by Gayle Trent
“Well, I guess… it’s hard to mess up breakfast.”
Chapter Thirteen
Monday morning, I fed Matlock and then let him go outside before I started making breakfast. I might’ve been more comfortable having Matlock with me when the Magnesium Man Gang showed up, but I’d be all right. Cooper and the town police had my back. I hoped.
Now, don’t tell anybody, but I didn’t make my biscuits from scratch that morning. I was nervous, and I just used the frozen ones. They were awfully good, though. You wouldn’t have known they weren’t homemade…except that I didn’t have a cook’s biscuit—you know, the extra dough you have left over and just glob it onto the pan and bake it with the rest?
I did make the buttermilk pancakes, though. I was frying them up when the doorbell rang.
“Come on in!” I hollered, hoping they’d hear me what with my being all the way in the kitchen and Matlock barking his head off from the backyard. “The door’s open!”
Either they did hear me, or they just decided to come on in. It worked out nevertheless. They clomped on into the kitchen, and I turned away from the stove long enough to say hello and tell them to take a seat around the breakfast table. I noticed Harold had on muddy boots, and it made me mad. I hoped he hadn’t tracked mud all through my living room, but I figured he had. He was sure enough tracking mud through my kitchen. I tried to remember that I was trying to solve a murder and foil a heist, so I bit my tongue.
Bo came over to give me a hug and to peek into all the pans on the stove. I swear, I believe if I could’ve got to that boy soon enough, I could’ve set him on a different path. That one tugs at my heartstrings.
“Glen said you were making pancakes,” Bo said. “I love me some pancakes.”
“Well, they’re almost done,” I said. “Hand me one of those plates there on the table.”
Bo handed me a plate, and I stacked three pancakes on it. I already had the butter and syrup sitting on the table. He sat back down and went to buttering his pancakes.
“Glen, Harold, if you want pancakes, hand me your plates,” I told them.
They did. And then Glen handed me a plate, so I could stack myself a couple on there. After we had the pancakes squared away, I put the eggs, bacon, and biscuits on platters and set them on the table.
I poured everybody some coffee, and then I sat down at the table. After we’d all filled our plates, I asked them what they’d wanted to talk with me about.
“Let’s eat, and then we’ll talk,” Harold said gruffly.
That man didn’t appreciate anything. He could’ve said the food looked good or smelled good or even that he was hungry. But he just growled about eating before talking. I didn’t like Harold. I didn’t have qualm one about him going to jail.
“I don’t know why we can’t do both,” Glen said. “We all have to be at work after a while, so we might as well talk while we eat.”
“It’s whatever you all want to do,” I said. “You’re the ones that wanted to meet in private. It made me feel like something important was going on.”
“Something important is going on,” Bo said, around a mouthful of pancakes. “Come Christmas Eve, we’re gonna make us a fortune.”
Harold glared at Bo, and Glen thanked the young ‘un for blurting it out like that.
He shrugged. “What’s the point of beating around the bush? We’ve decided to invite Ms. Myrtle on board, ain’t we? If we hadn’t, we wouldn’t be here.”
“Well, I don’t know how we’re going to make a fortune,” I said. “But if there’s any way I can help and make enough money to get me through the winter, count me in.”
Bo scoffed. “You ought to be able to get through two or three winters with what we’ll be pulling down.”
“You said a hundred thousand,” I said to Glen. “Isn’t that what you told me—that we could make a hundred thousand each?”
He nodded.
“How’re we gonna do that?” I asked. “Rob a bank?”
“Nope,” he said. “Rob a mall.”
I could tell he was weighing my reaction. I didn’t look shocked. I’d known this was their plan for days now.
“Which store?” I asked.
“You mean which stores,” Bo said with a grin. “We’re hitting four—that’s why we need an extra person.”
“We’re looking at the stores that’ll do the most business on Christmas Eve,” said Glen. “Men will run in to make last minute jewelry purchases for their wives.”
