The man in black - chapter 4 (short story)

  chapter 1 | chapter 2 | chapter 3

“That wasn’t much use, was it?” asked Anna, “purple shirt? Seriously?”

“No, we know all we need to know,” said Cassie.

Everyone looked up at her. Cassie did like showing off, but she did not enjoy the feeling of having everyone stare at her.

“What do you mean?” asked Selene.

“First, the video. Look at the video. There’s an important clue there.”

Selene took her phone out and looked at the video. Anna also looked at it over her shoulder.

“What do you mean?”

“The shoes, but also, he’s left-handed,” said Cassie, “at least, that’s likely. Sure, he’s holding the board in his right, and slings his bag over his right shoulder, but you’d think he’d grab something like a pistol with the hand he’s more used to.”

“Not necessarily,” said Selene, “I prefer using my left hand too, but that’s because I draw a lot and I want to protect my right hand.”

Cassie digested this information. “Okay, but there’s another clue. He nearly crashed into stuff three times over about 150 m.”

“In a crowded mall,” said Lex.

“But did you crash into stuff?”

“Nah, but we were slowed by, you know, trying to avoid the debris.”

“Run that distance now. The mall is more crowded than it was then,” said Cassie.

“Fine. Stay out of the way,” said Lex.

He walked back to the coffee shop, and then started running towards the bathroom. He ran past them at full speed, nearly ran into someone coming out of a shop, and then reached the bathrooms.

“Well?” asked Cassie.

“Depth perception? That’s what you’re trying to say, right?” asked Selene.

“Yup. The guy wears glasses, and they’re probably fairly powerful,” said Cassie, “you may not have realised it, but they can really mess with depth perception if you’re used to wearing them and then take them off. None of the men had sunglasses, and they couldn’t use those with a prescription because the lens power would give them away immediately.”

“Possible,” said Selene, “But the artist guy was the only one wearing a shirt, and he wasn’t wearing glasses. That’s not accounting for the colours of what they were wearing. What about the purple shirt?”

“Let’s go back to the shop,” said Cassie, “well, you probably already know where this is going, but let’s ask them ourselves.”

Lex joined them as they entered the shop. The woman who talked to them was at the entrance.

“Could you tell us where you were when you saw the robber run past?” asked Selene.

“Inside the shop,” she said, “come on in, I’ll show you. I was standing right here, hanging the new earphones that had come in when I heard the noise. I turned and saw him run past. He was starting to open the coat as he ran.”

“Preparing to dump it once he reached the bathroom, I suspect,” said Selene, walked up to where she was, “so… wow!”

“Oh!” said Dany, “The lights at the entrance. They flash red, blue, green and yellow, and it would hit anyone near the boxes.”

“And if it was flashing red, a light blue shirt would look purple. Neither beige nor grey would look purple under any of the colours. So, why did you say it was a shirt?” asked Selene.

The woman looked mystified.

“It was a t-shirt with a collar, I think. I didn’t see it very clearly, but the way the collar sat was a bit like what she’s wearing.”

She indicated Cassie. Cassie was wearing a black t-shirt that fit that description. Her collar was a mess, with one side sitting higher than the other. Cassie knew from experience that shirt collars, especially those made of materials that men’s shirts were usually made of, didn’t do that unless someone wanted them to look that way.

“Then we have a suspect,” said Selene, “good job noticing it, Cassie. Let’s go ask him.”

They returned to where Mark was, along with the suspects.

“We have three new witness statements. One, that the perpetrator nearly crashed into a pile of books, then into a customer, and then a box of cables. Two, we know that he was wearing a t-shirt with a collar that was bluish. Three, we know from the statements from everyone who saw the robbery that he was wearing black leather shoes. That means we have enough circumstantial evidence against Hal.”

Mark looked at Selene. He took a minute to process what was being said. In the meantime, Hal stood up.

“That doesn’t prove anything! First of all, how did you know that the guy you’re looking for went in here?”

“Judging by how the door slammed, I suspect they heard you,” said Adam.

“Both of us saw you,” said Bella, “if you’re sure you’re innocent, let them test the money you have for fingerprints. That shouldn’t be too hard, should it?”

“Of course Liv’s fingerprints would be on it!” said Hal, “I go to that café whenever I come here, so…”

“Not hers,” said Cassie, “we’re talking about the two that paid for that huge order.”

“Exactly,” said Selene, “or you have an excuse for that as well?”

“I know them alright,” said Hal, “they’re from the newspaper office. They’re having a bit of a get together today. I recommended the shop to them. Their fingerprints could also be there.”

“They pay you in cash?” asked Darrell, “that’s funny. I would have thought cheque, or a direct funds transfer to your account would have been more, well, normal.”

“Besides, even if they paid in cash, it’s unlikely that both sets of fingerprints would be on the same notes,” said Mark, standing up, “so I guess we’ll figure it out. Come with us to the police station. We’ll know soon enough.”

Then a security guard came up to them.

“They found a black bag, a pair of sunglasses, a toy pistol, and a pair of black track pants on the ground outside the mall building. It looks like it fell from one of the ventilation windows on the toilets from one of the upper floors, including this one. The pistol was cracked open. I told them to not touch anything.”

“What about the gloves and mask?” asked Lex.

“In the toilet?” asked Cassie.

“We’re going to have to search the toilet then,” said Mark, “but there should be evidence we can use in the hat, and possibly the glasses. You’re under arrest for armed robbery.”

Hal knew the game was up, and he didn’t really resist after that. Selene called for more help to deal with the evidence. They showed up some time later. Then Selene took their statements. They barely made it in time for the movie.

Next morning, Cassie ran into Anna at the convenience store. There, she updated her about the situation. Hal’s hair had been found in the hat. They found nothing on the pistol or sunglasses. He also had a lot of cash, they found notes with Liv’s fingerprints, which also had fingerprints from the two at the newspaper office. Hal had confessed when presented with all this evidence. Cassie waited until Anna was done.

“So, do you know the motive?” asked Cassie, “and why the coffee shop?”

“Money,” said Anna, “apparently the newspaper office didn’t pay him in time, so he decided to take matters into his own hands.”

“He robbed the coffee shop.”

Anna shrugged. “If you read his articles, you’d know he’s not that smart. So, when’s your flight?”

“Five hours. The taxi should be here in half an hour.”

“See you in two weeks then.”

Cassie said goodbye to Anna. The case was done. Now, she just had to look forward to the holidays.

THE END

This is the second chapter uploaded today, so if you missed chapter 3, please check it out below.

Previous chapters: chapter 1 | chapter 2 | chapter 3

You can also follow me on Facebook here.

I don't have another short story in the pipeline just yet (and no time for it right now, honestly), but I'll try to get another out in maybe a month? No guarantees though.

Until next time!