.
"Uh, why?"
"You might have to do a little invisible recon later,"
"Gotcha," Darien agreed.
They left the building and decided that most of the camera crews at Centaur were gone by now.
As they arrived on the scene, all that was left were a few cop cars and one television crew that was almost packed up and ready to go.
Darien and Hobbes flashed their badges and asked a young cop where they could find the guy in charge. The man pointed to another cop who was standing at the front door of the Centaur complex.
"Sgt. Brians?" Hobbes asked.
"Yes, that's me."
"I'm Agent Hobbes..."
"...Agent Fawkes."
"We're the feds that were assigned to these robberies."
"Pleased to meet you, unfortunately I wish it could have been under less confusing circumstances."
"Have the surveilances cameras turned up anything?"
"'Fraid not Agent Hobbes. This place has the same M.O. as the other three-some phones and a lamp were taken, and the piece of metal was found-but this, well it just as more of a professional feel to it. I don't know if the person doing it is just getting better at their job, but..."
"What do you mean, a more professional feel?" Darien asked.
"Well, security cameras weren't just disconnected, they were put on a loop. The locks aren't even damaged this time, and there was no alarm sounded."
"So I guess there's nothing on the tapes?" Hobbes asked.
"Nope, not a thing. We've only found one piece of evidence at this place."
"Where's that?" Hobbes asked.
"Down here. I'll show you."
The three men walked down the sidewalk in front of the Centaur building until they reached the first street light.
"We haven't been able to get our CSI people out here yet to identify it, but I've never seen anything like it," Brians said as he shook his head.
Darien and Hobbes bent over to get a closer look at what Brians was pointing out. They looked at each other and then got on their knees to get a closer look. As they peered down even further they were both taken aback when they realized what it was. Hobbes stared at Darien. Darien stared at Hobbes.
What they saw on the ground were flakes of quicksilver.
~~~~~~~
Uh-oh! What's going on? Want to read more? Then please review and I might put up the next act, and if you don't review I might keep the answer all to myself! Mua-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-*cough**hack**cough*.
TBC...
~~~~~~
Act 2
*BANG**BANG**BANG*
"Come on Fawkes! Rise 'n' Shine!"
Darien was suddenly woken by a loud banging on his apartment door. Dazed and confused he rolled out of bed (literally), picked himself up off the floor and opened the door.
"Hobbes, what are you doing here?"
"Hurry and clean yourself up," Hobbes said as he walked into the apartment and helped himself to some juice from the refrigerator.
"Uh, why?"
"Why? Because, my friend, today is the start of a beautiful, glorious Monday, and you already missed our meeting with the Official. Needless to say he was less than happy at that so I made up a story that you were with the Keeper, getting examined or whatever it is she does to you down there, and told him that I would just get you on our way out."
Hobbes took a drink of juice and then stared at Darien.
"Why aren't you moving? Come on, we're gonna be late!"
Darien was still standing by his apartment door, holding onto the doorknob with the door still open, and staring at Hobbes with a completely incoherant look on his face.
"Wait, it's Monday? Bobby, have you taken your pills today?"
"Of course I have," he said proudly,"and yes it is Monday because that is the day that comes after Sunday and before Tuesday."
"Are you sure? It can't be. What happened to my Sunday?"
"I have no idea, kid, but by the looks of yourself you probably slept right through it. Now, come on, we've gotta get movin'."
Still slightly confused, Darien closed his door and headed to the bathroom. He brushed his teeth, washed his face, and put five different kinds of gel in his hair. He then walked to his closet to find some fresh clothes. From his closet he called out to Hobbes.
"Hey, where are we going anyway?"
"Back to the Ryan's house. Our little soccer mom thief came home."
"What?!"
"Yep. Gotta call from Mr. Ryan this morning, right in the middle of the Fat Man's daily speech. Said he woke yesterday morning and she was right there in bed, acting like nothing had happened."
Darien emerged from his closet wearing a pair of brown slacks and his favorite orange shirt. He grabbed his tan, leather jacket and headed for the door.
