Page 44 of Takedown in Savannah
“I heard a couple of houses over in the Brick District were broken into,” Reese said.
“Same here.”
“Why do the cops think Luigi is involved?”
“I wish I knew. He was on duty when the new Walton Square jewelry store was hit.”
“Maybe it was an inside job,” Reese suggested.
“You mean the jewelry store owner broke into his own place to collect the insurance?” Carlita grew quiet, mulling over the suggestion. “I suppose it’s possible. Anything is possible.”
“The investigators are leaning toward it being the gang,” Dernice said. “I think they have more information than they’re letting on based on how they seem to be focusing on Luigi.”
“I don’t know Luigi well, but something tells me he might have a few skeletons in his closet.”
“Hey, no one is perfect.”
“Including me.” Reese patted Dernice’s shoulder. “I’m not insinuating he’s part of the gang, just trying to help.”
“I’m sorry if I got defensive,” she apologized. “This whole thing is frustrating as heck.”
“Back to the hits. One of them doesn’t make any sense, at least to me.”
“Which one?”
Reese jabbed her thumb over her shoulder. “It’s the uniform shop right around the corner. I know the owner. She said that someone broke in and stole a bunch of uniforms.”
Carlita’s ears started to burn, the niggling clue that had been bouncing around in the back of her head suddenly coming into focus. “You’re saying a local uniform company was broken into? What’s the name of the company?”
“Uptown Uniform Services.”
Dernice made a choking sound. “Uptown Uniform Services is the company Elvira uses.”
Chapter 19
“Detective Wilson was asking all sorts of questions about Luigi’s job,” Carlita said. “And now it’s making sense. The police must suspect the gang stole the uniforms and are using them to commit the crimes.”
“Most people don’t bat an eye when they see a security guard; in fact, they feel safer knowing we’re nearby,” Dernice said. “Is there any way to find out which uniforms were taken?”
“Maybe. I’ll give the owner a call.” Reese removed her cell phone from her jacket pocket and tapped the screen.
Carlita and Dernice quietly listened in. As Reese talked, it became increasingly clear they might be onto something. “I see. So, they took several sets of uniforms with various company names stitched on the sleeve.”
“Same as EC Security Services,” Dernice whispered under her breath.
“Thanks for the info.” Reese thanked the woman on the other end of the line. She ended the call and waved her phone in the air. “The thieves stole several companies’ uniforms. The cops were at the shop yesterday questioning Uptown Uniform Services about it.”
“I wonder if they have a list of the uniforms that were stolen,” Carlita said.
“I can find out.” Reese tapped out a quick message. “June said she gave the investigators a list. She’s sending me a copy.”
“If the gang is savvy enough to use uniforms to steal, at least in a few specific instances when they’re not smashing andgrabbing, they could be savvy enough to know the cops will piece together how they’re pulling off the crimes,” Carlita theorized.
“Meaning we’re already a step behind.” Dernice pursed her lips. “And back to square one.”
“Not necessarily. We still have the River Street / river escape route angle.”
“She sent it. I’ll forward a copy.”
