The Lottery Ticket (6 page)

      “Come on you two, it won’t be long now before we’re home”, she informed them.

     “As soon as we get home I want you both to help your mum to get the jobs done while I go to the office and pick up the mail”, directed David.

They pulled into the drive and began to unload the cases. As David lifted them out Jennifer unlocked the front door. Even though they had arranged for the mail to be held back there was still circulars on the mat and a note from the security firm which just said they would be coming to fit the alarms on Monday. The children wheeled the cases into the hall. It was all going like a military operation.

      “Will you have a cup of tea before you go to the office”? Jennifer called over to David as he closed the boot of the car.

      “Yes I think I will”, David replied.

The children had taken their holdalls up stairs to unload their souvenirs and the gifts they had bought back for their friends. The shouts from the kitchen and the landing were almost in unison as David walked into the hall.

       “Whatever’s the matter”, David inquired not knowing which way to go first.

       “We’ve been burgled”, shouted Jennifer as she opened the kitchen door to the hall. “Look they have cut the bottom panel to the back door”, she pointed.

By now the children had rushed down the stairs to declare their findings and to see the burglar’s entry for themselves.

      “Go and check upstairs David”, ordered Jennifer. “I’ll check down here”, she shouted after him as he raced up the stairs.

Jennifer dashed into the dining room and quickly realised that things were missing. As she spun round to make her way into the hall she bumped into Mandy, who by now was beginning to cry. She put an arm around her and tried to console her, all the time feeling like her world had been violated and doing her best to hold back her own tears.

      “Who could have done this horrible thing mum”, cried Mandy as they both made their way into the front room.

David had no good news to tell Jennifer as he joined them in the lounge.

      “They’ve taken all your jewellery from the dressing table”, he told her. “It seems they have taken things from the children’s rooms as well”, he informed her.

      “You had better get on to the police”, Jennifer urged him. “I don’t believe this is happening, they’ve taken all my figurines and ornaments from this room as well”, she snapped.

David was talking to someone on the phone as a knock came on the open door. James by now had been sitting on the bottom step with tears rolling down his suntanned face. It was John Simpson from next door who had come to welcome them home.

      “What’s the matter James”, he inquired disconcertedly.

      “We’ve had a burglary and they’ve stolen my ‘Game Boy’ from my bedroom”, he sobbed jerkily.

John had mixed feelings as he peered into the front room and saw both Jennifer and Mandy hugging each other on the settee as they did there best to check their emotions.

      “Jenny I’m so sorry, I checked every day as you asked I promise you. I heard, nor saw anyone about here”, he confirmed. “How did they get in”, he asked puzzled.

In between the gasps Jennifer informed him that they had cut the glass in the back door and managed to get in that way. By this time David had finished on the phone and came into the lounge. James stood close to him as he repeated the conversation he had just had with the police.

      “They said not to touch anything until they get here and to start to make a list of the missing items. They would send a detective out to see us within the hour”, He related.

      “Dave, like I already said to Jenny, I’m so sorry. I did keep an eye on the back as I watered the garden but with the bushes between us I couldn’t see much of the side of the house. I made sure every day that nothing was poking out of the letter box. When I saw a white van outside yours I challenged the man who was at the door. He showed me a note he was going to put in the door. He said you would know who he was. He confirmed he worked for a security firm. I was suspicious and so I rang the number on his van and they confirmed his story. In fact they praised me and said it was a pity other neighbours weren’t as diligent”, John assured them both.

     “You mustn’t blame yourself John, it’s not your fault and I thank you for what you’ve done. I blame myself for not getting the alarms fitted before we left”, David retorted.

      “I’ll just nip home and get Sylvia to make a pot of tea, I’m sure you could all use one”, John announced as he backed out of the hall and pulled the front door to.

David sat in the armchair wondering what he could do but not feeling like doing anything. The whole family sat and gazed into nothingness. Eventually Jennifer got up from the settee and searched in the study for pen and paper to begin the task of itemising the losses.

      “I know this is no consolation at the moment but whoever it was who did this were very selective”, suggested David. “Look around at what hasn’t been taken. “None of the electrical items have been taken, the television, the sky box, the computer down here or the one in Mandy’s bedroom and other things in the kitchen”, he observed.

Just as he said this he noticed the lottery tickets were not where he had left them under the lamp on the coffee table.

Just to make sure he asked Jennifer. “Did I leave the lottery tickets in the usual place before we went”?

      “Yes, why”, answered Jennifer as she started on the list.

      “Well they’re not there now”, David replied, as he lifted the lamp up to see if they had wedged under it somehow. They had gone.

As they began to come to terms with the thought that someone had violated their space and had deprived them of their treasured possessions another knock came at the door.

      “Here James, come and help me with these”, shouted Sylvia as she pushed open the door with the tray filled with cups and saucers. “I’ll just nip back for the tea”.

On her return she put the tea and a plate of biscuits on the coffee table and pointed to Jennifer and the others to sit and take the tea. You could see that she too was upset by what had happened and she confirmed the account that John had given.

She took her leave of them and told them not to worry about the pots she would pop back later for them.

As she left she saw a car pull up outside. Two suited men got out and were making their way to number 23. She did not stop but made a mental note of the car number plate just in case.

The door bell sounded and David answered it. The two men standing at the door identified themselves as police officers. The first one flashed his ID badge as confirmation of their introduction.

      “I’m Detective Constable Ifor Williams”, the first officer informed. “And my colleague is Detective Sergeant Keith Davis”, he continued.

David invited them in to the lounge, where they sat on the settee side by side.

The constable had out his note pad and had already started to make notes.

