Part 7 – Gold Standard
Needless to say that Jubilees is a beautiful restaurant, the wooden high-tables could have belonged to a high-end restaurant chain.
The seats however were ruggedly simple, Mr. Denis was a recycling genius: he had bought a few hundred acres of land that had been felled by a forest fire, took all the burnt timber off the land, used that to build the chairs, and then resold the land.
Guests can come in and enjoy a nice burger and beer, or if you're feeling like spending a bit of money to impress a date or to impress someone high and power you can enjoy a glass of wine, have a few small plates, and a fine cigar.
Jonathan has a very nice selection of cigars from Flor de Oliva to Montecristo White Series Rothschildes.
"Sasuke," Jonathan said as he saw Sasuke come in, "There's a sight I wasn't expecting to see."
"I'm just here for lunch," Sasuke said as he walked over to his favorite table, "How're you doing?"
"Alright," Jonathan said, "Been a whole lot better since France delivered on their bounty."
"You got the several million," Sasuke asked.
"Yep," Jonathan said as he took a seat across from Sasuke who took his usual seat: a highchair facing he bar on the lower level of the restaurant, "All thanks to you."
"Good afternoon Sasuke," one of the waitresses said as she walked up to the table, and placed a napkin in front of Sasuke, "My name is Tiffany, and I will be your waitress."
The waitress was very beautiful, five-foot-seven, physically attractive, long blonde hair that was tied up in a high ponytail, brown eyes, and had a sultry southern voice that accompanied a smile that could light up a village.
"Tiffany," Sasuke said as he stood up, and hugged her, "It's been forever! How are you?"
Tiffany was on of Sasuke's friends from high school: she was the star of the Alexandria Senior High dance team, a high-scoring student all throughout her four years, and was an active participant in the school's drama club to which she produced her own play.
"Pretty good," Tiffany said as Sasuke took his seat, "You running Uchiha Plumbing now?"
"That's a big nope," Sasuke said as he pulled out his badge, "I made chose another line of work."
"Congratulations, detective," Tiffany said, "Can I get you a drink?"
"Coke please," Sasuke said, "No alcohol for me."
"I'll get that in," Tiffany said, "By the way, we should get together later and catch up."
"There's nothing I'd like more," Sasuke said.
"You know her," Jonathan asked.
"Yep," Sasuke said, "We were good friends in High School. We have a lot to thank each other for. She helped me pass math, and I helped her with a small situation."
"What situation," Jonathan asked.
"Are you crazy," Sasuke asked, "I know you, you'll hold that information over my head for the rest of my life."
"Come on Sasuke," Jonathan said, "You know you can trust me."
"It's exactly why I trusted you that I ended up talking my father into that deal to get the plumbing done in your house at an inflated discount," Sasuke said, "He still hasn't forgiven me for that."
"Here you go," Tiffany said as she placed Sasuke's coke in front of him, "What'll you have for today?"
"I'll have the Desiard special," Sasuke said.
"Make it two, Tiffany," Jonathan said.
Tiffany nodded, and the two of them continued their conversation, "How is it being a big-shot detective now," Jonathan asked.
"Big-shot," Sasuke asked, "I solve one case, and the man calls me a big shot."
"Don't sell yourself short," Jonathan said, "You've done well as a cop. Who knows, in a few years maybe you can apply for Sergeant?"
"Maybe," Sasuke said, "Right now, I'm fine right where I am."
"Right now, sure," Jonathan said, "But what happens when you get a few years under your belt? Find a nice girl, settle down, have a few kids? You're going to need the extra money then."
"Maybe," Sasuke said as he leaned back in his chair, "Just maybe."
"Here you go," Tiffany said as she placed the two Desiard specials in front of the two men: a 80% beef, 20% alligator patty mixed with some ground up beef fat (gives the patty extra flavor and juice), with sautéed green peppers, onions, and Creole mayonnaise (mayonnaise, Creole mustard, Creole/Cajun seasoning, and lemon juice) served with a side of fries seasoned with Creole seasoning just like the burger.
"Thanks, Tiff," Sasuke said.
"Repairs on the house are going good," Jonathan said as Sasuke began eating, "Thanks to many considerable contributions I'm thinking about expanding Jubilees. We're looking at places to open a second location."
"Good," Sasuke said, "Cops could always use a new bar location."