“So the jewelry store will be the main target,” I said.
“They’re all main targets,” Bo said. “Parents will be picking up their kids’ layaways at Toy Town.”
“And the other two stores are the electronics store and the sporting goods store,” Glen said. “Harold has the sporting goods store. He’s already there, so it’s perfect.”
“I’m hitting the jewelry store,” said Bo. “I figure I can get all the money they have plus some of the more expensive jewelry on my janitor cart.”
“My target is the electronics store,” said Glen. “It’s closest to Pickles and Pretzels.”
“So my place is Toy Town,” I said, pushing my chair back from the table. “Let me get a notepad. I want to make sure I have everything right.”
“No,” said Harold. “No paper trail. No notes. If you’re too stupid to remember, you’re out. We’ll get somebody else.”
“Hey, settle down,” Bo said. “Ms. Myrtle ain’t stupid. She’ll get it.”
“That’s right,” I said, scooting back up to the table. “Just tell me what to do. I’ll remember. I’ve just never done anything like this before. I don’t want to mess up.”
“You won’t,” Glen said. “We’ve never done this either. We’re all a little on edge.” He glared at Harold, but Harold just shook his head in disgust.
“Just know this, there ain’t no changing your mind,” Harold said.
“I won’t,” I said quietly, thinking that poor Jackson Barnard must’ve had a change of heart that cost him his life.
“Here’s the plan,” Glen said. “The mall closes at six. We’re given another half hour or so to close up the shops. At half past six, the mall should be almost empty. That’s when we strike.”
“But what about the security guards?” I asked. “I mean, I figured we’d come back to the mall once everyone was gone.”
“That’d be too late,” said Bo. “By then, all the money would be gone too. We need to pull the job before the managers take their money to the bank.”
“Okay,” I said. “But I still don’t know how we’re going to handle security.”
“There’s a little party being held for the staff after the mall closes,” said Glen. “The guards will be there.”
“Will we wear masks?” I asked.
“No need,” said Bo. “We’ve got somebody on the inside who’s going to cut the cameras for two minutes.”
“Two minutes,” Harold said, holding up two fingers as if I didn’t have sense enough to know how much two is. “That’s it. You get in, you get out, and you either get back to your post, to the party, or out of the mall.”
“Well, I can’t carry that kind of money on me to the party,” I said. “I’d be scared to death that I’d somehow give us away. Is that what you all are planning to do? Show up at the party?”
“It might look suspicious if you don’t go to the party,” Bo said. “How about this? After you rob Toy Town, you go immediately to one of the bathrooms and change your clothes. Put your costume and the money in a bag, and bring them with you to the party. Nobody’ll suspect a thing.”
“But the people we rob will recognize us,” I said, shaking my head. “I don’t like this plan at all. When I said I wanted to be taken care of this winter, I didn’t mean in prison. We have to come up with a better way.”
Glen shook his head. “Didn’t you hear Bo tell you we have someone on the inside? The managers will be paid off too. In fact, they’ll help you. The rest of the staff w
ill be at the party.”
“You’re sure we can get away with this?” I asked.
“Positive,” he said.
“You in, or what?” Harold asked.
“I’m in,” I said.
* * *
After I was sure the group had gone, I called Cooper. “Did y’all get all that?”
“We did,” he said. “We’re making sure they don’t come back for any reason, and then we’ll be in to talk with you. We’re dressed as plumbers.”
“All right. Thanks.”
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yeah…just still a little on edge,” I said. “I’ve never been this deep undercover before.”
Coop chuckled. “Hang tight, darlin’. We’ll be there in a few minutes.”