"Well, Hobbesy, let's go see what little miss housewife was up to last week."
The two men exited the apartment.
~~~~
"I can't believe you got us lost in Suburbia, again."
"It's not my fault. These developments need, like, little kiosks or something so that you can figure out where you're going."
"Kiosks?"
"Ya know, those little sign board thingies they have at malls and stuff with info and the maps that say 'you are here'?"
"Those are called kiosks? Uh, I guess you do learn something new everyday. Oh wait, here we go, Willow Drive. Make a right here."
Hobbes sharply turned the van, almost tipping it.
"Holy crap Hobbes! Are you trying to get us killed here?"
"It's not my fault; it's the frickin' van. Steering's all out of whack. Fat Man doesn't pay enough to get this thing fixed."
"Yet, instead of letting it get stolen, and then getting a new one, you insist that we lock the doors and call it Golda?"
"I never said she was perfect Fawkes, but she's still my van."
"Whatever. Okay, slow down, we're almost there. 719, 717, 715, 713! Pull her over."
Hobbes gently pulled Golda over to the curb.
"All right sweetheart. That's a good van," he whispered as he shut off the engine.
"Give me a break," Darien mumbled as he got out of the van and slammed the door.
"You locked it, right?"
Darien just kept walking towards the Ryan's house.
"Fawkes, I'm serious, is the van locked on your side?"
Still, Darien remained silent. He knocked on the Ryan's front door.
"Come on, Fawkes. Just tell me if you locked it or not. What's the big deal? Just say you locked..."
The door swung open. Mr. Ryan stood in doorway, a huge smile covering his face.
"Agent Hobbes! Agent Fawkes!" He shook their hands,"It is so good to see you again! Please come inside. I took off work today to stay home with Jane. Can I offering you anything? Coffee, water, Vanilla Coke?"
"No, thank you Mr. Ryan. We're just glad to see that you're doing better. In fact that's kind of why we're here. We'd like to talk to your wife, if that's all right."
"Yes, of course. Right this way."
Mr. Ryan led them into the kitchen where his wife was busy doing the dishes from the morning's breakfast.
"Jane? These are Agents Hobbes and Fawkes. They are the agents looking into your case."
Mrs. Jane Ryan turned and smiled at the men. Sure enough, it was the woman from the surveilance photo, only she was wearing a different outfit.
"Nice to meet you. I'd shake your hands but," she laughed and pointed to the wet, yellow, rubber gloves she was wearing.
"That's perfectly all right, ma'am," Hobbes smiled back,"We just wanted to ask you a few questions, if that's all right."
"Oh, of course! I'm just as eager as you to figure out what happened."
"What do you mean?" Darien asked.
"Well the strange thing is Agent Fawkes, I don't remember anything!"
"Really? Well that's strange. Mrs. Ryan what is the last thing you remember, before your disappearance?"
"Well, Agent Hobbes, I guess I went missing on Friday, right?"
Hobbes nodded.
"Uhm, on Friday I did my normal chores-cook breakfast, clean up, pick the kids up from school-Then I took Kevin and Cynthia to the mall. Kevin really wanted to spend some of his birthday money. He got one of those new Playstations. He's such a sweetheart! Well, anyway, I helped him set it up, and then went to do some more chores. The next thing I know I'm waking up in bed and it's Sunday morning!"
"Mr. Ryan, if Jane came home Sunday why did you wait a day to contact us?" Hobbes inquired.
"Well, I was so excited to see Jane home I could barely speak and then we went to church, and I was going to call you after church, Agent Hobbes, but then I couldn't find the card you gave me until late last night, so I figured it was best to just call you first thing this morning."
"I see," Hobbes replied as he nodded his head.
"Is that all you remember, Mrs. Ryan?"
"I'm afraid so, Agent Fawkes, but if I think of anything else I'll call you right away."
"Thank you two for your time. If we come up with anything we'll let you know."
"Thank you Agent Hobbes, Agent Fawkes."
