Chapter 7
7
“Mrs. Delgato, I’m Detective Mark Robbins, and this is Detective Brad Stowe. We’re here to ask some questions about the break-in?—”
“They came right through the back door! They were in my kitchen while we were upstairs sleeping. We could have been murdered in our beds!”
“We know the deputies have talked to you, and they’ve looked at the door. We want the forensic team to look at the back door. They will also look around the yard and then come in through the back if that’s okay?—”
“Yes, yes! Whatever you need!”
“If we can come in, we’d like to ask you and your husband a few questions?—”
“Come on in! My husband is right here in the living room. We didn’t hear a thing! I came down and found the door slightly open?—”
“Ma’am, let’s sit down with your husband, and we can go through everything?—”
“Yes, yes!” She finally stepped back, allowing Mark and Brad to walk inside the small living room.
Mr. Delgato sat in a recliner next to the sofa. A walker was in front of him with a cane leaning against the table beside him. After the introductions, they sat on the sofa, and Mrs. Delgato took the other chair. She opened her mouth, but Mr. Delgato got there first. “Donna, let these men ask their questions. They’re the professionals and know what they need from us.”
She blinked, and for a moment, Mark thought she would burst into tears. Finally, she offered her husband a watery smile and nodded. This part of his job made the victims' emotions real. As difficult as it was, even as a detective, Mark never wanted to take emotions out of the crimes. He glanced at Brad and, receiving his nod, turned to the couple.
“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?”
“Less than one percent of credit card thieves are caught.” Brad sighed. “One of the Binley’s cards was used to purchase a TV online before it was canceled. Another one was used to purchase two computers. It was also an online purchase before the card theft was discovered and canceled.”
“High-priced items that can be resold quickly,” Mark surmised.
“The same for the Osters’ cards. Three online purchases for electronics.”
“And we’ve got no budget to do much tracing. Any chance the FBI will assist?”
Brad shook his head. “Not unless this turns out to be part of a larger ring of thefts.” He groaned as he leaned back, again cracking his neck.
“You okay?”
Brad snorted. “Yeah, I’m okay. It’s just that…” He looked around and lowered his voice before continuing. “Bess is a flopper at night. You know… she flops from side to side. But for the past couple of weeks, she can’t move much because of her leg injury, so she starts to turn, then groans in pain, which wakes me up, and I don’t go back to sleep until I’m sure she’s settled. I haven’t slept through the night in weeks.”
Mark thought of some of the men he served with. Brad, Aaron, and Sam had all found love in the past year. Then his thoughts jumped to Karen, whom he’d met for the first time when Bess was injured. Forcing his mind back to his partner, he noticed Brad’s wry grin.
“I’m not complaining that she’s in my bed,” Brad rushed to say. “I’ll just be glad when she’s healed.”
Nodding, Mark looked down at the papers in front of him, continuing their investigation. “None of the owners had a security system or a dog. But how the hell would the thief know that unless he or she cased the places first? Since there’s no commonality as to the homes, that doesn’t make sense.”
“The Binleys also had a diamond ring and an opal necklace stolen. These were lying on the dresser in the main bedroom upstairs. Also, a new tablet and his wallet were left on the kitchen counter, but her purse was in an upstairs closet. This house was broken into during the day. They live at the end of a long drive, so no neighbors were around to notice. But that means someone had to know they were gone. But why target them?”
Sam and Aaron walked into the bullpen and stopped at their desks.
“Heard there was another burglary last night,” Sam said. “Same MO?”
Mark nodded as Brad mumbled a curse. “Yes. It's the same kind of entry. Cash, cards, and prescriptions were taken. The owners were upstairs asleep, and nothing else was taken. They had an older television and an older version e-reader on the counter. Neither of those were taken.”
Aaron shook his head, “It’s like there’s no common denominator, is there?”
Brad cursed again. “Nope. Too alike to be random even though it looks random.”
“We’re starting to look for any connection we can,” Mark added. “So far, not the same activities. Not the same church. They don’t even shop at all the same stores.”
Shaking their heads, Aaron and Sam headed over to their desks, leaving Brad and Mark to call the homeowners again to ask more questions. Somewhere, there has to be a common thread . Mark sighed as he picked up his phone.