Thief in the Woods

Chapter 4: Stakeout

New Haven. Monday, October 2, 2006.

Sara was providing a new definition to the meaning of stakeouts, and Neal couldn't be happier about it.

On Friday evening, they'd driven in June's Jaguar to New Haven where their suite at Wisteria's inn awaited them. Neal had expected the decor to include plenty of chintz just like her sister Peony's B&B. He wasn't disappointed. But it also had an air of English country charm. He'd booked them into the Rosemary Suite, a confirmation that the hassles of bureaucratic expense forms were no longer an issue.

For a first assignment, the case was a challenging one. The local police had been unable to turn up any clues. There were no fingerprints and no evidence of break-ins even though the houses all had security systems. Only jewelry was taken. In some instances, the homeowners determined that the thefts had taken place at night in the same room where they were sleeping, but they hadn't heard anything.

Sara wasn't convinced that a stakeout in a Jaguar was a good idea until Neal pointed out no thief would believe they were conducting surveillance. And he had the pleasure of necking with Sara whenever someone strolled by.

During lulls, he coached Sara in Italian. She'd also expressed a desire to learn Russian. They were determined to make Win-Win a global player in art crimes investigations, and Sara was already preparing a list of new disguises to have on hand.

They'd brought along one of Travis's new toys—night-vision binoculars with a built-in camera. Travis's new employer had given him carte blanche to develop security toys, and Win-Win was Travis's default beta tester. When Neal first met Travis, he thought of him as White Collar's version of Q from James Bond. Now the similarity was even more striking.

Sara looked up from reading her text messages. "Another incident was reported. This one was only a block away from Maia's house."

"Same M.O.?"

She nodded. "Only jewelry was taken. The theft occurred during the night. In this case, a woman had worn a diamond necklace to dinner. The next day, she noticed it was missing. She swears no one visited the house. Have you heard anything from Chloe?"

"No, she hasn't called. She's probably still trying to figure out how to broach Julia's offer with Dean and Sam."

"It's awkward for her," Sara agreed. "Although I can also understand the appeal. Just the Men of Letters' name is evocative. With its ties to the Winslows, is it any wonder that Graham and Julia want to find out more about the group?"

"And there's so much that's still a mystery. Sam told me a British branch is still active but even Bobby knows very little about them." Neal caught a glimpse of something moving from the corner of his eye. He whipped around and adjusted his binoculars. Sara swung around to look as well.

"Slight figure, dressed in black. She's holding a dark bag, probably cloth," he murmured as he snapped photos. "Appears to be a woman. Black mask. Long dark hair."

"Notice the way she's staggering. Is she drunk?"

Neal grinned. "It looks like she's performing a drunken sailor's dance." He zoomed in with the binoculars. "That's a flask she's holding to her mouth."

"I don't see how she could be our cat burglar," Sara said as the woman tripped on her feet and fell to the ground.

Neal's jaw dropped as she suddenly vanished. "Where'd she go?"

"I don't know. How could she simply disappear?" Sara demanded in frustration. "My eyes were on her."

"My best guess? She's some sort of paranormal spirit."