Darien and Hobbes shook hands with Mr. Ryan, waved good-bye to the Mrs. and headed back to the van. They hopped in and started driving to the Agency.
"So, when do we arrest her Hobbesy?"
"As soon as we figure out what happened."
"Do you believe any of what they said? I mean, they did seem pretty legit."
"The husband does, but, the wife. I mean how could you commit a felony and not know it?"
Before Darien could answer Hobbes' question, Bobby's cell phone rang.
"This is Hobbes...What?!...Where?!...You're kidding me?!...I know you're not kidding me, Eeeeberts, it's just an expression...More news?...Oh really...All right. We'll head over there first."
"What? What is it?"
"There's been another robbery."
"What? Where? You're kidding me!"
"That's what I said. Took place Saturday night. Centaur Scientific Research Company, outskirts of San Diego. Eberts says surveilance hasn't pulled up anything yet, but, some good news. He did do his homework this weekend and found out some interesting things that might be useful to solving this case."
"Oh really, and what would that be."
"Thing 1: Those little plates of metal, ya know, the ones dropped at each crime scene, are some sort of special new metal, manufactured at only one place-Lexcom International. "
"The place where the first robbery happened."
"Yup. That's where we're headed now. The research on that metal is headed by a Dr. Paul Ford."
"Shouldn't we head to the freshest crime scene first?"
"Still too many news cameras there right now. Some reporter got wind of how the first three robberies were connected and now the fourth place is swarmed. Being bombarded by a thousand reporters is not something I really wanna encounter on a Monday morning."
"Makes sense."
"Now, Thing 2: All of the crap being stolen, it's useless junk."
"Useless junk, how?"
"First thing stolen, a computer monitor. Useless. Everyone knows the hard-drive is where files and stuff are stored. Second thing: A large picture taken out of the CEO's office. Not even one that's worth a lot of money. Third thing: Mrs. Jane Ryan back there stole a tv. Centaur hasn't released what was stolen from them yet, but my guess is it's a desk lamp or something."
"So, whoa, wait a sec. Now why would someone bother to steal this crap?"
"Maybe it's not the crap that's important, but..."
"...but the fact that is able to be stolen, without leaving a trace."
"Exactly, my friend. Seems to me like our pal is just testing what she can do."
"She? You mean Jane."
"Right again. Maybe she did hit the first two places and..."
"...and the reason that she went missing Friday night was because she was gonna hit the second place the next night anyway. When were the first two robberies again?"
"Lexcom was hit Sunday night last week, Virgil Wednesday, and then Chadwell Friday."
"So, the first three were far enough part so that she could've stored the junk and been back home with time to plan until the next one. Except..."
"...Except for this last one because it the day after the third one."
"So, she hits Lexcom the first night, right, and takes some of those metal thingies so that she can leave one at each crime scene."
"You're thinking like an agent again, partner. I must be doing something right."
"So, when do you think we should arrest her now, Hobbesy?"
"I'm thinking that she thinks that we think she's innocent, so she thinks she's in the clear. I think we should let her think that and when she goes out for another little late night soccer practice we nab her and then she'll realize that what she was thinking we were thinking wasn't what we were thinking. What do you think?"
"I think we've gotta plan."
~~~~~
"Hello. I'm Agent Hobbes and this is Agent Fawkes. We are the agents that were assigned to your case and were just wondering if we could ask Dr. Ford a few questions."
"You guys are with the Bureau of Weights and Measures?" asked the receptionist at Lexcom, looking closely at the two men's badges.
"Yes, you see..." Darien started.
"Whatever. Dr. Ford's office is on the fourth floor. Here are two visitor's passes. He should be there right now."
"Uh, thank you," Darien replied,"That was easy, again," he said to Hobbes.
~~~~~~
Darien and Hobbes approached Dr. Ford's office and knocked.
"Come in!" shouted a voice from the inside.
"Thank you, Trevor, and I'll need those new reports by tomorrow morning."