While I was waiting on Coop and whoever the other “plumbers” were, I cleaned up the kitchen and then went to work on Harold’s muddy boot prints. I did take a picture of one particularly clear one with my phone in case we needed it for some reason later on. I didn’t have a clue as to why we’d need it, but they sometimes do stuff like that on crime shows. Personally, I was going to save it and look at it after Harold was arrested to give myself the satisfaction that he paid for tracking mud all over my house. I had a time getting that mess up out of the living room. In fact, the rug cleaner was still soaking when the plumbers came.
Coop wiped his feet before he came into the house even though his shoes were clean. I resisted the urge to hug him since I didn’t know the other guy.
“Myrtle, this is Chief Lucas Stone,” said Cooper.
I shook the chief’s hand and said I was happy to meet him.
“I’m happy to meet you, Ms. Crumb,” said Chief Stone. “This is some terrific work you’re doing.”
“I think it was probably that Harold who killed Jackson Barnard,” I said. “Did you hear how he practically threatened me?”
“We did,” said the chief.
“So, are you going to arrest them now?” I asked.
The chief tilted his head and squinted at Cooper.
“We can’t quite do that yet,” Cooper told me. “We can’t arrest them until they actually put their plan into place.”
“And we want to catch the guy they have working for them on the inside,” said Chief Stone.
“So I have to keep working at that mall plumb ‘til Christmas?” I asked.
“I’m afraid so,” Cooper said.
Chapter Fourteen
I’ll have you to know I did it. I toughed it out and worked every day at that mall up to and including Christmas Eve. On Christmas Eve, I was as nervous as a two-tailed cat in a rocking chair. Is that how the saying goes? Probably not, but that just goes to show you how nervous I was—I couldn’t even remember age-old clichés!
The Magnesium Man Gang had come over to the house the night before and rehashed the plan. The detectives had left the surveillance equipment in place in my kitchen—all they had to do was turn it back on—so they could hear everything that was being said.
Of course, I’d made the gang a coffee cake and some brownies, and I had some pretzel mix for them to munch on. For one thing, they’d come to expect me to make them food—that sweet little Bo especially. But mainly, it gave us a reason to be in the kitchen sitting around the table in view and in earshot of the surveillance equipment.
Yet, even at that last meeting, I still didn’t get the name of our inside guy. The gang was either being careful not to reveal his identity, or else they figured that was something I just didn’t need to know. I also didn’t know who’d killed Jackson Barnard or why. I mean, I’d figured all along it was one of the gang and that it was because Jackson had wanted to back out of the heist, but nobody had talked about that; and, frankly, I was afraid to bring it up.
The plan had been amended to include us meeting up with Bo after the robberies and having us dump our “haul” into his janitorial cart. He’d then take the cart out back, where we would all meet and divvy up the proceeds—our inside guy would have the security camera at that particular area of the parking lot shut off completely throughout the day. After that, we’d go back into the mall to the staff party and pretend everything was fine.
What the gang didn’t know, though, was that the police department—and Cooper, as a courtesy to both him and me since the mall wasn’t his jurisdiction—would nab the heisters, go inside and get the complicit store managers and the inside guy, and then get the money and any merchandise back to where it belonged.
Sounded simple enough, right? Then why was I a nervous wreck? I’d already snapped two candy canes in half and accidentally bopped a kid on the head with a coloring book before the first hour of my shift was over.
Bo came by with his janitor’s cart a few minutes after that and gave me a smile and a nod. I figured he’d come by to give me a little reassurance or something, so I tried to look calm and confident.
You’d have thought the day would drag given how I was dreading six o’clock rolling around. Can you imagine that? I was actually hating to see my last shift end despite the fact that I wanted to get this entire investigation behind me and go back to my calm, peaceful life. But the day didn’t drag. It seemed to speed by. There I was handing out candy canes and coloring books and telling children to get to bed early and not to peek at Santa, and then there came the mall manager—Mr. Clean—announcing that the mall would be closing in fifteen minutes. He asked that everyone please finalize their purchases and then exit the mall in an orderly fashion so that mall employees could go home and spend time with their families.
