we don’t know anything about this woman. Her hair color or anything.” Nova frowns at the screen as I play through the woman’s actions at the safe a second time.
“I guess we have to catch her in the act.”
“Are you crazy? What if she has a gun? Or some thugs waiting out in the car as backup if she gets in trouble?”
I slide her mouse closer. “Let’s look at the backdoor footage. Maybe there’s a better view.”
“Good idea,” Nova says. “I’m glad you’re here. I’m freaking out so hard I can’t think.”
I switch views and forward to a few minutes before the safe footage began.
“There she is,” Nova says.
The woman enters the back door of the deli holding a broom.
“She’s making it look like she’s legitimately here,” I say. “She’s banking on the fact nobody will be concerned with her appearance at the back door.”
Nova nods. “She has to look legit. I’m sure that’s probably a fake cleaning service.”
“Probably.”
The woman sets the broom against the wall and carefully closes the door. “This is dark,” Nova says. “There’s a light on by the time she gets to the safe.”
With the door closed, the woman is a shadowy figure, but her hand reaches out for the light. She fumbles for a while, running her hand along the wall, and eventually flips it on.
“She didn’t know where the switch was,” Nova says.
“She doesn’t work here, then, and never has.”
Nova nods in agreement.
The door camera only catches the side and back of the woman as she walks out of range toward the safe.
“Maybe when she comes back, we’ll get a glimpse of her face,” I say.
We scrub forward until she enters the range of the door camera again. She keeps her head down, picks up her broom, flips off the light, and quietly exits through the back.
I stop the footage. “We can’t identify her from this. I guess we have to move on to phase two.”
Nova leans back against my chest. “What’s that?”
“We set up an alarm so we can catch her in the act.”
“How can we get here fast enough? You want to hide here in the office?”
“Maybe.” I wrap my arms tightly around her waist. “If we turn the lights off in here, the camera can’t pick up what we’re doing while we wait.”
She laughs lightly, and I feel her relax a bit.
“It won’t hurt to install an alarm,” Nova says. “But I don’t like the idea of us confronting her. There are crazy, desperate people in the world. Besides, we can stop her. We just have to change the combination lock and she can’t steal anymore.”
I rest my chin on her shoulder. “I know we could stop her. But I’d like to figure out how the hell she has the key and combination. If the ex-manager is involved, she shouldn’t get away with this.”
“There is that.”
“I can pick up a simple alarm at the hardware store that will send a notification to my phone. Maybe we can mark some of the bills. If she has them on her when we call the police over the alarm, that will be serious evidence against her even if the video doesn’t pick up her face.”
Nova turns to me. “You’re full of good ideas.”
“I was sent here to solve the case. We’re a regular Sherlock and Holmes.”
Nova shifts in my lap and wraps her arms around my neck. “You have to be Holmes, because I look good in plaid.”
“You look good in everything.”
“You look good in nothing.”
“Let’s get out of here and make sure.”
So, we do.
28
Nova
After the lunch rush is over the next day, Jason heads to the store to pick up a door alarm.
Despite everything happening with our mystery, I walk through the deli with a sense of confidence I haven’t felt since we learned someone was stealing. None of my people are involved, and I’m completely relieved. Hopefully, within a day or two this whole thing will be over.
Jason returns shortly after the bulk of the crew has left. I sit in my office with a Sharpie, adding my initials to the top corner of random bills to sprinkle throughout the stack of cash.
Lamonte pokes his head into my office while I work. “Defacing money? Isn’t that a felony?” He plunks down in the chair next to me.
“Just trying to leave my mark on the world,” I say. “And I looked it up. It’s only illegal if you destroy the currency. Besides, everyone’s putting Harriet Tubman on the twenties.”
“True. So, where did Jason