"Yes, sir," said a meek, young man in front of Dr. Ford's desk.
Trevor smiled weakly at Darien and Hobbes as he left the office.
"Can I help you?" Dr. Ford asked.
He was a middle-aged man with a full head of gray hair. He wore a large pair of glasses that made his eyes look twice the size that they actually were.
"Dr. Ford, My name is Agent Hobbes, this is my partner, Agent Fawkes. We were assigned to your case."
"That would be my company's case, Agent Hobbes. I don't believe anything of mine was stolen."
"Actually," Darien said,"you might be wrong."
"Excuse me?" the doctor asked.
"Doctor," Hobbes continued, "are you aware that at every crime scene a small piece of metal was found."
"Yes, I-I do think I heard that on the news."
"Well, our agency traced tested that metal and it turns out that it's metal from you're in charge of researching."
"Are you kidding me?"
"I'm afraid not, sir," Darien said.
"Well, of course then, if it was tested, it's my metal. I'm the only one doing in the whole world that has that new metal. I created itactually, but the strange thing is, is that I do my inventory every day. I did an exceptionally thorough check the day after the robbery and it was all accounted for according to my inventory list."
"Could the inventory list have been altered by someone?" Hobbes asked.
"No, not possible. It's stored on my computer only. I'm the only one who has access to it, in case of a situation like this. How could anyone steal my metal! And then, just throw it on the ground like it was a piece of trash! It's absurd!"
Dr. Ford began to get very excited.
"It's all right, Dr. Ford. As soon as the case is closed, we can give you back your metal."
"Thank you, Agent Hobbes," the agitated man started to calm down,"Is there anything else I can do for you?"
"Just give me a call at this number," Hobbes handed him his card,"if you think of anything else, or if something turns up."
"Thank you."
"Thank you, Dr. Ford," Darien said.
Darien and Hobbes left the office.
"Make sure you get a good layout of the place Fawkes," Hobbes whispered to his partner as they were leaving the building.
"Uh, why?"
"You might have to do a little invisible recon later,"
"Gotcha," Darien agreed.
They left the building and decided that most of the camera crews at Centaur were gone by now.
As they arrived on the scene, all that was left were a few cop cars and one television crew that was almost packed up and ready to go.
Darien and Hobbes flashed their badges and asked a young cop where they could find the guy in charge. The man pointed to another cop who was standing at the front door of the Centaur complex.
"Sgt. Brians?" Hobbes asked.
"Yes, that's me."
"I'm Agent Hobbes..."
"...Agent Fawkes."
"We're the feds that were assigned to these robberies."
"Pleased to meet you, unfortunately I wish it could have been under less confusing circumstances."
"Have the surveilances cameras turned up anything?"
"'Fraid not Agent Hobbes. This place has the same M.O. as the other three-some phones and a lamp were taken, and the piece of metal was found-but this, well it just as more of a professional feel to it. I don't know if the person doing it is just getting better at their job, but..."
"What do you mean, a more professional feel?" Darien asked.
"Well, security cameras weren't just disconnected, they were put on a loop. The locks aren't even damaged this time, and there was no alarm sounded."
"So I guess there's nothing on the tapes?" Hobbes asked.
"Nope, not a thing. We've only found one piece of evidence at this place."
"Where's that?" Hobbes asked.
"Down here. I'll show you."
The three men walked down the sidewalk in front of the Centaur building until they reached the first street light.
"We haven't been able to get our CSI people out here yet to identify it, but I've never seen anything like it," Brians said as he shook his head.
Darien and Hobbes bent over to get a closer look at what Brians was pointing out. They looked at each other and then got on their knees to get a closer look. As they peered down even further they were both taken aback when they realized what it was. Hobbes stared at Darien. Darien stared at Hobbes.
What they saw on the ground were flakes of quicksilver.
~~~~~~~
Uh-oh! What's going on? Want to read more? Then please review and I might put up the next act, and if you don't review I might keep the answer all to myself! Mua-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-*cough**hack**cough*.
TBC...