I glanced at Santa—soon to be just Abe Linkus again—and he looked regretful too. He’d really enjoyed this gig, and I know he was sorry to see it end. Looking back, it hadn’t been all that bad…but I wasn’t sorry to see it end. I just hoped this heist thing ended well and that no one got hurt. Maybe my friends and family were right—maybe I should leave the investigating to the police. (You know that was just the nerves talking.)
As the crowd started thinning out, Abe told me it had been good working with me and wished me and my family a Merry Christmas. I told him the same.
“I have to say, you’re a formidable Hangman opponent, though,” I added.
He laughed. “Look me up anytime you’re ready for a challenge.”
“I will,” I said. Suddenly, I felt a twinge of sadness. I was going to miss Abe Linkus/Santa. I was going to miss the excitement of being part of this investigation. And I hoped Santa didn’t hang around long enough to see me heading off to rob Toy Town. I didn’t want him to think his Mrs. Claus was a thief. Of course, it could just look like I was making a quick last-minute purchase.
There were only a few stragglers when the clock reached six p.m., and none of those stragglers were at Santa Land. Santa boomed out one final “Merry Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight!” and then he went on his way. I don’t know whether he was going straight home or going to the staff party. Either way, it didn’t make any difference really. I had a job to do.
As I was instructed, I called Coop and then just dropped the phone into my tote bag. That kept the line open so he could hear what was going on. I then tried to look like I wasn’t up to anything as I sauntered over to the Toy Town. I went up to the cash register. I felt rather foolish. I didn’t have a gun or anything. How was I supposed to rob these people?
Turns out it was easier than I’d expected.
“Are you Ms. Crumb?” the manager, an overgrown kid with a receding hairline, asked.
“Yes, sir,” I said. My voice came out as a kind of croak, so I swallowed and started to try again.
“I was told to expect you, and I have your pickup order right here,” he said, pushing a huge, sealed cardboard box across the counter toward me. “Can you get that okay, or do you need help with it?”
I tested it out. It was heavier than I’d expected, and I said so.
“Let me get you a dolly,” he said. He went into the back and emerged about a minute later with a dol
ly. He placed the box on the dolly and whispered, “Come with me.”
I pushed the dolly and followed him through the store to the back door.
All of a sudden, an alarm sounded.
With eyes big as saucers, I looked up at my accomplice. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t know. Just go.” He practically pushed me out the door. “Go left, stay on the sidewalk, and head immediately to the meeting place. Bo should be there by then and will take care of this.”
“Thank you,” I said. This heist really did have a cast of characters as big as one of them Ocean movies.
As I was hurrying along that sidewalk looking this way and that, I hoped and prayed none of them young ‘uns that had been to see Santa Claus was seeing me pushing this big ol’ box of loot to the rendezvous site. Of course, they wouldn’t have been able to tell what it was. It didn’t say LOOT on the side or anything. But I felt like it might as well.
I wondered if any of the town police officers were about. If they were, they were good enough undercover that I couldn’t spot them. I just hoped they were there! How awful would it be if the crooks actually got away with this heist…and if I’d helped them do it? I also hoped that if things got violent, they didn’t throw me to the ground. I drink plenty of milk and all, but my old bones ain’t what they used to be. I knew they needed to make it look good if there was a takedown, but they didn’t need to win an Academy Award or anything.
Bo saw me coming from a few feet away, and he hurried to me to help with the dolly. “Sorry, Ms. Myrtle. Mike called me on my cell and said you were having a little trouble with your box.” He picked up the box and placed it in his cart.
“Oh, it’s all right,” I said. “You don’t reckon the dolly looked suspicious, do you?”
“Nah. I’ll take it back after we divvy everything up,” he said. “It’ll be fine.”
“Are we the only ones here?” I asked.
“So far,” he said. “Wanna smoke?” He took a pack of cigarettes out of his shirt pocket.
“No, thank you. I don’t smoke.”
