The Raven Conspiracy

Chapter 23 - Crime Scene

Chapter 23 – Crime Scene

“Wow,” I said, staring at the house. It was a massive structure, clad in brick and marble. A real mansion that stood out from its modest neighbours. It seemed utterly out-of-place in the middle-class suburb.

“You don’t know much about the Blackwells, do you?” Kairo asked. “Their eldest son was in the same class as Anna, and their daughter is a year younger than me. No-one is quite sure how they made their money, but they don’t waste time flaunting it.

“Clearly,” I muttered as we walked up the elegant steps.

“Look out for security measures. Take note and think like a thief – if you were going to break into this place, how would you do it?”

“What?”

“If you want to catch criminals, you have to think like them. Make sense?”

“I guess.” His logic, although strange, was sound.

Following his advice, I looked around more carefully. A camera faced the front door; electric wires topped the perimeter fence. Motion sensors were dotted along the outside walls. As far as I could tell, the house was rather secure.

Except for the hole in the window next to the front door. Someone had boarded it up, but it rattled at the slightest movement. A hurried job, then.

He knocked on the door, leaning forward to examine the broken window closer. The hole was big enough to stick a hand through.

“He or she broke the window,” I said. “The thief, I mean. Someone probably left a key in the front door on the other side, and that’s how he or she gained entry.”

“They,” he corrected. “Until we know otherwise, always suspect that there are many people in on the crime. But good observations.”

“I wonder how they got past the sensors and cameras,” I thought out loud. I couldn’t see any obvious blind spots.

“They didn’t need to,” he said. “The electricity was out when this happened.”

“You know this...How?

“Think back – the first day you came to work. That’s the day of the incident.  Do you remember what happened when you hit the light switch in the office?”

I frowned,

“It didn’t turn on. I thought the bulb was broken.”

The light-bulb in my mind suddenly lit up,

“But not too long after that – was it that same day or the next day? - the light was working again. I didn’t even think about it...”

“The bulb is okay – it’s the power that was out. There was scheduled maintenance on some power lines that day. That’s when this break-in was planned for. I’ll need to confirm with Mrs Blackwell, of course, but I doubt there are generators in this house.”

He rang the doorbell. I heard it chime somewhere inside the house and footsteps approaching. I wondered if the sounds were louder because of the broken window. Mrs Blackwell’s face peeked out behind the still-chained door.

“Oh thank goodness you’re here,” she breathed a sigh of relief and opened up the door fully. After we entered, she glanced around outside before shutting it quickly.

“Is everything okay, Mrs Blackwell?” asked Kairo. “You look on-edge.”

Her smile looked strained,

“I’m sorry. I’ve just been paranoid since...the incident. You better come with me – I want to show you where it was taken from.”

“Certainly.”