The sergeant began by asking whether they had been on holiday or were about to go as he had noticed the cases standing in the hall. David told them that they had only been back a couple of hours and that it wasn’t until his wife had gone into the kitchen and seen the panel out of the back door that they realised they had been broken into.

      “Can I see the door Mr Campbell” asked the sergeant as he rose from the settee?

David took him to the kitchen and showed him the door.

       “Would you mind if I looked down the garden sir”, Sergeant Davis asked.

       “By all means sergeant, I haven’t even been out there myself yet so if you don’t mind I would like to follow you if I may”, David inquired.

As they both made their way down the path it was obvious to Davis what he would find. As he neared the fence he could see the gaping hole in it where the thieves had cut their way in. Foot prints were visible under a couple of trees.

As if he didn’t know it, the signs were all there that this was the work of Roger’s gang. He knew the way these gangs worked and he had been in the force long enough to identify the tell tale signs that were left at the scene. He did not give David any clues as to who it might be.

Back at the house the other detective was taking statements from the rest of the family. He took the list of items that Jennifer had written down and suggested that she contact her insurance company as soon as possible.

      “You will need to quote this crime number to them” the constable informed her.

As David led the sergeant back into the house he offered them a drink which they both accepted. As they sat at the kitchen table the constable remarked that this was one of a number of burglaries in this area over the past few months. After the officers had finished their drinks they got up to leave.

It was Sergeant Davis who spoke next. “We will send out the forensic people to see if there are any finger prints anywhere but I wouldn’t put much store in them finding any. These thieves are good at what they do. However we may get a clue from the footprints in the garden”, he suggested.

      “We will catch them you know”, Davis assured them as he and Williams left the doorstep. As if for emphasis he repeated his assurance, “We will catch them, mark my words”.

Chapter 6
 

The Missing Lottery Tickets
 

It was Saturday morning. Julie made herself ready for her meeting with Mandy. She was looking forward to seeing her again and to hearing all about her holiday. She asked her mum if there was anything she could get for her while she was in town, to which came the reply that she would go up later herself.

She walked up to the bus stop and waited for the number 16 bus that would take her into town. Her mum had given her some pocket money so that she could buy herself something and if she wanted she could go with Mandy to the coffee shop. The bus journey from her town to the city took about twenty five minutes.

The arrangements she had made with Mandy was that they would meet at the bus station at ten o’clock. She had not spoken to Mandy since her family had arrived back from their holiday and so she considered their plans had not changed.

She stepped off the bus and found a bench and sat and waited. While she waited she pulled out her diary to double check that 11o’clock was the time they had arranged. Clearly written in her handwriting was the time on this Saturday. When the clock in the bus station had pointed to ten past eleven she began to wonder where Mandy had got to. It was most unusual for her friend to be late and her bus had already parked up in the station. The next bus would arrive at 11.30, so she sat and waited for this one to arrive.

When Mandy did not get off this bus she began to wonder what may have happened.

This was most strange, she thought to herself. “I‘m sure she hadn’t phoned me”, she thought to herself. She decided that as she hadn’t turned up, that she would catch the outgoing bus and call round to her house to see if anything was wrong.

She boarded the next bus out to Mandy’s side of town. The bus route was much longer going to the side of town that Mandy lived in than it took for Julie to bike as it had several stops before it reached the nearest stop to Mandy’s house. Julie walked the short distance to the house to see a double glazing van and a security alarm van parked outside the house.

She knocked on the partly opened door and waited. Mr Campbell answered her knock and invited her in. He showed her to the kitchen where Mandy was sitting with her eyes all puffed up and her face red, holding a handkerchief to her nose.

Julie could tell her friend was upset. She thought it might be because the holiday was over.

       “Whatever’s the matter”, she asked as she went to put a consoling arm around her friend.

In broken gasps Mandy began to explain what had happened while they were away.

       “They took my jewellery, my best watch and loads of mum and dad’s things. They even took James’s Gameboy. How mean is that”? Mandy told her in broken sentences.

Julie wasn’t sure whether she should mention her wait in the bus station. As it turned out she didn’t have to. Mandy apologised for not being there as arranged and also for not ringing her. Mrs Campbell had entered the kitchen to make a brew for the workmen.

       “Why don’t you two go up to Mandy’s room, I’ll bring you a drink up shortly”, she suggested.

They both nodded at the idea and made their way upstairs. They both sat on the bed while Mandy filled Julie in on what they had come home to. Julie then told her friend about the break-in at the house just up the road. As they both mulled over the similarities between the two robberies it was plain that whoever they were they were becoming more active. The burglary at the Campbell’s was the fifth in the area over the past month, the month before there were three break-ins.

Mandy began to feel more like herself as her friend had come to see her. She felt that as she had let her friend down the least she could do was to go with her to town. After having their drinks Mandy went to the bathroom to freshen up. After telling her mother where they were going and getting approval from her they made their way back to the bus stop.

On the journey Julie explained that it was her intention to invite Mandy to their picnic. To this Mandy replied that she would love to come as she was now feeling much better and she needed to get away from the house and the feelings she had of the break-in if that were possible.

         “Are all your family going”, asked Mandy.

         “Everyone except my dad, he never comes on family outings. He will probably sit in front of the television and watch the stupid cricket or go over to his pals. He seems to prefer their company to ours”, replied Julie.

Knowing this was the case, did not make Julie feel any better. She saw how a real family could be when she observed the relationships Mandy’s family had with one another. Her, her mother and sister were very close but her father seemed to move further away from the family unit.

Her thoughts were interrupted by their arrival in the city. They decided to go to one or two shops then call in at the coffee shop before going their separate ways. They would meet again tomorrow for the picnic.