The case of the missing pillow

Lantry stood in front of the fridge and contemplated whether he should have one or two eggs for breakfast. He grabbed two, but then his phone rang, making him jump. Lantry frowned as he checked who the caller was, most people knew not to disturb him before he'd gotten his breakfast. It was Miller. "Shit" Lantry thought to himself as he pressed the green button.

"Yes?"

Behind he heard his wife walking in, she made hardly any noise in her soft slippers.

"At this time?"

She came behind him and gave him a hug, but he was immersed in the conversation.

"Ok, send me the address and I'll meet you there."

He turned to his wife, handed her the eggs, gave her a kiss and told her he had to leave. He left her standing perplexed with the two eggs in her hand.

The address Miller had sent him was a twenty- minute drive away, to a much nicer neighbourhood than Lantry lived in. If he'd heard Miller correctly, the robbery had happened only 40 minutes ago, hopefully making it an easy case. The old lady had dialled the police the minute she heard someone downstairs, she'd wanted to go down, but the police officer had advised against it of course.

"LANTRY!"

He saw Miller waving at the top of some grand stairs that led to a double-sided door. Lantry ran up the stairs and almost collided with a technician that was on her way out.

"All done, sir." She said in passing by.

"Found anything?" Miller called after her. She turned with a shrug. "Nothing but cat-hair, I'm afraid."

They walked together into the hallway as Miller briefed him some more.

"The door was locked, and the alarm was on in the first floor. The egg was in a cabinet with a lock as well, but not a sophisticated one, probably could have used a hairpin. Old Mrs Oglethorp said that it all must have happened in five minutes."

Lantry reached the empty cabinet, all that was left was the velvet stand that the priceless egg had stood upon. Miller gave him a photo, "Here's the missing piece."

The egg was magnificent, it was made of enamel and gold, with precious stones. The motifs were a mix with heraldic lions, royal arms and portrait of a king and a queen. How anybody could keep this in their living room was out of his fathom. Lantry shook his head and returned the photo.

"Is Mrs Oglethorp available?"

"A bit shaken, but she's waiting for us. I'll go get her."

The lady was small and fragile, or she seemed that way until she started speaking. Her voice was clear and loud as she waved her cane at Lantry.

"You better act fast, I'm not letting that rascal get away with my egg."

"Please, tell us about the morning" Lantry answered.

"I was lying in bed with my usual cup of tea when I heard something downstairs. At first, I thought it might be one of the cats, but they were all in the room with me."

As on que one came out from behind her legs. Lantry took a step back, he didn't like cats.

"Then I got out of bed, grabbed my cane and snuck my way to the top of the stairs while dialling the police. I stood long enough to realise that there were in fact someone down there. The man on the line told me to stay where I was, I surely regret that now. I know I could have managed them fine." She dunked the end of the cane at the floor.

"You say "Them". Did you see anybody?" Lantry took his notepad.

"No, not really, I'm not sure. I went back to my room to talk to the police and looked out the window. I saw a person dressed in black, but I can't say that they were coming from this place."

Lantry looked around him.

"Do you see anything else amiss?"

Mrs Oglethorp cast her eagle eyes on the surroundings and frowned. "Why, yes. My pillow is gone."

Lantry raised his eyebrows, "Your pillow?"

"Yes, the one with the deer on."

Miller and he compared notes and agreed that the thief most likely had disappeared on foot, so they ventured out on the streets. Patrols were out searching, but they didn't have much to lean on. Lantry took the doors to the right and Miller the ones on the left.

All the answers were the same, "No, they hadn't seen or heard anything." He'd gotten six doors down when he finally met someone that had been out.

"I always take my morning walk around that time, awakens me." The man in his early seventies looked like a retired military man and Lantry got that confirmed when the man presented himself as Major Whittings.

"Did you happen to see anyone? Someone that you don't usually see in this neighbourhood, I mean."

The Major nodded and Lantry felt his heart speed up.

"Two. One man, with a backpack. He was dressed in jogging clothes and with a cap covering his hair. The other was a young, pregnant woman. She was soon due, I helped her get into her car."

"In which direction did they go?"

"The man went west down Haggerty Street, and the woman drove south. She was in a dark blue Volvo, with Liverpool signs, if that helps."

Lantry thanked the Major and walked down to the street again. There he stood looking up and down, thinking.

He phoned in a request to the dispatch and five minutes later they'd accomplished the task. Lantry jumped in the car, skidded to halt a bit further down to yell at Miller to jump in. Lantry weaved through traffic as he explained.

The Volvo had been stopped by two patrols downtown, they had surrounded the car and had the driver under control.

Miller and Lantry ran up to her and she turned with her hands in the air.

"What is all this about, can't you see I'm pregnant? This isn't good for the baby." She had tears in her eyes as she begged to be let free.

"Search her car." Lantry ordered.

"Clear."

Lantry took a few steps toward the woman but stopped when she doubled over in pain. She gave an antagonizing scream as she turned and grabbed her stomach. Lantry prayed that he hadn't made a mistake. She straightened up and threw something big at him, Lantry lifted his arms in reflex and closed his eyes waiting for the impact. The soft blow from the pillow made him open his eyes just to see the woman running away. He swore and ran after. Nearing in, she stopped suddenly and looked wildly around, seeing that she was losing the game. Next thing the egg worth billions sailed through the air, Lantry dove to catch it and his jaw slammed into the asphalt. With his fingertips he managed to grab it before it shattered and behind him he heard screaming as Miller got the girl. "Wow, you were right." Miller was surprised.

"I knew there was something about that pillow."