"That's funny," Jonathan said as he began with his fries, "What about the latest case?"
"Really weird," Sasuke said, "We're investigating an armed robbery that happened just a few blocks from here."
"It wasn't Chase was it," Jonathan asked.
"Nope," Sasuke said, "An armored truck employed by Loomis. It seems the robbers used black-powder revolvers as their main weapons, and a sharps rifle to stop the truck."
"Really," Tiffany asked as she returned with a refill on Sasuke's drink, "Sounds like my last meeting with the collector's club."
"You're part of a collector's club," Sasuke asked.
"Vintage weapon collector," Tiffany said, "We had a meeting a few days ago out at Woodworth. They had a couple guards out there with vintage Civil War weapons."
"They had a team competition," Sasuke asked.
"Yep," Tiffany said as she leaned back over the table, "They had a pretty good shooter on their Sharps rifle."
"How good," Sasuke asked.
"He made a three hundred yard bullseye with only one round," Tiffany said.
"There any other good teams," Sasuke asked, "Besides the team that beat you?"
"Oh," Tiffany said, "Cocky aren't we?"
"Come on," Sasuke said, "I could put together a team in one day, and we'd kick your ass up and down the range."
"Funny, funny," Tiffany said, "But yea, there was. They had a team from Loomis there. Guys with the Civil War weapons kicked their asses using black powder weapons while they used Glocks."
Sasuke's expression changed before pulling out his phone, and opening the photo he saved to his phone of the robber that wasn't luck that go around, "You remember this man," he asked as he held up his phone.
"Yes," Tiffany said, "He's the cute one that carried a 12-guage percussion, why?"
"You remember the names of the two Loomis drivers," Sasuke asked.
"Yes," Tiffany said, "Erickson and Luca, they weren't too bad looking themselves. Now can you answer me why?"
"I think you just helped crack this case wide open," Sasuke said as he stood up, pulled out a $20 bill, placed it on the table, and ushered Tiffany to follow him, then turned to Jonathan, "I'm going to have to borrow your waitress for a few hours."
Flashback…
A walk down Fifth Avenue was interesting, but what Sasuke was most interested in was what a small vendor was selling on the corner.
A small hotdog vendor named 'Brian's Doggies', his mascot on the front was a hotdog, in a bun spinning a top hat on top of a cane, wearing a monocle.
Sasuke had ordered him an Itachi two ginger ales, and one hotdog.
"Thanks," Sasuke said as he handed the vendor a $20, then took the stuff they ordered.
"Thanks bro," Itachi said as he took his drink, and the hotdog.
"I don't get why you had me order you a hotdog," Sasuke said, "Especially when we just ate lunch."
"I'm saving up for dinner," Itachi said, "Dad has made us a reservation at Gramercy Tavern. Which means, small portions, and high prices."
"I guess," Sasuke said, "Still, you shouldn't sell a place like this short. Its dad's money," Itachi and Sasuke began laughing as they continued to walk down the street, "Where'd mom and dad go by the way?"
"They went up the street to one of the many shops up ahead," Itachi said, "Probably to get mom a gift for tonight. We might have another little brother or sister on the way after this trip."
"Gross," Sasuke said with a cringe, "That's an image I didn't want."
"Like an image of you and one of your bunk mates back in Afghanistan," Itachi asked.
"You're disgusting," Sasuke said.
"What's disgusting is what you're going to be doing in few days if we can't find you a job before dad's deadline expires," Itachi said.
"Unclogging drains, fixing sewers," Sasuke began.
"Hey," Itachi said.
"Sorry," Sasuke said, "I swear, with dad it's almost impossible to talk him out of anything."
"I know," Itachi said, "You know I wanted to stay in the Army."
"Why didn't you," Sasuke asked, "It was a job, good pay."
"You have a way of detecting a person's heart," Itachi said, "Isn't that right, Sherlock Holmes?"
End Flashback…
Back at the station, Sasuke walked straight up to his desk, and contacted Loomis after pointing at the chair next to his desk, "Loomis Industries," the receptionist said.
"This is Detective Uchiha, Alexandria Robbery," Sasuke said, "I'd like to speak to your head of personnel."
"I'll connect you," the receptionist said.
"Sasuke," Shikamaru said as he walked up to the desk, "What are you doing?"
