Shell Game – Chapter 7 – Ransacked
Evan stood at the front door of his office and stared at his reflection in the glass. The diffused moonlight spilled on just enough of his body that he could see his shape without his face. Just the shell of a man, Evan thought. He took one more deep breath before inserting his key in the front door lock. The key turned, but the deadbolt was already detracted into the door. Immediately, Evan forgot about his dead partner and his broken marriage, and wondered who had been snooping around his office, why, and were they still inside.
He entertained the possibility that he’d forgotten to lock it after Katherine’s departure, but he dismissed that quickly. He more often locked it without thinking than the other way around.
Evan pulled the door open slowly, eased himself in, and guided the door closed without making a sound. He stood still, his ears straining to hear anything, breathing, the sound of clothes, or anything else. When he felt confident he was alone, he walked toward Sophie’s desk without turning on any lights. The foggy moonlight filtered through the front windows, illuminating the furniture’s white papers and chrome details. A quick scan of Sophie’s desk and the outer office showed nothing was obviously out of place. More confident of his surroundings, he continued back to his inner office only to find the door standing brazenly open. Evan retraced his memory and was able to remember locking this office door before leaving that evening.
For a moment, Evan toyed with the idea of fishing one of the revolvers he kept locked in the gun safe. But the safe was in his office, just on the other side of the door. If there was an intruder inside, there was no way to get a gun, so he would have to use his fists and hope that was enough.
Evan slid into his office with deft and expert movement and visually confirmed that the office was indeed vacant. He breathed a sigh of relief, made a beeline back to the front door, and turned the deadbolt to secure himself inside before returning to his office to assess any damage. Evan pulled the chain on his desk lamp and saw the neat piles of paper spread far and wide across his desk and onto the floor. The stacks of paperwork were there so clients would think he had more going on than he did, so he didn’t worry if anything had been taken from them.
Evan’s eyes scanned the room. This had to be the work of a lone burglar instead of a gang of thugs determined to intimidate. He also ruled out a rage-fueled maniac bent on avenging some past grievance with him. No, this was surgical. A treasure hunt. But what was the treasure they sought?
Evan stood in the middle of his office, surveyed the mess, and let his mind run through all the possibilities.
The door to the coat closet was ajar, and the desk drawers were open and had been rummaged through. Carefully, methodically, one by one, Evan pulled the drawers open, assessed the contents, and eventually determined everything seemed in order. Then he pulled open the drawer which held his desk safe.
The finish around the dial had some new scratches. Likely the use of a screwdriver or chisel. Evan walked over and inspected the gun safe and saw that it had received similar damage.
Evan looked around again. It wasn’t like he didn’t have enemies, but to have his partner murdered and his office broken into on the same night seemed somehow personal. Then, his mind flashed to the strange transaction at the flea market that afternoon. Evan wondered if somehow that sweaty mess of a man had succeeded in tracking him back to the office, waiting for his moment to strike. Evan returned to the desk safe, spun the combination, pulled the handle, and was relieved to see the flour sack resting quietly inside.
“All this over a ten-dollar sack of junk?” Evan mused to himself. The value of his purchase increased by the moment, it seemed. After all, a man so intent on getting his hands on this menagerie must mean there was something quite interesting inside that might sell well over the purchase price.
Just for safety’s sake and to keep any more curious crooks guessing, Evan decided to move the sack to his most hidden nook. Getting on his hands and knees, he dug his fingernails in the edges of a particular set of short floorboards under his desk chair, revealing a tidy compartment installed by him for just such an occasion. Evan lifted the sack from the desk safe and nestled it in the snug opening. Just like putting a baby down to sleep. Nice and cozy. He patted it with parental affection before replacing the boards. Then he got the notion to check in on his find. After all, what if the crook was more competent than he seemed? What if he replaced the contents with something of no value at all?
Evan pulled the boards up again and pulled the sack from its crib. He unfolded and rolled the top of the bag down and peered in. Everything seemed to be in order if a jumbled mass of golden chains was orderly. Evan’s eye landed on the oversized pearl pendant, which peaked out from the other chains of gold. It caught his eye because it seemed to be glowing.
At first, Evan thought it might be a trick of the moonlight but quickly dismissed this when he realized he was between the pearl and any light coming in through his office window.
He reached in the bag and brought out the curious pendant. The orb felt mildly warm in his palm. Evan stood and was about to place the pearl under his desk light for inspection when he heard someone pull on the front door.
Evan froze and shifted his eyes to look in the direction of the front door. From where he was, he could not see the door directly, but in the reflection of a framed picture by Sophie’s desk, Evan could just make out a man’s figure pressing himself against the glass door. Evan tried to slow his breathing and focused on his next possible moves. Because of the careful arrangement of his office, Evan knew he was unseeable if he remained still.
So, he kept on the desk light so as not to advertise his presence. Ever so carefully, Evan gathered up the pendant, chain and all, in his right fist, placed both hands on his desk, and shifted his weight to the balls of his feet. His eyes darted over to the gun safe again. It was still impossible to get to it unseen. Nor was there time to secure a weapon if this person made his way inside. So, he squeezed his hands into fists in case he needed to defend himself. He locked his eyes on his target and exhaled slowly. Whatever was about to happen, he would be ready to spring in any direction.
The figure fished in his pocket for something and quickly began working on the lock. Evan decided that if this shadowy person tried to be sneaky a second time instead of pulling a smash and grab, it was safe to spook the intruder. He reached up and pulled the chain on his desk lamp, dropping the whole office into utter darkness. The figure froze. The two men stood motionless for what seemed like an endless minute, both deciding and assessing their next move. Evan took inhaled another slow breath. He never blinked. Then, as if spooked by something else approaching from the outside, the figure darted off into the night.
Evan spun to the window behind his desk to see what he could see. Whichever way the man fled, Evan was not able to spy him from that vantage point.
Five minutes later, Evan Gold felt himself exhale before stepping away from the window. He stuck around the place for another ten minutes to make sure the stranger was gone.
Only then had the adrenaline retreated enough from his bloodstream for him to remember he still held his hands in fists. He loosened them, and the pearl pendant dropped to the floor. It no longer seemed to be glowing, just another pearl. He picked it up and slipped it into his pants pocket. It was, he remembered, the only item from his flour sack that he was even remotely interested in.
He tidied up the top of the flour sack and pushed it back into the floor nook. After replacing the floorboards quickly, Evan headed out through the back alley. He figured if he could make it safely home and get at least a couple of hours of shut-eye, he might then be able to put his mind to figuring out his partner’s murder, the sweaty man, and the possible connection between the two. This was what he loved and hated most about this part of every case, all loose ends and no connections. The possibilities were endless.
