Criminal Case One Shots (Seasons 1-3)

More Than One Bit Of Chaos Here...

     "Val, thanks to your work, we finally have proof the heist is going to target the Mennagio casino!" The Chief told me. She punched her fist and commanded, "You must intercept the team before they break into the vault! Catch them red-handed!"

     Frank nodded. "We're on it! C'mon, Val, let's get into tactical gear! We've got master criminals to arrest!"

     Suddenly, Hannah burst into the room with her phone. "I'm afraid it's already too late! There's been an explosion at the Mennagio! The casino's vault has been broken into!"

     "WHAT?!" Frank, Chief Marquez, and I shrieked in unison. "They've broken into the vault?!"

     Frank facepalmed himself. "Dammit, they must have heard we were onto them and rushed their plans!"

     Chief Marquez shook her head. "You can still catch them before they run away, Sergeant Perez! Go to the vault, NOW!"

     Frank and I burst through the door of the vault, guns ready to shoot. "Now we've got them!" Frank roared. "Nobody move!"

     No one replied. The vault was completely empty. I put down my gun. Frank muttered, "... Wait, this place is empty. Val, where is the heist crew? What's going on?"

     I then noticed some guy behind a stack of money. Frank noticed as well, and just muttered, "Oh, there IS someone here. Except he's dead as a doornail."

     I sighed. "I guess this guy just was in the wro--" Before I finished my own sentence, I screamed, because I realized who it was. "OH MY GOD, IT'S LOUIS DE RICO!" I recognized the 4 rings on one of his fingers. My blood immediately ran cold as I put my finger on his wrist.

     Yep, he was dead.

     What snapped my back into my senses was when Frank exclaimed, "Oh crap, you're right, it's Louis De Rico! Louis's dead!"

     I picked up the gas mask in one of his hands. "Why is Louis holding a gas mask?"

     Frank nodded. "And where are the others? Did they leave him to die?"

     I stood up. "Frank, you and I search the place. You check that side--" I pointed to a whole stack of boxes next to a wall. "--and I check this side." I thrusted a thumb over my shoulder at who knows what.

     "Quickly, what have you found?" Frank asked me.

     I showed him the giant piece of paper I had found. "Look at this..."

     Frank asked, "A map of the sewers? And that big 'HQ' in the middle... that must stand for 'headquarters'!"

     "Wait, what?!" I shrieked, taking the thing out of his hands. Studying the map, I thought of something. "Hey, I got an idea... What if I run this through the database."

     Frank gave me a suspicious look. "You think you can run that map through the database and pinpoint which part of the sewers Louis based his headquarters in?" He shrugged. "Ambitious, but worth a try!"

     He held up some stationery. "And I found some stationery... with a threat to our victim! 'Louis, I told you: double-cross me and you're dead!'"

     I looked closer at the stationery. "Hey, look! There's some sort of... imprint."

     Frank gave me a thumbs-up. "Nicely spotted, there's some kind of imprint underneath the message... Get your dusting kit, Val!"

     "Right on!" I said, standing up to go get my dusting kit.

     Before I could even leave, Eugenia Hestentrope BURST into the vault with a furious look on her face and ripped through the police tape set up. She crashed into me and glared at everything. "That crumb bum! He did it! Louis pulled off the heist!"