xp_logs | The Journeyman Job, part 3

A few days later Hope and Doug put their trap in play.

After the recon and strategizing, Doug and Hope had waited for the light-fingered bellhop to make his next move. Getting him and the fence in the same spot would require some careful timing. A few days later, though, the man was on his way with another piece to offload.

Hope and Doug watched from their sheltered corner, both neatly dressed. After the bellhop had been inside for a few minutes, Hope turned towards Doug. "I think it's time to go. Otherwise he will have too much time to slip out in the back."

They had debated whether it was better to arrive before or after the bellhop, but settled on after. This wouldn't require much in the way of complex covers - Doug was the well-dressed buyer, and Hope his slightly officious assistant. It was amusing to Doug that building a quick role like this bore a lot of similarities to the random 'traits/quirks' tables for making quick NPCs in a tabletop RPG.

The pair entered the store, browsing the cases near the front so as not to arouse suspicion in the pair who were talking quietly toward the back of the shop.

"Do you see anything that meets your approval, sir?" Hope asked as they carefully checked for any sign of the stolen jewelry from the hotel. There didn't seem to be any sign of it though. "Or should we ask if they have any other pieces available?"

Doug shushed Hope with the wave of a raised finger - didn't want to spook their men too soon. He spent another short while looking at pieces before meandering back to the two men who suddenly went quiet.

"What can I do ya for?" the owner asked, his eyes clearly suspicious.

"Mr. Dickens is searching for a special anniversary gift for his wife... He had heard this was a place able to find lovely pieces for a suitable price." Hope drew herself up, her voice low and steady. "The current selection does not seem to work though. Is there anything else you might have?"

"What, my stuff ain't good enough for ya?" the owner retorted combatively, trying to establish the upper hand in the negotiation taking place.

"On the contrary," Doug replied in a smooth, slightly unctuous tone. His quiet, competent voice and the fact that he had been willing to let Hope speak for him first gave the statement more weight. "I've heard that you're a man of discretion, with a reputation of getting people the things they want."

"I dunno..." the owner stammered, softened up by the euphemisms and praise, but still reluctant until Doug took out a folded but clearly recognizable 100-dollar bill and placed it on the glass, holding it down with one finger.

"A finder's fee. As a...show of good faith." Doug knew the other man was already caught, it was just time to reel him in.

Quickly flipping through her mental description of the pieces that had been stolen, Hope added: "Mr. Dickens is especially interested in pieces with colored gemstones. Sapphire or perhaps an emerald?" Pieces with both of those stones had been taken, so with a bit of luck...

"I got some stuff in the back," the owner said, motioning for Doug, Hope, and the bellhop to follow him.

Part of Hope's astral scouting had been to note the location and type of the shop's security systems. The setup made things simple - when the alarms were triggered, a steel door would lockdown the storage area they were being led to - the area that Hope had already confirmed still had the stolen jewelry pieces in it. As they approached the room, Doug flicked a signal to Hope before hooking his foot around the owner's ankle and stumbling into the man, shouldering him into the storage room.

"Mr. Dickens!" Hope hurried over to Doug, while the bellhop who had been waiting in the back hurried towards his fallen 'friend'. As soon as he was in the door opening Hope righted herself and pushed him in the room, where he stumbled over his mate and both ended up tangled up on the floor.

Doug slapped the control panel for the alarm, which caused a klaxon to sound and the door to drop, trapping their prey in with the stolen goods. Doug looked at his watch and noted the time. "Average police response time to a shop in this area is...seven minutes and twenty seconds," he announced.

"Anything else we need to check out before we leave?" Hope quickly picked up her purse of the ground, making a quick check if she had not lost anything in it.

"Supermarket Sweep time," Doug told her with a twinkle in his eye. "I was thinking you deserve a little trophy for passing this impromptu graduation exercise."

"Wait... You mean?" Hope gestured at the various pieces of jewelry they had been looking at before. "You want to take something of him?"

"What, like he's going to tell the cops he got robbed?" Doug shook his head. He reached out and pocketed a pair of red and black cuff links as they made their way back to the main portion of the shop. "Call it a 'crime doesn't pay' tax, if you like. Or 'thieves and con men make the best marks'." He was feeling more than a bit like Nate Ford at the moment.

After a long moment of hesitation Hope stepped over to the table where the pieces of woman's jewelry had been. Quickly her eyes slid over the pieces and her hand shot out, scooping up a moonstone necklace and earrings and a pair of earrings and a broach in the shape of leaves, with tiny emeralds and diamonds in them.

Doug pocketed a pair of necklaces - wouldn't do to give one gift without remembering the other two, after all. "Three minutes, let's hustle," he said, moving to the back door.

Hope followed him, throwing a quick glance at the table. "So many more pretty things." She sighed with a wink. As soon as they were out of the shop, she asked: "Time to go home?"

"Past time," Doug noted as they blended into the crowd. He could already hear the sirens approaching the fence's store, and imagined the headshakes and laughter that were likely to be on the responding officers' faces. It was probably a good thing he had resisted the urge to leave a stylized bat-symbol etched somewhere, that might have been too much.