Free Dark Carnival Murders by Bob Moats

what’s
up?"
    Lynn, Warren and two
uniforms crept down the alley and up to the back door. Earl and I
were behind them, with our weapons drawn. We got to the door of the
jewelry store and Lynn told us to wait. She tried the door, it was
also locked. She backed up and said to wait for anyone to come
out.
    We stood in the alley as
Lynn called back to the precinct to get the listing for the owner
of the jewelry store and to have them come down. I looked around
and only saw two cars, if Dark had a big hit going on here there
should be more cars parked around. I looked down the alley and
could see the two uniforms, waiting.
    Suddenly the back door
opened and we all brought up our weapons, a figure came out, it was
Detective Williams.
    *
     

Chapter 12
     
    "Bernie! What’s going on,
who’s inside?" Lynn demanded.
    "No one," he
said.
    "Okay talk to me, what
happened?"
    "We followed Louie, he
drove around the back and we stopped in the front. I told Greg that
I was going around the back and when I got there I found the door
wide open and Louie’s car was gone. I carefully listened but heard
nothing so went in and found the place empty. It’s a mess in there;
they must have left just before we arrived. "
    Lynn went past Williams
and entered the building followed by everyone. The back room was
torn up, boxes spilled and cabinets opened. It looked like they
were in a rush to get whatever they needed.
    I was studying the door,
it didn’t look like it was forced. It was a heavy steel door with
two locks that had to be opened from the inside. I was sure the
owner didn’t forget to lock it. Lynn was now out front in the
showroom and I went out there. The glass of all the display cases
was smashed and it looked like they knew what to take, leaving the
cheaper looking jewelry.
    "This sucks worse than the
cancelled kidnapping, we were too late. Damn, this is not good."
She pulled her phone and called CSI to come in. We heard a noise at
the front door and everyone jumped pulling their guns. A pasty
faced man, short, fat and in poor shape entered. He looked shocked
at the sight of all the guns pointed at him.
    "Relax everyone!" Lynn
yelled. She went to the man and asked if he was the owner, he said
he was and his name was Joseph Lusk.
    "What the hell happened
here!" he yelled when he saw the mess. He went to the display cases
and quickly examined the contents. "The fuckers got the good stuff.
When did this happen?"
    "We figure about an hour
ago, we had a tip that this was going to go down, but we got here
just after they left," Lynn said hoping to calm the man. He
continued to rant and swear at the top of his lungs for about ten
minutes searching the cases.
    "Williams, will you take
down Mr. Lusk’s accounting of what was stolen, please?" Lynn asked
the detective to get Lusk’s attention away from the mess and to
shut up his ranting.
    Lynn left the showroom and
went back to the rear door. She was checking it out when I came up,
"It doesn’t looked forced, maybe Dark had someone on the inside,
who either opened it for them or left it unlocked?"
    "I’m sure the employees
would have noticed an extra person in the building. Unless one of
the employees was in on it." She turned to Warren and asked, "Check
with Lusk as to who was working today and how we can reach them."
He went off as Lynn stepped into the alley. She knelt and looked
around the ground. "Too many tire marks back here and none are
distinct enough."
    "Trying to take my job
now, Lynn," came a voice from the doorway. It was Larry Wayne, the
supervisor of CSI. "I’m glad you cleared the crime scene and kept
all your people from walking around on it."
    Lynn stood, embarrassed,
"Sorry, we got here and it’s been a bit hectic."
    "It’s all right, we’ll
work around your people," he said with a big smile.
    Lynn went to the door just
as Warren was coming up, "Get everyone out of there until CSI
checks the building."
    "Sure, Lusk said it was
just him and his wife working today, no