Sasuke quickly shushed him as the, "This is Michael Barker, Loomis head of personnel," he said.
"Mr. Barker," Sasuke said, "This is Detective Sasuke Uchiha, I'm the detective assigned to work the case about your injured drivers."
"Of course," Mr. Barker said, "Erickson and Luca. They still in the hospital?"
"Yes sir," Sasuke said, "Now I have a few questions. Have there been any other truck robberies in the surrounding area over the past few years?"
"Not over the last few years," Mr. Barker said, "Over the last few months though is another story."
"How many, and where," Sasuke asked.
"About six over the past six months," Mr. Baker said, "Interestingly they were all inside the boundaries of Rapides Parish."
"Could you send over the missing inventory reports from those others," Sasuke asked, "And at the time were the drivers attacked registered at a shooting competition?"
"I'll get right on that," Mr. Baker said, "And yes, all twelve of them."
"They all lose," Sasuke asked.
"Yes," Mr. Baker said, "Came in second behind an independent group."
"Are there any other of your drivers scheduled for a competition inside the boundaries of Rapides Parish," Sasuke asked.
"Yes," Mr. Baker said, "Why?"
"Mr. Baker, I want you to pull your drivers from the competition at once," Sasuke said, "We have reason to believe that the group that's been beating your men is if not behind, part of the crew that's been robbing your company's trucks."
"Can you prove that, Detective," Mr. Baker asked.
"How long between the competition and the robberies did these attacks occur," Sasuke asked.
"Three days each," Mr. Baker said.
"Are the drivers that you employed a little loose-lipped," Sasuke asked.
"Yes," Mr. Baker said.
"And also," Sasuke said, "I have an eye witness that identified one of the robbers killed by Luca as the one that handled one of the weapons used in the robbery."
"Your witness is sure of the identity," Mr. Baker asked.
"She wouldn't lie to me," Sasuke said as he looked up at Tiffany, "I trust her."
"Very well," Mr. Baker said, "I'll begin pulling our drivers from these competitions at once."
"Thank you, Mr. Baker," Sasuke said, "We'll let you know about Luca and Erickson."
"Thank you, Detective," Mr. Baker said, "You might have saved a few lives today."
"We'll save a lot more when we find these guys," Sasuke said, "I'll let you know if anything else develops. Have a good day."
"We have an eyewitness," Shikamaru asked as he ran around to sit at his desk, in front of Sasuke's.
"Right there," Sasuke said as he pointed at Tiffany, "Intro," he pointed at Tiffany, "Tiffany," he then pointed at Shikamaru, "Shikamaru, Shikamaru," he then pointed back at Tiffany, "Tiffany. We were having lunch when Tiffany said that she saw shooters sporting weapons matching the description of the ones used in the robbery at a shooting convention that our two guards resting down at Regional we at."
"That's not a lot to go on," Shikamaru said.
"She also identified our robber lying on the slab was the same one that used the 12-guage shotgun at the convention," Sasuke said, "If she can identify the others, we can get their pictures out on the media…"
"And then we swoop in a catch them off guard," Shikamaru said as he ushered Tiffany toward one of the sitting rooms at the back of the office, "I'll get a sketch artist."
It was then that Iruka walked up to Sasuke, "Who was that that just walked by with your partner," he asked.
"I think I got us a witness," Sasuke said, "She was at a gun competition a few days before the robbery. Both our victims were there, as was the man we have lying on the slab in Tsunade's office. She even identified the guns they used."
"Think she can get us a sketch," Iruka asked.
"She has a good memory," Sasuke said.
"In that case I think we have two things we can go on," Iruka said as he held out a piece of paper, "Inventory report finally came in on what the truck was carrying."
Sasuke looked over the report and when he saw what the truck was carrying, his eyes went wide, "No wonder they didn't go for the useless cash," Sasuke said as he looked at his CO, "They took four hundred and twenty five 1-ounce gold bars?"
"Forfeits seized by the bank," Iruka said, "Right now they're sitting on about a half a million in gold."
"Not to mention what they already have from the other robberies," Sasuke said, "If the score is anything like this one, they could be sitting on three million dollars, easy."
"They're not going to let that score go easily," Iruka said.
"Not without a fight," Sasuke said.
[dramatic music] what do you think…
