dons head throbbed as he sat up.
he looked down at the girl in bed beside him, struggling to remember her name.
was it jenny? or georgia..
giving up, he thew on his coat and went out onto the balcony, a morning fog enveloped the streets of new york. Just as he lit his cigarette, his phone rang. it was james.
"what is it"
"don, goodmorning, we've had another one, upper east side."
"text me the adress, ill be there in 20"
don finished off his cigarette and went back inside.
he put on the rest of his clothes and exited silently.
20 minutes later...
following the address James had sent him, Don arrived at at a posh looking jewellery store. once inside, he located his partner, James. James had recently joined the police force and his bright eyed and enthusiastic attitude contrasted with that of Dons, which was one slightly more cynical.
"what have we got" he asked James
" owner called it in at about 6 am this morning, store's been wiped, security cameras were offline, no sign of break in, the place is completely clean. these guy's are ghosts"
"we'll see about that "
Don proceeded to look around.
how did they do it i wonder
gazing up, he examined one of the dusty air conditioning vents, and noticed that there was a 3-lined mark where the dust had been disrupted. Intrigued, he grabbed a chair and popped the vent open, revealing a duct that was big enough for a small man to crawl through.
the vents, how clever
don pulled out a black light torch and shone it up the shaft. There, a boot print was illuminated, a size 9 by Dons reckoning, and judging by the detail of the tread, they were pretty new.
he took a photo of the print with his cell phone and then hopped down.
don handed his phone to James
" send this to IT, for identification."
"very well " said james
"in the mean time, anyone know a good pie place around here?"
Carter loved pie.
while munching on an "apple and raspberry tango" he mulled the case over in his head. trying to figure out his next move.
Dons phone pinged.
there was a message from IT, and it read:
the boot print you found is a size ten Florisheim. there is only one store in new york tht sells them. store is located on the corner of E 22nd by the name of Tim's Shoe store
" lets go "
don and jim hopped into their beat up chrysler and sped off for E 22nd st...
the chryslers Due-for -a-service breaks squealed as they pulled up infornt of Tims shoe store.
the door rang with chimes as it opened.
don walked purposefully up to an old man at the front desk. his face looked weathered with age, his hair dishevelled and grey.
"Can i help you fellas?" questioned the old man
"yes, we're with the NYPD" don flashed his badge " we need you to pull up the purchase history for a size 10 Florisheim boot in the last 2 months.
the old man, shot don a confused look, but complied without complaint.
"here we are, theres been 4 people buy that boot since August"
he gazed down sheepishly and let out a small grunt " business isnt what it used to be "
"johnson, get their names and check their reccords, sir we thank you for your time and cooperation. " With that, Carter turned swiftly on his heels and strode out of the shop. Johnson hurried after him.
back in the car, johnson read out the files for each of the 4 people.
"well, ones dead, the other lives in florida, aand the other two live here in chicago, not much of a wrap sheet on either of them, a couple parking tickets, thats about it. "
"which ones closer " asked carter
" edward moss, 129 10th street"
Carter stomped on the accelerator, pushing james flat on his seat.
having grown up in new york, don carter knew his way around, and before long they had arrived at the registered residence of edward moss.
they knocked on the door.
"NYPD open up"
a sound could be heard from within the house, soon after, there was a crash round the back and a man could be seen running outside